Chapter 30:
Changes in the village

Seeing Jin Guijuan directly confronting Xu Siya’s mother, Jing Qizhen and Lu Lingxi were surprised only for a moment before they hurriedly approached in readiness—just in case their companion was about to lose the argument, they would immediately pull her away and fight the woman.

However, Jin Guijuan’s fighting prowess at that moment was completely beyond their imagination, leaving the two grown men with no chance to intervene.

“Hey, elder sister, what does it have to do with you what I give to the little girl? You even called her timid. Isn’t the child so scared because you, her parent, are so indifferent?

“I am just an outsider giving the kid some candy and you, as an adult, snatch it away for no reason? After you grab it, will you even give your daughter a bite?

“It’s freezing in February and you’re wearing warm clothes and boots, yet you let a little child wear so little to work outside? Even a stepmother with a little conscience will not do such a cruel thing.”

Jin Guijuan opened her eyes in anger as she stared at Xu Siya’s mother. The words in her mouth were fired like a barrage of artillery.

To put it bluntly, Jin Guijuan and the little girl Xu Siya only met by chance. If they included what happened to the weird little girl that Lu Lingxi and Jing Qizhen met last night, it was admirable that Jin Guijuan didn’t run away immediately upon meeting Xu Siya and instead came forward for her. It was a testament to her good mental quality.

However, in the current situation, Jin Guijuan might not see Xu Siya as a strange existence in the erosion area that could not be distinguished as a human, a ghost or other creatures, but more like… the weaker and more helpless version of herself.

She had been headstrong since she was a child no matter what happened. When she was weak and helpless, Jin Guijuan also hoped that someone could help her…

Xu Siya’s mother, whose hand was empty after the candy was taken away by Jin Guijuan, apparently lost some self-control.

However, while she was upset, she did not confront Jin Guijuan. Instead, she pulled the frightened Xu Siya closer, raised her hand, and slapped her several times.

“Why are you crying all day long? If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that someone in the family has died and you are mourning them every day! You will follow your third sister who died early. Let me tell you, if you want to die, just jump into the river and die. I’ll wrap your body in a piece of rotten mat and bury you as soon as possible, so you will not look like you have suffered an unjust death after being lazy at home and don’t want to work. It is better to die early and be reincarnated!”

Xu Siya was so frightened that her face turned pale. She subconsciously closed her eyes and her body was trembling in a conditioned reflex but she didn’t dare to cry at all.

Jin Guijuan’s eyes popped wide open. Without even a moment’s delay, she rushed forward to stop her. She grabbed the woman’s hand to release the little girl’s loose cotton-padded coat and shouted in anger, “What are you doing?!”

The little girl’s cotton-padded coat had been worn for who knows how many years. It was dirty and damaged and it didn’t look patched at all. Judging from the rough and messy stitches in some areas, the little girl might have fumbled to sew it up by herself.

The fabric had decayed over time. It would tear if pulled with a little force. It couldn’t withstand the force of Xu Siya’s mother pulling it.

Even if Xu Siya didn’t struggle at all, the damaged area on the sleeve of the cotton-padded coat that was stuffed with newspapers was torn up. The cotton wool inside had already turned into blackened balls with little thermal insulation effect against blowing wind. All the old newspapers that were stuffed in fell out from the torn holes in the clothes.

After Jin Guijuan took the little girl from Xu Siya’s mother’s hand, she directly protected the child who didn’t dare to cry behind her.

Jin Guijuan pushed Xu Siya’s mother hard. After staggering two steps, the woman raised her head in fury. She was wanton and arrogant as a villain when she pointed at Jin Guijuan’s nose and started to curse in righteous indignant, “What does it have to do with an outsider like you how I teach my own child? You run into my home like crazy dogs wanting to bite me. Even dogs don’t meddle in other people’s business!”

Watching the scene, Jing Qizhen and Lu Lingxi were both shocked.

