“What, Chen Xiaoman has to go to Camel Bridge?”
“Isn’t Camel Bridge where they press a living person under the bridge pier, then build the bridge on top of the pier?”
“Hiss! How can Chen Shuisheng be cruel enough to bury his own three-year-old daughter alive?”
“He owes a whole ass-load of gambling debts, and right now the debt collectors are waiting at his house. If he doesn’t pay up by noon, his newborn baby son is going to be taken away.”
“Her mother died when she was so young, and now she’s stuck with a father who wants her life. What a bitter fate!”
The villagers gathered by the water were furious, and their eyes all fell on the little girl by the river.
Chen Xiaoman’s body stiffened.
Seeing the pitch-black mud at the bottom of the river, she took a frightened step back.
Chen Shuisheng kicked Chen Xiaoman hard in the back, sending her sprawling to the ground.
“Eating my food, drinking what I give you, and now that I can finally get some money for you, you still want to run?”
Chen Xiaoman pressed her small hands against the ground and struggled to crawl aside, trying to dodge the foot kicking toward her.
She had promised her mother she would try hard, very hard, to stay alive.
“I said you’re not getting away!”
Chen Shuisheng cursed loudly and kicked the small figure squirming on the ground more than a dozen times.
The intense pain made Chen Xiaoman curl up into a ball, whimpering like an injured little animal.
Chen Shuisheng picked up a shovel with one hand, and with the other grabbed Chen Xiaoman’s arm and dragged her toward the river.
“He’s actually going to bury his own daughter with his own hands, how can he bring himself to do it!”
“Chen Shuisheng, are you even human?”
Seeing Chen Xiaoman about to be dragged into the river, the villagers’ eyes went red.
Chen Shuisheng, enraged by the scolding, forced Chen Xiaoman’s head down hard into the river water.
He even turned his head to sneer provocatively at the angry crowd.
She was his daughter. If he wanted to kill her, he’d kill her. What could their anger do about it?
Chen Xiaoman struggled instinctively, but her small head was held fast and couldn’t move.
Her chest swelled with pain as if it would burst open.
Her eyeballs felt like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
She thought she was probably going to die.
Mother… I’m sorry…
Xiaoman isn’t a good child who keeps her word…
The crowd stirred again.
An old woman carrying a bamboo basket pushed her way through, and seeing this scene, her pupils shrank violently.
“Xiaoman!”
It was Auntie Zhou!
Hope flared up in Chen Xiaoman’s heart, and she wanted to lift her head and look back.
Seeing her still trying to struggle, Chen Shuisheng pressed her small head down even deeper into the water.
Zhou Daya’s eyes were nearly bleeding with rage.
She rushed straight at Chen Shuisheng, forced the bamboo basket down over his head, snatched the shovel from his hands, and swung it hard at his back.
“Splash!”
Chen Shuisheng was knocked into the water by a blow from the shovel.
A sharp pain shot through his back.
He was in so much pain he opened his mouth to shout, but river water rushed into his mouth and nose, forcing him to swallow several mouthfuls.
With the bamboo basket covering his head, he couldn’t see a thing and could only thrash wildly in the river.
Zhou Daya scooped Chen Xiaoman up and wiped the water off her face with her rough, large hands.
Seeing the little girl’s miserable state, the fire in Zhou Daya’s heart surged even higher.
Her thin, aged hands raised the shovel and struck down again at Chen Shuisheng, who was still struggling in the water.
Chen Shuisheng’s thigh was hit hard by the shovel.
“Ah!”
He howled in pain.
His body tilted, and he fell into the water again.
“You conscienceless thing, can you face Qiuniang, who’s already dead?”
He struggled to lift his head above water, and the shovel slammed down hard on his shoulder.
“Bang!”
“Ah!”
Another cry of pain.
“Qiuniang hadn’t even passed her first seven days, and you, beast, brought a widow from the village into your house!”
Zhou Daya cursed without holding back, the shovel in her hands whistling through the air as she struck at Chen Shuisheng.
“I’ll beat you to death today to avenge Qiuniang, you disaster of a man!”
“Bang!”
“That’s for bullying Qiuniang!”
“Bang!”
“That’s for bullying Xiaoman!”
With every curse, the shovel came down on Chen Shuisheng again, driving him down into the water each time.
Chen Shuisheng’s face turned red from being held under, and the more he thrashed, the weaker he became.
If this kept up, he was going to lose his life!
