When Miao Chu He left for the academy, Madame Xia was glad because there would be one less annoyance in her sight. She had never thought that Miao Chu He would have the potential in his studies. She also had Miao Cui Lan pay his fees, best if the fees could force Miao Cui Lan’s family into bankruptcy.
However, Miao Cui Lan had absolutely no problem paying for her family’s daily expenses and her brother’s studies. Instead, her life became even more prosperous. Madame Xia could not allow that, so she asked her husband not to let Miao Chu He study anymore since it would not bring them any return. Besides, why should a grown man waste his time on something like studying instead of getting a job at a rich family’s house? He could have earned some money for his family that way.
The power of pillow talk was astounding as her husband agreed to it. Unexpectedly, that little jerk became a prodigious scholar soon after!
The entire village had a celebration going in full swing, and his third great uncle was so proud as though it was his son who had gotten the achievement. As such, her husband could never get that jerk to come home as he pleased as his studies were not part of their family affairs alone. Because of Miao Cui He, their third great uncle and the other elders started to grow a liking towards that unfilial Miao Cui Lan.
As a result, she was outraged to see her husband being fond of them which unmotivated her for a few days. In less than three years, she received another shock as she never expected her husband to pass away from an illness!
In the beginning, she was secretly happy to think that it would soon be time for their own family to have something to be proud of. No one had foreseen that she would not be taken seriously because her own son would not work hard, and she was now a widow. Since Miao Chu He had gotten the title of a scholar and was free from his father’s control, that jerk started to show his hidden fangs and claws, continually turning a deaf ear to her words, yet there was nothing she could do about it.
Recently, he became more impressive! She could never foresee that after that jerk became a Juren, not only was she unable to enjoy her life as his ‘mother’, but she had also fallen into a terrible and desolate situation. Her son was under house arrest, and her daughter-in-law left the family by divorce. Meanwhile, she was not welcomed by the entire village!
“Miao Chu He! I swear I will ruin your reputation! You have destroyed everything I have, and I have nothing to lose now.” Madame Xia’s eyes glowed with an icy chill in the dark. She would have never imagined her expression to have such ferocity.
The weather was fine, a fit of giggles broke out from the willow forest beside the river in Feng Ye Village. It was Lu Xiao Shu and Xiao Xue.
“Xiao Xue, Xiao Shu, that’s enough. It’s time to go home! Look at both of you, aren’t you tired after playing around while drenched in sweat?” Tong Yu Er chided as she laid against a willow tree with thick branches and leaves.
“Wait up, auntie! Look, there’s a lot of red fruits there! Would it be fine if we pick some before going home?” Lu Xiao Shu hurriedly replied.
The red fruit was a type of berry that the locals called “lifesaving food”. Each of them was no bigger than the size of a green bean, but they grew in clusters, stuck together with one another. The entire branch was full of them, looking like a sea of red from afar. It was stunning, like the colors of the evening sky. They tasted terrific as they were sweet and sour at the same time.
Tong Yu Er sighed in annoyance and smiled, “Fine, go on, but be careful not to get your clothes dirty. Otherwise, you might get an earful when you get home!”
Lu Xiao Shu and Xiao Xue nodded obediently and set off to the wild bushes.
A few days ago, Miao Chu He accompanied Tong Yu Er to the Tong Family’s house. However, they did not expect Master Tong to remain stubborn. He still did not approve of the marriage or even admit that she was his daughter. No matter how much Tong Yu Er begged and pleaded, she was not allowed to meet her parents or step into the Tong Family’s house.
Eventually, it was her mother who pitied her and secretly sent her nanny to leave from the back door. She met Tong Yu Er and comforted her before relaying Mistress Tong’s words, telling her to live her life in peace and joy. Tong Yu Er embraced her nanny with a hug and broke down in tears, missing her mother even more.
However, there was nothing she could do even if she missed her mother. In the end, she could only ask her nanny to send her mother a message. She foolishly looked up towards the eaves of her mother’s chambers before leaving in tears with Miao Chu He.
Miao Chu He was distressed to see her like that. Although Tong Yu Er was kind to her husband, this topic was a difficult matter to bring up. In the past few days, Tong Yu Er’s spirit was down. Because of that, Lu Xiao Shu and her sister dragged her out to clear her mind on a lovely day with nice weather. Since Tong Yu Er had always loved her two nieces, she gave in to their pleas and accompanied them to the outdoors.
Tong Yu Er laid against the willow tree lazily, staring at something afar with thoughts running across her mind.
Suddenly, there was a rustle of movement behind her. She turned around to look, but she saw nothing. So, she turned back around.
Unexpectedly, she experienced a dull pain on the back of her head. Before she could scream, her eyelids dropped and she went limp as she fell unconscious.
