Chapter 2: Getting Beaten
"Sister Guihua, let's go back quickly before the adults get off work."
"Yes, yes, let's go back first. Otherwise, when Yang Huaihua gets off work and sees us helping Xiaocaoer carry firewood, she will definitely beat Xiaocaoer."
After the discussion, the two boys carried Xiaocao'er's firewood and went down the mountain to go home together. Yike also walked down the mountain despite the pain in his buttocks.
The friends helped carry the firewood back to Yike's yard and left quickly. Yike looked at the dilapidated house in front of him and felt like crying but had no tears. The walls made of yellow mud have cracks in some places, and the roof is covered with straw. There are three rooms in total, the main room in the middle and the side rooms on both sides. Right around the corner from the wing room is a small kitchen, and behind the kitchen is a dilapidated woodshed.
"Get here now, you money-loser!" Yi Ke was watching, but unexpectedly someone grabbed his ear and said, "Did you steal the eggs at home? Tell me!" Yang Huaihua, who had just returned from work, was furious when she saw Yi Ke in the yard. The reason was that when she went to the chicken coop to pick up eggs at noon, she found that one egg was missing, and her son said that he saw Xiao Cao'er go to the chicken coop.
Yike staggered and fell to the ground, screaming in pain, and her butt was hit even harder. This is the original owner’s mother, a person who is extremely biased. Xiaocaoer did all the housework, and also had to earn work points outside. He was only allowed to eat half a steamed bun for one meal. And the stealing of eggs that Yang Huaihua mentioned must be related to the original owner's brother.
The original owner's brother is called Han Jiabao, he is 20 years old this year, he looks fair and clean, and he looks like a decent human being, but he is lazy and likes to steal things. What he did most often was to steal eggs from the house to eat, and every time he stole them he would blame it on Xiaocaoer.
Today's eggs should have been stolen by the lazy brother Han Jiabao, and then he deliberately put the blame on Xiao Caoer. Yang Huaihua knew that Xiaocao'er was not at home and it was impossible for him to steal the eggs, but she insisted on believing her beloved son. If her son said that it was Xiaocao who stole the eggs, then it must be Xiaocao, even if it was not true.
"No! I didn't steal the eggs! I wasn't at home." Yike cried. My soul is several dozen years old. I am really embarrassed to cry, but there is nothing I can do. If I don't pretend to be pitiful, I will only be beaten even worse.
"Mom, it wasn't my sister who stole it." Sister Han Guihua shouted beside her.
"If she didn't steal it, then you stole it."
"I, I didn't steal it either."
"That's it. Who else in the house would steal except that money-loser?"
"She is always deceiving you, you are stupid! She is not a good person, a shameless lazy person, and she even lied to your sister. I will beat you today until you admit that my last name is not Yang." Yang Huaihua took out a stick from the firewood and hit Yi Ke on the face.
A member who was walking home from work passed by and one who was looking for fun said with a smile, "Yang Huaihua, if your surname isn't Yang, what do you want to be? Otherwise, call me Lao and take my surname. Hahahaha!"
"Get out, get out!" Yang Huaihua confronted the member and then came to beat Yike, causing Yike to run around the yard without caring whether his butt hurt or not.
"You are born a scoundrel. You do things that only a thief can do every day. You eat my food and use my things, but you still dare to steal from me. You are so bold. I will beat you to death today. Will you dare to steal again next time?"
"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! Mom, I really didn't steal!" Sister Han Guihua begged for mercy.
"Get away from here," Yang Huaihua pushed Han Guihua away and beat her with a stick again, "You unfilial thing, all the delicious food and drinks go into your mouth, and you are still not full, and you even dare to steal eggs. You lazy and gluttonous thing, I must beat you to death today." Yang Huaihua was talking nonsense. Obviously, all the delicious food and drinks went into their mouths, but the scolding went into Xiaocao'er's mouth. Those who didn't know the inside story thought that Xiaocao deserved to be beaten.
"I didn't steal! It wasn't me who stole it! I only have one meal a day, and each time I only have half a steamed bun. I was so hungry that I didn't steal anything to eat. Today, after I finished my work in the fields, I went to collect firewood with my sister. There were many children with us, and they can all prove that I was not at home. It was not me who stole it." He couldn't bear the accusation of being a thief. Yike ran around the yard crying loudly to let everyone know that she was not the one who stole it.
