"I didn't sell myself!! This money was earned from odd jobs!"
She roared, each word distinct and forceful.
"No matter how you earned it, give me the money!!"
Li's mother spat a mouthful of phlegm at her feet, and then reached out to pull at her clothes.
Li Xiaorou suddenly stepped back, her back slamming into a large vat used for pickling vegetables.
The acidic water in the vat splashed out, wetting her tattered trouser legs.
As she watched her family members gradually gather around, besides her pregnant sister-in-law, she suddenly remembered Ji Yanchen's cold-blooded words from her previous life.
"Did you take it off yourself? Or should your mother check?"
Li's father suddenly spoke, his sharp eyes fixed on Li Xiaorou, while his pipe pointed towards the woodshed.
Li Xiaorou felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
She saw her sister-in-law covering her mouth and chuckling, her younger brother and older brother turning their faces away but listening intently, and her mother already rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
She shouldn't have come back to this so-called home; now even her last shred of dignity is about to be torn apart.
"I'll do it myself!"
She spoke in a hoarse voice, then staggered toward the woodshed.
With each step, the areas on my back that had been whipped burned with pain.
As soon as the door to the woodshed closed, Li's mother pounced on her and tore at her clothes.
When the cloth bag sewn into the underwear was pulled out, Li's mother's eyes lit up like a hungry wolf, and she pushed her away.
"One, two... You little slut, you still say you didn't sell yourself? Here's two thousand three hundred and thirty-five yuan and thirty cents!!!"
She counted the money with saliva, her fingers trembling.
Li Xiaorou was pushed down onto the straw pile. Her torn clothes could not cover her body, so she could only wrap herself in her cotton-padded coat.
She watched as her mother didn't even let go of those three cents, and a metallic taste rose in her throat.
"Is there any more? Tell me honestly, where are you hiding it?!"
"Pants, are there still things in your underwear?! Take them off!"
Suddenly, Li's mother pinched the soft flesh on the inside of her thigh and pulled down her pants.
The pain made Li Xiaorou's vision go black. She gripped her pants tightly, trying to preserve the last shred of her self-respect.
He also wanted to protect the last five hundred dollars she had sewn into the lining of her underwear.
"It's gone!! It's really gone... Mom! Please let me go!!!"
"You worthless thing! You're not allowed to run away! Anyway, you're already a used-up woman, I've found you a good family, you just wait to get married and get a dowry!"
Li's mother squeezed it a few more times before stopping. Before leaving, she spat on the ground and happily took the money to go out and share the good news.
"You all deserve to die..."
The sound of the door being locked came from outside. Li Xiaorou bit her lip, and the taste of rust spread in her mouth.
The sound of the Li family arguing could be heard outside the courtyard.
"No, these two thousand yuan are to be given to Jianguo as a bride price to build a house!"
"Yes, the eldest son's share can go first. You take two hundred, and we'll take one hundred, is that alright?"
"Why should I?! I'm pregnant with Old Li's grandson, our family should get at least half!"
"What are you saying, sister-in-law! Well then, I'll be frank too, my girlfriend is pregnant..."
"Alright, alright... half it is, half it is..."
The sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn, and the village roosters hadn't crowed yet.
Zhang Chuntao, five months pregnant, tiptoed to the door of the woodshed.
The chill of early winter seeped into her thin cotton-padded coat, making her fingers stiff with cold.
Last night, my mother-in-law found so much money on my sister-in-law. She tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep. How could such a thick wad of money be earned by selling one's body?
There must be some way to make money!
"Xiaorou? It's me, sister-in-law."
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