Chapter 81 Zhou Caixia Cries When She Gets Meat at Every Meal...
Zhou Caixia cried out, "I have nothing, we have no food."
The man slapped Zhou Caixia twice, and Lin Yongxin was also pinned to the ground, unable to move.
Seeing his parents beaten beyond recognition and crying uncontrollably, Lin Tianci got up and ran over to them when his second uncle and aunt opened the door and came in.
Just as Zhang Cuiping thought the boy had come to ask them for help, Lin Tianci ran away from her the next second.
"Tianci, come back!" Zhou Caixia struggled and called out anxiously, but Lin Tianci seemed to have lost his hearing and rushed out regardless.
But he stopped in his tracks just as he reached the gate of the courtyard.
"Where are you going?" Lin Tianyou asked with a sinister expression, blocking the door with his arms outstretched.
Lin Tianci wiped away his tears and began to tremble as he looked at Lin Tianyou. When Lin Tianyou walked towards him, he suddenly pulled out a white object from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
He had only managed to swallow two mouthfuls when he started coughing uncontrollably.
Lin Tianyou strode over and snatched the food from his mouth with lightning speed. The aroma of the soft, white steamed bun made his empty stomach rumble.
Lin Tianci wouldn't let go, and despite coughing, he kept trying to stuff the bun into his mouth. But before he could get much in, Lin Tianyou punched him to the ground twice. Lin Tianyou took the remaining half of the bun in his hand, and it seemed that wasn't enough. He pressed the person on the ground and searched around, eventually finding two more large white buns in Lin Tianci's pocket.
Lin Tianci sobbed, tears streaming down his face onto the muddy ground still stained with the smell of blood. Lin Tianyou, like a mad beast, showed no pity. He grabbed Lin Tianci's chin, forcing him to open his mouth, and then used his fingers to pluck the food out of his mouth before putting it into his own.
"Brother...give it to me...I'm starving..."
Lin Tianci's weak voice had no effect whatsoever. At this moment, Lin Tianyou felt no nausea at all and frantically swallowed the food in his mouth. However, this was far from enough to fill his stomach, which had been empty for almost twenty days. So, without any hesitation, he kept stuffing the big white steamed buns in his hand into his mouth, laughing as he ate. He was clearly just an eight or nine-year-old child, but he had been driven into a mad dog.
When Zhang Cuiping and Lin Yongwu arrived, they were frightened to see their son's frantic state. Realizing that the large white steamed bun in his hand was almost finished, they quickly ran over and snatched the last bun away.
Lin Tianyou raised his hand to grab it back, but the next second he heard the voices of two soldiers outside.
Lin Yongwu and Zhang Cuiping picked up their son and ran to their house, leaving Lin Yongxin and his wife still fighting inside, and Lin Tianci lying on the ground crying silently.
The two men saw through the crack in the door that the soldiers had entered the courtyard. When they saw Lin Tianci lying on the ground, they kicked him twice before walking into the house opposite.
The moment I stepped inside, the inseparable fight inside the room stopped instantly, followed by a series of humble pleas for mercy.
However, no one mentioned the food. Even at this moment, they knew the importance of the matter. If Zhou Caixia and Lin Yongxin insisted on denying it, they would all suffer.
The humble pleas for mercy were not met with forgiveness; the sounds of punches and kicks drowned out the heart-wrenching cries.
While Lin Yongwu and Zhang Cuiping were watching intently, Lin Tianyou tried to steal the last steamed bun from his father's arms, but even though he was very careful, he was still discovered.
Lin Yongwu clutched the steamed bun in his arms tightly and scolded, "Didn't you just eat so much? You should at least leave some for your parents!"
Lin Tianyou was completely unaware that he was being reprimanded; his eyes were only on the steamed bun in his father's arms.
Lin Yongwu felt extremely uncomfortable looking at him; that greedy look in his eyes gave him a bad feeling.
Seeing her son licking his lips, Zhang Cuiping felt a pang of sadness. She forcibly snatched the steamed bun from Lin Yongwu's arms, then cut it in half in front of the two of them. Before Lin Yongwu could react, she handed one half to Lin Tianyou.
"What are you doing!" Lin Yongwu was so angry that he tried to snatch it back, but Zhang Cuiping slapped his hand away before he could even reach it halfway. She then cut the half of the steamed bun in her hand in half again and handed the other half to Lin Yongwu.
Lin Yongwu looked at the small amount of steamed bun in his hand, and then at his son wolfing it down without paying any attention to the two of them. He was so angry that he could hardly breathe.
"Alright!" Zhang Cuiping said impatiently, "The child may be ignorant, but are you ignorant too? You are his father, my man. Logically speaking, you should give all the food to your wife and child. It's good enough that you have something to eat."
Lin Yongwu had just taken a bite of his steamed bun when he heard this and almost choked to death.
"Mother is right!"
Lin Tianyou, who had been silent all along, finally uttered a single sentence after letting out a burp.
Lin Yongwu was furious and shouted, "Your life and your mother's life are lives, but mine isn't?"
However, his rebuttal went unheeded, as Zhang Cuiping and Lin Tianyou had already gone back to their beds and lay down.
The people on this side were well-fed and watered, while the people on the other side were all bruised and swollen from hunger, and even tightening their belts didn't help.
Zhou Caixia held her son in her arms, and the whole family cried uncontrollably, their eyes gradually filled with hatred.
"Serve them well. Don't look at what you shouldn't see, and don't listen to what you shouldn't hear. Understand?"
Zhang Cuiping and Lin Yongwu stood in front of the courtyard gate, listening to the guard's daily reminder, bowing and nodding in agreement.
Only after the guards were satisfied did they open the courtyard gate and let the two in.
