“Lazybones, get out of bed right now! Is this bed a place for you to sleep?”
Erhu's wife, Shen Qing's mother, strode over and slapped Shen Qing hard on the head.
The slap was so forceful that the frail Shen Qing was directly knocked to the ground. Her tiny palms were scratched with bloody marks by the small stones on the rough ground.
Seeing that her mother was about to land a second slap, Shen Qing quickly raised her hands to protect her head and said fearfully, “Mother, don't hit me anymore. I'll go up the mountain.”
At this moment, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled in the sky. After the booming sounds, extremely thick lightning streaked across, as if splitting the sky apart, which made people feel terrified.
With the strong wind howling outside, Erhu's wife gave up the idea of sending Shen Qing up the mountain to pick matsutake mushrooms.
But it wasn't because she felt sorry for Shen Qing. Instead, she was afraid that something might happen to Shen Qing on the mountain. If that were the case, the family would lose a laborer, and they couldn't use Shen Qing to get a bride - price to marry a wife for Shen Chuyun.
Seeing Shen Qing looking so useless, Erhu's wife flew into a rage. She kicked Shen Qing hard in the stomach and said, “It's pouring rain. What's the point of going up the mountain? Do you want the villagers to point fingers at me and think that I'm abusing you?”
“Little bitch! You're as petty as can be and full of schemes. Why did I raise such a good - for - nothing?”
“Alright, stop pretending to be pitiful. There are no men here to watch your act. Go to the village entrance and bring your younger brother back. Hurry up!”
Shen Qing covered the place where she was kicked in pain and gritted her teeth as she stood up.
“Mother, don't be angry. I'll go and call my younger brother home right now.”
After saying that, Shen Qing scurried away.
Erhu's wife watched Shen Qing's back and grumbled, “A good - for - nothing was forced into our family, and they said she would bring good fortune. But our family has been poor for so long. I think that so - called immortal was talking nonsense.”
“Forget it. I'll sell her to that old bachelor at the village entrance in a few years and get a few dozen taels of silver to marry a wife for my Yun'er...”
Shen Qing didn't know that her mother was already planning to sell her. She was walking along the village road towards the village entrance, looking for Shen Chuyun.
She always felt that her head was groggy, as if she had lost an important memory, but she just couldn't recall it.
After walking for a short while, she met several aunts from the village head - on. Each of them carried a basket on their backs, filled with the matsutake mushrooms they had picked from the mountain that day.
Seeing Shen Qing walking over while covering her stomach, the aunts asked with concern, “Qing girl, why do you look so pale? Did your mother beat you again?”
Shen Qing forced out an ugly smile with difficulty and said in a very soft voice, “No... I accidentally fell.”
Seeing that Shen Qing was in so much pain but still tried to cover up for her mother, the aunts' expressions darkened.
Erhu's father, Shen Qing's grandfather, had passed the imperial examination at the county level when he was young. But because the family couldn't afford the tuition fees, he could only work as an accountant in a pharmacy in the town.
Logically, Erhu's family should have been well - off. But after Shen Qing's grandfather died, the few acres of good farmland and the house in the town left by him were all gambled away by Erhu. The whole family had to slink back to the countryside.
Moreover, with the unstable political situation and the terrifying monsters running amok all day long, the people were living in dire straits. Once a family declined, it was very difficult to rise again.
But Erhu always thought he was superior to others, and his wife also looked down on the villagers in the village.
Before, when they saw Erhu's wife beating and scolding Shen Qing, they had kindly tried to persuade her, but were beaten back with a broom. After that, no one dared to interfere.
Feeling sorry for Shen Qing, they would secretly give her some food, but they didn't dare let Erhu's wife know.
On the contrary, Shen Chuyun was raised to be fair - skinned by Erhu's wife, and the fabric of his clothes was much better than Shen Qing's.
They remembered that Shen Chuyun was the first one to be born. But in order to make the daughter take care of the son, Erhu's wife forced Shen Qing to be the elder sister.
“Qing girl, if your mother beats you again, just run away. If all else fails, come to aunt's house. Aunt will always have a mouthful of food for you!”
“Yes, yes. If your mother starts to beat you again, just call us. We'll all stand up for you. Beating a child all day long. What's that all about?”
“That's right. Look at how fair - skinned and well - nourished her son is, but Qing girl is so thin and small. They say she's five years old, but she looks like a three - year - old.”
The aunts expressed their concern for Shen Qing one after another. Shen Qing felt the kindness from others, and a surge of grievance welled up in her heart. Her eyes grew warm, and tears gathered involuntarily.
But she knew that she couldn't always trouble others. Maybe if she was obedient, her mother wouldn't beat her all the time. So she declined the aunts' kindness.
“Thank you, aunts. Mother treats me very well. I just forgot to go up the mountain to pick matsutake mushrooms today, which made mother angry. If I were more diligent, I wouldn't have made mother angry.”
Little Shen Qing's eyes were red. Even though it wasn't her fault, she still spoke up for her mother.
Hearing Shen Qing defending Erhu's wife, the aunts were filled with anger.
The mountain next to their village was rich in matsutake mushrooms, so every family would go up the mountain to pick them and sell them in the town.
But the mountain was dangerous. In every family, it was the elders who went up the mountain themselves. Only the Shen family sent a little girl up the mountain.
How shameless!
The aunts were just about to give some of the matsutake mushrooms in their baskets to Shen Qing when it started to drizzle.
Shen Qing remembered her mother's instructions and didn't dare to delay any longer. She quickly said goodbye to the aunts and ran towards the village entrance.
Her tiny figure quickly disappeared into the drizzle. The aunts sighed and quickly returned to their own homes.
Because of the rain, most of the villagers had returned from the fields, and the chimneys of every household were smoking. Shen Qing watched as some children were lying in their mothers' arms, acting coquettishly, and she felt extremely envious.
She shook her head and sighed.
When she reached the village entrance, Shen Qing looked around, trying to find out where Shen Chuyun was.
There was an old locust tree at the entrance. The children in the village all liked to play under this old locust tree, and today was no exception.
Even though lightning was flashing, thunder was rumbling, and it was drizzling, there was still a group of children gathered together, making a racket. No one knew what they were doing.
As soon as Shen Qing walked over, a sharp - eyed child saw her. He immediately pointed at Shen Qing and laughed, “Hey! Isn't that the future wife of the old lame man at the village entrance?”
“Hahaha! The old lame man's wife is here!”
The children's mocking laughter made Shen Qing's face burn like fire.
She angrily denied, “What are you talking nonsense about? I'm not!”
Seeing Shen Qing deny it, a slightly older boy stepped forward and sized her up maliciously. “Stop pretending. I heard my mother say that the old lame man gave your mother twenty taels of silver as a deposit and said that he would marry you when you turn ten.”
As he said this, the boy shouted to the people behind him, “Hey! Shen Chuyun, you're going to have an old lame man as your brother - in - law. Are you happy?”