Chapter 25 025 They really were too poor.

Jiang Ling'er had no time to think. She thought she could live a peaceful life in this small village under an assumed name, but unexpectedly, new troubles soon arose.

Thinking about it carefully... it's not a new problem, but a long-standing worry, at least for Jiang Ling'er.

They were too poor.

They are really, really poor.

Grandma Yang was already so poor that she couldn't even afford to eat. For many years, she had only managed to stay afloat and wait for her eldest son thanks to the help of her neighbors. But now, with the addition of Jiang Ling'er and Little Poison, her already destitute home was reduced to eating tree bark.

They had thought that their arrival, while taking advantage of Granny Yang, would at least improve her situation, but instead it made it worse. One poor person might be manageable; Granny Yang, though blind, could occasionally receive help from her neighbors, like last night. But three poor people banding together only invites people to avoid them.

Only then did Jiang Ling'er realize how naive she had been. She had always been extravagant and disregarded money, even looking down on those she thought were obsessed with money. Thinking of this, she wanted to slap herself. How stupid she had been! She thought that as long as she had hands and feet, she could survive no matter what, but... everyone was poor. Where could she earn extra money and food?

But she was unwilling... she absolutely refused to do anything thieving or cheating. For a moment, she stood there, feeling that her future was bleak and that her great cause of revenge had collapsed halfway through before it even began... all because of the trivial matter of food and clothing! Just then, her stomach rumbled. Before she could react, Aunt Yang, who was beside her, had already gotten up from her chair and rushed into the inner room. Jiang Ling'er was stunned and quickly followed. She saw that although Aunt Yang was blind, she had moved the altar table in the corner with great precision and even moved the bricks on the ground to search for something.

"Mother, what are you looking for..." Jiang Ling'er paused when she saw that Aunt Yang had actually pulled out several yellowed papers, then her eyes widened: "These are... land deeds?"

Upon hearing the words "land deed," Granny Yang gripped the yellowed paper tightly in her hand and let out a long sigh of relief, murmuring, "It's still here, it's still here..."

Jiang Ling'er finally understood from Aunt Yang's rambling explanation that Aunt Yang was not destitute; in fact, she owned a large tract of fertile land. However, due to prolonged mental confusion and the fact that she was powerless to manage it alone, she had entrusted that acre of land to her husband's brother. At this point, Aunt Yang's memory seemed to become confused again, but it was clear that after the massage by Xiao Duwu, Aunt Yang's spirits had improved. Although she was still somewhat dazed, she was not confused about important matters. As she spoke, she put the land deed into her bosom and was about to run to her husband's brother's place to get the land back.

With the land back, their little family had something to look forward to, and it finally felt like a home again.

Thinking this, she couldn't wait a moment longer. Jiang Ling'er wanted to go with her, but Aunt Yang stopped her. Aunt Yang took her hand and patted it gently with her hand, which was covered with fine lines and wrinkles.

"Mother will go. You stay home and watch over Dalang. If he wakes up and can't see anyone, he'll cry. Don't worry, Mother knows the way and will be back soon."

Jiang Ling'er knew she must have mistaken Yang Dalang for him from when he was a child. She couldn't persuade her otherwise, and then glanced instinctively into the room. The little poisonous creature was still asleep, and she couldn't leave it unattended—it could kill someone! Therefore, she could only watch Aunt Yang leave, scratching her head and muttering:

"I hope... everything is alright."

Although Aunt Yang was blind, no one knew the village better than her over the years. Jiang Ling'er felt a little relieved, and the thought that returning to the fields would solve her current predicament made her happy. Once she relaxed, the pain from the puppet's attack and the exhaustion from practicing boxing and fighting almost non-stop over the past few days came over her. Of course, she wouldn't go to the little poisoner's house, much less sleep with him. After thinking for a while, she finally hugged her knees and leaned against the door of the little poisoner's house, and fell asleep with her head tilted against the door.

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After a long time, during which she seemed to be lifted up by a cloud, she initially thought it was a cloud, but it was so hard and uncomfortable that it felt like a rock, even rough. In the blink of an eye, she was thrown from the rock onto the cloud. It hurt a little, but she was too tired and sleepy. She only twitched her eyebrows slightly before falling into a sweet, dark sleep.

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When she woke up again—

She noticed spiderwebs entwined on the beam. After staring at them for a while, she caught a faint, cool, and familiar scent. Where had she smelled it before? She thought she had smelled it just yesterday…

Her muddled mind gradually cleared, and her hazy eyes seemed to part from a fog. After a moment, she suddenly sprang up from the bed! She looked at the furnishings in the room and then at the bed and bedding beneath her... This was clearly Little Poison's bed, but the person who should have been sound asleep was not there...

But she appeared here?

How could this be? She clearly remembered sleeping outside the door, could it be...?

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the door, mixed with Aunt Yang's low sobs. Her thoughts were interrupted, and Jiang Ling'er, startled, got off the bed and ran out.

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The sun was setting, and she hadn't expected to sleep for so long.