Ignoring the intense pain, he used all his strength to break the surface and shouted, “Help!”
The next moment, his shoulder was struck hard again, and his whole body was slammed down into the mud at the bottom of the river.
The water grew murkier, and the people on the riverbank could no longer see Chen Shuisheng clearly.
The watching villagers, frightened, rushed over to hold Zhou Daya back.
“You can’t keep hitting him, you’ll kill him!”
They never would have dreamed that Chen Shuisheng, a grown man, would nearly be beaten to death by Zhou Daya, an old woman.
Zhou Daya jammed the shovel hard into the ground, turned around, and picked up Chen Xiaoman.
“Auntie will take you home.”
Chen Xiaoman clasped her two small hands together, her little face full of unease. “Xiaoman is money-losing goods, she’ll eat a lot of Auntie’s family’s grain…”
Zhou Daya’s chest heaved violently.
“As long as Auntie has a bowl of porridge to drink, you won’t go hungry! Come home with me, and be a bride for my third son!”
However poor the family was, they could still afford to raise a child bride.
The light in Chen Xiaoman’s eyes slowly began to brighten.
Could she really go home with Auntie?
“No, you can’t!”
An angry roar startled her into a shiver.
She looked over and saw her father crawling up the bank on his hands and feet.
Chen Shuisheng gasped for breath.
His legs gave out, and he sat down on the ground.
The look he gave Zhou Daya was full of hatred.
“Chen Xiaoman is my, Chen Shuisheng’s, daughter. If you dare take her away, your whole family can wait to rot in prison!”
If he weren’t in so much pain all over that he couldn’t get up, he would have killed Zhou Daya for sure!
The watching villagers all gasped at once.
For Zhou Daya to take Chen Xiaoman away would be child snatching.
If a child snatcher were caught, the whole family would go to prison with her.
Someone urged, “Daya, just let it go.”
“Xiaoman is Chen Shuisheng’s daughter. Whether he wants to sell her or kill her, even the authorities can’t do anything about it.”
“Sigh, we can’t help Xiaoman.”
Zhou Daya held Chen Xiaoman tightly.
Was she supposed to just watch Xiaoman lose her life?
No!
Her own life had been saved by Qiuniang. No matter what, she had to protect Qiuniang’s only daughter.
Zhou Daya gritted her teeth and glared at Chen Shuisheng.
“Weren’t you going to sell your daughter? I’ll buy her!”
“Do you know how much money the Liu family is giving me?”
Chen Shuisheng stretched out one hand and waved it in the air. “Five strings! Can you afford that?”
Chen Shuisheng felt satisfied.
Didn’t Zhou Daya want to stand up for Chen Xiaoman?
Then he’d let her watch with her own eyes as he sold Chen Xiaoman to Landlord Liu’s family for Camel Bridge!
The villagers sighed and shook their heads repeatedly.
In their whole Tunshui Village, there weren’t many households who could come up with five strings of cash.
Zhou Daya’s entire body went stiff.
Her cloudy eyes were full of disbelief. “Why does it cost so much?”
“How can you buy a life for less money?”
Emboldened, Chen Shuisheng got to his feet abruptly.
Every bone in his body ached as if it would fall apart, and he nearly lost his balance.
His hatred for Zhou Daya grew even deeper.
“If you have no money, then bring that money-losing goods over to me, and kneel and kowtow to admit your fault, and I might let her die more comfortably!”
If Zhou Daya didn’t peel off a layer of skin today, he wouldn’t let Chen Xiaoman die easily.
The scene fell completely silent.
Chen Xiaoman’s round eyes looked at the ferocious Chen Shuisheng, then at Zhou Daya’s bitter face.
She didn’t understand what they were saying.
But she knew she couldn’t let Auntie Zhou be put in a difficult position.
She wrapped her arms around Zhou Daya’s neck.
She forced out a bright smile. “Thank you, Auntie. Xiaoman will go find Father now.”
Zhou Daya panicked.
“He’s a beast, not your father! He wants to kill you!”
Chen Xiaoman lowered her head and thought for a moment, then found another reason.
Raising her head again, she smiled once more, her eyes curving.
“Then I’ll go find Mother.”
As she spoke, she drew a big circle in the air with both arms.
“Xiaoman misses Mother so, so much. Mother must miss Xiaoman very much too!”
Hot tears suddenly welled up in Zhou Daya’s cloudy eyes.
She wiped them away with her sleeve.
This little girl was thinking of her.