The body Ye Cai’e now occupied had been doing farm work since she was two or three years old. Her hands and feet were strong, and her strength was considerable.
Chen Yumei’s face flushed red at once. Her disgust toward this ill-mannered biological daughter reached its peak. This was outright rebellion, with no sense of propriety at all. She clutched her foot and hissed in pain for a long while before coming back to her senses and preparing to scold Ye Cai’e.
But Ye Cai’e did not give her the chance. She lifted her foot and stomped hard on Ye Yingyao’s left foot. “Consider this the interest of your apology to me. What kind of thing dares to push me down the stairs and then frame me? Since I’ve already been falsely accused, I might as well make it real. If my face is ruined today, don’t even think about getting away unscathed. You magpie in the nest, putting on a fake act, you deserve punishment too.”
After speaking, she stomped hard on Ye Yingyao’s right foot as well.
Blood from Ye Cai’e’s face kept dripping onto the floor, her clothes, and the bracelet on Ye Yingyao’s wrist. The angle was one she had chosen in advance. In the corner of her eye, the bracelet flashed with a faint dark gleam before instantly returning to calm, as if it were nothing more than an illusion.
Chen Yumei and her daughter bent over together, clutching their feet and wailing. The commotion quickly drew the attention of the others in the house.
Among them were the original owner’s biological elder brother Ye Yinghao and younger brother Ye Yingxiong.
When the conflict first broke out, the two had already noticed the noise downstairs. But once they realized the one being criticized was Ye Cai’e, they chose to ignore it together. They did not like this bargain sister anyway. But now things are different. The ones being hurt were their mother and their treasured sister. That was unacceptable.
They rushed to stand in front of Chen Yumei and Ye Yingyao, facing Ye Cai’e in a protective stance.
Ye Yingxiong was only twelve years old, yet he was already nearly as tall as Ye Cai’e. He bent forward and charged at her. “Bad person. Ugly freak. Get out of my house.”
Ye Cai’e remained expressionless and merely shifted slightly to the side. Ye Yingxiong slammed headfirst into the stair pillar behind her.
Bang!
The sound was extremely satisfying.
“Yingxiong! Are you alright? Don’t scare Mom.”
Chen Yumei no longer cared about the pain in her toes. Enduring it, she flexed her big toe inside her shoe and rushed straight toward her son.
Ye Cai’e sneered. “A hero? I’d say more like a coward. Fatter than a pig. How much blood money from the people have you scraped together.”
This was the 1960s, only a few years after the great famine. Food supplies were extremely limited. Under such circumstances, for the Ye family to raise one big fatty and one small fatty without any shady dealings was something no one would believe.
Ye Yinghao was not much better. He was the smaller fatty, only slightly thinner than his younger brother. “Ye Cai’e, how dare you speak to Mom like that. Ignorant country woman, dragging down our family’s standing. You want to eat yourself fat and still complain about not having food. You’re just jealous.”
By now, the blood on Ye Cai’e’s head had begun to dry, turning a dark red that covered half her face and looked terrifying. When Ye Yinghao spoke, he did not even dare to look her in the eyes. He quietly pulled Ye Yingyao’s hand and moved to Chen Yumei’s side before finding the courage to face her.
Ye Cai’e suddenly laughed. “A whole family of fools.”
She felt it was not worth it for the original Ye Cai’e. For such a family, she had worked herself to the bone in the cattle shed, doing the work of four people without a single complaint. In the end, they clearly had food. At the very least, they could have kept her from starving to death. Yet when she was on the verge of dying from hunger, not a single person spared her even a bite of steamed bun.
After that, the only time the Ye family mentioned her was when they were bent over from exhausting farm labor, muttering complaints about how she had died too early.
She had already been very resistant to hunger. She had grown up hungry and still lived until then, yet she was still starved to death by the Ye family.
Ye Cai’e placed one hand over her heart. She had to leave the Ye family immediately, preferably transferring her household registration as well, and make sure everyone knew she had never enjoyed any of their so-called blessings.
She lowered her head and looked at the old clothes Ye Yingyao no longer wanted. The sleeves and pant legs were too short, and there were patches she had sewn herself. At this moment, she was dirty and unkempt.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ye Wenbin entering through the gate. Taking advantage of everyone’s inattention, she suddenly rushed out into the courtyard.
The Ye family lived in a two-story Western-style house. With the political atmosphere tense recently, they had moved to this most inconspicuous property. Most of the neighbors were leaders from various work units and their families, and even the leaders lived in shared housing.
The moment she ran out, she wailed at the top of her lungs. “Help. Murder. Help. Ye Wenbin is killing someone.”
Ye Wenbin had not yet figured out what was going on when he hurriedly ran out to grab Ye Cai’e. Ever since she had been brought back, there had not been a single peaceful day at home. Now she even dared to make a scene outside. Rage surged in his chest, and he reached out to seize her.
The fastest to respond was Shao Zheng, a retired soldier next door who had lost his left arm due to injury. Hearing someone cry for help, he rushed out without hesitation to rescue them.
Just as Ye Wenbin’s twisted face was about to reach Ye Cai’e, Shao Zheng clamped down on the hand reaching out and smoothly executed an over-the-shoulder throw.
Only then did he look at the girl crying for help, and he was instantly shocked by her blood-covered face. “Girl, don’t worry. If you have any difficulties, just say it. My wife is the women’s director of our street committee. She will definitely stand up for you.”
Chen Yumei and the others inside also ran out right after. Seeing Ye Wenbin on the ground, she wailed as if in mourning. “Oh my goodness. Husband, how did you end up like this? Wake up quickly.”
She then pointed at Ye Cai’e and cursed. “You unfilial daughter, beating your own biological father. This family can’t keep you anymore, can it. Everyone, judge for yourselves. We’ve raised this girl for so long, and all she knows is to go against the family. She’s quite capable when it comes to bullying her siblings.”
Chen Yumei had the typical upturned eyes. When she frowned while speaking, she looked like a bad sort at first glance. More than twenty years ago, the Chen family had been extremely poor, and Chen Yumei had learned street-cursing manners from her family back then. In recent years, she considered herself superior and disdained using such methods. Now, provoked by Ye Cai’e, she instantly reverted to her old self.
By this time, many people had already gathered at the gate of the Ye family courtyard. It was Sunday, a day off from work units, and almost everyone who was home had come over. They were very curious about this neighbor who had just moved in not long ago and occupied an entire courtyard alone. With a spectacle at hand, no one wanted to miss it.
Ye Cai’e did not follow Chen Yumei’s words. Instead, she cried even more weakly. “Please help me, everyone. Uncles, aunties, older brothers and sisters. This family is tormenting me to death. They are demons. I am clearly the biological daughter, but for the sake of that child with no blood relation, ever since I was brought back, I’ve been made to do all the housework. I’m not allowed to talk back, and at meals I can only eat until I’m barely three parts full. Look at them. Which one of them isn’t round and well-fed. And today, just because I didn’t wipe the stairs clean enough, they pushed me down from the second floor. I almost… almost didn’t wake up…”
Ye Cai’e’s voice was weak, yet every word was clear and forceful.