CH 10

Chapter 10 – Idiot

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Lin Xiaoyin’s brain was buzzing and felt her head spinning.

Her hands were still clutching the disgusting man firmly while she felt hopelessly apathetic.

With the sweater neckline torn exposing a large expanse of her chest, the man who covered her body bit her shoulder and neck brutishly.

Outside the basement, someone spoke, causing Zhang Xing to stiffen.

Lin Yunzhen purposely raised her voice, “Teacher Li, Teacher Zhang! What brought you guys to the backyard?”

Li Chuan’s low mellow voice came from outside.

“Since Zhang Cheng is leaving first thing in the morning, he is a bit sad to part with Village Chief Zhang. So he wanted to find and have a couple glasses of drinks with the Village Chief.”

“What a couple glasses of drinks, it’s a couple of bowls!” Zhang Cheng walked towards Li Yunzhen and said, “I went to Brother Xing’s room just now but couldn’t find him, so I came to the backyard to look for him.”

Li Yunzhen was about to say that Zhang Xing had gone out to do something when Li Chuan spoke first, “What’s the strange noise in the basement? The Village Chief is moving things down there? Does he need our help?”

Feeling her heart thumping, Li Yunzhen hastily said, “Oh … oh, that’s right, isn’t Teacher Zhang leaving tomorrow? Our family, Xing’wa ah, wanted to move some pumpkin ah, sweet potato ah, winter melon from the basement to let Teacher Zhang take them back to the city. As it’s a backward place here, we can’t take out any fine things but just these.”

“Aiya, why the courtesy ah, Brother Xing, come out and let us brothers have hearty drinks. Thinking of leaving tomorrow, Laozi[1] felt sad and especially wanted to cy. You hurry out and don’t move anything ah. There is no shortage of anything in the city and I only lack a brother like you. Hurry up and come drink with me.”

Zhang Cheng walked towards the basement but was stopped by Li Yunzhen, “Teacher Zhang, don’t go down. It’s dirty and there are centipedes and crawling insects. The smell is unpleasant too, so don’t go down. Xing’wa ah, hurry out. I will move the vegetables below.”

Zhang Xing cursed inwardly: Damn it, Brother! You f*cking wants to drink, at least pick the right timing!

Taking off his sock, Zhang Xing stuffed it into Lin Xiaoyin’s mouth then took the straw ropes to tie her hands and feet.

Lin Xiaoyin’s stomach churned by the nauseating stench but she couldn’t do anything. She stared viciously at Zhang Xing, wanting to kill him.

Squeezing her face then grabbing her big breast, Zhang Xing whispered, “Laozi will go drink with my brother then come f*ck you tomorrow. You behave yourself or else, Laozi will break your arms and legs.”

Once Zhang Xing left, Lin Xiaoyin sighed with relief. Just as she got up to move, she saw stars in front of her eyes.

That slap from Zhang Xing was so ruthless that tears soaked her cheeks with bursts of tingling pain.

If not for Li Chuan, she might have …

A moment later, Li Yunzhen came down. Loading the sweet potatoes into the basket, she muttered, “Don’t leave in the future, this is your home. Give me a grandson, then you don’t need to go do farm work.”

Lin Xiaoyin stared at her with wide eyes.

Heavens. What kind of place is this?

She saw Zhang Xing enter Li Yunzhen’s room half an hour ago, and both mother and son appeared sneaky.

Out of curiosity, she leaned on the door with a facial mask and listened. As the door was not bolted, the door ‘creaked’ open a gap when she gently touched it.

After that, she was abducted by Zhang Xing’s mother and son, and her innocence was almost ruined by Zhang Xing …

The two men, Zhang Xing and Zhang Cheng, were drinking big bowlfuls of wine and ate cured meat in the main room.

Behaving gentle and weak in front of them and being a poor drinker, Li Chuan didn’t even drink two bowls when he called out his dizziness and went back to his room.

Once Li Chuan had left, Zhang Cheng put his arm around Zhang Xing’s shoulders and spoke after a burp, “Brother, buddy me will leave tomorrow. If by chance you come to Yunyang, Brother will take you to eat delicious food, drink hard liquor and hang out with chicks! Brother is not bragging. In Yunyang, you just mention Brother’s name and you won’t have to pay wherever you go to pick up chicks. Brother, let me tell you, the city chicks ah, one is prettier than the others, isn’t Teacher Lin pretty? Those ladies in the city are more beautiful than Teacher Lin – hic – hey, Brother, are there any shelled peanuts? Bring two plates over.”

Taking care of the two men by the side, Li Yunzhen poured them wine and served them food.

She was happy that her son could make such a cool city friend. Hurriedly to the kitchen to unshelled the peanuts, she then sautéed some to be served with the wine.

The process of unshelled then sautéed peanuts took at least fifteen minutes.