They were on guard, fearing that Xu Siya’s mother would attack Jin Guijuan directly in anger. Who would have thought that that woman was so spineless that she didn’t dare to scold Jin Guijuan but directly took out her anger on her own daughter Xu Siya?

From the heavy sounds of the slaps she gave to her daughter, it was clear that the woman was not holding back her strength at all.

The little girl was obviously used to being beaten at home. She didn’t dare to struggle, dodge, or cry. When she was protected by Jin Guijuan, her expression was frightened and panicked, yet her eyes were still empty.

Lu Lingxi felt things were simply incomprehensible. His voice was shocked as he asked, “How can there exist a mother like this in the world?”

Jing Qizhen chuckled. “There are seven billion people living on the Earth and there are no few idiots, bastards, scums, and villains. Do you think you are living in heaven?”

The Earth suddenly appeared in Jing Qizhen’s mind and asked, “Who is looking for me?”

Jing Qizhen: “I’m not looking for you.” =.=

The Earth: “Oh, I’ll come back later. Tang Song and Si Jiayang seem to have detected unusual signals outside. I’ll watch them first and I’ll tell you later!”

Jing Qizhen: …

When he was interrupted by the Earth, the emotions he brewed disappeared again.

Jin Guijuan also sneered. “There are so many men and women in the world who are not worthy of being parents. Their parenthood is ready-made. There is no need to take a qualification certificate to be a parent. When has the world ever lacked scumbags like them?”

Lu Lingxi: …

Even though she was speaking from her heart, Lu Lingxi felt quite happy when he heard Jing Qizhen and Jin Guijuan scolding the woman sarcastically.

The houses of every household in the village were basically right next to each other. Although the courtyard was spacious, if they stood there and talked loudly, the neighbors could hear them clearly.

Almost everyone in the village knew that Xu Siya’s mother was not a good person and took her anger out on her children all day long. After hearing them for a long time, the people in the same village and the surrounding villages had become numb.

But at that moment, Jin Guijuan was attacking like crazy and Jing Qizhen was backing her up in a deliberately roundabout manner. However, the surrounding villagers didn’t recognize their voices, so they naturally noticed that there was a new drama that day.

‘Let’s watch the show.’

As soon as the thought appeared, people naturally ran to the Xu family’s courtyard, sticking to the walls to watch.

Jin Guijuan was obviously not afraid of being watched.

Jing Qizhen and Lu Lingxi were also protecting her.

With the commotion they created, in addition to the nearby neighbors, some nefarious people made a special trip to the village chief’s house.

Manman, Grandma Fang, Old Xiao, and Yan Hong happened to be talking to the village chief when they saw a man running over excitedly.

The man was shouting something. There was no anxiety in his voice but a sense of excitement that something big was happening to watch. “Village chief! Something happened! The Xu family started beating their child again! This time, some strangers can’t stand them and have a conflict with the Xu family. Hey, we don’t know which side to help. Logically speaking, the Xu family is also from our village. We shouldn’t let their family be bullied by outsiders but they are also very cruel towards their child. Those outsiders are just being kind-hearted—”

Before the villager finished speaking and delivering his message, he saw Grandma Fang and the other three people standing together with the village chief. His words were stuck and he coughed twice.

Obviously, the two men and two women there, old and young, were all outsiders.

After listening to the long words from the messenger, the village chief naturally looked at Grandma Fang and Old Xiao subconsciously.

In the end, it was Manman who spoke up and proactively suggested, “How about we go over and take a look? The outsiders that the elder brother mentioned just now should also be our companions.”

Grandma Fang sighed with a smile. She stated something that sounded like an explanation but she intentionally or unintentionally helped Jing Qizhen and others make amends by saying, “Little Jing, Little Lu, and Guijuan are still young and straightforward, so they probably cannot stand watching children get beaten and they start a fight when they are anxious.”

The village chief looked like he had a little headache and said as he walked out, “The Xu family’s affairs did not happen just a day or two but the parents are determined to continue with their behaviors and the others cannot interfere with their family’s matter…”

Manman supported Grandma Fang and exchanged glances with Yan Hong and Old Xiao. They were all still a little confused. The girl from the Xu family was obviously the weird little girl yesterday. It was a bit unexpected that Jing Qizhen would suddenly make such a big fuss for her.