Yike ran away in the yard with his head in his hands. Yang Huaihua saw that Yike was no longer standing still waiting to be beaten like before, but now dared to hide and even talk back. She became even angrier and chased Yike with a stick in hand. .
There was chaos and commotion in the yard, with people chasing each other. The members were watching the fun outside, and it was very noisy, but no one tried to grab Yang Huaihua. Everyone has the same mentality: "It's hard to meddle in other people's family affairs!"
"Jiabao, go and help me hold down that dead girl." Yang Huaihua wanted to chase and beat her, so she simply asked her son to catch Yi Ke.
Han Jiabao is a grown man after all, and Yike had no way to hide. He was pinned to the ground and unable to move. Yang Huaihua's stick hit Yike like raindrops.
Yang Huaihua beat her while cursing, "You bitch, you're really rebelling. You stole the eggs and you dare to deny it. I will beat you to death today." The stick was broken, and Yang Huaihua picked up the broom by the door and started beating her again.
"Yang Huaihua, you've been beaten and scolded, just forget it." An auntie couldn't bear to watch and tried to persuade her.
"Yeah, yeah! Forget it. Just teach the child well and stop beating him."
"Your little Cao is usually obedient, doing housework and working in the fields to earn work points. He is a good child, so don't beat him."
"You will kill the child if you hit him like this. Your Jiabao might have stolen the eggs. Don't blame the wrong person." Someone told the truth.
"Get out of here! I've eaten your food, and now you come to meddle in our business. You don't have to hit me, but you can bring your eggs as compensation." Yang Huaihua angrily scolded the member.
Yang Huaihua swung the broom handle in her hand and hit the floor again and again, as if she was not hitting a person but the floor.
"Brother, please tell mother that my sister didn't steal the eggs. Please, my sister will be beaten to death. If my sister dies, there will be no one to help you with the work, and you will have to go to the fields to do the work. Please tell mother to stop!" Han Guihua was frightened, but she didn't dare to step forward to stop Yang Huaihua, so she could only ask Han Jiabao to plead for mercy.
"Mom, stop hitting her. Let her do ten points of work tomorrow." He is indeed Yang Huaihua's son, with the same vicious heart. In that era, people calculated their food rations based on work points. Only strong adult men can do ten work points of farm work. How could Xiaocaoer, a thirteen-year-old girl, do such a thing? How dare he say that?
When Han Jiabao saw the bloody Xiaocao, he was a little scared that he might be really dead. He let go of Yi Ke, and as soon as his hand loosened, Yi Ke fell to the ground. Yang Huaihua kicked him hard several times before he gave up.
The members of the cooperative watched the lively scene and felt sorry for Yi Ke. However, they knew it was difficult to intervene in other people's affairs, so they shook their heads and sighed, and walked away, talking as they walked.
"This is not beating a child, this is beating an enemy."
"If I hadn't watched the grass grow, I would have thought it was picked up."
"It's not right to raise children like this if you pick them up. They don't have enough food to eat, and they can't finish the work."
"Didn't you hear Jiabao just say that he wanted Xiaocao to do a job worth ten work points? Those are the work points that only men in my family can earn. How heartless!"
…
Yike was already half-conscious, so he couldn't hear the discussions of the other members.
Sister Han Guihua half dragged and half carried Yike into the room and put him on the bed. Yike rolled into the bed drowsily. She seemed to hear vaguely the voice of Yang Huaihua calling for food and the voice of her sister Guihua, and then nothing else. She completely fainted.
When Yike woke up, the room was dark. It took him a long time to remember that he had traveled through time. This was the firewood room of the original owner's house. Yike's bed was right next to the firewood, made of a few broken wooden boards.
She wanted to sit up, but her whole body ached when she moved. She wanted to raise her arms, but she was too weak to do so. She was hungry and cold, and really wanted to have some hot soup.
There was a hard, rotten wooden board under his body, which made his injured body even more painful. He was covered with a tattered single quilt. Fortunately, it was spring and there was no biting cold wind. If it were winter, he would not have survived the night, being injured and hungry.
Yike felt that he was so miserable. He was clearly dead, but he traveled through time again. He wanted to travel through time to a good body, but he traveled through time to a poor little thing like this who was not loved by his father and mother. It would be better for him to die.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
