Blessed Girl From a Farm Family: Surviving the Famine With Space - Chapter 3

“Fu Manman, look how generous I am! Even after you hurt me, I’m still giving you a bun. From now on, you’ll obey me, understand? Hmm…” Fu Yunli’s plain face twisted into a vicious smirk as she dangled the steamed bun like a poisoned apple.

Fu Manman reached out and took it without hesitation, her expression blank and foolish—until Fu Yunli raised the rope to loop around her neck.

Then her smile turned sharp.

In one swift motion, Fu Manman yanked the rope, shoved the bun into Fu Yunli’s mouth, and twisted the cord around her throat. The girl’s neck was frighteningly thin—Fu Manman had to restrain her strength to avoid snapping it outright.

Murder? Not today. But a lesson? Absolutely.

“You little bitch! Calling me ‘lowly wretch’—what makes you so high and mighty? With that ugly face and rotten heart, let me teach you some manners!” She slammed Fu Yunli to the ground and rained slaps across her cheeks until they swelled red.

“Mmmph! Let me go, you madwoman!” Fu Yunli sobbed around the bun, her words garbled.

Fu Manman gripped her hair, eyes blazing, “That’s right, I’m insane. Cross me again, and I’ll show you why flowers bloom so red.” She raised her hand threateningly.

“No! Don’t hit me! Grandfather, help—!” Fu Yunli shrieked, shielding her face.

The crowd stood frozen. The Fu clan, used to ruling their village with tyranny, had never seen a “lowly” commoner defy them so brazenly.

“FU MANMAN!!!!!!  Release my granddaughter this instant—you’ve forgotten your place!” Elder Fu Guangsheng roared, “Drag her away and beat her to death!”

As the clan’s men charged forward with clubs and poles, Fu Manman tightened the rope.

“Take one step closer, and I’ll strangle her.”

“G-Grandfather… I can’t… breathe…!” Fu Yunli gasped, her face purpling.

She was so terrified that she wet herself. “Fu Manman has truly gone mad—she’s going to kill someone!”

At those words, everyone froze, not daring to step forward.

Fu Yunli was the old clan leader’s most beloved granddaughter.

“If you dare harm my granddaughter, I’ll—I’ll beat him to death!” The clan leader pointed a trembling finger at Fu An.

Fu An was petrified, stunned by his sister’s actions. That’s an upper-house member! Disrespecting the upper house was a crime punishable by death at their whim.

And his sister had actually struck one of them.

We’re doomed. She’s going to die… and so am I.

“Try touching him, and see what happens!” Fu Manman tightened the rope around Fu Yunli’s neck. Though young, her gaze was icy enough to send chills down spines.

Even the clan leader’s family shuddered, unnerved by the girl’s glare.

“Don’t hurt my daughter! What do you want to let her go?” Fu Yunli’s mother clutched a handkerchief to her mouth, panic-stricken.

Fu Manman ignored her, locking eyes with the clan leader still lounging on his carried sedan chair. Playing the tyrant, aren’t we? Not too frail to walk, yet demanding to be carried.

“Give me a sack of rice, and I’ll release her.”

After over half a month of fleeing famine, only landlords like the clan leader—the so-called “upper-house”—still had grain reserves. Fu Manman might not know the details, but she was certain they could spare it. If they have white buns, they have rice.

She’d need food to survive the journey with her brothers.

They showed no mercy—why should I?

“A whole sack? You insolent wretch! Do you really think two brats can protect that much grain?” The clan leader sneered, his wrinkled face twisting with malice.

“No need for your concern. I’m sure my fists are up to the task.” She flexed her small, red-chapped hand—its surprising strength already proven.

The clan leader gritted his teeth. “Fine. You’ll get your rice. But from this moment, you and your kin are no longer of Fu Village! I strike you from the clan records! Never again claim to be from Baixi Village, Yongding County, Qingzhou—you are cast out!” His voice rang with finality.

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

“The old clan leader is furious!”

“Being cast out of the clan means becoming refugees—wandering ghosts in life and death, never to be reincarnated!”

“That’s not even the worst part. No village will dare take them in now.”

“Without the clan’s protection, they’re as good as dead!”

“Ah… The Fu family’s second branch will end with them!”

“Eldest Uncle, please! Don’t drive us out, too—we have nothing to do with them!” Fu Changping kowtowed frantically, terrified of being implicated.

Fu An trembled, glancing between his sister and his uncle. Though young, he understood what losing clan status meant—without it, he would be nothing. He knelt, too afraid to lift his head.

Fu Manman ignored the whispers.

To hell with their stupid clan!

In these desperate times, such archaic rules meant nothing. And this so-called leader? Just a cruel exploiter hiding behind tradition.

“Fine! I accept. From today, Fu Manman has no ties to Fu Village!” she declared.

Her boldness only convinced the crowd she’d lost her mind completely.

“Give her the rice.” The clan leader tossed a small sack at her feet. “Five catties of grain. You’ll regret this, Fu Manman.” His eyes flashed with murderous intent.

To be bested by a brat… Unforgivable.

Slinging the rice over her shoulder, Fu Manman yanked Fu Yunli up, “You’ll escort us out, Miss Fu.” Releasing her now would invite immediate retaliation—better to test her strength another day.

She motioned to Fu An, “Hand me the baby. We’re leaving.” Then she eyed her uncle’s family—his wife now weeping into her sleeves.

They’re suffering for my actions.

“You can come with us if you choose. Staying with me beats serving these tyrants.” She believed in their survival, especially with her unnatural strength. Hunting in the wild wouldn’t be hard.

Together, we’ll make it.

But the next moment shattered her hope.