“Young Master Ronghua, do you know what kind of people the villagers of Xiagui Village are generally like? They are a bunch of lazy people who do nothing all day long. They saw that my mother raised my siblings and me by herself and managed the fields very well. The harvest was particularly good in the first year after my father passed away. They were very envious and tried to find ways to mess with my mother!”
My mother knew their character and usually ignored them unless they caused a huge disturbance. Only then would she lead my siblings and me to fight and argue with them without any regard for the consequences! My mother used to be a very gentle person, but because of the villagers of Xiagui Village's unbridled bullying, she became increasingly fierce, and my brother and I, under her influence, also became very fierce!
So the villagers didn't dare to bully us too much anymore, they could only resort to underhanded tricks, such as destroying our crops or newly sprouted vegetables, stealing our chickens and ducks, burning the firewood we kept in the yard, or secretly taking away and killing or selling the pigs that my mother had worked so hard to raise!
Because of these incidents, we have no evidence and can't find out who did it, so we've had quite a few arguments with people in Xiagui Village! If Young Master Ronghua has heard anything about Xiagui Village, he's probably heard about our family's story.
Rong Hua nodded: "That's right, I've heard of it!"
I felt sorry for them at the time, but I wasn't that old and had a lot of work to do at home, so I didn't pay much attention to it, only occasionally hearing about it.
But to everyone's surprise, their lives were so miserable.
Han Chan didn't see any contempt on Rong Hua's face, and suddenly felt relieved. She continued, "My mother was a very resilient woman, but women always have a vulnerable and untouchable side. I didn't quite understand why my mother couldn't understand and gave up her life, but now I understand!"
"Sister...you'll be alright! Tao Tao will protect you, just like Mom used to protect us! We siblings will definitely get better and won't let anyone bully us!" Little Radish Head said firmly.
Han Chan patted the little radish head: "Tao Tao, you're not so young anymore. I have no other expectations than that you grow up healthy and become a real man! As for protecting me, that's for you to do when you grow up!"
"Sister..." Little Carrot Head said with red eyes, "Don't be afraid or discouraged. Tao Tao will be your guardian angel and protect you for the rest of your life!"
Han Chan didn't say anything, just smiled, and continued to Rong Hua: "In the two years after my father passed away, my siblings and I had our mother's care, so although life was a bit hard and we were often bullied, we were very happy! I thought that such days could last a long time, until we grew up! However, it was completely shattered not long after, because rumors started circulating in the village, saying that my mother..."
At this point, Han Chan's eyes turned bloodshot, and her voice became increasingly choked with sobs. Even the little radish head became depressed and heavy, as if they were bound by very heavy shackles, and their whole bodies appeared very dull and painful.
"What happened to them?" Rong Hua knew a little about Han Chan's family, but not all of it, so he really didn't know what had happened to the Han family that made the siblings so pitiful. If he knew, he wouldn't have asked.
"They say my mother is unfaithful, that she couldn't bear the loneliness and secretly went to find another man while my father's body was still warm!" Little Radish Head suddenly turned his head, his eyes red as he looked at Ronghua and said, "My mother took excellent care of my siblings and me, and she did all the work in the fields. Our harvest was the best in the entire Xiagui Village. That's why they can't stand how hard-working my mother is, and they're trying to ruin her reputation everywhere!"
"What..." How precious is a woman's reputation? Ronghua could imagine how helpless and pitiful Han Chan's mother must have been back then.
"They say the reason my mother was able to finish all the farm work so quickly wasn't because she was hardworking, but because she secretly found a few men and used all her skills to please them, so they came to work for our family in the middle of the night! They also say that the reason my mother was able to raise my siblings and me wasn't because she raised us herself, but because she used her promiscuous body to earn money to support us! They also say that my mother had affairs with every man in Xiagui Village, whether young, old, or underage! That's why our family is getting better and better!"
"But what kind of person is my mother? Do you think my siblings and I don't know? Do you think we don't know whether my mother has cheated on me or not? We know everything! But people's words are terrifying. If those people are ruthless and shameless, they will do anything and make up any kind of story!"
So my mother was devastated! I clearly remember her saying: I would rather they dislike me, come and fight with me, argue with me, even tear my house down, than hear them falsely accuse me! Rumors about me everywhere, and drag me down to the deepest abyss!
As their children, seeing our mother suffer such humiliation, we tried to explain to everyone we met, but no one listened! Every night, one or two, three or four men would loiter around our door, even shamelessly climbing over the wall to get in. They would cover their heads with cloth bags, obscuring their identities, but we knew they were the sleazy men from our village!
My sister, mother, and I were too scared to sleep every night. We each carried a hoe, sickle, or kitchen knife, and the house was filled with stones, sticks, and other sharp weapons. If anyone dared to come in, we would beat them up together until we drove them all away! However, my sister and I were too young to be a match for those adult men. Soon, we siblings would be beaten back up, sometimes so badly that we would pass out and not wake up for the rest of the night.
But when we woke up, Mother... was in a terrible state, in great pain..."
Rong Hua's heart tightened. She opened her mouth, but didn't know how to comfort them. After stammering for a while, she said, "Those people deserve to die! Don't worry, they'll die sooner or later! They did such beastly things, they'll die sooner or later, they'll get their retribution!"
Little Carrot Head's dark eyes lit up immediately: "Big brother, you're right, those bad guys will get their comeuppance sooner or later! But no matter how terrible their comeuppance is, my mother won't survive, and my siblings and I will lose our mother forever!"
Ronghua: "I'm sorry, I was too stupid to keep asking so many questions, which made you bring up your sad memories!"
"Big brother, it's not scary to think about, what's scary is the villagers of Xiagui Village!" Little Radish Head gritted his teeth, his little hands clenched tightly.
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