Chapter 22: A Thoughtful Reminder

She wasn’t entirely wrong.

The other families nearby, though not as fortunate as Jiang Yuan and Xie Guanniang, who could eat eggs and meat every day, at least occasionally managed to serve their families something better, something a bit richer in flavor and substance.

At the very least, eggs, tofu, or some fine grains appeared on the table every now and then. Flatbreads, steamed corn buns, or plain rice were served at least once a day.

But in their household, it was nothing but plain boiled vegetables in water day after day, not even a pinch of salt spared.

The little girl felt deeply wronged. She had tried to endure it just like her older siblings did. She had held on for a very long time.

But now, she truly couldn’t bear it anymore. She didn’t want to make her mother cry, but she simply couldn’t control herself.

The little girl sobbed and shook, utterly pitiful. Yet the man who had been struck to his core by her cries—her own father—was so shamed and enraged that he lost control.

Unable to provide enough food or clothing for his wife and children, yet arrogantly expecting them to worship him like a god, this middle-aged man felt utterly humiliated in front of the neighbors once his innocent daughter exposed the harsh truth. Furious, he vowed to punish his “unfilial, rebellious girl” severely.

Among the murmurs and gossiping of the gathering villagers, Xie Guanniang pieced together the truth with mounting disbelief.

If he couldn’t afford to raise so many children, why have so many? When they barely had enough to eat, he couldn’t even control his appetite for a few extra ounces of meat—no wonder the naïve little girl tore away his facade and exposed his disgrace!

Even after several men from nearby households stopped him, he still had the audacity to try breaking through their circle, pointing fingers and hurling curses at the trembling little girl.

Xie Guanniang, despising this man to the utmost, felt her fists clench as she surveyed the rest of his family’s condition.

The little girl, already terrified, was held tightly in her mother’s disheveled embrace, her pale face ghostly white, her small body trembling silently but uncontrollably.

Both of her older brothers bore bruises and cuts on their faces, evidently beaten by their father before the neighbors arrived.

Her older sister and sister-in-law all wore expressions of fear and worry, standing silently beside the mother and child, too afraid even to offer words of comfort.

Xie Guanniang’s breathing grew heavier. Jiang Yuan, noticing her emotional turmoil, gripped the man’s wrist with sudden force.

The villagers didn’t know that Jiang Yuan had trained in martial arts. They only saw him working the fields or collecting firewood and assumed he was naturally strong. The man, likewise, didn’t take Jiang Yuan’s grip seriously and continued struggling violently, trying to break through the crowd to strike the little girl.

But Jiang Yuan tightened his hold suddenly, causing the man to cry out in pain, unable to break free.

“Ah—It hurts! It hurts, hurts!” The man grimaced, glaring at Jiang Yuan. “You brat, why do you have to be so rough?”

Jiang Yuan replied calmly, “The village head will be here soon.”

The man blinked in surprise. “Village head?”

Jiang Yuan nodded.

The man nearly crumbled on the spot. “Wait, you... you mean...”

Halfway through, he suddenly remembered—the village head’s second son lived at the edge of the village!

The young man, inexperienced and caught up in the chaos, had heard him shouting about killing his daughter and saw him beating both the daughter and his own son who tried to intervene. Even when the villagers came to stop him, he didn’t calm down but became increasingly aggressive. Naturally, they believed his threats to be real.

But the truth was, he never intended to kill his little girl. He was simply so provoked that he wanted to teach her a harsh lesson—to scare her into obedience so she would behave quietly and respectfully in front of him, like his other two daughters.

He knew very well that it was wrong to threaten his child over two cracked eggs.

Who wasn’t a little greedy as a child? Even now, nearly forty years old, he still secretly resented Jiang Yuan’s family for the irresistible aroma that drifted from their home every day, cursing Jiang Yuan as a foolish womanizer and a spendthrift.

The neighbors didn’t want to meddle too deeply in his family affairs. Even when they tried to persuade or restrain him, they spoke carefully and acted cautiously, unlike the village head Chen, who never spared harsh words when reprimanding wrongdoers.

The man panicked and tried to backtrack. “Look at the fuss this has caused. I just lost my temper for a moment—I never meant to kill the girl.”

Xie Guanniang sneered. “But now she’s so frightened she’s fallen ill. She’s too young to understand words spoken in anger—she really thinks her own father wants to kill her over two eggs.”

“Poor child, so young, never tasted a moment of happiness or a morsel of good food, and now she’s nearly scared to death by her own father.”

“You!” The man glared fiercely at Xie Guanniang, unlike his polite attitude toward Jiang Yuan and the others. “My family’s affairs are none of your business, outsider! I’m telling you—ow! It hurts, Jiang Yuan, you brat!”

Xie Guanniang lifted her chin. “Sir, don’t bite the hand that helps you. I’m just reminding you to call Doctor Chen quickly to see your little girl. If anything happens to her, you’ll be the laughingstock of the entire countryside.”

She gestured to the crowd. “Everyone here, look at the little girl’s face.”

The villagers turned to look at the child wrapped in her mother’s arms.

The girl trembled all over, her face pale and ghostly, her eyes dull and unfocused, her breathing rapid and uneven—a picture of terror.

The women immediately supported Xie Guanniang, either accusing the man of lacking restraint or urging him to fetch Doctor Chen for the little girl’s sake.

The men also joined in advising him, but the man stubbornly dismissed their concerns.

“Whose child hasn’t been scolded or beaten by their parents? I don’t see others’ kids getting sick from it.”

“She’ll be fine once her mother calls her back to her senses tonight. Why waste money on a doctor? Not everyone is born with a precious life.”

“Don’t accuse me of cruelty. We country folk aren’t like those rich young ladies who call doctors at the slightest headache. When one of us falls ill, we tough it out.”

As he argued with the villagers, the village head Chen parted the crowd and stepped forward.

Like Xie Guanniang, Chen believed the little girl needed a doctor immediately or she wouldn’t survive much longer.

But the man stuck to his old excuses, preferring to endure Chen’s harsh scolding rather than spend money on medical care for the child.

He glared fiercely at his wife and children when they pleaded with him.

Xie Guanniang thought that if Chen hadn’t been there, he would have surely grabbed something to resume his violent ways.