"What's it got to do with me? It's this damned thing's bad fate. Dying might actually be a good thing; perhaps the Old Mu Family might thank me for it."
Ma Houhou, who had been hit on the head, stuck out his neck and shouted at the person yelling loudly.
But as soon as he said he didn't care, Ma Houhou slicked off and ran!
After all, a death isn't something to joke about; who knows if the Old Mu Family might really make him pay.
Once Ma Houhou left, the villagers who were watching the commotion also broke up and ran away.
This left Mu Shuangshuang lying on the ground, like a rag that had been discarded.
Until a tall boy carrying a lot of game on his shoulder and a seven or eight-year-old child passed by.
And they stopped, finally someone took notice of Mu Shuangshuang on the ground.
"Whose child is this?" The boy crouched down, pointed at Mu Shuangshuang on the ground, and asked the child next to him.
The child's eyes turned and then he spoke.
"Second Brother, you just came back, you don't know. This is the ugliest, smelliest girl in our village, I really can't remember her name."
Everyone called her the stinky girl; once in a while some would call her name, but no one cared.
"Second Brother, the Old Mu Family doesn't even care about this filthy thing, we shouldn't meddle and end up being blamed for beating her."
"That would be a huge loss. Let's hurry back and skin the game; I want to eat meat tonight."
Speaking of meat, the child's eyes began to gleam green, like a starving wolf.
He stared at the smooth-furred game on the boy's shoulder, and at some point, a dribble of saliva appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Upon hearing the child's words, the boy was obviously unhappy.
"Yuanbao, have you forgotten what I told you? Or are you just like them, looking down on others?"
When the boy started talking, his thick eyebrows knitted together, and his dark eyes carried a sharp look.
His skin was a uniform chocolate color, different from the sunburned black of villagers working in the fields year-round.
Because of this, just standing there made it feel like he was different from others.
Yuanbao lowered his head, not wanting to argue with his Second Brother, as this was his most respected brother.
The boy lowered his head and extended his hands, took hold of Mu Shuangshuang's wrists, and after a moment, his brows furrowed even more deeply.
The person lying on the ground had an erratic, thin pulse and a very weak breathing.
"Where is her home?" he asked, lifting Mu Shuangshuang into his arms and looking towards the village entrance.
"Ugh!"
As he moved Mu Shuangshuang, a unique sour stench from her body hit, making Yuanbao cover his mouth and run to the side to vomit.
Only the boy seemed unaffected by the smell, holding Mu Shuangshuang as he asked again.
"Where's her home?"
Yuanbao thought for a moment, pointed in a direction, and then desperately retreated.
No other choice, the stench was overpowering; if he stayed any closer, he'd lose his previous meal.
Retreating farther and farther, Yuanbao didn't even notice he had passed the boundary by the roadside.
Slightly careless, his foot slipped, and he fell into the ditch by the road, nosediving into the mud.
He stretched out his hand and shouted, "Second Brother, pull me up... I fell into the ditch..."
The boy ignored Yuanbao behind him and headed straight in the direction Yuanbao had pointed.
Asking a villager along the way, he finally found the specific location of the Old Mu Family.
Reaching the courtyard gate, he could hear the harsh cursing from the Old Mu Family.
The Mu Family's Lady, Old Mrs. Mu, stood with her hands on her hips, eyes like they were spitting fire, staring fiercely at the motionless Mrs. Lin on the ground.
"Second daughter-in-law, has your brain been fried with pig oil? I told you to discipline someone, and you failed! Who's going to sun the piled-up rice in the yard, you or this old woman here?"
Mrs. Lin feared no one but this mother-in-law.
Hearing the mother-in-law's curse, she not only lost her previous authority in disciplining Mu Shuangshuang but also shrank like a frosted eggplant.
"Mother, that filthy thing hit me, she..."
"Bah! What nonsense are you spouting? I, the old woman, am quite aware of that stinky girl's nature. Do you think she'd dare hit you?
You shameless thing, get up and prepare the lunch, if you delay the men of the family from eating, I'll skin you alive."
After cursing Mrs. Lin, Old Mrs. Mu finally noticed the boy standing outside the yard.
"Grandma, I'm Lu Yuanfeng, the eldest grandson of the Old Lu Family from the west of the village. I've just returned from the army camp. Is this your granddaughter?"
The Old Lu Family from the west of the village still had some impression on Old Mrs. Mu, especially this Lu Yuanfeng, who went to the army camp with her family's youngest son.
Now five years had passed, the Lu Family's grandson had returned, why hadn't her son come back?
"She seems to have been beaten and hit her head. She's still bleeding and needs a doctor to treat her, or she might lose her life."
Old Mrs. Mu ignored him, and Lu Yuanfeng started explaining Mu Shuangshuang's situation by himself.
As soon as he finished speaking, Mrs. Lin leaped up.
"What? This jinx wants a doctor for treatment? Bah, for what reason? This half-dead being would be better off dead!
Then the Old Mu Family wouldn't get sneered at by others, and we wouldn't waste food at home."
Old Mrs. Mu's expression changed slightly, she'd love nothing more than for this stinky girl to die, which everyone was hoping for.
But she couldn't show it in front of outsiders, or else if it got out, who knows how outsiders would laugh at the Old Mu Family.
"You fool, get inside and make the meal. Don't think you can get away with it..."
After scolding Mrs. Lin, Old Mrs. Mu turned towards Lu Yuanfeng with a somewhat polite manner.
"Put this stinky..." Originally intending to call her stinky girl, she paused, planning to address it once that Lu Family boy left.
"Put her down there. Once the laborers in the family are back, they can carry her in."
Old Mrs. Mu casually pointed to a spot where the sun shone, speaking in an indifferent tone.
By now, the sun was climbing higher and higher, even Lu Yuanfeng could feel the heat scorching the earth.
Waiting for the men of the Old Mu Family to return, just half an hour more, and the ground would be hot enough to burn someone's skin.
"Grandma, I'll take her in. It'll get hotter soon."
Old Mrs. Mu's expression changed again, the look she gave Lu Yuanfeng shifted from an initial somewhat kind to a later disdain.
Yet she still pointed to one of the mud brick houses in the back courtyard.
"That's the Third Family's house. Go in and out quickly, don't stay in there too long."
Once Lu Yuanfeng left, Old Mrs. Mu's expression completely changed.
Her tiger eyes cast a vicious light; she spat forcefully onto the ground, cursing vehemently.
"Bah, meddlesome thing, best to stink to death inside that house."