Chapter 5: Just Kidding

What Song Liyun did not know was that when Song Zhen'an was born, his father died and his mother was in critical condition. The child became a jinx, and everyone in the village avoided him like the plague.

Strangely enough, ever since Song Zhen'an was born, the younger Mrs. Gu had never conceived again.

Whenever Old Mrs. Gu was unhappy, she would curse the younger Mrs. Gu for being a hen that couldn't lay eggs, and Song the Second would also treat her with cold indifference.

The younger Mrs. Gu had grievances she couldn't voice; giving birth wasn't something she could do alone, so why was everyone staring at her and cursing?

This resentment made her hate Song Zhen'an to the bone. She claimed he had ruined the Song family's feng shui and would cause the family line to end, thinking only of getting rid of him as soon as possible.

No matter how much the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hated him, they were helpless.

Above them, the village head represented the law and kept them in check; below them, the older brother, Song Zhenping, protected him with his life. Furthermore, Song the Second was greedy for money and was willing to keep the boy alive.

Because of this, the two women couldn't kill him, but they didn't spare him from torture.

On normal days, Song the Second naturally pretended not to see, and the villagers found it difficult to interfere in family matters, so the two brothers lived lives worse than death.

Old Mrs. Gu didn't care at all about Song Liyun's hateful gaze.

If looks could kill, they would have been hacked to pieces by the two little beasts in their house long ago.

Every time they beat the jinx, the cripple would fight back with his life, his eyes bloodshot, yet he still ended up being beaten and scolded all the same.

With the two women joining forces, given their combat experience from brawling in the village, grabbing this honest and submissive Song Liyun was simply too easy.

They had even planned out how to slap her: they would definitely use a cloth to cushion their hands so as not to leave any marks.

Seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law approaching menacingly with wooden sticks and ropes, one in front and one behind, one to the left and one to the right, Song Liyun stood up abruptly. Just as Old Mrs. Gu’s stick swung over, she leaped onto the edge of the kang, nimbly dodged the stick, and spun around...

The kick was fast and ruthless. Before the wooden stick in Old Mrs. Gu’s hand could land, she only felt a gust of wind pass by her ear, her chin tightened, her head buzzed, her eyes rolled back, and she instantly collapsed straight to the ground.

The younger Mrs. Gu had just wanted to step forward to help, but when she saw her mother-in-law fall, she let out a shrill scream: "Mother! You've killed someone!"

Though she shouted for her mother, she didn't step forward. Instead, like a plump ball of meat, she dropped the rope and ran out of the room with a thumping sound.

Song Liyun didn't chase after her. Instead, she jumped off the kang to check on Old Mrs. Gu.

Although this body of hers was sturdy, it hadn't been specifically trained, and her ligament flexibility and physical coordination were still lacking. She didn't want to cause a death with just one kick.

Fortunately, her kick had been light; Old Mrs. Gu was merely unconscious. Song Liyun slapped her a few times, and she came to.

Old Mrs. Gu stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time, still wondering what she was doing and why she was looking at the rafters upon opening her eyes, while her face burned with pain.

Before she could process it, she heard Song Liyun say coolly from the side: "Grandmother, the floor is cold. You shouldn't lie there for too long."

"Awoo! Help! The little harlot is trying to kill me!"

Old Mrs. Gu finally realized that she had been kicked to the ground by Song Liyun again.

Recalling the foot that had just struck her head, Old Mrs. Gu was seized by a fit of terror. She rolled over and crawled toward the door, wailing miserably.

At the courtyard gate, the younger Mrs. Gu was also screaming "Murder! Help!" at the top of her lungs.

She was frantically trying to pull the bolt to run out, but for some reason, even though the wooden bolt had been removed, the door wouldn't budge.

Just as she was in a panic, Song Liyun arrived at her side, grabbed her by the collar, and chuckled: "Second Aunt, what are you afraid of?"

At the thought of her mother-in-law being kicked to death by Song Liyun, the younger Mrs. Gu felt her legs go weak, and her plump body slumped down: "Help..."

