On Mianmian’s arms, three or four pinch marks had appeared out of nowhere.
One of the spots had even been pinched so hard it left a bloody mark.
These red and purple bruises appeared exceptionally striking upon her already fair and delicate skin.
With a single glance, anyone could tell someone had done this deliberately!
Old Madam Zhou’s heart ached terribly. Holding Zhou Mianmian, she was incredibly careful, as if holding a porcelain doll.
Her eyes grew red, and her very heart trembled from the pain.
“Which heartless wretch dared to lay such a underhanded hand on my sweet granddaughter?! Once I find out, I’ll slap him to death!” Old Madam Zhou slapped the ground excitedly.
Hearing the commotion, Third Zhou, Song Nianxi, and the others all came running over.
Upon seeing Mianmian’s injuries, Third Zhou was infuriated, clenching both of his fists tightly.
“This… she didn’t have these before going to sleep last night.” Song Nianxi’s eyes instantly turned red, holding her daughter’s arm as if she couldn’t believe it.
The three boys of the Zhou family grew anxious too, all cursing in childish voices.
To dare bully their family’s little sister, they truly were bastards.
Third Zhou’s eldest son even picked up a stone, raising it furiously while shielding his sister and grandma behind his back.
“Who dares bully my sister?! Have you grown tired of living?! I’ll go smash his head open!”
“No need for that.” Third Zhou’s second son said with a cold little face, taking the stone out of his brother’s hand. “Fourth Uncle has a large blade over there.”
The precious darling of the Zhou family had suffered an injustice—how could this be tolerated!
Seeing this grand display, Meifu was so frightened that she hurriedly hid in Li Chunzhu’s embrace.
However, remembering that she had scratched Mianmian’s scalp last night, not her arms, she let out a slight sigh of relief.
Who would have thought that at this moment, under the pained and protective gazes of the entire family, Zhou Mianmian suddenly turned her little head.
Extending a tiny finger, she pointed eerily straight at Meifu.
“Her.”
Panic surged in Meifu’s heart.
Sun Pinghua hastily stroked Mianmian, “Tell Second Aunt, what did Meifu do? Did she bully you?”
“Last night, she beat Mianmian and snatched Mianmian’s meat to eat!”
Upon Zhou Mianmian’s palm-sized round face, a heartbreaking expression of grievance was written.
Her milky voice articulated the words with unprecedented clarity!
Although she didn’t state directly that Meifu had pinched her, the moment the entire family heard this, they were shocked and enraged, naturally concluding that the one who pinched Mianmian was Meifu!
The entire household’s hearts ached terribly now, and they all glared at the mother and daughter pair of Li Chunzhu with immense fury.
Old Madam Zhou’s eyes widened, her rage reaching its peak.
“Fine! Fourth’s wife, it turns out it was your daughter’s doing, and you actually dared to be the villain who sues first!”
Even Li Chunzhu was dumbfounded.
There was such a thing? Meifu hadn’t told her either.
Third Zhou made his fists crackle, “I say, Sister-in-law, if you have an issue, direct it at me. How old is Meifu? Could she have done this all on her own? You must have taught her!”
If he hadn’t retained a shred of sanity, Third Zhou truly wanted to give this woman a couple of punches.
Ever since Li Chunzhu entered the Zhou family with her baggage, she hadn’t done much that resembled a proper human being!
Seeing Li Chunzhu’s eyes darting around and her face turning pale, Old Madam Zhou trembled with rage.
Taking off her shoe, she slammed it right against Li Chunzhu’s head.
“You heartless creature! How dare you lay a hand on my sweet granddaughter? You mother and daughter are a pair of ungrateful wolves!”
She knew that the business with the cow dung wasn’t simple.
But never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that Meifu would dare to bully and abuse a true granddaughter of the Zhou family like this.
This was simply courting death!
Old Madam Zhou gave Li Chunzhu a thorough beating with the sole of her shoe.
Even Fourth Zhou’s heart ached for Mianmian to no end, and he joined Old Madam Zhou in the beating.
“You black-hearted woman! It must be you who incited Meifu to bully Mianmian. Let’s see how I thrash you today!”
Li Chunzhu was scared out of her wits. Holding her head, she ran and begged for mercy, her cries of pain echoing throughout the entire refugee group.
Even Meifu didn’t manage to escape, receiving a beating from Fourth Zhou for the first time.
She was slapped twice across the mouth.
Zhou Mianmian blinked her large eyes and gave a hinf toward that direction.
Seeing that the adults were all still looking at her, she blew a few breaths toward the injuries on her arms. Her little mannerisms made everyone’s hearts ache terribly for her.
Song Nianxi hastily pulled her daughter into her embrace, continuously stroking her small back to soothe her fright.
“Mianmian, does it still hurt?” Song Nianxi’s eyes were still red all over.
At any moment, tears of distress were about to trickle down.
Zhou Mianmian waved her little hands and flashed a smile, revealing her teeth.
“Mianmian doesn’t hurt. Mother, don’t cry-cry.”
