Chapter 23

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Old Chen could only apply pressure to Erzhu’s wound with one hand while soothing his daughter’s back with the other. He comforted her, “As soon as your fifth brother returns, we’ll ask him to fetch the doctor to examine both you and Erzhu. Please stop crying, okay?”

With her eyes swollen and red, Chen Xiaosang nodded, wiping her tears away. She insisted, “Erzhu needs the check-up. I want Mrs. Li to help me seek justice.”

Feeling dizzy after speaking, she covered her head with her hands and slumped onto the bed.

As her head felt increasingly empty, she closed her eyes and leaned against her father’s side for support.

Noticing her abnormal state, Old Chen quickly instructed Sanzhu to seek assistance from their neighbors.

By the time Mrs. Li arrived home, their house was crowded with the village head, the local doctor, and other villagers.

Frantic, she pushed her way through the crowd. She saw Erzhu on the bed while the doctor was checking Chen Xiaosang’s pulse. Observing Erzhu’s pallid face and Xiaosang’s furrowed brow as she lay on the bed, Mrs. Li anxiously questioned Old Chen, “What happened to my daughter and grandson?”

“Erzhu has lost a lot of blood. He needs to rest and recover,” Old Chen replied, his voice low.

“And Xiaosang?” Mrs. Li asked, worry filling her voice.

Old Chen didn’t answer, instead turning to look at the elderly doctor at the bedside.

The old doctor, with a serious look, shook his head and sighed deeply before he could utter a word.

Could it be… her daughter…

The thought made Mrs. Li throw herself onto Chen Xiaosang, weeping uncontrollably, “My dear child, you can’t leave us! If you die, I won’t be able to go on living either!”

Everyone in the room, unable to bear the sight, shook their heads. Some tried to console her, “Please accept our condolences, sister-in-law…”

But Mrs. Li didn’t heed their words, practically smothering Chen Xiaosang under her as she sobbed, gasping for breath.

Chen Xiaosang was jolted awake. She tried to push her mother off but found herself unable to move her an inch.

She lifted her small head, gasping, “Mother…you’re crushing…me…I…can’t…breathe…”

Immediately, Mrs. Li got up. Seeing Chen Xiaosang’s flushed face and her continuous coughing, she hurried to rub her daughter’s back.

People in the room asked one after another, “How’s Xiaosang feeling?”

“Where are you feeling unwell?”

“Dr. Xu, don’t just shake your head. Can Xiaosang be treated?”

Chen Xiaosang was baffled by their concerns. She had just fallen asleep due to an unbearable headache. Why was everyone acting as though she was on her deathbed?

“She can be treated!” The doctor finally found a chance to speak.

“Then why shake your head if she can be treated?” someone from the crowd grumbled.

“This poor girl is inherently weak, with a frail body. I was just…sighing at her condition,” the doctor explained.

Understanding their words, Chen Xiaosang mustered her strength to wrap her slender arms around Mrs. Li’s shoulders. She whimpered weakly, “Mother…my head hurts.”

Alarmed, Mrs. Li questioned, “Why do you have a headache?”

Chen Xiaosang pursed her lips, her nose twitching as she fought back the tears. Her eyes, already red, welled up as she sobbed, “Auntie hit my head… She wanted to steal our tax money… She attacked us and forced us to find money for her…”

Her voice began as a teary whimper, but it soon evolved into full-blown sobbing. Her eyes, still swollen from earlier tears, were now a painful red.

Witnessing her distress, everyone in the room, not just Mrs. Li, felt a pang of sympathy. They quickly inquired about her condition from Doctor Xu.

Doctor Xu, shaking his head as was his habit, remarked, “Head injuries are the most complex. Some people might feel better after a bit of pain, while others might need rest to recover.”

Chen Xiaosang weakly shook her head, “I didn’t… didn’t have a headache before… It’s Auntie who hit me…”

“Qingshan’s wife is indeed a troublemaker. There’s no peace when she’s around!” People began to grumble.

“That’s true! She’s harming one child after another. She needs to be taught a lesson!”

“What’s her motive anyway? To steal money? We have a thief in our village now!”

