Bai Jiu didn’t delay. After breakfast, she left the house with her two children. Father Bai’s health was much better than before, so he escorted them to the east gate. He watched her rent an ox cart before slowly making his way back. The round trip took him two hours, but he didn’t mind the exertion in the slightest. If the village hadn’t been so far away, he would have walked his daughter all the way home himself.
On the ox cart, the two children were a little restless at first, but as the scenery grew increasingly familiar, smiles bloomed on their faces.
"I wonder if Aiguo misses me," Zhengyang murmured, slowly recalling the people and events of the village. Xiuxiu was also thinking about the villagers who had been kind to her.
After they entered the village, many people spotted the mother and her children. However, no one took the initiative to step forward and greet them. Bai Jiu had long been prepared to be ostracized and didn’t take it to heart at all. Naturally, just as there were those who disliked her, there were also those who liked her—such as Aunt Peng, Aunt Li, and the couple from the Qingshan Family. Upon hearing that Bai Jiu had returned with the children, they all hurried over to help.
"You’re finally back! If you hadn’t returned soon, your uncle would have nagged me to death," Aunt Li teased, taking large strides into the yard the moment she saw Bai Jiu tidying up.
"Aunt Li, you’re here," Bai Jiu greeted.
"I’m here, I’m here." Aunt Li smiled as she walked toward the group. She looked at Gouwa’s mother and immediately asked, "You two get the news faster than I do. But Qingshan’s wife, isn’t your mother-in-law sick? How do you have the time to drop by?"
"Ah, it’s nothing major," Gouwa’s mother replied. "My mother-in-law just caught a chill. She got up in the middle of the night for a bit too long without putting on an extra layer, so she caught a cold. She drank some ginger soup and slept for two days, so she’s much better now."
"Your mother-in-law really lacks common sense. Such a cold day, and she didn’t even know to put on an extra piece of clothing. Now she’s suffering, isn’t she?" Aunt Li had a pretty good relationship with Lady Qingshan, and the two often got together to gossip.
"Exactly, my father-in-law already scolded her, and she won’t dare do it again," Gouwa’s mother agreed. Since it was her mother-in-law, she couldn’t say too much.
The dilapidated little courtyard quickly became lively with the extra company. Inside, Gouwa had been pulled away by Xiuxiu and Zhengyang to tinker with their newest toys and snacks. The clamor of chatting adults outside mingled with the joyful laughter of the children indoors. To be honest, this kind of life wasn’t bad at all—provided one didn’t have heavy matters weighing on their mind.
"By the way, our village is starting a side enterprise this year. Bai Jiu, do you plan to sign up?" Aunt Li asked as they worked. By unspoken agreement, everyone chose to keep their mouths shut regarding the Gao family.
"I’ll pass. It’s better to leave the job of feeding chickens to those in the village who actually need it," Bai Jiu replied. She had absolutely no desire to feed chickens. A few birds were manageable, but a large flock would smell absolutely horrendous.
The disgust on her face couldn’t have been more obvious. The women noticed and laughed. "You just don’t know how to appreciate a good opportunity. Other people would beg for this and still not get it."
"Auntie, isn’t it still undecided? Even if I signed up, I wouldn’t necessarily be picked. The team leader will definitely choose people who are already good at raising chickens at home, and I’ve never even kept one."
The original owner of her body had only been fated for hard labor; a light and easy job like raising chickens was never meant for her, let alone collecting the eggs. She had never even seen a raw egg in this house. Amidst the talking and laughing, Bai Jiu finally got all the household chores sorted out. When it was time to see everyone off, she brought out a few packets of pastries to give them. The women didn’t act coy and graciously accepted the gifts.
Her laid-back, restful days were soon interrupted when the village loudspeaker crackled to life.
"Attention all villagers, please send one representative from each household to the threshing floor for a meeting."
The important announcement was repeated three times.
Bai Jiu didn’t feel comfortable leaving the children at home alone, so she simply brought them along to the threshing floor. She arrived neither early nor late, but a sizable crowd of men and women had already gathered to wait for the meeting.
Although the announcement specified one representative per household, no one strictly enforced the rule when there was a spectacle to watch. In fact, she even saw some people holding their rice bowls. She wondered if eating outside in the freezing wind would give them stomachaches later. Just as the sky began to darken, the production team leader finally made his appearance.
Bai Jiu stepped forward to listen. When she first arrived, the villagers—whether they knew her or not—had all deliberately kept their distance. She had fully expected this reaction and didn’t care in the slightest. Only when people were afraid would they behave themselves.
Her two children were also very well-behaved. Being ignored by the crowd seemed perfectly normal to them, and they didn’t mind the isolation. Fortunately, once everyone had gathered, Gouwa ran over to join them. Because of the previous incident, Bai Jiu didn’t dare let her children out of her sight. She instructed them to stay close and let them play right beside her.
However, things soon took a wrong turn. While the team leader was speaking at the front, a child suddenly began crying and shouting in the crowd.
"Which bastard dared to hit my grandson? Step forward!" an old woman screeched, standing next to a crying boy who looked a year or two older than Zhengyang. Although she demanded the culprit reveal themselves, her glaring eyes never once left Zhengyang and his sister.
Since Bai Jiu had been keeping a close watch on her children, she immediately stepped forward to intercept the old woman as she rushed over.
"Was it you? Was it you?!" the old crone screamed directly at Zhengyang when no one answered.
At this, the crying boy pointed at Zhengyang, as if emboldened by his backer, and wailed, "Grandma, he’s the one who bullied me! He wouldn’t give me any candy, and he gave it all to Gouwa instead!"
Children’s worlds were usually simple, but one look at this boy revealed a terribly spoiled child who believed the entire world revolved around him. Any reasonable person hearing their grandchild complain about such a petty grievance would have scolded the boy for his greed. However, the old woman was far from reasonable.
"You little bastard! You dared to bully my grandson? See if I don’t beat you to death today!" the old woman roared in outrage the second she heard Zhengyang had denied her precious grandson candy.
Bai Jiu swiftly pulled her two children behind her.
"Who is this bastard cursing?" Bai Jiu’s voice rang out loud and crisp.
"This bastard is cursing you! You motherless, fatherless little bastards dared to bully my boy! You clearly don’t know who you’re messing with!" The old woman was an unreasonable brute.
"Heh, if you know you’re a bastard, you should hide away at home. Why come out and disgust everyone? Did you actually think you were something special?" Bai Jiu retorted without a hint of fear. "You want to eat candy? Go eat shit." She usually had a soft spot for children, but she couldn’t muster a single ounce of sympathy for an ill-mannered brat like this.
"You cheap slut, how dare you curse at me!" The old woman didn’t care about reasoning. She had acted like a local tyrant in the village for years, and being talked back to by Bai Jiu sent her flying into a blinding rage. "I’ll beat you to death, you ungrateful wretch! You wretched jinx! You even dared to scheme against your own mother-in-law and her second son, so you’re clearly rotten to the core!" Screaming, the old crone charged directly at Bai Jiu.
Bai Jiu reached out and gave her a hard shove. Perhaps the old woman’s momentum was too great; as Bai Jiu pushed her away, the impact forced Bai Jiu herself to stumble two steps backward, nearly tripping over the children behind her.
"What? Are you trying to exonerate a murderer? Or were you also involved in what happened back then?" Bai Jiu refused to back down. If she showed weakness now, everyone in the village would think they could freely hurl insults at her in the future. "It seems you’re an accomplice who slipped through the net," she added, glaring fiercely at the woman.