There were no secrets in a farming village.

Although not many people had gathered to watch the spectacle when Song Liyun jumped into the water that morning, the aunts and sisters-in-law running back and forth through the small back alleys had long since spread the news via word of mouth.

From the moment Old Mrs. Gu and the younger Mrs. Gu returned home, the neighbors had been pricking up their ears, listening to the commotion at Song the Second's house.

Everyone knew that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law at Song the Second's house hated the children of the eldest branch to the bone.

Now that Song Liyun was causing such a stir, there was bound to be trouble.

They had to keep listening, lest Old Mrs. Gu and her daughter-in-law actually kill someone.

Hard work pays off; they didn't have to wait long before the cries of "Murder, help!" rang out from Song the Second's courtyard.

But this voice... why did it sound like the Gu women were the ones screaming? What had happened at the Song house?

Everyone eavesdropping looked at each other in confusion.

The Gu women had always been overbearing and aggressive, capable of twisting logic to suit themselves even when there was no issue.

When it came to fighting among women, the two of them would always attack together, and in Little Stone Village, they were almost invincible.

Now that they were suddenly locking the door and screaming for help, the situation was too suspicious, and the neighbors didn't dare to go over.

If they saw something they shouldn't and were held a grudge by these unreasonable women, they would be asking for trouble later.

The two Gu women's cries for help were intermittent and didn't last long before stopping, followed by a deathly silence in the courtyard.

Just as the onlookers were growing impatient, a heavy door-opening sound echoed from Song the Second's house.

The person who opened the door was Song Liyun, who had changed her clothes.

She opened the door and looked left and right, finding, as expected, a crowd of people hurriedly hiding.

Villagers were bored; they wouldn't miss such a thing.

Seeing Song Liyun open the door so openly, someone gathered the courage to ask: "Girl Yun, what were your grandmother and the others screaming about? It sounded quite chilling."

Song Liyun smiled: "Auntie Zhang, don't be afraid. It's just that I finally came back, and in my joy, I accidentally spilled some beans. It made Grandmother and Second Aunt scold me a bit, saying I was playing around too much and wanted to spank me."

Spilled beans...

The neighbors felt it was inexplicable. Would someone scream for help just because they spilled beans?

This Auntie Zhang had followed them to the riverbank that morning, and her house was right next to Song the Second's.

Ever since the Gu women returned, Auntie Zhang's ears hadn't left the courtyard wall. She had heard most of their cursing and shouting, so she naturally knew that Old Mrs. Gu was in no mood for playing.

However, Song the Second's family affairs were hard to manage. Since Song Liyun said so, everyone had their doubts, but no one asked further.

Song Liyun had been sold to the city as a maid at seven and had never returned.

A girl changes eighteen times before she grows up; ten years had passed, and the villagers couldn't even recognize her, let alone understand her temperament.

Seeing her now, although she was wearing old clothes and her hair was tied up messily, she was smiling and looked very relaxed, not at all like someone who had been beaten, so they haphazardly believed her words.

Caught in the act, the heads peeking over the wall didn't feel embarrassed. Instead, they laughed: "It's rare for the Second Miss to come back and play with her elders. How filial!"

They really thought so.

Because the courtyard gate was wide open, one could see the situation inside past Song Liyun.

In the yard, the Gu mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were squatting on the ground, shuffling their feet; it looked just like they were picking up beans, and they didn't even have the time to look up.

Hearing people talking outside the gate, Old Mrs. Gu even glared over fiercely, scaring the onlookers into scattering...

Near noon, Song the Second, who had gone to town before dawn, returned carrying a wine gourd.

Having spent the morning drinking, he was staggering, reeking of alcohol.

Originally, when Song Liyun ran out of the house that morning, Old Mrs. Gu had sent someone to take a message to town.

But Song the Second had entered the tavern early, and the messenger from the village hadn't been able to find him.

Having met with the steward of the Xue family and seeing that a large sum of money was within reach, Song the Second was overjoyed. He was completely unaware of the strange looks from his neighbors, and even their greetings sounded eerie.