The room filled with murmurs of discontent. The tranquility of just two days ago seemed a distant memory as the turmoil resumed.

Mrs. Li gently placed Chen Xiaosang on the bed and headed for the door. Old Chen, who had been left shaken by the doctor’s words, held onto her tightly, “Don’t rush, let the village chief investigate first.”

“What’s there to investigate? She first hurt my grandson, and now she’s after my daughter. If I don’t put her in her place, I’d be failing my children!”

Mrs. Li, her eyes burning with resolve, pried Old Chen’s hand away and stormed out.

Old Chen let out a sigh, quickly turning to the village chief, “Chief, please bear witness to this.”

The village chief, a clever man, understood Old Chen’s intent. He quickly rallied the people in the room to follow Mrs. Li.

Chen Xiaosang, anxious, tried to climb off the bed but was scooped up by Old Chen and placed back, “Rest well.”

“I’m not tired,” Chen Xiaosang declared, attempting to get up again.

She was determined to witness her mother deal with Mrs. Qian. Otherwise, all her suffering today would have been in vain.

“I’m not tired either,” Erzhu chimed in.

Old Chen sternly rebuked, “You both need to rest.”

With both his daughter and grandson suffering head injuries and a crowd outside, he couldn’t risk any further harm.

Chen Xiaosang was itching to ignore her father’s advice. Seizing a moment when her father was speaking with Erzhu, she slid off the bed, her short legs propelling her towards the door.

Old Chen, his legs giving way from stress, made a feeble attempt to follow. He asked Doctor Xu to keep an eye on Erzhu while he, leaning against the wall for support, slowly made his way outside.

He sighed to himself, recognizing the toll age had taken on his ability to handle shock.

When Chen Xiaosang sprinted to her parents’ room, she was met with the pitiful cries and angry curses of Mrs. Qian. The tumult was punctuated by the sounds of slaps and the village folk blaming Mrs. Qian.

With great effort, she squeezed through the crowd of legs, finding Mrs. Li sitting dominantly on Mrs. Qian. Mrs. Li firmly grasped Mrs. Qian’s hair with one hand, and in the other, she held a cloth shoe, delivering blow after blow to Mrs. Qian’s face. Her hand moved with such ferocity that it seemed to blur in motion.

While Mrs. Qian bawled and spat curses, she desperately tried to fend off Mrs. Li. However, her efforts were futile as Mrs. Li stepped on her and unleashed another round of punishment.

“I’ll beat you to death today!” Mrs. Li roared, her shoe sole landing repeatedly on Mrs. Qian’s already bruised face.

Watching this scene, Chen Xiaosang couldn’t help but feel a surge of satisfaction. She remembered how she and Erzhu had been defenseless against Mrs. Qian’s bullying. The sight of her mother standing up to the tormentor made her want to cheer.

Whack her, give her a good thrashing!

If she wasn’t put in her place now, they’d just be bullied again.

Chen Xiaosang balled her little fists at her chest, her eyes sparkling as she watched her mother, Mrs. Li, in her moment of glory.

Gradually, Mrs. Qian’s crying dwindled down to weak sobs. The village chief then signaled for someone to pull Mrs. Li away.

Even as she was being pulled away, Mrs. Li managed to land a couple of kicks on Mrs. Qian’s stomach.

“Alright, how much longer will this go on?” The village chief, neck craned, addressed the crowd.

Seizing the moment, Mrs. Qian, looking for salvation, clawed her way up to the village chief’s leg. Between sobs, she cried out, “Did you see, village chief? I’ve been beaten to a pulp by those four little wretches!”

Her face contorted with pain as she spoke too forcefully. Tears and snot mingled together, all caught by her wide-open mouth.

Clutching her mouth in agony, she felt something hard. When she spat it out and saw a molar in her palm, she shrieked, “My tooth!”

At the sight of blood spraying from her mouth onto the village chief’s pants, he recoiled in shock, taking a couple of steps back.

Chen Xiaosang stared, wide-eyed, at the bloody spectacle. Had her mother just knocked out Mrs. Qian’s molar?

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