Chapter 1 No Work, No Eat
Baoya was dreaming again.
I dreamed that I was in a large garden filled with fairy air, surrounded by lush green fairy trees that covered the sky. Many strange-looking spirit beasts with golden light all over their bodies were running around in the woods.
She ran to the lake and saw her appearance clearly.
It has a fat body, furry tiger paws, a pair of black horns on its head, and a long tail like a horse's tail.
What is this?
She bared her teeth at the lake, revealing a pair of sharp and shining fangs, looking quite majestic.
At this moment, a clear bell sound suddenly rang out not far away, and Baoya's stomach began to growl.
She saw a group of spirit beasts running towards the direction where the bell sound came from, and joined the large group.
After running all the way, I finally caught up.
In front of him was a towering lotus platform, on which stood a young man with a handsome face and a graceful demeanor like a banished immortal.
The immortal young man was wearing a snow-white robe and was constantly taking out delicious meat from a big bag and throwing it to them to eat.
Baoya was very hungry and her growling became louder.
There were hundreds of golden spirit beasts crowding in front of her, and she couldn’t eat any of them!
So anxious!
Baoya held her breath, kicked the ground with her hind legs, and pounced towards the little brother.
With one big gulp, she swallowed the entire bag of meat.
The fairy boy was stunned and sat on the ground staring at her motionlessly.
But Baoya was still hungry, so she turned her head and saw a few big, fresh and juicy peaches on the plate next to her.
Baoya's saliva is about to flow out.
Ahhhh, two more bites, and the plate is empty.
"You can't eat this!" the fairy brother growled.
But it was too late. Baoya heard Lingkong shout angrily, "How dare you! That's the ten thousand year old immortal peach I prepared for the Hundred Immortals Conference!"
Boom! Boom!
It was a thunderbolt from the sky.
"Ah! Don't hit me! I was wrong!"
Baoya held her head and screamed.
"You damn girl! Why are you howling in the middle of the night?!"
A sharp sound exploded in my ears.
Baoya suddenly opened her eyes, and the light in front of her was dim. A thin girl of five or six years old, wearing a red jacket, was standing in front of her with a frown on her face.
It’s Chen Xiaojuan.
Baoya was startled suddenly and subconsciously shrank into the corner.
Chen Xiaojuan rolled her eyes, reached out and grabbed Baoya's little ear, pulling hard: "Hey, you idiot, have you finished fetching water? You come here to be lazy! Go! Go fetch some water!"
Baoya's ears turned red from being pulled, but she didn't dare to cry. She sniffed and walked out of the small firewood room with Chen Xiaojuan.
Chen Xiaojuan dropped a long shoulder pole at Baoya's feet with a clang. "There are still two buckets left. Fill them up before you go to sleep! If I see the water jar isn't full tomorrow morning, you'll be dead!"
Baoya lowered her head, picked at her fingers, and said nothing.
Chen Xiaojuan snorted, "You idiot! Go to work! If you don't work, you won't have anything to eat!"
After she finished speaking, she turned around and left. Baoya then squatted down and picked up the shoulder pole on the ground that was almost taller than her, and then ran to the window to get the bucket.
She just turned five this Chinese New Year and is only a head taller than a bucket.
Xiao Baoya staggered out of the door, picking up two buckets of water and moving step by step.
Her parents died early, and she was adopted by Chen Changshui's family in Feishui Village when she was three years old.
Chen Changshui and his wife Zhou Cuihua have a son and a daughter. Their son is Chen Chengcai, who is twelve years old this year, and their daughter is Chen Xiaojuan mentioned earlier.
At first, the family was actually quite nice to her. Maybe she was too young at that time and didn't eat too much.
But as she grew up, she ate more and more. She had to eat three bowls of rice at a meal to feel full, which was more than Chen Chengcai.
Zhou Cuihua became increasingly hostile to her, only giving her a bowl of rice every day and asking her to work.
Baoya carried two empty buckets and finally reached the well at the village entrance to fetch water.
She looked up at the stars in the sky and her eyes felt sore.
She didn't want to eat so much, but she was so hungry that she wanted to put the stones on the roadside in her mouth.
Thinking of this, she picked up two small stones by the well in the moonlight, washed them in a bucket, and then put them in her mouth. Although she was still hungry, she felt better with something in her mouth.
Then she staggered over to pick up the bucket and slowly walked towards Chen's house.
The two buckets of water were so heavy that Baoya felt her legs were shaking.
In fact, if she is full, she will be very strong and can easily carry two buckets of water.
Finally they arrived at Chen's house, but the threshold was too high. Baoya gritted her teeth and lifted her feet with all her strength.
But she still couldn't step in and tripped over the threshold.
The water splashed all over the ground, and the little man was pressed down by the carrying pole. His eyes went dark and he passed out.
The next day, Baoya was woken up by Zhou Cuihua's scolding.
She rubbed her eyes and felt wet and cold. When she looked up, Zhou Cuihua was staring at her with her big eyes, looking ferocious.
"You're a money-loser! What are you doing lying by the door so early in the morning? You spilled all over yourself just carrying water, what else can you do?!"
As she spoke, she kicked Baoya irritably: "Get up! If someone sees you, they'll think I'm abusing you!"
Baoya rolled out of the door along the dirt steps at the door.
Her eyes were red, but she didn't dare cry.
When she was three years old, Zhou Cuihua beat her until she cried, and she was beaten again. While beating her, Zhou Cuihua warned her that if she dared to cry again, she would beat her until she stopped crying.
Baoya lowered her head, rubbed her eyes, and slowly got up from the ground.
But she was so hungry, and the September morning was cold. She was shivering all over and looked at Zhou Cuihua pleadingly: "Auntie...food."
"You haven't finished your work yet, and you still want to eat?!" Zhou Cuihua slapped her hand.
"Zhou Cuihua, you're done now."
Some villagers who had gotten up early to work in the fields saw this and gathered around.
"That's right, Baoya is just a child, and you want her to work? Look at her, she's all wet!"
"A little girl of four or five years old, and you're asking her to carry two buckets of water? Zhou Cuihua, you are so cruel!"
"Bah!" Zhou Cuihua put her hands on her hips and spat at a thin, pointed-faced woman. "Sun, you're talking without any hesitation! I let her work because she eats a lot! She eats as much as an adult, and who can support her if she doesn't work?"
Sun twisted her lips and glared at Zhou Cuihua: "How much can a little girl like her eat? You are too stingy, you evil woman!"
"I'm stingy? She eats three bowls of rice in one meal! Three bowls! That's as much as my husband eats!"
Zhou Cuihua became excited: "Anyway, our family can't afford to keep her! Don't you feel sorry for her? Whoever wants to keep her can do so! But don't come crying to our door when the time comes!"
Now, the onlookers were speechless. Three bowls of rice and a little baby?
They didn't quite believe it.
But what if what Zhou Cuihua said is true?
It’s a year of famine now, and the stored food is not enough for our family to eat. How can we add another mouth?
Forget it.
A dozen or so villagers from Feishui Village who had gotten up early kept their mouths shut, like ducks with their necks pinched.
Zhou Cuihua became even more proud upon seeing this. These cowardly grandsons said nice things, but if they were asked to raise the children, no one would be happy!
She wiped the mud off the toes of her shoes on the threshold and was about to close the door and go into the house when she heard a faint voice from the crowd:
"Sister Cuihua...how about Baoya, I'll raise her."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