This little time was enough for Li Chuan to act.

Drinking high and the remarks of Zhang Cheng warmed Zhang Xing’s heart that his eyes reddened, “Brother ah, why didn’t I know you earlier. You don’t know how hard I had been in the city before. Everyone f*cking disdained Laozi. Used to have a girlfriend in the factory, she disdained Laozi for being poor and slept with the factory chief behind Laozi’s back. Damn f*cking – .”

Zhang Cheng looked at him, then ‘wow’ and lunged into his arms to cry, “Brother, we both similarly got cuckolded in the world ah! My fiancée, also f*cking ran away with another man, and even had a baby too. Insufferable, really f*cking insufferable! Brother, come! Let’s drink!”

Zhang Xing spat out, “Women are so f*cking cheap!”

“Cheap, cheap!”

**********

Li Chuan stumbled out of his room window to the vegetable garden in the backyard.

He then dove into the basement. As soon as Lin Xiaoyin saw him, hope immediately flared up in her eyes.

The man didn’t use what was in his hand to sever the binding straw ropes, instead he first looked around before his line of sight fell on a rusty hoe.

He grabbed Lin Xiaoyin by the shoulder and dragged her straight to the wall. Then pointing to the hoe, he motioned to her to use the hoe to grind off the straw rope on her hands.

Lin Xiaoyin was puzzled and asked him, “I saw you have a knife just now, why … “

“I don’t want to die with you.” The man’s voice was profoundly cold, “Want to survive, grind it off yourself and you don’t have much time.”

Li Chuan wanted to create the illusion of Lin Xiaoyin escaping on her own.

Being inexplicably frightened by the man, Lin Xiaoyin pursed her lips and began to grind the straw ropes on the hoe.

Although the hoe was rusty, it was still sharp. In less than five minutes, the straw ropes snapped off.

Lin Xiaoyin untied the straw rope binding her ankles. She was about to jump into the man’s arms when the man straightened up then threw her a small flashlight and looked down at her, “Remember, the villagers cannot be trusted. You go hide in the mountain temple for two days where no one will search there for the time being.”

Li Chuan pondered carefully about what Su Qin said during the day. Since the girl could come out of the mountain temple, the old man must have turned a blind eye to the girl.

There is nowhere safe in the village now, only that place.

“Mountain temple?” The girl wanted to cry. Looking up at the man, she tugged the man’s clothes, “Li Chuan, don’t leave me. It’s already so dark, I’m scared.”

“Once you get there, find your own way to hide and don’t come out if you don’t die of hunger.” Li Chuan raised his wrist to look at his watch and told her “At most you have five minutes to escape from here, it’s up to you whether to go or to stay.”

Li Chuan suspected she had a hand in the fire in his previous lifetime, but it was never confirmed. He saved Lin Xiaoyin because she is a girl and also because he resented scumbags. He didn’t want the scumbag to succeed again.

Li Chuan returned to the room and pretended as if nothing had happened.

Watching Li Chuan leave, Lin Xiaoyin clambered up after him too.

Standing in front of Li Chuan’s window, she knocked on his window with a trembling voice, “Li Chuan, will you let me in. I’m so scared and I want to go home.”

Li Chuan frowned and said solemnly, “Sorry Miss Lin. Saving you is ethical but we have no obligation to die with you. You go to the mountain temple now. Perhaps you can still wait safely until Zhang Cheng brings the police back.”

The man paused, “There are only two ways either to live or to die, and you choose yourself.”

Lin Xiaoyin felt a chill in her heart. She had regarded the man inside as her last hope, but that man …

Biting her lips, she ran towards the mountain.

The cold dew was heavy in the remote mountains and the few girls cuddled up together to sleep in the mountain temple.

With the worship candle lit in the mountain temple’s main hall, the room was slightly illuminated.

Being closest to the disabled girl, Su Qin felt the icy-coldness of her body that she covered her with her own quilt before hugging her to warm her up.

Since Wen Mei was not sleepy, she was the first to hear movements outside and kicked Su Qin.

Halting her movement and holding her breath, she subconsciously grabbed the broken tiles.

The door ‘creaked’ open from outside and a dark shadow quietly fumbled in.

The person’s stature was small and slender, it wasn’t a man.

Stepping into the main hall, Lin Xiaoyin instinctively closed and hastily bolted the door.

She and Li Chuan had rested here during the day, and learned that there was only an old man here. But can she really hide and wait here until Zhang Cheng brings the police over? Will the old man here hand her over to Zhang Xing?

She doesn’t know.

Groping in the dark, she tripped over someone sleeping on the ground and screamed.

Su Qin reacted the fastest. Sitting up and pulling her, she covered her mouth and hissed in a low voice, “Don’t scream.”

