Chapter 20

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Old Chen carried the sleeping child home. Seeing the day was still erly, he grabbed his sickle and headed to the hemp field.

Chen Xiaosang was awakened by the loud crying and the shouts of Sanzhu. Sitting on the bed, she rubbed her eyes, trying to focus on Sanzhu.

Sanzhu was flailing his arms around anxiously. “Auntie, Aunt Darong is crying, so many tears!”

Darong’s wife, wasn’t she the third daughter-in-law of the Qian family? Just a couple of days ago, both families had a dispute, and now she’s come to their house?

Xiaosang slipped out of bed and headed straight to the room of Dazhu and Erzhu.

As she approached, she could hear Big Rong’s wife wailing, “You’ll both be alright soon, please return my money…sob…sob…”

The two boys, cornered helplessly on their bed, saw Xiaosang and called out as if she was their lifeline, “Auntie!”

Before Xiaosang could react, Darong’s wife rushed over, embracing her tightly, tears streaming down her face. “Xiaosang, please help your sister-in-law! Your aunt has thrown me out. She won’t let me return unless I bring back 800 coins! Oh… why is my life so hard!”

Xiaosang, feeling slightly suffocated from the tight hug, gently patted Darong’s wife’s back, trying to comfort her, “Sister-in-law, you can talk to auntie. The money was given to my family, not taken by you.”

Darong’s wife sobbed into Xiaosang’s shoulder, leaving it wet with tears and snot. She released Xiaosang, her swollen, red eyes filled with hope as she looked at the small child before her. “I told her, but grandma doesn’t listen to me.”

“After your grandma passed, I heard you moved in with your parents. Your mother adores you, she wouldn’t hide money from you. Xiaosang, could you give the 800 coins to your sister-in-law, please?”

Xiaosang’s shoulder felt uncomfortably sticky. She wanted to step back, but was held too tightly. She could only shake her head. “I don’t know where the money is.”

She was just a child, barely ten. When grown-ups had problems, shouldn’t they seek help from other adults, not children?

Moreover, that money was meant for Dazhu and Erzhu’s recovery. Her parents didn’t even touch it for summer taxes; she couldn’t just hand it out without a second thought.

Darong’s wife’s eyebrows furrowed into a figure-eight as she looked at Xiaosang pleadingly, “Xiaosang, can’t you help your sister-in-law?

Country children are resilient. A few days’ rest will heal them; there’s no need for expensive medicine.

But if I can’t retrieve the money, I’ll have nowhere to go. Are they pushing me to my death?

My life is hard. Ever since marrying your Big Brother Darong, I’ve not had a single good day. I rise before dawn to work, only resting when the whole family is asleep. I don’t even get a share of the good food. Now… now I’ve been cast out…

Xiaosang, please pity your sister-in-law and return the money! If you save me, I’ll thank you all my life, okay?”

“Doctor advised that Dazhu and Erzhu are severely injured. They need proper rest,” Chen Xiaosang stated firmly, refusing to help.

In disbelief, Darong’s wife stared at Chen Xiaosang, her lips trembling. “Xiaosang, I thought you were a good-hearted kid. How could you be so heartless?”

Chen Xiaosang wasn’t pleased. She noticed that Darong’s wife didn’t even glance at the injuries of the two boys, and persistently refused to lend a hand.

So, if she doesn’t help, she’s cruel? Chen Xiaosang thought. Darong’s wife was a master at manipulating guilt.

Chen Xiaosang decided to stand her ground. Looking up with her round eyes, she responded, “My mother once told me that adults should seek assistance from other adults when in trouble. Adults who ask children for help are not good people.”

Darong’s wife tried to defend herself, sounding aggrieved. “I’ve always been kind to you. How can you insult me like that?”

Chen Xiaosang, full of self-assurance, puffed out her chest. “You never bought me any candy, nor came to see me. How is that being good to me?”

She had barely spoken to this woman, who she called sister-in-law, other than last night when they dealt with Auntie’s issues. Did a few words make her good to her?

Chen Xiaosang found it unfair that Darong’s wife, who was just another bully, was picking on her for being a naive kid.

Feeling guilty, Darong’s wife shifted her gaze to Xiaosang’s small hands. “Life has been hard for me. I’m busy working all day. How can I find the time to visit you? Besides, I’m not the head of the household. I don’t have the money to buy you candy.”

“But my other sisters-in-law used their own dowry to buy me candies,” Chen Xiaosang argued.

Darong’s wife felt sour. She had her own children to take care of with her dowry. She thought Xiaosang was greedy for eyeing her dowry. What a comfortable life Xiaosang must be leading while she struggled!

“You’re well-fed and cared for every day. Do you still need candies from me?” Darong’s wife said, her tone tinged with bitterness.

Chen Xiaosang tilted her head and looked at Darong’s wife. “Yes, I do. If I can’t finish them, I can share them with the other brothers.”

Darong’s wife felt wronged. Why didn’t Xiaosang mention sharing the candy with her son? She was dissatisfied with Chen Xiaosang and felt that the entire Chen family was heartless and selfish.

They knew about her hardships at her in-law’s place, and that she had been driven out, yet Xiaosang had the audacity to ask her for candies without showing any sympathy.

Thinking about the harsh words from her mother-in-law when she was forced to come asking for money, Darong’s wife felt a surge of discomfort. She wiped away a tear and once again turned to Chen Xiaosang, expressing her lament. “Did your mother teach you to be this heartless? You wouldn’t even help me when I was on the verge of a breakdown?”

Chen Xiaosang snorted in response, “Did your mother teach you to be this shameless?”

No wonder they say every pitiful person has a side that’s loathsome. Darong’s wife only ever whines about her own miseries, but she conveniently ignores the injuries of Dazhu and Erzhu.

Darong’s wife trembled, her eyes fixed on Chen Xiaosang in disbelief.

“Do you not have an ounce of sympathy?” she asked.

Was she really expecting sympathy from someone who had survived the apocalypse? That was wishful thinking.

Chen Xiaosang tried to stand assertively with her hands on her hips, but her short arms allowed only a slight curve to be seen. After several unsuccessful attempts to appear intimidating, she gave up and said firmly, “If you’re suffering so much, why don’t you go home to your mother?”

Her words, initially frosty, softened and lost their edge when delivered in her young, innocent voice.

Chen Xiaosang crinkled her nose, dissatisfied. She cleared her throat and tried to add with an attempt at authority, “You’re nothing more than a drama queen, always playing the victim. We won’t fall for it!”

Her words, however, still carried a soft, almost pleading tone, reminiscent of a child haggling for candy.

Annoyed, Chen Xiaosang stormed out.

Arguing was futile; it just sapped her energy.

“If you don’t give me money today, I… I’ll throw myself at your doorstep!” Darong’s wife wailed.

Dazhu and Erzhu were terrified. They sprang from the bed, each grabbing one of Chen Xiaosang’s arms.

“What… what if she really kills herself?” Dazhu asked, his voice shaking with fear.

“We’re just kids; we can’t stop her from ramming into a wall,” Chen Xiaosang retorted.

Er Zhu was on the brink of tears. “I’m scared of dead people. It was horrifying when Great-Grandma died.”

Chen Xiaosang gave Erzhu a scornful look. “You’re such a ninny. If you’re scared, then just don’t look!”

Er Zhu seemed to understand and exclaimed, “Yes, I don’t have to watch her!”

Chen Xiaosang looked at Er Zhu with a mix of pity and frustration. How was she supposed to handle such a dimwit?

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