Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Volume 4 Chapter 12

“So that’s why we couldn’t pick any snakefruit. Turns out you lot picked them all clean. The fruit at the foot of the mountain belongs to everyone. Why should you take everything?”

The other group of children were generally older. The boy leading them looked seven or eight, plump and fierce at a glance.

He jabbed his finger toward Baobao and the others, at the bulging pockets filled with thornfruit, threatening the younger children to hand everything over.

“I won’t!” In the crowd, a four- or five-year-old boy with snot bubbles and wearing split-crotch pants shouted. “You always steal my things! I’m telling Father and Mother!”

So they were brothers.

“You tattletale! I’m stealing it today!”

The older brother often snatched the younger one’s good things. Hearing the little one threaten to tattle made the older boy flare with anger. He yelled, swung his arm, and the group behind him charged forward like bandits raiding a village, each targeting someone to rob.

Some tried to stop them, but the scene was chaotic. Their strength meant nothing.

Such rough scuffles happened often in the countryside. As long as no one went too far, adults didn’t bother intervening. The village was small—most of these children were siblings or cousins.

Adults always treated it as harmless childhood scuffling. They themselves grew up doing the same.

Normally, children kept some limit—stealing only from their own siblings or cousins, taking a little, then making up later. But the twins and their Du cousins were different. They darted through the crowd toward Baobao and Lin Yu, not only wanting to rob all their fruit but also wanting to beat the two “eyesore burdens.”

“Waaah! They squashed it! My fruit is squashed!”

“Second Sister is bad! She stole so many! Second Sister is the worst! Wuuuu!”

Many young children cried miserably. Of course, there were fierce children on their side too—several of the older kids who tried to steal were beaten badly enough to cry for their mothers.

The scene was a mess. Lin Yu shielded Baobao, but children were bumping everywhere, knocking them left and right.

“Give it to me!”

Fu Lianqiao forced her way through then, glaring maliciously at Baobao. She reached into Baobao’s pocket to grab fruit, and with her other hand she aimed to pinch Baobao’s waist—hard.

When her parents fought, her mother used this move. Judging from her father’s reactions, it hurt terribly.

Fu Guangyuan also charged in, targeting Lin Yu. He had long hated the “outsider girl.” She was just a stray unwanted even by her own clan—what right did she have to eat their family’s food?

Meanwhile, Du Juan and Du Mingbai were tangled with others.

Du Mingbai, spoiled into a tyrant, was only three yet already aggressive. He tried stealing fruit from the child near him. When refused, he scratched wildly, and was scratched back several times.

Du Juan panicked, rushed to protect her brother, and fought the other child. Du Mingbai stood on the side crying and cheering, completely forgetting Lin Yu and Baobao.

Slap—

Fu Lianqiao wanted to attack, but Baobao would never stand there and let her. Before Fu Lianqiao touched her, Baobao slapped the back of her hand hard.

Then while Fu Lianqiao was stunned, Baobao lifted her little foot and kicked her hard in the knee. 

Fu Lianqiao yelped and nearly collapsed. “You dare hit me!”

Baobao’s counterattack triggered the twins’ viciousness. Fu Lianqiao grabbed a stone from the ground and rushed at her.

The size and strength difference was huge. The twins were seven. Lin Yu, though the same age, had grown small and thin from years of poor food and labor. She wasn’t much taller than Baobao—thin arms, thin legs, no intimidation at all.

But she had a fierce streak.

Facing the violent twins, she recalled how they bullied her in her past life, and the resentment of how she died.

She had only one thought: she would never be humiliated by them again. And she had promised her aunt she would protect Baobao.

Her expression hardened. She charged at Fu Lianqiao and grabbed the wrist holding the stone. Even when Fu Lianqiao’s free hand scratched her arm, she didn’t loosen her grip.

“You crazy thing! Let go of my sister!”

Fu Guangyuan panicked and ran over, punching and kicking Lin Yu.

Baobao couldn’t just watch. She howled and lunged, scratching and grabbing at him.

The four children tangled together.

