CH 7

Chapter 7: Using Xie Yuntang's Headband as a Belt

Feeling the pain in his arm, Su Zhi woke up with a dazed expression. Then, he pressed his lips and opened his mouth, getting ready to cry. However, Su Tao covered his mouth and said fiercely, “You rascal! I’ll beat you if you dare to cry! Get up now and cut the ragweed.”

The rascal, Su Zhi, sniffed and wiped his tears while he got up. He seemed a little aggrieved.

Sister had been really fierce these past couple of days.

Su Tao didn’t feel guilty. Instead, she found it satisfying to vent her frustration. Since the elders bullied her, she would bully the younger ones. It wouldn’t make sense for her to be bullied by both the elders and juniors.

With the boy and baby in tow, she went out to cut the ragweed again. When she was outside, she looked at the Xie family's house, but she didn't see “Milksop”. She gulped. She wished she could have a meat pie.

Perhaps God heard her wish because at this moment, Xie Yuntang and his mother came out.

Mrs. Xie-Qin stuffed a paper bag into Xie Yuntang’s hand, touched his head and said very gently, “Be careful on the road.”

There must be a meat pie inside the paper bag.

Su Tao stared at the paper bag and gulped. After Mrs. Xie-Qin entered the house, Su Tao quickly caught up with Xie Yuntang. Before she could say anything fierce, Xie Yuntang gave her the paper bag and said seriously, “This is for you.”

Su Tao was caught off guard by his action, “...”

What did this milksop mean?

She wanted to snatch his pie and yet he offered it to her voluntarily!

He was so kind that she felt bad about bullying him.

No, she couldn’t be soft-hearted. She wanted to go home.

She snatched the paper bag and glared at him. “I'll snatch it myself!” After saying that, she made a face at him.

After making a face at him, she still felt that it wasn’t enough to scare him. She looked at him for a while, unable to bring herself to bully him. Finally, her gaze landed on his headband.

She raised her hand and pulled the headband from his hair, then threatened him in a childish tone, “I’ll snatch your pie every day from now on!” After saying that, she ran away with Su Dou on her back.

Xie Yuntang's hair fell loose and he stood there blankly.

Why did Su Tao pull his headband off...

The teacher said that one shouldn’t pull off the headband on a whim.

Mrs. Xie-Qin was worried about her son going to school, so she habitually waited for her son to go far away before coming out to have a look. In the end, she saw her son standing there with disheveled hair.

She hurried over. “Yuntang, why has your hair fallen loose?”

Xie Yuntang didn't seem to be adept at lying. He lowered his head and said softly, “The headband was blown away by the wind.”

Mrs. Xie-Qin never doubted her son. She took him home and quickly tied his hair up again with a headband. After she tied his hair up, she couldn't help but kiss him. “My Yuntang is a handsome boy.” She looked a little complacent after saying that.

Xie Qing, who was doing the accounts next to her, took a look and said with a smile, “He takes after me.”

“That’s not true. He takes after me.” Mrs. Xie-Qin glared at him.

Xie Yuntang was used to his father and mother acting like this. He stroked his hair and said obediently, “Dad, Mom, I'm going to school.”

……

Over at this end, Su Tao had already shared the pie with Su Zhi. This time, it wasn’t a meat pie, but a crispy pastry.

Although she didn’t know what it was, it was really delicious.

Su Tao licked her fingers. She was stunned when she realized what she did. She wanted to "pfft”, but she held back.

The pastry smelled wonderful.

She glanced at Su Zhi, who was taking small mouthfuls. She gulped and finally forced herself to look away. Then, her gaze landed on the headband in her hand.

She had become a detestable person who bullied children and her conscience was pricked.

However, this wasn’t her fault. It was the fault of the stupid system.

The headband looked pretty nice. It would be a waste to throw it away.

She suddenly thought of something and unbuttoned her clothes. Finally, she took off the belt of her trousers which had been knotted several times and replaced it with Xie Yuntang's headband.

Well, it was quite suitable.

After she tsked twice, she began to cut the ragweed. When Lin Sanzhu went home after cutting the ragweed yesterday, she saw what it looked like.

She cut the ragweed from one end to another end. By the time the basket was full, she was already a distance from Su Zhi and Su Dou. She gasped for breath and finally sat down on the ground to take a break.

