Old Man Yang listened to Sun Shi's words, his gaze falling thoughtfully on Yang Ruoqing, who was still grinning foolishly while digging in the mud. A trace of hesitation finally appeared in his expression.
Sun Shi quietly observed Old Man Yang's face, her heart tightly clenched. She was filled with fear—afraid she'd almost revealed that Qing'er had recovered her senses.
They were already willing to sell a "simpleton" daughter—if they found out Qing'er was sane now, wouldn't that just make her even more valuable?
"What the third daughter-in-law said… makes sense. Fatty like this, probably no one would want her..." Old Man Yang said after giving Yang Ruoqing a good once-over.
Yang Ruoqing's mouth twitched hard. Her own grandpa's comment was… painfully accurate!
Then Old Man Yang continued,
"That Madam Wang who does the child-selling business, she's not one to fool. If we try to pull a fast one, we'll only end up the target of gossip, people saying our Old Yang family's up to dirty tricks..."
Madam Tan curled her lip, clearly not concerned.
"Good goods sell well, trash goods go cheap. Look over at the starving mountain villages—plenty of brothers sharing a single wife. No matter how dumb or ugly Fatty is, at least she squats to pee, right? As long as she can carry babies, she'll serve the purpose."
Old Man Yang didn't respond—just started puffing away on his long-stemmed pipe again, which seemed to imply agreement.
Sun Shi's face turned completely white. Then with a thump, she dropped to her knees by the bed and burst into tears.
"Father, Mother, I beg you—don't sell Qing'er. She's only twelve, still a child who hasn't fully grown..."
"She's that fat and you say she hasn't grown? Are you blind?" Madam Tan snapped.
"Then sell me instead! Just let Qing'er stay!" Sun Shi cried, knocking her forehead to the floor over and over—thud, thud, thud.
Madam Tan rolled her eyes and spat at Sun Shi,
"You shameless thing! In this house, your father-in-law and I call the shots—not you! Besides, if we sell you, who's going to look after your husband? Who'll raise my two grandsons? What kind of stupid brain do you have? She's just a dumb girl, what's there to pity? Once your man's leg is healed, you can go have as many daughters as you want—I won't stop you. As for tonight, this matter is settled! Go back to your room—stop making a fuss!"
Sun Shi hesitated but did not rise. She just kept kowtowing.
Each knock rang out crisp and clear. Old Man Yang's face grew darker and darker, while Madam Tan's expression grew more vicious.
The third daughter-in-law, who used to be as silent and pliable as a clay figure, suddenly acting like this? What—had she gone mad?
Just as Madam Tan was about to start shouting and kicking her out, a dark, lumbering shadow suddenly jumped out from the corner of the room.
Startled, Madam Tan glanced up. Wasn't that the big, dumb Fatty?
She opened her mouth to scold, but before she could get a word out, Fatty raised her hands and smacked!Smack!—slapped two handfuls of stinky, muddy sludge onto Madam Tan's face with a crisp splat.
"Granny—eat—poop! Hee hee…" she giggled.
Sun Shi looked up and turned pale with fright. She quickly apologized to Madam Tan, yanked her giggling daughter away, and fled from the east wing.
When Madam Tan finally recovered from the shock, she peeled the stuff off her face to get a better look—and almost fainted from rage!
It was mud, yes—but mixed with snot, drool, and half-chewed bean mush!
Steam practically blew out of Madam Tan's ears. She shrieked in fury and rushed to put on her shoes to chase after them, but was stopped by Old Man Yang.
"Qing'er is just a simple-minded child. You, as her grandmother, shouldn't be lowering yourself to her level—what does that look like?"
"That dumb brat did it on purpose! If I don't peel her skin off, she won't know pain!"
"Enough already. Thirds in this state—you calm down. In a couple of days, Madam Wang will come, anyway. Wash up and go to bed."
Old Man Yang had spoken. As head of the family, his word was law. Even if Madam Tan was seething with rage, she could only give up the fight, curse a few more times, yank up the blanket, and go to sleep with it over her head.
"Third Sister-in-law—what happened to your forehead?"
In the west wing across the courtyard, Yang Huazhou was shocked to see Sun Shi's forehead—red, swollen, the skin broken and bleeding.
"Grandpa and Grandma were going to sell me. My mom begged them not to and knocked her head like that," Yang Ruoqing spoke up before Sun Shi could.
"What?!" Yang Huazhou was horrified.
"Third Sister-in-law, is that true? How could Father and Mother even think of such a thing? What's going on?"
Sun Shi hung her head low, covering her mouth to stifle her sobs. She didn't speak. Instead, she walked over to the bed and looked at her still-unconscious husband Yang Huazhong. She sighed, sat by the bed, gently held his exposed hand, and cried quietly, her tears falling like rain.
Seeing her cry silently like that made the hot-tempered Yang Huazhou feel like ants were crawling on a hot pan.
"Uncle, stop pressing my mom. I'll tell you everything!"
Yang Ruoqing quickly laid out everything that had happened during the family meeting, and how their grandparents had kept them afterward to break the news that they were planning to sell her.
"Grandpa and Grandma already made up their minds. They just kept my mom behind to notify her—that they'd sell me for money to treat my dad's leg!"
"How could they do such a thing?!" Yang Huazhou was shaking with anger, his eyes nearly bulging from his skull.
**"When my Third Brother was still strong and able, anytime the first, second, or fourth branches needed anything, he never once said no. They were all 'brothers this' and 'brothers that.'
"But now that he's in trouble, every single one of them is washing their hands clean! What kind of people are they? I'm going to confront them right now!"**
He turned to leave the room, but Yang Ruoqing reacted fast and grabbed his sleeve.
"Uncle, it's already the middle of the night. Everyone's asleep. Can't it wait until tomorrow?"
"No! If I don't speak up now, I won't sleep a wink!" Yang Huazhou's neck was stiff with rage, his face flushed red, and his whole body trembling.
He had five brothers, but Third Brother was the one who loved him most. From childhood to adulthood—no matter if they were heading up the mountain or into the river—Third Brother always took him along.
One year, when he caught a terrible case of chickenpox and was half-dead, the whole village gave up on him. Even his parents wrapped him in an old mat and dumped him in a broken kiln cave out back to wait for death.
But it was Third Brother who snuck out at night, brought him food, water, and medicine, and dragged him back from the gates of death.
From that day on, he swore in his heart: when he grew up, he'd take good care of Third Brother in return.
Yang Ruoqing was his most beloved niece. Because of her mental condition, he felt an extra layer of affection for her—more than for the other nephews and nieces.
And now, the two people he cared about most in this whole family—one was going to be crippled, the other to be sold off. And the rest of the family stood around cold as ice.
How could he not be furious? How could he not be devastated?
(End of Chapter)