Chapter 99 The swift, like a dog, can't change its nature...

Yao Xiaoyu's observation of Xiao Bainiao's story in the newspaper was not the latest to have an impact. When the article was first published, it did indeed cause a great deal of controversy, with many people saying that the author of "Paper Wedding Dress" had run out of ideas and had only written two articles similar to "Xiao Bainiao" and "Xiao Huangying".

However, this statement is incorrect.

At first glance, the stories of Xiao Huangying and Xiao Bainiao seem somewhat similar, as if the authors were lazy and used the same setting. However, after reading them in their entirety, it becomes clear that they are not the same. The most obvious difference is that Xiao Huangying has children to keep her in check, making her actions restrained and somewhat cautious, while Xiao Bainiao, after "awakening," exudes a madness and murderous intent that practically leaps off the screen.

If someone in the world deceives me, insults me, or despises me, how should I deal with it?

All you need to do is kill him, kill her, kill it.

Simple and brutal, yet perfectly suited to this jungle-law world, the table-flipping technique is not gentle or subtle, but it can make you feel exhilarated from head to toe.

To use an abstract but vivid analogy, reading Xiao Huangying's story is like someone teaching you how to do something step by step, letting you discover that you can do it this way; Xiao Bai Niao, on the other hand, is like a dog passing by that will slap you twice, barking and cursing, asking, "You're not even afraid of dying, so why are you afraid of dragging others to their deaths?" It's eager to jump out of the screen and tell people what it means to kill one person and make a profit, and kill two people and make a profit.

To those living a good life, this story is just a good article. But for some who have been driven to despair by others, it is a glimmer of light that can bring them peace in their final moments—it is too lonely to walk alone, and one must find companionship on the road to the underworld.

People didn't initially take Xiao Bainiao's story too seriously, at most thinking the words were a bit too emotional. But as people with a series of vices, such as alcoholism, beatings, gambling, and opium addiction, died one after another, these comments in the newspapers quickly disappeared.

But the door to a new world has been opened and cannot be easily closed. Newspapers are full of news of peace and prosperity, which does not prevent word of mouth in real society, especially from street vendors carrying their wares. If you pay a little attention, there is not much that can be hidden from their eyes and ears.

"When I went to sell porridge in front of his house, I heard the gatekeeper say that a lot of crazy women had been arrested recently. His master, after drinking, started cursing the strange things in the city, saying that these people all learned from Xiao Bainiao."

As Yao Xiaoyu ate her curry dumplings, the vendor chatted and gossiped beside her, his hands never stopping as he quickly filled the bowl with triangular beef dumplings and rectangular curry dumplings.

“Give her these dumplings,”

Yao Xiaoyu ate a beef dumpling, enjoying the wonderful taste of its crispness and crunchiness for a while. She pointed to the dumplings that the vendor had just wrapped and said, then turned to look at Tao Xiaoxiao.

"We'll settle the bill after we finish eating."

Due to some stereotypes, Yao Xiaoyu had little interest in curry and related foods. If it weren't for the fact that the vendors had all their nails trimmed, their hands were clean, and their appearance and attire had nothing to do with Indian style, she wouldn't have even had the courage to buy anything—fortunately, this effort paid off.

Yao Xiaoyu chewed on the smooth pork dumpling, which didn't taste like cotton, and thought contentedly.

"Okay!"

The vendor responded happily, his fingers flying up and down as he wrapped dumplings, his mouth never stopping—he was the kind of person who felt restless if he didn't talk, and his mouth would itch if he didn't speak for even half a cup of tea. He had been beaten several times for leaking real information before he had toned down his temper a bit, but he had only changed the names of all the main characters in his gossip to "he," "she," and "it."

It's like a mosaic covering your eyes; it's partially obscured, but not completely.

"If you ask me, those men deserve it. They don't even know how to live a proper life after getting married..."

