Let the Xie family come and pick them up.
"Yes, yes, Uncle Zheng, Er Ya has gone mad."
"When you talk to her, she just smiles like an idiot."
"Some people are driven stupid by accidents, and some are driven stupid by burns. Er Ya had a hole in her head and burned for so long, but she's no longer stupid."
"He's gone mad. He stares blankly at people, just like those idiots."
The villagers, who were watching the commotion with their bowls in hand, chimed in, each offering their own corroboration, which made the Zheng family, who had initially thought the person was possessed, less certain.
Grandma Zheng muttered under her breath, "I don't think he's stupid, he looks like he's possessed by a starving ghost."
What kind of fool could eat that much?
We just finished lunch for the whole family this morning, and now we have to eat lunch for the whole family again.
Old Man Zheng glared at Old Woman Zheng.
What, possessed by a starving ghost? Are you afraid of being caught and subjected to ideological education?
Old Mrs. Zheng reluctantly shut her mouth.
The neighbors were still saying that Old Man Zheng and his wife were heartless. After all, she was the only daughter of his second son. She had a fever and hit her head, but they wouldn't even prescribe any medicine. It wouldn't have cost much to get a tablet of Analgin from Old Man Tang. They just smeared some ashes on the bump on her head and that was it. Er Ya is still alive, but she's mentally impaired. It's all because she's lucky.
I originally wanted to say that her father, who died young, was protecting her, but at this time, it was forbidden to talk about gods and ghosts, so I had to change my words.
Old Man Zheng's face was ashen, and he gave Old Woman Zheng a wink.
Grandma Zheng picked up a broom and swept towards the door. "Go away, what's it to you? If you feel so sorry for Er Ya, take her back and raise her. I won't say a word."
"Haven't we been good enough to her? All those young men and women in the village have to go to the fields to earn work points. We've been supporting her for nothing. What more do you want? To treat her like royalty?"
After chasing the people away and closing the courtyard gate, he saw Zheng Nanle shoveling sweet potatoes into her mouth from a large basin, and his anger flared up again. He swung the broom at her.
She saw that there was no one around the starving ghost. Let's see who she can drag to block her way.
Snap!
Old Zheng had several bloody marks on his face.
Meanwhile, Zheng Nanle had already run to the threshold and was holding a bowl, eating intently.
At this time, the brooms used to sweep the yard were large brooms made of thin bamboo bundles. When they hit a person's face, the uneven, raised bamboo blades were like blades, and with a little force, they could cut the skin.
When the broom hit Old Man Zheng, especially in the face, everyone fell silent.
No one dared to speak.
Grandma Zheng put away the broom, her heart pounding.
Old Zheng was so angry he was about to explode.
He swept his cold gaze over Old Lady Zheng, but out of consideration for his sons, he refrained from hitting her.
He calmly said, "What are you standing there for? We're about to get to work. Hurry up and roast some sweet potatoes to fill your stomach."
Grandma Zheng hurriedly dropped the broom and ran to the kitchen, with her two daughters-in-law following after her.
Old Man Zheng touched the scratches on his face with his fingers, hissing in pain. He walked to the water vat to fetch water and wash his face, his gaze sweeping over Zheng Nanle with a fierce look in his eyes.
Zheng Nanle looked up and grinned foolishly at Old Man Zheng, revealing a mouthful of slightly yellow teeth with a few grains of white rice stuck to his lips.
In Old Zheng's eyes, it was a provocation.
A murderous intent flickered in and out.
When Zheng Erya came into her grandfather's view, she was so scared that she hugged herself and trembled. She felt that this would not alleviate her fear, so she hugged Zheng Nanle.
Feeling the calm and composure emanating from Zheng Nanle, Zheng Erya's mood gradually calmed down as well.
She whispered, "Sister, be careful of Grandpa."
Although Zheng Erya lived a difficult life, she was sharp-eyed and discerning. She knew that her grandmother was openly evil, while her grandfather was secretly evil and therefore more worthy of vigilance.
