"Do you know how to kill someone? I'll teach you, watch closely!"
Jiang Hanyan smiled faintly, raised the hoe again, and brought it down on the dead black tiger's skull. This vicious dog had tyrannized the village, biting many people; she was merely executing justice on behalf of heaven.
The skull was a bit hard. After several chops, white brain matter finally splattered out. Jiang Hanyan smiled in satisfaction, beckoning to the terrified Jiang Tianbao. "Come take a look!"
"Urgh!"
Jiang Tianbao couldn't hold it in any longer and vomited violently.
Jiang Hanyan curled her lip in disdain. Useless wimp. The original owner was even more useless, actually bullied by this wimp from childhood. A total good-for-nothing.
"Tianbao! Hubby, come quick! Tianbao's been beaten to death by Zhaodian!"
Xu Donghua screamed miserably, shooting a few hateful glares at Jiang Hanyan, then patted Jiang Tianbao's back in a fluster.
Jiang Tianbao was actually Xu Donghua's biological son, but since Jiang Hanyan's father only had her as a daughter, he had adopted his nephew Jiang Tianbao as an heir, doting on him immensely.
Jiang Father, who had been playing cards inside, came out. He was tall and burly like Jiang Tianbao, with a fierce face. Seeing Jiang Tianbao pale as a sheet, covered in snot and tears, his face instantly darkened.
"Dad, Jiang Hanyan killed my Black Tiger!" Jiang Tianbao wailed, tattling.
Seeing Black Tiger's gruesome corpse, Jiang Father's face grew even darker. Without a word, he swung a slap at Jiang Hanyan.
Jiang Tianbao smiled triumphantly. This slut Jiang Hanyan would definitely be beaten to death by Dad.
But his smile vanished instantly. He stared in disbelief as Jiang Hanyan actually dared to raise the hoe against her father?
Had she eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard?
Jiang Hanyan hoisted the hoe, aiming at her father's skull, and said coldly, "If you dare touch a single hair on my head, I'll smash your skull to pieces!"
"You beast! I'm your father!"
Jiang Father couldn't believe it either. His daughter, who had always submitted meekly, actually dared to rebel!
"I belong to Lu Chen now. To beat a dog, you have to see if the master minds. If you dare bully me, aren't you afraid Lu Chen will come settle the score?" Jiang Hanyan was currently dizzy and weak, so she had to invoke her cheap husband—that legendary two-time ex-convict tyrant.
Sure enough, Jiang Father hesitated, lowering his raised hand. He was indeed wary of Lu Chen. That kid was a ruthless character who killed without blinking. He only dared to slaughter pigs; he couldn't afford to provoke Lu Chen.
"Your wings have hardened, you've grown capable. Scram! Don't ever come back!"
It was the first time Jiang Father had lost face in front of his daughter, and in front of so many relatives at that. He couldn't save face, cursing in a rage.
"Hanyan, quickly kowtow and apologize to your father!" Mother Jiang panicked, secretly blaming her daughter for being insensible and angering her husband during the New Year.
It was just a dog chasing her a few times; it didn't even bite. Why such a huge fire? Besides, DouDou is just an adopted son, and a fool at that. How could he be more important than Tianbao?
Jiang Father snorted coldly, standing straight, waiting for his daughter to kowtow. He was thinking he'd make her kowtow a few extra times before he'd magnanimously spare this rebellious daughter. After all, the rebellious daughter was pretty; Re De Kai liked her, and they could still squeeze a decent bride price out of her later.
Everyone thought Jiang Hanyan would definitely kowtow and apologize, and that it was only right. They all waited.
But.
"Even if you send an eight-carriage sedan chair to fetch me, I won't come back!"
Jiang Hanyan dragged DouDou away without looking back.
Everyone was stunned. The successive shocks left them unable to react. Was this still the timid, obedient Jiang Hanyan?
"Good riddance! Beast. Even a dog I raised knows to wag its tail. I raised you, this beast, for eighteen years in vain!"
Jiang Father cursed violently behind her, but didn't dare chase and hit her. He was truly afraid of that evil star, Lu Chen.
"Hanyan!"
Mother Jiang wanted to chase her daughter back, but feared her husband would hit her. She called out while wiping tears, yet in her heart, she blamed her daughter even more. Just kowtowing a few times would quell her husband's anger; why wouldn't the girl do it?
A perfectly good New Year's Day ruined into a mess. Sigh!
Jiang Hanyan dragged DouDou onto the bus back to the Lu family. Lu Chen wasn't home; he was guarding a coal mine for someone. The mine reopened on the sixth day of the New Year, and he hadn't been back for days.
Lu Chen lived alone in the house his grandfather left behind. Though old, it was comfortable to live in, with a small courtyard, two tiled rooms, and a storage room.
Jiang Hanyan patted her head to clear it, looked down at DouDou who had been silent the whole way. The little guy had red lips and white teeth, a face more exquisite than a doll's—the most beautiful child she had ever seen.
Too bad he was a fool who couldn't speak.
The book said DouDou was brought home by Lu Chen at age three. Everyone said he was Lu Chen's illegitimate son from outside, and that Lu Chen had done too many bad deeds, resulting in karmic retribution—such a beautiful son turned out to be a fool.
Thinking of DouDou's fate in the book, Jiang Hanyan frowned, wanting to strangle the original owner again.
At the Jiang family's instigation, the original owner sent DouDou away to a couple while Lu Chen was away on a long trip. But that couple were human traffickers; they resold DouDou immediately. During that time, DouDou suffered inhuman torture. By the time Lu Chen rescued him, he was neither human nor ghost.
This was also the main reason Lu Chen and the original owner separated.
Jiang Hanyan shuddered. She remembered: in the book, the original owner and Lu Chen separated half a year later. Moreover, the original owner would miscarry soon. With the child gone as a tie, and Lu Chen furious that she sold DouDou, he left her.
F*cking stupid!
Jiang Hanyan almost swore. She was a perfectly good andrologist with a bright future, just tired from overtime and took a nap. When she opened her eyes, she was in this godforsaken place.
And it was a f*cking book world. The original owner was such a stupid thing, and she even had a bun in the oven.
Goddamn it!
Jiang Hanyan irritably scratched her hair. The only consolation was that she was ten years younger, and seemed to have a golden finger (cheat ability). She'd research it later.
She quickly calmed down. Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. In that world, she had no attachments; no one would grieve for her. So, she'd just live well in this world.
She smiled at DouDou and asked gently, "Are you hurt?"
DouDou shook his head. He could hear, but couldn't speak, meaning his muteness was acquired. She didn't know if it was psychological or physiological.
Jiang Hanyan wasn't reassured. She undressed DouDou to check. DouDou squirmed a bit, his face red as a persimmon, but doubt surged in his heart. Aunt Jiang seemed different from before.
He liked the current Aunt Jiang.
The little guy had no wounds on his body. Jiang Hanyan breathed a sigh of relief, but then she saw a few bruises on DouDou's arm, clearly from being pinched. She asked angrily, "Who did this?"
Damn it. Such a beautiful child, and they still struck so viciously. Are they even human?
DouDou blinked his big eyes, looking at Jiang Hanyan in bewilderment, his eyes full of doubt.
"Don't be afraid. Tell Aunt Jiang. Which bastard pinched you? Aunt Jiang will kill him!" Jiang Hanyan thought the little guy was scared, so she comforted him.
DouDou's eyes grew even more doubtful. It was clearly Aunt Jiang herself who pinched him. Because he accidentally dropped his water cup while drinking, Aunt Jiang was displeased and pinched him a few times.
(End of Chapter)