The couple's daily work consisted of emptying chamber pots, cleaning various furniture, cooking, and boiling water for bathing.
It wasn't originally them, but those people kept making noise, and every time they made a noise, they would be beaten. If the master in the room got angry, they would have their throats slit.
After overhearing several times, Zhang Cuiping discussed with Lin Yongwu about taking over the job. They did a decent job and made almost no mistakes, so they were kept on. When the guards were in a good mood, they would even reward them with some food.
The two, who had always been very well-behaved, never expected that their son would secretly follow them today.
At the entrance of the courtyard, two guards stood watch. Lin Tianyou walked up to them and knelt down with a thud.
Just as the two guards were about to grab him, Lin Tianyou braced himself on the ground with his hands and feet and began to bark like a dog.
Woof woof woof... woof...
Lin Tianyou barked and then stuck out his buttocks and spun around in place, imitating the dog's bark perfectly.
The guard slowly withdrew his hand, amused by the person in front of him, and pursed his lips as if to laugh. He didn't chase the child away and let him continue his performance.
Seeing that the two men did not drive Lin Tianyou away, he put on an even more enthusiastic performance. He had just learned from Lin Tianci that as long as he pleased these people, he would be given food once he entered the courtyard, and as long as he was given food, he would not go hungry.
Thinking of food, Lin Tianyou swallowed his saliva as he performed, acting as a dog one moment and a monkey the next, which the two guards watched with great interest.
Just as he was performing with great enthusiasm, the courtyard gate was suddenly opened from the inside.
A guard suddenly stepped forward, and the two guards outside immediately stopped laughing and stood up straight.
It was obvious that the guards who came out were of higher status than the two men, and the two men were somewhat apprehensive.
Lin Tianyou, however, did not notice anything different and continued to perform, thinking that the other party had come out to reward him with food. But the next second, his thin body was lifted into the air and carried into the yard on a knife.
Just as Lin Tianyou was about to call out, the guard said, "The master specifically asked you to come in; your performance wasn't good..."
The guard didn't finish his sentence, but Lin Tianyou sensed the ruthlessness in his voice and kept nodding, "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely perform well."
The main room of the village chief's house was not very big, but it was decorated very cleanly and tidy. A man dressed in fine clothes sat at the head of the room. The man only had one hand and was holding a teacup and sipping tea.
Lin Tianyou was thrown to the ground. He looked up and saw a plate of pastries on the table. His eyes widened instantly, and his stomach started growling.
The man paused in his tea-drinking motion, his brow furrowing slightly, when the guard, on orders, called for Lin Tianyou to continue his performance.
Lin Tianyou quickly lay down on the ground and barked like a dog.
The sounds and movements were so lifelike that the man above relaxed his slightly furrowed brow, tapping his fingers on the table as he continued to savor his tea with great satisfaction.
However, Lin Tianyou was always somewhat absent-minded during his performance, frequently glancing up at the pastries on the tea table. After several such instances, the man noticed, but he wasn't annoyed. Instead, he picked up a pastry and waved it in the air. Lin Tianyou crawled back and forth as the man's hand moved. When the man raised his hand, Lin Tianyou would jump; when the man lowered his hand, Lin Tianyou would lie on the ground. The man smiled and threw the pastry away. Lin Tianyou stood up and caught the pastry, but was then thrown heavily to the ground.
Before he could even cry out in pain, he held the pastry in his hands as if it were a precious treasure and kowtowed to the man in gratitude, barking loudly.
The man's smile widened as he tossed out several more pieces.
However, Lin Tianyou did not catch all of them this time. The man suddenly felt it was pointless, raised his hand and waved, and a guard came forward to pull Lin Tianyou away.
Lin Tianyou didn't want to leave, but he didn't dare to resist.
Before he even stepped out the door, someone brought in a delicious-smelling meal.
The aroma of meat wafted into my nostrils, and the few pastries I had eaten earlier suddenly felt less filling; my mouth watered.
The person stopped in their tracks as they passed by him.
Lin Tianyou then looked up and saw it was his mother.
He was busy performing when he suddenly remembered that his parents were working here, and his eyes lit up instantly.
Zhang Cuiping was surprised to see her son there, but dared not do anything rash. She just gave him a wink and then carried the plate into the house.
Just as Lin Tianyou was about to be dragged out of the house, the man sitting on the high platform suddenly spoke up.
"Seventh Brother, let him stay."
The man's voice was low and deep, and every word he spoke carried a sense of pressure.
Lin Tianyou, however, didn't notice anything and excitedly crawled in, using his hands and feet to support himself on the ground like a dog.
Zhang Cuiping was so shocked by what she saw that she almost bit her teeth off.
After setting out the food, I didn't know whether to leave or stay. Normally I'd just drop it off and leave, but now...
He looked at his son, who was lying on the ground with his buttocks sticking up and barking like a dog, and felt both distressed and scared.
The guard, known as Lao Qi, went over and put some food into the man's bowl, but the man hesitated to touch his chopsticks.
Just as Zhang Cuiping was hesitating and moving extremely slowly, the man spoke again.
"Want some?"
He remained as concise as ever, leaving Zhang Cuiping and Lin Tianyou momentarily wondering who he was asking.
However, seeing that the man's eyes seemed to be looking at Lin Tianyou, Lin Tianyou mustered up his courage and crawled over to nod.
The man picked up a slice of meat, seemingly about to drop it, while Lin Tianyou tilted his head, ready to catch it at any moment.
After teasing him for a while, the man suddenly leaned down and said, "Playing the dog isn't fun. How about we try something more exciting?"
Lin Tianyou nodded frantically, completely ignoring the provocative remark and the man's sinister grin.
The man was very satisfied with his attitude and added, "If you satisfy me, I will make sure you never go hungry again and can eat meat every day."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com