Free Web NovelChapter 39: Chapter 30: The Temptation of the Big Bad Wolf
Liu Fengying looked at her three biological daughters with a sense of resignation. Their hair was a mess, their clothes were filthy, and Xiaohua had a runny nose. Mo Xiaofeng was almost ten, but she couldn’t even wash her own clothes properly, let alone take the initiative to wash her hair or bathe. In the past, when Xiao Man was home, she would call the children to bathe one by one every day and wash all the family’s clothes. The kids were never this messy and dirty. But now that the damned old man and woman had taken Xiao Man away, all the household chores, big and small, fell on Liu Fengying. As someone used to a relaxed life, she really wasn’t accustomed to suddenly having to bustle about, and for a moment, she just couldn’t handle it all. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Liu Fengying turned her head to look closely at Mo Xiaoman, and her eyes narrowed. ’This little bitch has completely transformed. Her clothes are spotless, her hair is neatly combed and tied up with a rubber band wrapped in red velvet thread. Once she’s all cleaned up, she’s actually quite pretty and sharp-looking. It’s only been a few days, how could she have changed so much?’
’No! This absolutely cannot go on!’
Liu Fengying’s mind raced as she recalled the words of her daughter in the city, Xuanxuan. ’If this drags on, what if that couple suddenly has free time or changes their minds and comes down for a visit on their own, only to see Xiao Man like this... Xuanxuan made it clear she would rather die than return to the countryside! I’ve already figured it out. Xuanxuan was born for the city. Only in the city will she have a bright future. I absolutely cannot ruin things for Xuanxuan!’
’Mo Xiaoman, even if she has to die in this lifetime, she will die here in the countryside! She can forget about ever showing her face to those city folk!’
’You have to be willing to sacrifice the bait to catch the wolf.’ Liu Fengying made a snap decision, resolving to throw out a bigger lure. As long as she could coax Xiao Man back home, she wouldn’t have to worry about finding ways to ruin her!
With her other hand, Liu Fengying affectionately put an arm around Xiao Man’s shoulder and said, "My sweet daughter, you seem a little taller after just a few days. There’s a movie showing tonight, and the whole village is celebrating like it’s a holiday. Your Second Aunt even took down a string of cured meat that’s been smoking over her stove for half a year, saying she’s adding an extra dish tonight! It’s such a coincidence I ran into you. Come home with me, and I’ll have your dad kill a chicken. Our whole family will have chicken tonight, even better than your Second Aunt’s family! How about it?"
"Yay! Yay!"
"We’re having chicken!"
Xiao Man, having no reaction, was only focused on pushing Liu Fengying’s hand away. The ones cheering were Mo Xiaofeng, Mo Xiaozhi, and Mo Xiaohua.
Liang Xiaoju, standing by the side and being ignored, asked with a frown, "Xiao Man, if you’re going to have chicken, then what about me? Do I... do I have to go back alone? And are you still going to carry the firewood back?"
Hearing this, Liu Fengying laughed and said, "Oh, so you two went to cut firewood? That’s simple enough. Just carry it all back to our house. Grandma is home alone; she won’t use much firewood. We’re all out, and I was just worrying about what to use to light the fire for the pig slop tomorrow morning!"
Liang Xiaoju quickly said, "I’m not going. I don’t want to eat at someone else’s house!"
Mo Xiaozhi pouted. "Then just drop the firewood off at my house and go back to Grandma’s on your own. What’s so hard about that? Just follow the road, and you’ll eventually see the Knowledge Youth House. You can’t miss it!"
Behind the counter, Liu Ping had already wrapped up six packs of sunflower seeds in cut newspaper. She called out to Liu Fengying, "Sister-in-law Fengying, time to pay up! One yuan for the sunflower seeds, fifty cents for the soy sauce, and twenty cents for the fermented bean curd. That’s one yuan and seventy cents in total!" ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
As she spoke, she winked at Xiao Man, who smiled back at her. Whether Liu Ping had done it intentionally or not, Xiao Man had been waiting for this exact moment. Pinned by Liu Fengying’s grip, she didn’t dare struggle for fear of having her wrist broken. She was just waiting for the moment Liu Fengying took out her money to make a run for it!
But Liu Fengying was shrewd. Worried that Xiao Man would run away, she kept one hand on her while digging into her pocket for money with the other. Xiao Man deliberately looked at her pocket and said, "Hey, why don’t you give me fifty cents? I want to eat one of those big yellow biscuits!"
