The Butcher's Little Husband - Chapter 84

Actually, Le Ge’er didn’t cry when he woke up. He obediently let Li Amu dress him and then went out to play.

When he walked into the yard, he saw the cart and immediately knew that his uncle and Momo had returned.

Le Ge’er walked to their door, pushed hard, and the door opened. He laboriously stepped over the threshold and went inside.

Seeing Momo sleeping soundly, Le Ge’er immediately smiled and happily ran toward him. Then, he didn’t stop in time and bumped his forehead on the bed.

It wouldn’t have been a problem at first, because the edge of the bed was covered by the quilt, but Le Ge’er already had a big bump on his forehead, and now it hurt terribly.

He opened his little mouth and stood by the bed crying.

When Tian Xiaoman anxiously asked him what was wrong, Le Ge’er pointed, indicating to Momo that his head hurt.

Tian Xiaoman lifted the hair from his forehead and looked at it, finding a shiny, quail-egg-sized bump. It looked like something had been applied, and it smelled strongly.

He carefully touched it and asked, “Le Ge’er, does it hurt?”

Le Ge’er had stopped crying, but the mention of it immediately brought it back to his mind. 

He opened his mouth and cried, “It hurts!”

Li Wenxuan finished dressing first. Seeing Tian Xiaoman sit up, he quickly draped his cotton-padded coat over him. Then, with a swift movement, he lifted Le Ge’er up.

“Did you bump into something just now?” Tian Xiaoman asked, then immediately realized something was wrong. The application of something clearly indicated an earlier bump.

Le-ge’er, eyes brimming with tears, shook his head. “Little Fatty… bad!” He said this out of nowhere, leaving Tian Xiaoman puzzled. 

Another little fatty?

“Who’s Little Fatty?”

Le-ge’er pouted and twisted his fingers together, unwilling to say it was his brother. This brother was nothing like Brother Lin.

Just thinking about how he was bullied made Le-ge’er tear up again.

Tian Xiaoman was helpless. It seemed he couldn’t get a clear answer. Le-ge’er was just too young to explain how it had happened.

After coaxing him for a while, Tian Xiaoman asked Li Wenxuan to bring over his cloth tiger. That finally distracted Le-ge’er. Then he got dressed and went to ask Li Amu what had happened.

Usually, when Le-ge’er fell, he’d be fine after a quick cry. But this time, he’d cried several times in a row.

When Tian Xiaoman found Li Amu, he was cooking porridge. 

Upon hearing his question, his face immediately darkened. “It was the eldest. He insisted on bringing Le-ge’er to his amu’s house. Not only did he not see anyone, he even let Le-ge’er get bullied!”

“Brother-in-law didn’t go home?”

“Hmph, where else would he be?” Li Amu said angrily. “He’s deliberately hiding from us, afraid we’ll try to have his illness treated to death. I really don’t understand. What did our Li family ever do to him to make him guard against us like this?” His heart was genuinely chilled this time.

“Then who bullied Le-ge’er?”

“His Amu’s nephew—he’s seven or eight this year! And he had the nerve to bully a child who isn’t even two yet!” Li Amu grew even angrier. “Our Le-ge’er has never been treated like this before, and the first time he goes to his Grand-amu’s, this happens!”

Le-ge’er was born in early August, so he was at most one and a half years old now, though everyone called him three. 

Lian Meng’s nephew, Xiaopang, was born on the third day of the Lunar New Year and was eight this year. There was no question about who would overpower whom.

Because all the household’s silver had been taken away by Lian Meng, Li Yiran’s New Year gift looked rather poor this year. For ordinary families, it would have been enough, but for Lian Meng’s family, it was an insult.

However, since Li Yiran worked under Lian Meng’s younger brother, Lian Meng’s parents didn’t show much discontent. When they saw Le-ge’er, they even pretended to be happy and gave him a handful of candy.

Le-ge’er was always cautious around strangers. He clung tightly to Yiran’s leg, but let them put the sweets into his little front pouch.

Xiaopang, watching nearby, was not pleased. His grandparents had always doted on him alone. His younger cousin couldn’t get much attention. Why should this ger child receive their affection?

Just then, Li Yiran brought up Lian Meng, and thinking it inappropriate to talk about such things in front of the kids, the adults told Xiaopang to take Le-ge’er to play.

Le-ge’er didn’t want to stay there anyway. Children are sensitive to adult emotions, and sensing he wasn’t welcome, he followed Xiaopang out.

He found a clean stone in the yard, sat down, propped his face on his hands, and quietly thought: When can I go home? I miss Grandpa, Grand-amu, Uncle Momo, and Brother Lin…

“Hey, give me the candy!” Xiaopang looked around and, seeing no one else in the yard, walked over and rudely stretched out his hand.

Le-ge’er didn’t understand what he wanted at first, but he knew that giving it away meant it wouldn’t be his anymore. So, he turned his back on him.

Xiaopang got angrier, circled to the front, and repeated himself.

Le-ge’er stood up and walked past him. He wanted to find his dad.

Being completely ignored only enraged Xiaopang further. 

He lunged forward, grabbed Le-ge’er, and reached into his pocket to take the candy. Le-ge’er slapped his hand away, but it didn’t help.

In a panic, Le-ge’er bit the hand gripping his clothes. 

Xiaopang yelped and shoved him hard.

Le-ge’er fell to the ground, his forehead hitting hard. He was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears.

Li Yiran came running when he heard the cry and found Le-ge’er lying on the ground, Xiaopang standing smugly nearby.

Picking Le-ge’er up, he noticed the candy was gone and his clothes were torn. He immediately asked Xiaopang what had happened.

“Who told him not to give me the candy?” Xiaopang said arrogantly. He often hit his younger brother, and his Amu never scolded him.

“So that gives you the right to bully him?” Li Yiran said, barely restraining his fury. He was already upset about how the family had handled Lian Meng’s mess, and now Le-ge’er had been bullied too.

Seeing Li Yiran’s dark expression, Xiaopang shrank back a little but still insisted, “My Amu said this house is mine, and everyone has to listen to me! If he doesn’t, I’ll beat him up!”

“Apologize to Le-ge’er!” Li Yiran stared at him, voice tight with anger.

No matter how arrogant Xiaopang was, he was still a child. Unable to handle Li Yiran’s anger, he dropped to the ground and began to cry.

His Amu, hearing the noise, rushed over and immediately began shouting, “Ha! An adult bullying a child! Amu! Father! Come out! Your eldest grandson is about to be beaten to death!” He plopped down beside Xiaopang and cried as he held him.

Lian Meng’s parents came out in a hurry, glaring at Li Yiran in displeasure. “We know you didn’t like what we said earlier, but don’t take it out on a child!”

Li Yiran turned Le-ge’er’s face toward them. “He did this to Le-ge’er!”

The bruise on Le-ge’er’s forehead was a glaring mix of purple and blue. Even they couldn’t deny how bad it looked.

“Even if a child got hurt while playing, as an adult, you shouldn’t scare a child like that! And Xiaopang is normally a well-behaved boy. It must’ve been Le-ge’er who provoked him first!”

Hearing their accusations, Yiran sneered. “I won’t stoop to argue with a child. But if you let him grow like this, sooner or later he will cause real trouble.” Then he added, “And another thing. I know Lian Meng is in the house. Tell him this: if he returns home before the fifth day of the New Year, I’ll pretend nothing happened and forgive everything. If he doesn’t come back, the relationship between us ends in one stroke.”