Chapter 10: The Yang Family

Yang Ruoqing sat back down on the damp hardwood bed, hugging her knees and resting her chin upon them, quietly lost in thought. Her ears, however, were pricked high, constantly monitoring the movements outside, not letting a single rustle or stir escape her notice.

She did not know how much time had passed when, suddenly, there was a commotion in the courtyard outside, accompanied by the faint sound of a woman’s wailing.

Yang Ruoqing’s heart tightened. She recognized that as Sun-shi’s voice. She scrambled off the bed, and just as she pulled open the door to the west wing, she saw a crowd of people—men and women—pouring into the wooden door across the way, every one of them wearing a grim expression. Leading the way was Old Yang-tou, and behind him, Yang Huazhou and several villagers she didn't recognize were working together to carry a stretcher toward the room.

"My San'er... my heart, my flesh, what kind of sin have you committed to suffer such a fate..."

A thin, small figure suddenly rushed out from the east wing, ran to the front of the stretcher, and threw herself onto it. Her hands gripped the edges of the stretcher so tightly that she nearly choked on her own sobbing.

Yang Ruoqing looked closely and saw that it was Tan-shi.

Tan-shi was weeping with her hair in disarray, tears streaming down her face, her entire body trembling.

Immediately, two elderly women from the village rushed to Tan-shi’s side, persuading and coaxing her until they finally managed to pull her away from the stretcher and support her to the side. "Old sister, don't be anxious. Fu-bo has gone back to get his medicine chest; he’ll be here in a moment..."

Tan-shi continued to wail as she was supported by the two women, following behind the stretcher.

"Quick, quick, quick! It’s this room, hurry and get him inside!" Old Yang-tou had already pushed open the door to the room next to Yang Ruoqing’s and was shouting loudly from the doorway.

Yang Huazhou and the others practically sprinted past Yang Ruoqing’s door with the stretcher, their feet blurring as they entered the room. Through a gap in the crowd, Yang Ruoqing caught a hurried glimpse: a man was lying stiffly on the stretcher, covered by a patched quilt. His head, face, and feet, which were exposed, were covered in blood. Yang Ruoqing’s sharp eyes noticed that the nails on his thumb and index finger had been torn off, and blood was streaming down his foot!

Yang Ruoqing drew a sharp breath. He had lost so much blood—would his life be in danger?

"Qing'er's father..."

Behind them, Sun-shi stumbled in. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes swollen, her voice hoarse, and she was covered in dust. There were two holes in the knees of her trousers, seeping blood, clearly torn from running too hard on the road. She was wearing a shoe on one foot, but the other was bare, and her gaze was somewhat unfocused!

Yang Ruoqing doubted that if not for the two young daughters-in-law supporting her, Sun-shi would have collapsed to the ground.

Everyone surged into the neighboring room, blocking the door and windows completely. Tan-shi’s rhythmic wailing and cursing, mixed with Sun-shi’s hoarse sobs and the loud arguing and chatter of the crowd, turned the small backyard of the Old Yang house into a boiling pot of noise!

Someone shouted, "Fu-bo is here!"

The crowd parted, allowing the little old man carrying a medicine chest to enter the room.

Yang Ruoqing, deeply worried about her father’s injuries, saw the village doctor go in and lifted her feet, wanting to squeeze into the crowd to see for herself.

In her previous life, she was a special agent. When she wasn't on missions, her other identity was that of a doctor, specializing in traditional Chinese medicine.

Her father had been injured to this extent; she couldn't care about anything else, hoping only to squeeze in and see if she could be of any help! After all, this was a rural village in ancient times, and she held doubts about the skills of this village doctor, Fu-bo!

Suddenly, someone grabbed her messy, bird's-nest hair from behind, yanked her back from the crowd, and shoved her hard to the ground.

Yang Ruoqing looked up to see that the person who had grabbed her was a plump, middle-aged woman with a long, horse-like face. The woman’s attire was likely the finest in the entire courtyard; her clothes had no patches, and a camellia flower was embroidered on the black surface of her shoes.

However, the woman’s appearance was not very pleasant. Although she wore powder and her face was stark white, her eyes were thin and long, her lips were very thin, and there was a black mole at the corner of her mouth. At first glance, she looked sour, mean, and difficult to deal with!

A fierce, menacing face suddenly flashed through her mind, and Yang Ruoqing felt an inexplicable fear, instinctively wanting to shrink back.

She paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that the feeling of fear was something left behind in her soul by the original owner. The object of that fear was the horse-faced woman before her: the second daughter-in-law of the Old Yang family, Yang Ruoqing’s second aunt, Yang-shi!

"You idiot, you’re everywhere! Isn't it enough that you’ve harmed your father? You still want to crowd in here with that stench on you? Get lost, you wretch! If you dare to come forward again, I’ll beat you to death!" Yang-shi glared viciously at Yang Ruoqing, who had fallen sprawling on the ground, spat, and turned to squeeze into the crowd.

The crowd’s attention was entirely focused on what was happening inside the room; no one noticed what had just occurred behind them. Even if one or two villagers had seen Yang-shi bullying Yang Ruoqing, they all wore expressions of indifference.

This was, after all, the Old Yang family’s private business, and it wasn't their place as outsiders to say anything. Besides, in the villagers' eyes, this silly daughter of Old Yang’s third son was nothing but a troublemaker. If it weren't for this girl causing so much trouble, would Old Yang’s third son be lying in there half-dead right now? This silly girl deserved a lesson; she had it coming!

Yang Ruoqing climbed up from the ground with difficulty and saw Yang-shi pushing aside other onlookers, eager to squeeze into the room.

Yang Ruoqing sneered inwardly. If this second aunt thought she was still the silly, fat girl who would take a beating without fighting back, she had miscalculated! Yang Ruoqing silently crept over. To outsiders, she still looked like a silly girl trying to squeeze into the room. But, in a place where no one could see, she used a bit of leverage, hooking her ankle to pull a fist-sized stone over.

After Yang-shi had thrown Yang Ruoqing to the ground, she hadn't intended to pay any more attention to the idiot.

She had just returned from town today and had originally planned to go to her maiden home at the east end of the village for dinner; her mother had slaughtered a chicken and stewed a pot of soup. Just as she entered the village entrance, she heard that Old Yang’s third son had met with an accident. Yang-shi’s eyes lit up—she loved watching the excitement—and she ran to the Old Yang house without even catching her breath.

She hadn't expected to arrive late, with all the spots already taken by these nosy villagers. She used her shrill voice to tell others to make way, reaching out to push aside the people blocking her path to get a look at the excitement. Suddenly, it felt as if she had stepped on something, and her large, sturdy body instantly lost its balance, falling backward.