She had inflicted the marks upon herself, deliberately doing so to show the family. Naturally, she knew the proper measure, so it didn’t hurt much.
However, Meifu wasn’t being falsely accused either; she rightfully deserved to suffer this misfortune.
On ordinary days, this girl had bullied the original owner a great deal—scratching, pinching, squeezing, and biting—and always doing so without leaving visible traces.
Now that this body belonged to Zhou Mianmian, she naturally wouldn’t tolerate such abuse anymore and had to protect herself.
Li Chunzhu had been taught a lesson; her face was swollen, and a large patch around her eye socket had turned black-and-blue.
When it came time to eat, forget about the pork bought from the town; Old Madam Zhou didn’t even leave a single scrap of roasted wild boar meat for this mother and daughter pair.
She told them to get the hell away and not come near the food.
Now, Li Chunzhu herself was panicking too.
Zhou Mianmian was the precious darling of the entire family. For her to suffer such major bullying now meant invoking public outrage.
She had offended the entire family!
With the matter escalating to this point, Li Chunzhu was terrified that she and her daughter would be driven away, so she dared not say another word.
Both mother and daughter shrank back like quails, finally becoming subdued.
Before setting off, the fellow villagers went to fetch water or relieve themselves as needed.
Old Madam Zhou’s lingering rage had not dissipated. Carrying two large water skins, she headed toward the riverbank with a grim face.
Right then, Zhou Mianmian suddenly pattered over, tugging at her grandma’s sleeve and shaking it twice.
“Mianmian go too.”
The moment she heard her granddaughter’s milky little voice, Old Madam Zhou’s heart softened completely, just short of melting into water.
“Grandma is going to fetch water. Mianmian doesn’t need to follow along.”
Old Madam Zhou stroked her granddaughter’s head, her anger dissipating a bit, her heart and eyes filled entirely with tenderness.
Yet Zhou Mianmian extended a pair of short arms, throwing a tantrum for a hug.
“Mianmian go, Mianmian must go!”
Seeing this spoiled little mannerism, Old Madam Zhou’s heart swelled with precious affection, and there was no way she could refuse.
Thus, she bent down to pick up Mianmian, coaxing her with a smile, “Good, good, good. I knew Mianmian is attached to Grandma. Grandma will take you along!”
Old Madam Zhou held Mianmian, fetched the water by the riverbank, and was about to head back while humming a nursery rhyme.
“Grandma, walk along that small path over there,” Mianmian directed, fluttering her tiny fingers.
“Walk over there, it’s faster!”
Old Madam Zhou smiled warmly, listening to everything her sweet granddaughter said.
“Is Mianmian afraid Grandma will get tired from walking, so you are pointing out a shortcut? Don’t worry, Grandma isn’t tired.”
Who would have thought that the moment she finished speaking, Old Madam Zhou would come face-to-face with two jujube trees.
Upon them, they were actually laden with large, red jujubes, looking incredibly mouth-watering.
Old Madam Zhou was instantly struck with utter shock; this truly was a bizarre occurrence!
It was just the beginning of spring right now. Even if there were jujube trees, they shouldn’t be bearing large jujubes at this season; this was simply not the time for jujubes to grow.
Old Madam Zhou was so stunned she couldn’t utter a word.
Following that, the corners of her eyes actually grew a bit moist involuntarily.
Seeing these big red jujubes made Old Madam Zhou think of their former home. If she could truly eat red jujubes now, it would serve to soothe some of her homesickness!
Thus, Old Madam Zhou wiped her eyes, laughing excitedly with tears of joy, and hurriedly carried Mianmian over to pick the jujubes.
With these two full trees of big red jujubes, if they picked a good amount, the entire family wouldn’t have to worry about having nothing to line their stomachs over the next couple of days.
Big jujubes were quite effective at staving off hunger!
Old Madam Zhou took off her thin outer garment and spread it upon the ground, while she went over to nimbly pick the jujubes herself.
Each alluring, plump red jujube looked incredibly appetizing.
Old Madam Zhou picked a massive heap, the jujubes nearly piling into a small mountain, and finally, she wrapped the red jujubes up with her garment.
Just as she was about to turn around, she spotted two nests of bird eggs in the trees.
These bird eggs were even more bizarre; each nest held twelve eggs, making twenty-four in total.
Furthermore, each one was nearly as large as a chicken egg!
Old Madam Zhou slapped her thigh in delight.
Wasn’t this a ready-made separate meal for her sweet granddaughter?!
Zhou Mianmian also nodded her little head. Yes, indeed.
“Mianmian, you truly are Grandma’s little fortune star! You brought about the big red jujubes that Grandma was yearning for the entire way, and you even brought bird eggs for yourself! What a good granddaughter!”
Old Madam Zhou held her precious darling and gave her several big kisses.
She then joyfully stuffed the bird eggs into her pockets. Those that wouldn’t fit were given to Mianmian to hold. Together with the big jujubes, they brought them back, making for a bountiful harvest!