The twins were stronger, but they weren’t as wild as Lin Yu and Baobao. These two fought without sense or restraint. Whatever worked—they used. Biting, hair-pulling, kicking wildly… a full shrew-fight style.

The twins gained no advantage at all. Both sides were injured.

“Stop! Stop fighting!”

Gradually, the other children sensed something was wrong. These four weren’t roughhousing—they were fighting for real. Especially Lin Yu. She was using deadly force, sinking her teeth into Fu Lianqiao’s arm hard enough that blood seeped through the thin summer fabric.

Fu Lianqiao screamed, crying snot and tears, but Lin Yu did not let go—she looked like she wanted to bite off a chunk of flesh.

The chubby boy who started all this finally panicked and rushed over to pull them apart.

“You shameless thing! Eating our food, using our things, and you bite my sister! I’ll have my parents throw you out! You cursed little wretch who brings death to your parents—just wait to starve to death!” Fu Guangyuan yelled, spewing cruel words a child his age shouldn’t even know. He clearly heard them from his parents often.

Some of the nearby children were scared of Lin Yu, thinking she looked like a wild beast, but some were offended by Fu Guangyuan’s words. They felt that children shouldn’t say such things.

“Let go! Let go now!” The chubby boy pulled desperately. 

Baobao, already dragged aside earlier, rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Lin Yu’s waist, whispering again and again:

“It’s okay now… it’s okay…” Feeling her cousin’s panic, Lin Yu gradually came back to herself. She slowly opened her sore, swollen jaw and let go. “I won’t let them bully you.”

Lin Yu hugged Baobao tightly, glaring at the twins.

“Mhm. I know. You were amazing today, Cousin!” Baobao nodded hard.

The two of them looked quite miserable. The neat little buns Baobao’s mother had styled that morning were ruined—one red hair tie gone. Her face bore two red claw marks that hadn’t broken the skin, but were swollen and frighteningly obvious on her pale cheeks.

Lin Yu’s darker skin somewhat concealed her scratches, but her clothes were torn, one sleeve dangling. Luckily she had an undershirt and was still young, so it did not expose anything.

As for the twins—they looked even worse, especially Fu Lianqiao. Her sleeve was rolled up, and the place where Lin Yu bit her was torn open and bloody. She didn’t dare touch it, her wailing sharp and piercing.

“Go get adults!”

The chubby boy scratched his head, terrified. He started the trouble—his parents would definitely beat him.

“I want Mother! I want Mother!” Fu Lianqiao cried in agony and fear.

“You two are dead! My parents won’t let you off! This time, we’ll get you two burdens kicked out. No one can protect you!” Fu Guangyuan spat and left.

The children who liked the twins and the Du siblings ran after them. The rest dispersed awkwardly.

Only Baobao, Lin Yu, and a few of the children who had picked fruit with them stayed.

“Sluuurp—” A snot-nosed boy sucked up his mucus, stuffed a few squashed fruits into his mouth, and looked at the girls with sympathy. “You’re done for… You’ll get beaten for sure.”

They never imagined worse consequences. In their minds, when kids did something wrong, adults beat them and it was over. One beating wasn’t enough? Then two.

“I’ll teach you—cry louder when they beat you. The harder I cry, the lighter my mother hits me.”

“Yes, yes! Cry a lot. Your parents won’t bear to hit you then.”

A group of little kids crowded around, giving advice seriously.

With all this chaos, no one felt like picking fruit anymore. They agreed to meet again after lunch and then scattered.

“We can’t go home yet.”

“We’ll wait for Mother before we go back.”

They said it together, then looked at each other’s disheveled faces and burst into laughter.

Both knew the truth: the only person who could truly protect them was Ge Shiyan. Even Lin Yu understood—if the First House stirred trouble now, even if her uncle felt sorry for her, he would be torn between his son and his niece.

And since she had injured Fu Lianqiao so badly, many people would say she, an outsider raised in their home, had no right to hurt the family’s real granddaughter. Even when she had reason, it would look unreasonable coming from her.

Only their aunt was unafraid of the First House.