Zheng Nanle focused on eating. "Okay, thank you, Er Ya."
The work bell rang, and the Zheng family members each took two sweet potatoes and left home, while the younger ones gathered around.
The oldest one, seven years old, was Zheng Laosi's second son, Zheng Sanhu. He arrogantly said to Zheng Nanle, "Hey, you unlucky guy, I want to eat white rice. Pick out the white rice, I want to eat it."
Zheng Nanle ignored him.
She still has a certain level of tolerance for children.
Zheng Sanhu punched and kicked Zheng Nanle.
Zheng Nanle couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him away.
Of course, I held back.
Zheng Sanhu sobbed, "I'm going to tell Grandpa and Grandma, they'll beat you to death, you jinx!"
The other two children were so frightened that they backed away.
Zheng Nanle maintained his persona, just smiling foolishly, and then simply ate his rice.
If you have the mental power to absorb energy from food, this bowl of food will be broken down into residue after entering your stomach and won't take up much space. But no matter how little space you take up, eating too much will still take up space.
She put the food bowl in the cupboard, and after making sure the children couldn't reach it, she rushed into the outhouse.
I rushed in, then rushed out again, standing in the vegetable garden, taking deep breaths of fresh air.
Oh my god, it stinks.
stomachache.
Zheng Nanle frowned and rushed in again, then rushed out in a hurry and ran to the front yard to wash his face.
The three children in the yard were gone, but Zheng Nanle didn't pay attention. After making sure the smell on her body had been blown away by the wind, she went to the cupboard, took out the bowl, and continued eating. As she ate, she asked, "Er Ya, the number of your children is wrong. Why are there only a few small ones?"
"My eldest brother and second sister from my eldest uncle's family, and my fourth brother from my fourth uncle's family, are studying in the county. My two younger brothers from my youngest uncle's family live in the county. There are three of us in the family: my eldest uncle's sixth brother, and my fourth uncle's fifth and seventh brothers, who are not yet in school."
"You didn't go to school?"
"No," Zheng Erya said dejectedly. "My grandma said, 'Little girl, you all belong to other people's families, what's the point of you going to school?'"
"Then why is your second sister back at school?"
“My eldest uncle said that my eldest brother is the eldest son of the family and the pillar of the family. He will have a stable job like my younger uncle in the future. He was afraid that my brother would not study hard at school, so he asked my second sister to accompany him to school.”
"So, you're the only one who can't study?" Zheng Nanle laughed angrily, "They really are bullying the weakest one."
There's no consequence for bullying them, and they won't make a fuss.
"It's okay, I'll teach you to read. By the way, you must remember the footwork I just used to dodge and practice it diligently. Once you've learned it, your family won't be able to hit you anymore."
"Thank you, sister."
That evening, Old Man Zheng returned with his family and saw Zheng Erya sitting on the doorstep, grinning foolishly at people, her expression gloomy.
Old Mrs. Zheng went to the kitchen first and saw that it was spotless. She instinctively snapped, "You unlucky thing! Are you begging for food at home? You don't cook, you don't feed the chickens, are you planning to act like a pampered princess?"
She forgot that she hadn't saved any food for dinner at noon, and she also forgot that Zheng Erya had "god-like."
She picked up the stick and was about to swing it at Zheng Erya again.
"Alright," Old Man Zheng stopped her, glancing at her coldly, "Instead of wasting time cursing, why don't you go cook?"
Have you already forgotten the lesson learned at noon?
Old Mrs. Zheng slunk into the kitchen with her two daughters-in-law. Once inside, she muttered curses under her breath at Zheng Erya.
If it weren't for her, would the old man have scolded her?
Old Man Zheng looked at his eldest brother, Zheng Laoda, who nodded and showed Old Man Zheng the talisman he had brought.
Old Zheng lowered his voice, "Put one under Er Ya's pillow, and also put one in the bed."
When Boss Zheng saw that Zheng Nanle was still sitting on the threshold, grinning foolishly at passersby, he hurried into the storeroom and put away the talismans.