The vendor was making dumplings, and his voice, muffled by a homemade mask covering his mouth, was somewhat indistinct, but his frustration was clearly conveyed—he had a skill that could earn him money, and he was still a virgin, far better off than those other men, yet he was still single. Those men had wives but didn't appreciate them; they deserved it!

"Her husband went to the casino every day. He wouldn't give any of his winnings to the family, and when he lost and went into debt, the family had to pay it off. She was forced to work to pay off the debts. Her only request was that he raise the child and give her food to live on. But when she came back, the child's grave was gone..."

"And then there's her family. Her father was a perfectly good cobbler. He wasn't exactly rich, but he was at least well-off. But somehow he got addicted to opium. The dowry kept getting raised, and he couldn't take it anymore, so he broke off the engagement. And then he forced his own daughter to sell her body for a friend..."

"She thought she had married into a good family, but it turned out she was involved in the human trafficking business. They even forced her to kidnap children from relatives' homes and wanted to gouge out her eyes so she would be blind and beg for money..."

"Like her, she finally made it through the years with her man, only for her brother to do it for money—it's said that when she caught him, his newly bought red mismatched underpants were still hanging on his belt..."

Yao Xiaoyu wasn't really clear on the relationships between the various people, but with her tenacious gossip-loving heart, she managed to hear most of it. She would also occasionally use the three-pronged approach of "Wow!", "Huh?", and "And then?" to provide emotional support to the vendor. The vendor became happier and happier as he talked, and then casually mentioned how the girl had a hard time in the past, and how her family had been frightened by a series of deaths, but now she was doing well.

"Let's not talk about anything else, just take her for example. Before she married into the family, she was such a beautiful young woman. When I visited last year, she was out doing needlework, and she looked like a dried-up corpse. But recently, when she went to sell her goods, she actually had a bit of a smile on her face..."

The vendor described her as a girl from the Gong family, three streets away. She was hardworking, honest, and capable, and quite pretty too. She was the ideal wife in the eyes of an ordinary family. Unfortunately, in this world, good men don't always have good wives, and bad men marry beautiful women. This girl, who was good in every way, married a man who would beat people when he was drunk.

In his opinion, that man wasn't just drunk and out of control—if he were so capable, why didn't he go fight those thugs who do bad things, those criminals who do nothing, those big shots who occupy positions without doing their jobs? Why did he only beat up his own wife? Isn't that just bullying his own woman?!

The girl from the Gong family had her hands and feet broken several times, and she had miscarried twice. She was also scolded for being unlucky. Fortunately, her husband was shaken by the murderous aura brought by Xiao Bainiao and changed his ways. Now, the girl from the Gong family has finally gotten over her suffering and good days are ahead.

……Really?

"You old hag, trying to scare me like Xiao Bai Niao? Do you think I'm easily frightened?!"

"Smack! Bang! Smack!"

"Stop hitting me, I was wrong..."

Gong Yuyan curled up in a corner and begged for mercy, but the man ignored her. Only after he had exhausted most of his strength did a few coughs come from outside the door. Gong Yuyan was so familiar with this process that she could repeat what followed without even thinking.

Stop fighting, go to sleep after you've had your drink!

"Stop fighting, drink your wine and go to sleep!"

The words in her heart and the words outside the door rang out almost simultaneously. The first time Gong Yuyan heard them, she was filled with gratitude, feeling that although she hadn't met a good husband, she had a reasonable father-in-law. But after hearing them ten times, a hundred times...

Gong Yuyan's eyes held a numb calmness. Her body was still aching, but her inner premonition perfectly matched the words spoken outside:

[How inconsiderate of you! Go cook some noodles for your man to sober up!]

"How insensible of you! Go cook some noodles to help your man sober up!"

The father-in-law pushed open the door and winked at Gong Yuyan. Gong Yuyan responded softly and obediently walked out as usual. Her eyes were swollen from the beating, so she could only grope her way out. The young wives in the same courtyard looked at her pitifully but dared not step forward to help.