The small room was now packed with people, and the middle-aged man with a goatee at the head of the group must be Yang Da-niang's husband's older brother.

He ripped the land deed to shreds, the pieces scattering across the ground. Aunt Yang frantically crawled on the ground, her trembling fingers picking up the snowflake-like fragments, but she couldn't piece them back together. Meanwhile, the little devil sat on a bamboo chair, his back turned so no one could see his expression, but his husband's brother's ugly face was clearly visible. His rough, arrogant voice was so loud it seemed to lift the roof off. Jiang Ling'er listened for a long time before finally understanding what he meant. It wasn't as peaceful as Aunt Yang had described. These people had taken advantage of Aunt Yang's blindness and mental instability to seize her land. Seeing that Aunt Yang had remembered and come to claim it, and seeing that the "Aunt Yang" who had finally returned home was just a sickly woman, they had come to bully her.

"My short-lived second brother died young, so the land naturally belongs to me. You're just an outsider trying to get a share? No way!" He spat at Granny Yang, then noticed the silent young man sitting beside him. His handsome face was as white as snow, his skin even whiter than a woman's. He'd never seen anyone more striking than this boy in his entire life, let alone a man or a woman. Did he bear even a resemblance to his long-dead, weasel-faced second brother? And with his sickly appearance, he looked utterly useless, destined to be manipulated by others! The middle-aged man let out a cackling laugh and walked up to the little poisoner. "You might fool that blind woman and the madwoman, but you can't fool me! How could you possibly be a member of the Yang family? You're probably just a bastard child born from that madwoman's affair!"

The moment the words were spoken, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, Aunt Yang was stunned for a moment, then overwhelmed by immense anger, her whole body trembled and she could barely speak.

The little poisoner remained silent while the middle-aged man spoke, even when he was called a "bastard." His beautiful eyes were lowered, his eyelids half-closed, and he didn't look at anyone, as if everything happening before him had nothing to do with him.

Jiang Ling'er glanced again at the little poisonous creature's raven-feather-like long hair and slightly thin back, then suddenly turned and left.

Almost immediately after Jiang Ling'er left, in a corner unseen by anyone, the little poisonous creature caressed the bamboo flute with its slender fingertips as if playing with it. Tiny, visible Gu worms crawled out from the edge of the flute and affectionately climbed onto its pale fingertips.

No one noticed, and even if they did, they simply assumed he was cowardly and incompetent, too afraid to utter a sound when bullied, which only emboldened the newcomer. The middle-aged man even reached out and grabbed the little poisonous creature's long hair: "You're so effeminate, I'm afraid you're some delicate young lady trying to fool me!"

A shrill, piercing cry belonging to the old woman:

"Don't you dare touch my son!"

In the end, the middle-aged man didn't manage to grab the little poisonous creature's long hair. It was from some unknown source of strength that Aunt Yang suddenly pounced on the little poisonous creature, grabbed the middle-aged man's arm, and bit down hard!

"……you!"

The middle-aged man was furious. Just as he was about to slap Aunt Yang, the little poisonous creature's brow twitched. Its handsome face, hidden behind its black hair, was instantly shrouded in gloom. At the same time, the bamboo flute, crawling with countless Gu worms, emerged and attacked the middle-aged man's throat!

Everything happened in an instant. Suddenly, a voice, as soft yet powerful as a woman's, boomed through the air like thunder:

"You dare touch my mother?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a rusty kitchen knife swept through the crowd and struck the pillar directly above the middle-aged man's head! The knife penetrated deep into the wood, leaving two horrifying cracks visible to the naked eye.

With a "clang," the handle of the knife finally stopped shaking after a while.

Even as the cleaver flew through the air, the middle-aged man's pupils constricted in horror, and his hand, which was about to slap Aunt Yang's face, froze in place. Now, with the knife hanging over his neck, his face was even more ashen.

His cloudy, blank gaze slowly and stiffly turned towards the source of the sound. Not only him, but everyone in the room turned around at the sound, silently making way for the person behind them.

The woman, dressed in tattered gray clothes, held a wood-chopping knife she had found in the backyard. She tossed it up and down to weigh it, then swung it in a flash, the blade flashing. As the flash disappeared, her delicate hand gripped the hilt, the tip pointing directly at the middle-aged man. Her beautiful face, though strikingly handsome, also appeared menacing. The knife was sharper than the wood-chopping knife in her hand. Staring at the middle-aged man, she repeated, word by word:

"You dare touch my mother?"

The middle-aged man's face turned pale, and he suddenly trembled. A strong smell of urine wafted over, and he realized he had urinated.

Meanwhile, the bamboo flute crawling with Gu worms silently retreated into the wide sleeves of the robe. The little poisonous creature looked at Jiang Ling'er's pretty face in the crowd, its bright and burning eyes made even brighter by its anger. The corners of its lips curled up slightly, and its sinister aura vanished. It rested its chin on one hand and sat back down in its chair with a leisurely air.

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 18:10:20 on June 22, 2023 and 02:42:57 on July 3, 2023!

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: even a good story shouldn't be wasted on 6 bottles;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!