Before she returned, they absolutely could not go home.

They didn’t dare linger at the mountainside in case Ma Meifang and Fu Shichun came searching in anger. So the girls took a small path to the village entrance where they could see their aunt first.

“Do you trust me?” Sitting behind a haystack at the village entrance, Lin Yu suddenly asked.

“I trust you.” Baobao answered without thinking.

She believed that a person’s eyes couldn’t lie. In the fight, Lin Yu had truly wanted to protect her.

And when she pulled Lin Yu into her arms earlier and told her she could let go, there had been a moment—just a moment—when she felt Lin Yu truly wanted to bite a piece of flesh off Fu Lianqiao. Without mercy.

Cousin had a secret.

Baobao buried that realization deep in her heart. Whatever that secret was, she knew at least this: her cousin genuinely cared for her mother, and genuinely protected her.

“Good.”

Getting Baobao’s answer, Lin Yu grabbed her collar and tore it wider along the seam. Then she tore off one sleeve and pulled off the last hair tie, tossing it away. She messed up Baobao’s hair until it looked like a nest.

Then she turned to look at Baobao’s injuries—but immediately looked away and turned toward herself.

She tore her already ripped clothes further open, then scratched the marks on her arms and neck several more times to deepen the wounds.

Baobao understood. She realized why Lin Yu had glanced at her injuries earlier.

“You don’t have to do that.” She hugged her cousin. “Mother won’t let anyone hurt us.”

Cousin worried their injuries weren’t as bad as the twins’—that they would be blamed. But even so, Cousin did not worsen Baobao’s injuries. She only worsened her own.

Baobao didn’t know what Cousin had gone through, but she knew Cousin was good.

“But…” Lin Yu hesitated, but facing Baobao’s certainty, she finally gave in. “Mhm.”

She would trust Aunt too.

The two clung to each other and quietly waited behind the haystack.

During this time, Baobao reflected on herself. She had lived through several lifetimes—why was she still so impulsive and childish? Her mind must not have aged with her.

When Fu Lianqiao attacked her, she should have thought of better solutions.

But honestly, even though injuring the enemy cost them injury too—knowing she had beaten the twins so miserably… was satisfying.

That must have been her original body’s temperament influencing her! Baobao grumbled internally. 

She was originally a mature, gentle, sensible, elegant, clever, and wise (insert dozens more compliments) girl.

Everything went smoothly for Ge Shiyan and her son. After questioning Fu Shinian, the teacher accepted him. Learning they already had writing supplies and beginner books, he told him to start lessons the next day.

They stayed longer only because Ge Shiyan inquired about meals.

The two villages weren’t far, but the round trip took nearly half an hour. There was no way a child that young could walk back and forth again just for lunch.

Fortunately, the teacher had long considered this. Students could eat at his home for 120 cash a month.

Usually a vegetable dish and soup, and every five days a fish or meat dish.

Class fell on all days except the fifteenth each month. Counting meals, it averaged about four cash a meal—very reasonable. Without hesitation, Ge Shiyan prepaid six months.

So by the time she returned with her son, Baobao and Lin Yu were nearly asleep waiting at the village entrance.

“Mother!”

“Aunt!”

Baobao’s head bobbed sleepily—then she jerked awake. At that moment, they saw Ge Shiyan approaching.

Baobao nudged her cousin and ran over.

“What happened?!” Ge Shiyan froze when she saw them. She almost couldn’t recognize the two wild-haired, torn-clothed, scratched-up children.

She had sent out a clean, adorable Baobao. What happened in just two hours?

She rushed forward and grabbed Baobao’s face. Seeing the claw marks, she felt rage explode.

“What happened!”

She rolled up Baobao’s sleeve. Seeing the bruises and scratches on her arms and neck, the veins in her forehead throbbed.

She checked Lin Yu too. Because she had scratched herself again earlier, her wounds looked worse. Several claw marks were torn open, red and swollen, even bleeding.

Children fighting did not leave injuries like these.

Could the girls have fought each other? No—if they had, they would not be clinging together, waiting miserably for her at the village entrance.