But as soon as her butt touched the ground, she heard Lin Sanzhu's roar. “Wretched girl, come back now! You’re always slacking off. Come down now.”

What tough luck she had. Su Tao seriously suspected that Lin Sanzhu's eyes were on her body.

Although she felt depressed, she still got up quickly and ran down with the basket on her back. However, she overestimated her own strength. The basket was heavy. She staggered and then rolled forward violently.

She didn't know what she hit, but her leg hurt so badly that tears came out of her eyes.

“Wretched girl, didn’t you watch where you were heading? Were you being chased by a ghost?”

Lin Sanzhu ran over to her, cursing. She helped Su Tao up and said, “Where were you hit?”

Su Tao couldn’t speak. Her tears flowed out uncontrollably.

She hadn’t done anything bad in her previous life!

Why must she suffer so much?

Lin Sanzhu knelt and lifted the hem of Su Tao’s trousers. A large piece of skin had been scraped off Su Tao’s knee. Lin Sanzhu began to curse again, “Why didn’t you watch where you were heading?” After saying that, she spat on the wound.

“Don’t do that.”

Su Tao felt uncomfortable looking at the saliva on her knee. She hugged her legs to stop Lin Sanzhu from doing it again.

Lin Sanzhu couldn’t be bothered about that. She grabbed Su Tao’s hands. “Bear with the pain. If you don’t spit on the wound, it’ll swell later.” She spat on the wound again.

Su Tao felt a nervous breakdown coming on. She wanted to go home.

“Can you walk?”

Lin Sanzhu was a little anxious when she saw that Su Tao was silent. She bent down to carry Su Tao on her back. Then, she lifted the back basket, cursing all the way home, “I must have been unlucky for eight lifetimes to have given birth to a girl like you. You can’t do anything right. What will happen to you when you marry in the future? Your in-laws will dislike you!”

She was still not appeased after cursing. She yelled at Su Zhi, “Hurry up and carry your brother home. Don't you want to have breakfast?”

“All three of you are worrying.”

After she said that, she glanced at the sky. The sun had already come out. She quickened her pace, but she was still late.

Breakfast was already served.

She put down Su Tao, gave her a push and whispered, “Hurry, go and eat.”

She felt a little indignant as she looked at the dining table. However, she carried the back basket to the yard to cut the ragweed.

The Su family always fed the pigs before their breakfast. After all, they relied on the income from the sales of the pigs at the end of the year. Su Fu was also aware of that. He walked over after he put down the crockery. “Dear, go and eat. I’ll cut the ragweed.”

Her husband had to work. How could he work on a hungry stomach? Lin Sanzhu gave him a push. “Go and eat now. Don't worry about me.”

“Dear...”

“Go now. Nag no more.”

Su Tao saw their interaction and suddenly felt that Lin Sanzhu was just a little bad-tempered. She didn’t dwell on it, otherwise she would have nothing to eat.

She took two bowls and scooped up the porridge, leaving one bowl for Lin Sanzhu.

Mrs. Su-Qian's face turned red when she saw that and she immediately banged on the table. “Why did you scoop up the porridge? Put it back! How outrageous! Have I been starving you? You’re acting like a starved ghost.”

Su Tao was speechless. Wasn’t it a fact that she had been starving them? She bit the bullet and didn't put the porridge back. If she had done that, there wouldn’t be porridge left later.

She astutely put vegetables in the bowl and took the bowl to the yard, ignoring Mrs. Su-Qian's fiery glare.

Lin Sanzhu glanced at Su Tao. She pretended to not have heard her mother-in-law's scolding. She buried her head and continued to cut the ragweed.

That wretched girl was smart today.

In the Su family, if you weren’t smart, you would go hungry.

Mrs. Su-Qian wanted to say something else, but Su Dagui banged on the table. “What are you yelling about early in the morning? After the meal, everyone will go to the field to pull the weeds.”

Mrs. Su-Qian looked at Su Tao but said nothing.

Su Tao heaved a sigh of relief. Darned, she couldn’t even eat a meal in peace. She took a sip of the porridge but quickly spit it out again.

It was bad enough that the porridge was burnt, but it was also spoiled.

Su Tao, “...”

Couldn’t she even have a normal meal?