Moreover, from the tone of the man delivering the message, it seemed that Xu Siya’s condition was not very good. It was different from what they expected when they thought the Xu family house was the base camp of that weird little girl.

By the time the messenger, village chief, Manman, Grandma Fang and the others arrived, the courtyard of the Xu family was already in chaos.

Regardless of whether Xu Siya’s mother was a coward who only dared to bully the weak or because she saw Jin Guijuan being protected by Jing Qizhen and Lu Lingxi, she didn’t reply when she was scolded by Jin Guijuan. Instead, she kept trying to pull Xu Siya back, obviously putting all the pressure on the little girl.

Naturally, Jin Guijuan protected Xu Siya closely behind her. In front of so many strangers, Xu Siya’s mother could beat and insult her own daughter without restraint. Who knows how she would treat the little girl in private?!

The originally tense scene became like a hawk catching a chicken because the woman avoided Jin Guijuan.

As soon as the village chief arrived, he straightened up immediately and shouted in anger, “What are you all doing?!”

Xu Siya’s mother was stunned for a moment by the village chief’s shout. She stopped trying to catch Xu Siya and gathered a handful of her slightly messy hair.

Jin Guijuan was still young and she was not having trouble breathing at all after fighting and dodging for so long. When she saw Manman winking at her and mouthing a hint that the man was the ‘village chief’, she immediately raised her voice again.

Jin Guijuan did not act like she was an outsider who should not interfere with the villagers’ affairs. Instead, she wiped her tears and then cried and shouted, “Village chief, you have to handle this matter! How old is this child? Her own mother treated her badly until she looked like this, I can’t stand it as an outsider. It’s in the middle of winter, the child’s cotton-padded clothes are all ruined, and she’s covered in frostbite. Is this something a mother should do?

Manman: …

She misunderstood before. The protagonist here was Guijuan, not Jing Qizhen…

Seeing as there were more and more people arriving and the village chief in charge was there, Jing Qizhen also temporarily moved away from Jin Guijuan, said hello to the village chief, and then calmly reminded Manman and the others in a whisper, “BGM sound.”

Manman was startled. Her attention was completely focused just now on the chaos of the Xu family. It was only when Jing Qizhen reminded her that she was suddenly become aware of that matter.

Thinking of the issue of the background music, Manman’s eyes naturally fell on Xu Siya for the first time and she instantly came to the same conclusion as Jing Qizhen—Xu Siya and the strange little girl last night looked very different.

Facing Jin Guijuan’s cries, Xu Siya’s mother rolled her eyes impatiently.

On the contrary, the village chief was in a dilemma when he saw Xu Siya being protected by Jin Guijuan.

Household matters were easy to handle, but when it happened, it was extremely difficult for an outsider to intervene.

At that moment, Xu Siya, who had been acting a bit dull, suddenly raised her head and said out of the blue, “It smells so good!”

Jin Guijuan, who was standing in front of Xu Siya, was slightly startled and subconsciously looked back at her.

Several shadows suddenly appeared at the door of the Xu family’s courtyard which had just been opened because of the arrival of the village chief. The shapes of those shadows were not very clear as if they were illuminated by firelight and they swayed left and right along with the fire.

Jing Qizhen and others naturally noticed Xu Siya’s sudden words and everyone looked in that direction.

As everyone’s attention gathered, those shadowy shapes gradually became clearer in the sunlight, and there were even sounds of sizzling, boiling, and cracking that were always present during frying.

As the smell of fried and burnt meat in the oil pan gradually spread, the vague shapes in the oil pan gradually became clear—they were all twisted and struggling human figures.

Everyone’s expressions changed instantly.

The cold sweat on Old Xiao’s forehead fell down his cheeks, his teeth were chattering a little, and he said in a trembling voice, “Oil– oil pan hell…”