Chapter 1 Awakening_2

What child isn't raised with pinching and twisting, knocking and smacking from their elders?

Granny Lei saw her granddaughter's swollen face, and the traces of congealed custard and blood by her mouth, guessed she was choking, and with a fury welling up inside, she kicked out, shouting, "Get out! Get away!"

Madam Zhao was kicked back several steps, her hefty body thumping heavily to the ground.

Granny Lei swiftly stepped on a stool, bent one knee, lifted her granddaughter onto her lap with her face down, her chest pressed against her knee, and began slapping her back forcefully...

In her deep sleep, Ruo Xuan suddenly felt as if something was blocking her throat, her whole body was in pain, and the growing sensation of suffocation forced her to awaken. Her back was being firmly patted, and she coughed instinctively: "Cough cough cough..."

A lump of coagulated custard was coughed up.

Ruo Xuan could finally breathe, but her gums, throat, and entire body were in pain—a feeling she had never experienced before.

She is a flower; how could she feel pain?

Madam Liu felt a weight lift from her heart and looked anxiously at the child's complexion, "Mother, she coughed it up! Is she all right now? Xuanbao, are you okay? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Although she knew Xuanbao wouldn't respond, she couldn't help but ask.

"She should be fine now that it's out," Granny Lei held the child upright, still uneasy, and coaxed softly, "Xuanbao, dear, is there still something stuck in your throat? Cough again; cough everything out."

Ruo Xuan instinctively shook her little head, her soul reluctantly awakening—it was painful in her head!

Granny Lei hadn't realized her little granddaughter was shaking her head in response. She watched as the girl's complexion gradually regained its rosiness, but one cheek still swollen with visible finger marks and pinch marks, and her heart ached!

She glared angrily at Madam Zhao, "Madam Zhao, what have you done to Xuanbao?"

Madam Zhao, rubbing her bottom and with a flicker in her eyes, said, "I didn't do anything, ah. When I came back, I saw Xuanbao crying, so I thought she was hungry and fed her some custard. If I had known, I wouldn't have fed her—it's a thankless job!"

Madam Liu, seeing her daughter's swollen cheek, lifted her sleeves for a better look: what was once a smooth, delicate little arm was now mottled with red and purple.

Granny Lei gasped, her eyes reddening with distress—what had happened? Was this Madam Zhao's doing?

Madam Zhao felt a bit guilty; she patted her chest exaggeratedly, sighing with relief, "I was scared to death! It turns out Xuanbao just choked. Speaking of which, with Xuanbao being so dim, she even chokes on custard. Other families would have thrown such a simpleton out to the wolves as soon as they were born! Who would raise her? She can't even be married off! Besides, we have not even divided the family property yet; do you expect us to feed her for a lifetime? I'm not willing!"

Madam Zhao grew angry the more she spoke about it, as Xuanbao was a girl, no less, and at three years old still could not speak or walk, and could not take care of her most basic needs.

And yet the family cherished and cared for her as a precious jewel!

She propped herself up with her hands, her vast body struggling to rise, growing more agitated by the second. She couldn't stop rambling on: "However, she's been raised for over three years now, and we can't afford to waste that. Otherwise, the silver would be thrown away. I've heard that Zhao Yuanwai's grandson from the next town is about to die, and they're looking for a child bride to accompany him in burial. The dowry is a hundred taels of silver! They say they'll give another hundred after the burial..."

Ruo Xuan's head hurt, her whole body was in pain—what was going on?

As she thought this, she recalled a plump woman pinching and twisting her body.

Xuanbao was a little angry!

Was it because they were taking advantage of her soul not yet being fully awake, her body like a planted flower, unable to move or dodge?

Ruo Xuan unleashed a tiny Immortal Technique.

Just as Madam Zhao had managed to stand up, her foot suddenly tripped as if on roots, and with a lurch, she toppled heavily to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Madam Zhao's mouth hit the ground, her grimace revealing her pain.

Her mouth full of sand, she spat out a mixture of blood and saliva, too pained to get up.

Madam Liu lifted her daughter's clothes and aghast, she grew more frightened and pained the more she examined.

Xuanbao's entire body was covered in red and purple bruises....

Ah! She is infuriated! Xuanbao is only three years old! How could Zhao's be so cruel?

Unable to bear it any longer, Madam Liu furiously charged forward and grabbed Zhao's hair, "Slap slap slap..."

She slapped her several times in a row!

Madam Liu's eyes were red, like a wolf that had fiercely clutched its prey, she held onto Zhao's hair firmly, pinching the flesh on her body.

She pinched wherever the flesh was soft!

She wished she could return all the abuse her daughter had suffered back to her!

"Ah, it hurts so much! Madam Liu, have you lost your mind? Let go! Ah..."

Don't think Zhao's is so strong at over two hundred pounds, fat and big, for she's actually frail!

She was unable to break free from the grasp of Madam Liu, who had been doing farm work all year round, and cried out in pain.

Madam Liu pinched and twisted. The more she thought about Xuanbao's blackened face and the red and purple pinch marks on her body, the harder she pressed, "I've gone crazy! I'll let you pinch my Xuanbao! I'll pinch you to death!..."

She wasn't joking!

If anything happened to Xuanbao today, she would kill Zhao's!

Unable to endure the pain any longer, Zhao's took the opportunity to push Madam Liu away, and her hefty body heavily fell to the ground; a large clump of her hair was torn out.

Madam Liu staggered back a few steps, and suddenly, her body seemed to hit something and stabilized!

She didn't pay it any mind, flung the clump of hair from her hands fiercely, and glared at Zhao's, breathing heavily.

If looks could kill, Zhao's would have been slashed a thousand times!

The burning pain on her head, face, and body made Zhao's indignant, wishing she could rush forward and crush Madam Liu with her body.

But the wolf-like look in Madam Liu's eyes frightened her. Thinking of something, her eyes shifted, and clutching her belly, she sat on the ground, screaming, "Ouch, my stomach hurts so much, I must have disturbed the child. Mother, save me! Save me! Madam Liu has caused me to have a miscarriage, my child in the belly might be lost! It's so painful... Save me! Heavens, there's no justice, to bully a pregnant woman like this..."

It hurts so much! She must make Madam Liu pay her silver; with that, she could take her chance in the gambling house and win back the silver she had lost.

Madam Liu turned pale, it was over, she had forgotten about the child in Zhao's belly.

After all, Zhao's belly was that big when she came into the family six months ago with great joy; and now her belly was still the same size, so fat, who would remember she was seven months pregnant?

She hadn't harmed the fetus in her belly, had she?

"Mother, shall we call for a midwife?" Madam Liu hated Zhao's, but she didn't want to harm the child in her belly.

Granny Lei felt that Zhao's really deserved a beating and had forgotten about her pregnancy, "You go call for a doctor and a midwife, and tell the third brother to come home."

Zhao's face changed, and she quickly said, "Oh, suddenly it doesn't hurt anymore, there's no need to call for a doctor, or a midwife!"

Zhao's bore the pain in her buttocks, struggling to get up.

Madam Liu/Granny Lei: "..."

It stopped hurting just like that?

Ruo Xuan glanced at Zhao's belly, suspicion flashing across her face.

She was just a Xuancao Flower that had gained sentience on the barren Ruoshui Riverbank, other than immortals, she had not seen a single person, how could she know about cunning human nature?

Driven by pure curiosity, she asked, "Mother, if there's no child in her belly, why would she have a miscarriage?"