Liu Fengying paused for a moment, then immediately nodded. "Okay, okay! I’ll buy you a big yellow biscuit and give you another fifty cents. Just you wait!"
As soon as Mo Xiaofeng and Mo Xiaozhi heard this, they lunged forward, shrieking, "Mom! Mom! I want money too! I want a big yellow biscuit too!"
Liu Fengying had no choice but to let go of Xiao Man as she took two steps back, shouting, "Get back! Get back now!"
But why would Mo Xiaofeng and Mo Xiaozhi move? Mo Xiaoman had been the unfavored child since she was little. If even *she* was getting money, how could they possibly be left out? The two sisters recklessly shoved their way toward Liu Fengying, snatching at the small cloth money pouch in her hand, terrified they wouldn’t get their share.
Mo Xiaohua was even more of a help. Seeing her sisters swarming their mother, she didn’t understand what was happening. After staring blankly for a moment, she threw down the small bowl Mo Xiaozhi had shoved at her, joined the fray, and clung tightly to Liu Fengying’s leg, wailing loudly.
Now free, Mo Xiaoman waved to Liu Ping, who was covering her mouth to stifle her laughter behind the counter. Then, she grabbed Liang Xiaoju and scampered away!
With Mo Xiaoman’s successful escape, even if Liu Fengying wanted to give chase, she would first have to disentangle herself from her daughters. It was already lunchtime, and Liu Ping would surely start nagging the mother and her girls to pay up. With all those delays, there was no way she could catch up to Mo Xiaoman and Liang Xiaoju.
The two little girls hoisted the firewood onto their poles and ran home along the road, giggling and laughing from time to time.
Liang Xiaoju found the whole thing amusing, but Mo Xiaoman knew better. ’Liu Fengying would kill a chicken for *me*? Fat chance. It was just a trap set by the big bad wolf.’
’She wanted to trick me into going back to that house, making it easier for her to pull her old tricks—to disfigure or even cripple me. Then, she’d take a picture to show that couple in the city, which would only strengthen their resolve not to switch us back!’
’Heh. If I were disfigured or crippled, would I stop being your flesh and blood? You won’t even meet me once, yet you had no problem handing me over to others, letting them do whatever they wanted with me, trampling me into the mud with no hope of ever getting up!’
’You gave birth to me only to cast me aside. You can shower your adopted daughter with endless affection but can’t spare a single glance for your own flesh and blood! Since you can be so ruthless, then have it your way. As far as this world is concerned, you no longer have a biological daughter!’
Mo Xiaoman ran behind Liang Xiaoju with the firewood pole on her shoulder, forcing herself to giggle just like her friend. But despite her efforts, tears streamed uncontrollably from her eyes.
When they got back to her courtyard gate, Liang Xiaoju pushed it open. Xiao Man used her left hand to wipe her face and felt the small, brown, circular mole in her palm grow faintly hot. She rubbed her palm gently against her cheek, not thinking much of it. ’I take a bowl of spiritual spring water every day and mix it into the kettle for the family to drink, and I even sneak down to the river to give the old maple tree a basinful, and I’ve never felt anything strange from the mole before. It must be from getting so worked up just now, on top of all the running. It’s just intense exercise. My whole body feels warm, after all!’
Grandpa was already back from the reservoir, sitting with Grandma under the large pear tree. Grandpa was weaving a delicate bamboo basket while Grandma shelled edamame. The edamame must have been what Grandpa brought back; it would be their vegetable for lunch.
Seeing the two girls return with firewood, Grandpa chuckled. "If you’re going to gather firewood, you should go earlier so you can come back earlier. The sun is so strong, did it wear you out? Look at our Xiao Man, drenched in sweat! Xiaoju, just leave the carrying poles there, I’ll sort them out later. There’s fresh water drawn from the well, go on and get washed up!"
"Xiao Man, you go wash up too. Catch your breath. The congee is cooked and cooling. Once the edamame is stir-fried, we can eat!"
Grandma said this as she fumbled for the edamame in the earthenware bowl, then handed it to Grandpa. "That’s enough, that’s enough. Go on, take this and cook it up. The two girls must be starving!"
"Alright, alright! We’re having edamame braised with pork cracklings today. Grandpa will add extra cracklings for you to make it especially delicious. I guarantee it’ll be so good you’ll eat three whole bowls!" Grandpa said, taking the bowl and heading into the kitchen.
