Chapter 22: Hatred is hard to let go

"Grandma said...that we are money-losing goods, unlucky stars, only fit to eat slop, not worth spending money on food..."

Daya's voice was not loud and was intermittent. Every word was like a red-hot steel needle, piercing Feng Lan's ears fiercely, and then drilling into her heart through her ears, stirring her heart, which had just been ignited with hope, into a bloody mess.

Feng Lan felt a blackness in front of her eyes, and a fishy and sweet taste of rust rose from her throat.

She lowered her head, looking at her eldest daughter who was crying breathlessly in her arms, looking at her eyes filled with fear and grievance, and looking at the little figures behind her who were also trembling with fear.

The ten cents she gave them was more than just money.

That was the first time, as a mother, after experiencing despair and rebirth, she wanted to give her children warmth and compensation. It was the promise she wanted to tell them, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." It was the first glimmer of sweetness she wanted them to taste in the darkness of their lives.

But now, this little bit of insignificant sweetness was taken away by the old lady of the Chen family, their grandmother, with the most vicious curses and the most brutal means.

Not only did she steal the money, she also stole the little sense of security that the children had just built up, and told them again in the cruelest way: You are not worthy, you are commodities, you are worthless.

A chill that was colder and more bone-chilling than when she was publicly humiliated at the headman's house and when she was accused by the whole village instantly swept through Feng Lan's body.

That's not anger. Anger is hot and has temperature.

This is a cold and silent hatred that seems to come from the underworld.

She slowly let go of Daya, squatted down, and with her still slightly trembling hands, gently straightened Erya's torn collar and wiped the tears from Sanya's face. Her movements were light and gentle, but her eyes were terrifyingly empty.

Chen Kangbo stood aside and watched the scene in front of him. The man who had just been planning how to go to the county government to file a complaint now felt as if his heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible big hand and then thrown into an ice hole.

He could endure his father's partiality, his brothers' schemes, the village head's frame-up, and even the misunderstandings of the entire village. Because he was a man, he felt he could handle it.

However, he could not bear his daughter's tears.

He couldn't bear to see the child he tried so hard to protect being bullied like an enemy by his own mother in a small town just a few miles away from him.

He walked over and took the ten-cent coins out one by one from Daya's clenched, pale little hands. The coins were still wet with the child's body temperature and tears.

He placed the copper coin in his palm, but the tiny weight made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"She...what else did she say?" Chen Kangbo's voice was hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper.

Erya was timid and just kept crying. Daya, however, sobbed and raised her head, looking at her father with her red and swollen eyes.

"Grandma... Grandma even told people on the street that we were unwanted girls, that our parents didn't want us anymore, and that they were planning to sell us off to wealthy families as maids to earn money for Sixth Uncle's leg treatment..."

"She also said... that anyone who pities us and gives us food is going against the Chen family and is destroying Uncle Six's livelihood..."

"boom--!"

It was as if something exploded in Chen Kangbo's mind.

He finally understood.

The old lady of the Chen family is not only greedy for money, not only vicious. She is using the most drastic method to cut off all the livelihoods of the family!

She spread such rumors in the town in order to make their eldest family notorious, like rats crossing the street, and be hunted by everyone. In this way, they would not be able to find work, borrow food, or even get a sip of water.

She was going to force them into a corner, so that they would have no choice but to crawl back to the Chen family on their knees and let them slaughter them!

So cruel!

What a vicious heart!

"Dad... Mom..." Daya looked at her parents' extremely ugly faces, and her small voice was full of self-blame, "It's all my fault... I shouldn't have taken my sisters to town... I shouldn't have taken that money..."

"I don't blame you."

Feng Lan finally spoke.

Her voice was eerily calm. She stood up and gathered her daughters behind her, like a true mother wolf protecting her cubs.

She looked at her husband, at the copper coins in his hand, and the empty and dead silence in her eyes was gradually replaced by a burning and resolute light.

"Comber."

"Um."

"You just said you were going to the county government office?"

"right."

"When are you going?"

"Tomorrow morning, as soon as the road is open, we'll go."

"No." Feng Lan shook her head. She looked over her husband's shoulder at the blocked road outside the village that led to the county town. "Let's go now."

Chen Kangbo was stunned: "Now? The road is not open yet..."

"Use your hands to dig, your shoulders to carry, or your teeth to bite, you must clear that path for me!" Feng Lan's voice suddenly rose, filled with a desperate madness. "I can't wait a moment longer! Today, even if I have to crawl, I will crawl to the county magistrate!"

"I want to complain!"

"I'm not just going to sue them for human trafficking, they're also taking human lives!"

"I'm also going to sue them, sue my good mother-in-law, for spreading rumors and causing trouble, destroying my child's reputation, and destroying my entire family's livelihood!"

"I'm also going to sue my good father-in-law for condoning and protecting me. He's unworthy of being a father!"

"I will also sue my good uncle for being ungrateful and cruel!"

"I will also sue the head of Pingjiang Village for accepting bribes, confusing right and wrong, and colluding with evildoers!"

Every time she spoke, she took a step forward. The cruelty that emanated from her bones made the air in the entire yard tremble.

"Don't they want us dead? Fine! Then let's see who dies first in the county magistrate's court!"

She walked up to Chen Kangbo, took the ten cents from his hand, and held it tightly in her palm.

"Comber, are you afraid?"

Chen Kangbo looked at the blazing fire in his wife's eyes, and at the daughters behind her, their eyes filled with tears but also with a hint of hope as they looked at him. His heart, which had been filled with repression, humiliation, and anger, suddenly became incomparably calm.

He smiled.

It was a smile that was a mixture of sadness, determination and fearlessness.

He stretched out his rough big hand, wiped away the tears on Daya's face, and said in a deep voice: "Come on, Dad will take you to seek justice."

He turned around, strode to the corner, picked up the axe used to chop wood in the mountains, and a sharp shovel.

"Lan'er, bring some dry food and water."

"Children, follow closely."

"Today, we don't pray to gods, we don't worship Buddha, we don't believe in family ties, and we don't believe in neighbors."

"We only trust what we have in our hands, and we only believe that there is the law of the land!"