That evening, unusually, nothing went wrong. Old Mrs. Zheng gave Zheng Nanle a bowl of rice that was about right, and the family lived peacefully and harmoniously.
In the dead of night, after watching Zheng Nanle enter the storeroom, Old Man Zheng and Old Man Zheng stood guard outside the storeroom door, listening for any sounds inside. Old Woman Zheng and Old Man Zheng's family also stood at the door, keeping an eye on the situation.
The storage room was quiet.
Old Zheng opened the window a crack and peered inside. Through the dim light, he could see Zheng Nanle lying on the bed.
Old Master Zheng shook his head at Old Man Zheng.
It's not possession by a ghost.
"Could he really have gone mad?" Old Mrs. Zheng came out and muttered to herself.
Inside the room, Zheng Nanle sat up straight, picked up two talismans, looked at them, and curled his lip in disdain.
It's a scam; it has no power whatsoever.
It was fortunate that she used her mental power to protect Er Ya's soul.
She tucked the pillow into the blanket to make it look like someone was sleeping, then tiptoed to the door, pressed her ear against it, and eavesdropped.
She said to Zheng Erya, "You should be wary of their schemes. It's best to eavesdrop on their conversations every night before going to sleep."
Farm work is heavy, so the couple usually chats and discusses their plans and schemes before going to bed.
"No, old man, whether she's gone mad or possessed, we can't leave her at home."
Old Mrs. Zheng felt a surge of anger rising within her as she recalled the chaos and turmoil of the day. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
"Yes, yes, Mother, we can't let her live. She still kicks my Sanhu. What if she goes crazy one day and kills my Sanhu?" The fourth son's wife quickly whispered.
"She dares!" Old Mrs. Zheng's eyebrows shot up.
Old Zheng's gaze was calm and collected as he made his decision, "Notify the Xie family tomorrow and have them come and pick up the person."
“Yes, yes, yes,” Old Mrs. Zheng’s eyebrows relaxed, “The second son arranged a marriage for her before he died. She is from the Xie family.”
"These days, everyone has a hard time, and people don't care about formalities. Once they take the person away, that's considered it leaving the house."
After the Zheng family left, Zheng Nanle returned to bed and asked, "Er Ya, do you still have a childhood betrothal?"
"Hmm." Zheng Erya briefly explained the origin of this childhood betrothal.
When Zheng Erya's father returned home to visit his family one year, he saved the third son of the Xie family from drowning. In gratitude, the Xie family proposed that the two families arrange a marriage.
Zheng Lao Er thought that since they were from the same village and the two families knew each other well, and the Xie family's third son was not much older than his daughter, the Xie family could take care of his wife and daughter when he was not at home, so he agreed.
It can only be said that Zheng Lao Er misjudged him. When he was alive, Xie's wife and the Zheng family were quite attentive to each other, and they would ask about Zheng Er Ya from time to time. But after he passed away, the Xie family acted as if they had never seen Zheng Er Ya and her daughter, and never asked about them again.
"He's not a good person, sister, don't go with him," Zheng Erya whispered, trying to persuade her.
"What do you mean?" Zheng Nanle asked curiously. What had the other party done to make even the timid Er Ya so disliked him?
Er Ya blushed before she could speak, and mustered her courage to curse, "He, he's shameless, crawling into the rice stack with Sister Hehua."
"You saw it?"
"Mmm," Zheng Erya replied softly.
Zheng Nanle is angry.
Xie Shitou is so careless in his actions that he has even offended Er Ya's eyes.
Her eyes darted around, and an idea came to her.
She comforted Er Ya, "Don't worry, this marriage won't happen."
The Xie family's attitude has been very clear over the years. In addition, given that she is now mentally impaired and has an enormous appetite, the other party will definitely take this opportunity to annul the engagement.
As night deepened and Zheng Nanle confirmed with his mental power that the Zheng family members were all asleep, he got up and headed up the mountain.
Passing by a house that stood alone without any walls between it and other houses, she heard noises coming from inside, like a woman being gaggled.
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