There was only one possibility.

Only one group would dare harm them like this—and frighten them so much they didn’t dare enter the village.

Ge Shiyan breathed heavily, body trembling with fury.

“Was it the First House?”

When she received a nod, she grabbed Baobao into her arms, seized Lin Yu’s hand, and stormed toward the village.

Her pace was so fast Lin Yu almost stumbled.

Fu Shinian ran alongside, jumping to see Baobao’s injuries, panic written all over him.

“Fu Shichun! Ma Meifang! Get out here!”

To hell with diplomacy. She would not tolerate them another second. These people could endanger Baobao at any moment. She wished she could crush them instantly.

She even blamed herself—just to avoid appearing weak before the First House, she insisted on staying under the same roof. She had forgotten she could not always protect Baobao. And these vermin would seize any chance to harm her.

They were rot and filth. Why must she stay tangled with filth?

Fury burned in her—but her mind stayed clear. At this critical moment, she suddenly had an idea. One that could not only sever ties with them, but also secure her rightful share—and leave them losing everything.

“You little beast! You dare come back!”

Ma Meifang stormed out, ignoring Ge Shiyan and staring only at Baobao and Lin Yu. She raised a hand to slap them.

She and her husband had searched everywhere earlier and could not find the girls. Their children had been beaten so badly—especially the brutal bite from Lin Yu. She would never allow that terrifying girl to remain here.

But before her slap landed, Ge Shiyan grabbed her wrist and—with her other hand—slapped her hard across the face.

“You dare hit me!” Ma Meifang shrieked in disbelief.

“I’ll hit you again!” And she slapped the other cheek even harder.

Smack— A crimson handprint rose immediately. Blood trickled from the corner of Ma Meifang’s mouth. Both cheeks went numb; one tooth felt loose.

“I’m your mother-in-law! If a mother-in-law can’t discipline her daughter-in-law, then what? Look at what you’ve turned Fu family’s children into! Forget hitting you—if I divorced you on the spot, the clan elders would praise me!” Ge Shiyan sneered, feeling she hadn’t hit hard enough.

People inside the house rushed out—relatives, neighbors.

Ma Meifang had earlier wailed that the two foster girls had attacked her twins, even showing Fu Lianqiao’s bitten arm. Seeing the twins’ condition, many relatives believed her and helped search.

They came back empty-handed and gathered in the main hall.

“Shiyan, what are you doing!”

Several senior women came over. 

According to the twins, Baobao and Lin Yu didn’t want to share fruit and beat them. To the elders, wild fruit was worthless—why not share? The two girls might be young, but by generation they were indeed the twins’ elders.

They had wanted to lecture her—until they saw Baobao and Lin Yu.

Ge Shiyan had put Baobao down before entering so she could fight properly. Now the two girls stood behind her, timid, clutching her clothes.

They looked worse than the twins—small, scratched, swollen, clothes torn. Pitiful.

The women froze. The twins were older—yet these two bore more injuries. Were things really as the twins said?

They remembered rumors.

The little child bride had fallen into the water. Someone had seen the twins and their cousins leading her toward the deep pool. Ma Meifang claimed the children panicked after she fell, afraid of being scolded, and didn’t tell adults—that Baobao insisted on going to the pool and they failed to stop her.

Adults had forgiven it because no disaster happened in the end.

But later the little girl had whispered that the twins hadn’t pushed her—only kept telling her how pretty the lotuses were and urging her to pick one…

The women shivered again. The Fu family’s business was too messy. They shouldn’t take sides.

“Fu Dayan, let’s divide the household. I’ll live with the youngest. Whether you follow the youngest or Shichun—your choice.”

A divorce was impossible—but splitting the household was not. Once separated, parents could choose which son to live with.

And separation would not damage anyone’s reputation. On the contrary, as Fu family’s descendant, her son was entitled to a fair portion of family property—the ancestral house, the farmland. She would not leave anything to the animals of the First House.

Today she would carve off flesh from them—so deeply it would hurt for years.