Only then did she speak:
“Mother, these little brats are the laziest and most slippery ones. Third girl even stole eggs.”
“Mother, you must properly teach them a lesson. Otherwise, who knows what they’ll steal next? What if they steal your money someday?”
As soon as Third Girl heard this, she hurriedly said tearfully, “Sister, I really didn’t steal the eggs.”
Liu Qingyan felt a pang of sympathy and gently stroked Third Girl’s head, softly comforting her:
“Big sister believes you. Third Girl definitely wouldn’t steal eggs.”
“Did you all hear that? Third Girl didn’t steal any eggs at all. It seems Grandma is determined to beat us sisters to death today! Why don’t we call the village chief over to judge this fairly?”
“Erhu, quickly go and invite the village chief here—hurry!”
Erhu obediently nodded and ran off quickly. By now, villagers had gradually gathered outside the courtyard, peeking in to watch the commotion.
Inside the yard, the cries of the children were heart-wrenching. Everyone knew that Old Madam of the Liu family treated the second branch of the family very badly, and the children’s lives were extremely difficult.
But this was a family matter, and outsiders could not interfere. Anyone who spoke up for the children would be immediately shut down by the old madam:
“If you feel sorry for them, take them home and raise them yourselves! Who are you to interfere in my family’s business?”
After that, no one dared to say much. Life was hard for everyone in those days—who could possibly take in several extra children? They could barely feed their own families.
Liu Qingyan sent Erhu to fetch the village chief, which made the old madam panic. She shouted angrily again:
“You little wretch, you’ve got quite the guts now! You even dare to call the village chief! This is my Liu family’s business—no outsiders are allowed to interfere!”
With that, she reached out to grab Liu Qingyan.
Liu Qingyan felt dizzy; she still couldn’t get up and needed to wait for the village chief.
A woman watching from the crowd spoke up:
“Daya’s head is covered in blood—how can she stand up? Hurry and call a doctor for her!”
“What doctor? She’s just a worthless life. Everyone in the countryside gets bumps and bruises. She’ll be fine in a couple of days.”
Seeing more and more people gathering outside, the old madam didn’t dare continue scolding the children in front of everyone.
Soon, Erhu came back with the village chief.
Liu Qingyan secretly pinched her arm and rubbed her eyes. Tears immediately streamed down her face.
She herself didn’t know when her acting had become so good—perhaps it was also influenced by the original owner’s emotions.
Crying, she said:
“Grandma, please stop hitting us. Please don’t beat the three of us sisters anymore. We work honestly every day. You can’t beat us to death like this.”
As she spoke, she smeared the blood from the back of her head onto her face and body.
When the village chief entered the courtyard, what he saw was Liu Daya covered in blood from head to toe. He was shocked and thought the old madam of the Liu family was far too cruel—she had actually beaten her own granddaughter like this.
He immediately said sternly:
“Liu family sister-in-law, this is your own granddaughter! How could you beat her like this? Do you want her life? How can a grandmother be so heartless?”
The old madam glared viciously at Liu Qingyan and quickly defended herself:
“Village chief, I didn’t hit her! She fell and knocked her head on a stone—it has nothing to do with me!”
Liu Qingyan crawled forward, hugging the old madam’s leg and crying:
“Grandma, please stop beating me and my younger siblings. We promise to work hard every day.”
“The eggs weren’t stolen by Third Girl. I saw it was Third Brother who took them. Third Girl would never steal eggs. Please let us go, please, Grandma!”
Third Girl and Erhu also began crying:
“Don’t hit big sister! Please don’t hit us anymore!”
The three children’s cries, along with their ragged clothes and thin, yellow faces—and Liu Qingyan’s blood-covered appearance—moved both the village chief and the villagers.
Some women even wiped away tears and stood up to criticize the old madam.
“This still isn’t beating them? You’ve almost beaten this child to death!”
“Even if children are disobedient, you can’t hit their heads like that!”
“Exactly! This is your own granddaughter—how could you be so cruel?”
The villagers all spoke one after another.
The village chief also said, “Sister-in-law Liu, the child is still bleeding from the head. You should quickly call a doctor. How can you still claim you didn’t hit her?”
The old madam insisted:
“I really didn’t hit her! They are my own grandchildren—how could I beat them hard? I only scare them a little!”
Liu Qingyan lifted her torn sleeves to show everyone the bruises all over her body. Erhu and Third Girl also rolled up their sleeves.
She said:
“Village chief, uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas—please look at our injuries and you’ll understand.”
“These were all caused by Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, and the eldest, second, and third brothers. Grandma hits us the most—every day she beats us. Today she even wanted to beat me to death.”
“I don’t know how many days we siblings can survive like this.”
After speaking, the three children hugged each other and cried again. Their cries made the village chief’s heart ache even more.
The village chief’s wife also wiped away tears:
“Old man, we can’t ignore this. If something really happens, it will be too late.”
“These children are so pitiful—no father, no mother, and still being bullied by their own grandmother. We should call a doctor for Daya first. Her head is still bleeding.”
At this point, the old madam had no choice but to send her second grandson to call the village’s only doctor, Doctor Song.
Seeing that the moment was right, Liu Qingyan sobbed:
“Village chief, I was thinking… maybe I should separate and sever ties with the family with my younger siblings. If we stay here, I’m afraid we won’t live for many more days.”
The village chief said:
“You’re still children. If you separate, you’ll have no one to care for you at all.”
Liu Qingyan replied:
“After today’s incident, once you all leave, we don’t know how we will be beaten again. Maybe in a few days, what you all see will be our corpses.”
The village chief thought for a moment and felt her words made sense.
“Alright then. Sister-in-law Liu, since your family clearly doesn’t like these three children, you might as well separate them and cut ties.”
The village chief’s wife also said:
“Yes, if you dislike them and think they waste food, just separate them. That way everyone is at peace and won’t have to see each other anymore.”