Over at the bushes, Lu Xiao Shu and Xiao Shu were frightened at what they saw. Xiao Xue’s face was pale and her eyes were wide open with fear as she was on the verge of screaming. Meanwhile, Lu Xiao Shu covered her sister’s mouth with her hand and whispered, “Shh! Keep quiet, Xiao Xue.”
“He’s a bad guy! Why did that bad guy hit auntie? Xiao Shu, what should we do? I don’t want anything to happen to auntie!” Xiao Xue mumbled as she bit her lips, tears welling up in her eyes.
“That bad guy hasn’t seen us, so don’t make any sound. Why don’t we follow them?” Lu Xiao Shu whispered.
Xiao Xue nodded in panic.
The middle-aged man threw the club in his hand onto the ground and glanced around. He rubbed his hands and whistled, “Such a beauty! I’ve seen many fine ladies in many villages, but none came close to this little beauty.”
The man suddenly felt lustful as he swallowed his saliva. He picked Tong Yu Er up and carried her deeper into the forest.
“What should we do?” Xiao Xue might be older, but she was still young. She became worried as she watched her auntie get carried away by a man, while Lu Xiao Shu knew what that bastard was going to do.
“Let’s follow them quietly.” Lu Xiao Shu grabbed her sister’s hand and stealthily emerged from the bushes. She picked up the club that the man left behind, and the two little figures followed them with the help of the bushes as cover.
Lu Xiao Shu could already recognize the man. He was the man who came to their village, selling pork just two days ago. She recognized him as her auntie had brought her out to buy meat.
However, if he had the guts to do this because of lust just from meeting her once, Lu Xiao Shu could not believe it. Her auntie was the wife of a Juren now. She was not someone a commoner could easily offend and take advantage of. If there was no other motive, how could this butcher risk his life just to satisfy his lust? If there was something behind this, then the incident would be worth pondering about.
The man did not expect anyone to be nearby. He carried Tong Yu Er into a bush deep in the forest and set her down before climbing on top of her unhesitatingly.
Before he could undress Tong Yu Er, a numbing pain struck his head from the back. “Smack!” and he began seeing stars. He had gotten struck by his club on the back of his head.
Who’s that?
Just as he was about to turn around to figure out who it was, three more smacks rang through the forest and the numbing pain grew unbearable. He had no strength left to turn around as he swayed and fainted onto the ground with a “thump”!
Lu Xiao Shu tossed the wooden club aside, before asking Xiao Xue to help her drag the heavy man to the side.
She worried that she might not be strong enough and it would be a disaster if the man suddenly woke up. So, she and her sister dragged him aside and took his shirt and belt off. They tied his hands firmly behind his back, tore his shirt into strips and tied him to a tree. However, they were still worried that he might break loose, so they found a thick rattan and tied him up tightly before clapping their hands and announcing, “That’s it!”
Xiao Xue had no idea what to do, she simply followed her sister innocently. With her eyes red with tears, she sniffled, “Auntie hasn’t woken up yet! Xiao Xue, shouldn’t we go home and get our parents and uncle here?”
“We should check on auntie first!” Lu Xiao Shu was full of energy from her success of hitting and tying up a man that she had almost forgotten about Tong Yu Er if not for Xiao Xue reminding her. She hurried over to her auntie with Xiao Xue.
Both of them then shook Tong Yu Er. After shaking with all their might, they finally woke her up.
Tong Yu Er opened her eyes in shock, everything in her memory was a blur except the pulsing pain on her head. She asked after squinting her eyes, “Xiao Shu? Xiao Xue?”
“Auntie! You’re finally awake!” Xiao Xue cried as she rushed into her auntie’s embrace.
“It’s alright, Xiao Xue.” Tong Yu Er patted her back as she held her. She endured the dizziness as she sat up in confusion, “I… How did I end up here? What happened?”
“Auntie, follow us!” Lu Xiao Shu led Tong Yu Er to the incapacitated man who was tied up.
Tong Yu Er almost yelled but she held it back. With her eyes wide, she said in shock, “This, this is—” She had a bad feeling about it as she shivered unconsciously before looking at Lu Xiao Shu. She could not believe her eyes.
She did not see anyone before being hit from the back of her head and falling unconscious, but she woke up deep in the forest. Now that she saw it herself, anyone with a brain would know what could have happened…
“Don’t worry, auntie,” Lu Xiao Shu was very calm as she stated, “This is the b*stard who knocked you out cold! Who could have known what this bad guy wanted to do? Auntie, look,” Lu Xiao Shu approached him and lifted his chin, “This bastard was the guy who came to our village selling pork!”
Tong Yu Er took a look, and it appeared to be true. Her face turned pale and she bit her lips nervously, “I, I’ve never met this man. How did—”
“Someone must’ve schemed against you!” Lu Xiao Shu said confidently, “This man had never shown up at our village before and you’ve never met him yourself. So why would he do this without a reason? Anyway, it wouldn’t be a problem since he’s our hostage. Why don’t we wake him up so that we can find out what’s up?”