Gong Yuyan's husband was a madman. She had helped Gong Yuyan out of pity, and the man thought she was interested in him. Her husband beat the madman up, and only then did the man dare not approach her. The young wife would never dare to help her a second time.

Gong Yuyan groped her way to the kitchen. Her nose was bleeding, she couldn't smell the sour smell of flour, and she couldn't open her eyes to see the discordant gray-black color inside. [1]

She painstakingly kneaded the dough and boiled water, then pulled out two bowls of noodles. Because she couldn't see the amount, she added a little extra salt. Gong Yuyan tasted it and thought it was too salty, so she added some sugar. As a result, the not-so-obvious sour taste was almost gone.

Gong Yuyan carefully carried the two bowls of noodles out. The two men ate them in a few bites, and then complained that Gong Yuyan was tactless and didn't even clear away the bowls and chopsticks. Gong Yuyan quickly groped her way forward, borrowed some water from a nearby house to rinse the bowls, and then wiped away her tears and went back to her parents' home.

Fearing that his wife might also have contracted Xiao Bainiao's madness, Gong Yuyan's husband, who had been holding back his anger for a long time, vented all the pent-up frustration and fell asleep feeling refreshed. He didn't even notice when Gong Yuyan came home—she still had to eat his food here, and going to her parents' house would save some food. As for not coming back… he had beaten her even more severely before, and an apology would have been enough to make things better.

The family ran out of flour, and the man was too lazy to cook, so he bought two pancakes from a vendor and shared them with his father before collapsing back onto the bed and falling asleep.

Then I was woken up in the middle of the night by pain.

The man went out with his belt in hand and ran into his father, who was returning from the courtyard gate. Before he could say anything, he heard his father's stomach growl a few times. The old man's face changed immediately, and he turned and ran to the toilet.

Fortunately, public restrooms have more than two stalls, so there's no need to fight for a spot.

The two of them stayed up until dawn before their legs gave way and they went back home. They thought they might have eaten something bad, but they couldn't bear to spend money to see a doctor, so they just slept and tried to tough it out.

Then the two of them died.

Because so many scumbags have died inexplicably recently, the deaths of the father and son have also caused a lot of discussion. However, when the police came to check, they found that the cause of death was food poisoning. After finding a moldy bag of flour in the kitchen, everyone sighed that heaven had eyes. If Gong Yuyan could see and smell it, she would have noticed something was wrong. These two had brought it all on themselves.

Gong Yuyan cried bitterly, but she didn't know where the two of them had put their money. When the relatives realized they couldn't get anything out of her, they weren't even willing to help collect the body. In the end, Gong Yuyan took the returned house, pawned some clothes and jewelry, and managed to hold a decent funeral. Everyone said that Gong Yuyan repaid evil with kindness and was truly a good woman.

However, the father and son were probably unlucky. As soon as their coffins were buried, they were spotted by grave robbers. Seeing that there was nothing left, they took the coffins and their burial clothes and sold them. The bodies of the father and son were just casually left on the grave, without even a straw mat, exposed to the wind and sun.

"Mother, please take this. If you're not doing well, come and help me take care of the children."

Gong Yuyan quietly slipped the gold bar into her mother's hand, and the woman nodded and accepted it.

There may be people in this world who truly repent, but most are still scum who can't change their ways.

...

On the 47th day of her self-isolation at home, Yao Xiaoyu received a letter from Maria Hospital.

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The author says: [1] If the flour has black spots, turns white, smells musty or bitter, has lumps or impurities when you grab it, tastes bad and has a musty or bitter taste, or feels hot when you touch the flour, these are all signs of aflatoxin growth, indicating that the flour has spoiled.

Aflatoxin is the most potent fungal toxin in terms of toxicity and carcinogenicity. A single severely moldy kernel of corn containing 40 μg of aflatoxin can kill two ducklings. Ingesting food contaminated with aflatoxin can lead to acute poisoning and death.

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