Gasping badly, Lin Xiaoyin turned to look at Su Qin’s face. Since her head was wrapped in cloth, she could not see her appearance except for the pair of eyes.

She then looked at the girl beside Su Qin.

The girl has no eyes. Frightened with shaking hands, Lin Xiaoyin screamed out again.

Su Qin immediately slapped her face and shouted, “Shut up.”

Since the slap felt warm, she was not a ghost.

Dazed by the slap, Lin Xiaoyin froze on the spot and stared wide-eyed at the three girls who sat there.

Seeing clearly that it was Lin Xiaoyin, Su Qin snorted coldly.

Uhm. Enemies do inevitably cross paths. It’s actually Teacher Lin, who was inclined to be the missus, again.

She still remembered the scene when Lin Xiaoyin took a stack of old photos and newspapers to find her and Baobao in the restaurant.

Lin Xiaoyin dumped the photos and newspapers on the dining table, on which Su Qin in the photo was unkempt and squatting in Zhang Xing’s pigsty.

It was taken by the media when the police came to rescue her. Although it was pixelated, it was not difficult to discern that it was her.

Her daughter, Baobao, pointed at the photo curiously and asked, “Mommy, this dirty Jiejie[2] who had no clothes on, looks like you.”

The exquisitely make-up Lin Xiaoyin snorted coldly and said to Baobao, “Baobao, this dirty woman is precisely your mother.”

Baobao, who was mysophobia, could not tolerate any dirty things. But when she saw this photo of her mother, she froze for a moment before packing it away and tucking it into her little pink school bag.

Immediately after that, like a ferocious little tiger, Baobao pushed Lin Xiaoyin, “Bad woman, you sullied my mother. Bad woman, bad woman!”

Lin Xiaoyin pushed the little girl back, “You get it straight, it’s your mother who is sullied. She has been a sow in the countryside for five years, so it is her who is sullied. Baobao, since your mother is so dirty, you don’t follow her. Come to Auntie, Auntie will be your new mother hereafter, okay?”

“No!” Baobao grabbed a small bowl and smashed it on her face.

Getting wounded, Lin Xiaoyin ran crying pitiably to Li Chuan and censured her for not teaching her daughter well.

The events of her previous lifetime are still vivid in her mind and she is still furious when she recalls one after another of those occurrences.

Su Qin’s temper was fairly good in the previous lifetime and was a pushover while Professor Li treated everyone gently. They were the typical ‘gentle couple’.

But getting reborn again, she seems to have figured out everything.

Blind forbearance will only cause those disgusting people to reach for a yard after getting an inch*.

[T/N: 得寸进尺 (Dé cùn jìn chǐ) – literally means win an inch, want a foot / figurative for not satisfied with small gains]

**********

Su Qin’s tone was flat as she looked at the not properly dressed Lin Xiaoyin and asked, “Who are you?”

Lin Xiaoyin was sobered by the slap and asked, “You … you all … are precisely those girls who … Zhang Xing said were abducted and sold here?”

Meng Sisi asked her weakly, “You were also abducted and sold here?”

“What abducted! I’m not like you girls! If it weren’t for you girls, I wouldn’t have been kidnapped by that despicable Zhang Xing and wouldn’t have almost  … “ Feeling unbearably furious, Lin Xiaoyin asked them, “Who else is here besides you girls? Li Chuan said that the police will come to rescue me in two days. Am I safe here?”

All three girls didn’t say anything.

“Speak up ah, are you all dumb?”

Su Qin spoke coldly, “You speak louder. It will be best to draw the villagers over and better yet to let Zhang Xing know that you have run over here.”

Lin Xiaoyin immediately shut her mouth.

Su Qin threw her a cotton-padded jacket and said, “You sleep here tonight. It’s safe for the time being. Before dawn, you go to the backyard and hide in the woodshed. Don’t stay in the main hall. Since Teacher Li told you that it is safe here, there must be a reason.”

A gust of cold wind came from outside causing Lin Xiaoyin to shiver from the coldness. Sniffing the smelly worn-out cotton-padded jacket, she frowned, “You let me wear this? Bed? Where’s the bed?”

""

Ever since this woman came in, she had been making a fuss that Meng Sisi immediately scolded her, “Sleep on the floor ah, you little idiot.”

Lin Xiaoyin spoke angrily, “Who are you scolding?”

“Idiot.” Meng Sisi scolded again.

Meng Sisi and Su Qin, who slept separately on both ends of the makeshift bed, rolled up their quilt tightly, not giving her any chance to get under the quilts.

Su Qin snorted coldly in her heart.

In her previous and present lifetime, Miss Lin’s temper has always been very unpleasant.

[1] 老子 (Lǎozi) – in this context it’s self-proclaimed for I, used arrogantly or jocularly

[2] 姐姐 (Jiějiě) – Elder siste