Village Belle is Trying to Cause Trouble Again Chapter 53
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 53: Sister Taozi, Don't Be Afraid, I’ll Take You Home
At that moment, two shadows were cast down, followed by the boy's soft voice as always, "Sister Taozi."
Several people turned their heads and saw that it was Mrs. Xie-Qin and Xie Yuntang.
Lin Sanzhu hurriedly called them to come in. And then, she took the clean straw mats, feeling a little awkward. "Madam Xie, Yuntang, please sit down. We haven't bought stools yet, so please just make do with these."
Mrs. Xie-Qin waved her hand to indicate that she didn't mind, and looked at Su Tao, obviously worried. "Is Taozi hurt?"
"She's fine. She just got a scare," Lin Sanzhu explained.
Mrs. Xie-Qin heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that. "I'm glad that she’s fine. Madam Su, I want to talk to you. Is it convenient now?"
She didn't want to bother about the Su family's affairs, but since Yuntang got a fright today, she had to intervene.
After the two adults left, Xie Yuntang squatted beside Su Tao, not caring about the hem of his clothes touching the ground.
His eyes were filled with deep worry. "Sister Taozi, where does it hurt? Let me see."
Su Tao saw that his eyes were red. She didn't know if he was scared or what, but it made her feel sympathy for him.
She didn't lie to him. She raised her arms to show him, and then whispered in his ear, "I’m not in pain. I lied to my father. Don’t tell the others."
"My grandma is bad. I don't want my father to help her."
"Really?" Xie Yuntang stared at her motionlessly.
Su Tao's heart softened a little, and she couldn't help but pinch his face. "Yes, Milksop. Thank you for today."
He was a child. How could he not be afraid of those burly men? It was good enough that he tried to hold on to her.
It made her feel a little bad about bullying him so much in the past. Fortunately, it didn't cause any psychological trauma to him.
However, she also found it depressing.
Sister Taozi was fine. Xie Yuntang blushed slightly, and said softly and seriously, "Sister Taozi, I’ll protect you in the future."
He would never let people take Sister Taozi away again. Those people were so bad. Sister Taozi was clearly so nice.
Su Tao didn't take it seriously. She flicked his forehead and said, "I’ll protect you instead."
"I really can protect you."
"Wait until you grow as tall as my father."
"Okay."
……
Mrs. Su-Qian's cursing continued to be heard from the foot of the mountain, and it lasted for a long time before it ceased. Su Tao saw that Su Fu was a little uneasy, but fortunately, he was still calm.
Thank goodness her father wasn’t foolishly kind. Otherwise, she would instigate Lin Sanzhu to split up with him.
The Su family was like a pile of stinky mud. Whoever came into contact with them would get entangled in their mess.
Mrs. Xie-Qin talked to Lin Sanzhu for a while and then went down the mountain. Xie Yuntang remained in the cave to accompany Su Tao.
Lin Sanzhu couldn’t let the landlord's son eat wild vegetables, so she went down to buy some rice and meat.
When she walked around the Su family, she heard people on the way say that the Su family gave two taels of silver to pay off the debt. She felt a little aggrieved. The two taels of silver were their hard-earned money in the past.
Now, they used the money to pay off a gambling debt.
Then she thought, thank goodness their families had split. Otherwise, her wretched daughter would definitely be used to pay off the debt.
Her wretched daughter's life was as miserable as hers.
At lunch, Lin Sanzhu picked up some meat for Xie Yuntang, and then for Su Tao, thinking that she was frightened.
Then she saw Su Zhi eating non-stop, and she slapped his hand.
Su Zhi looked at the meat on the table aggrievedly. "Mom, I want to eat."
"Brother Su Zhi, you eat it." Xie Yuntang gave him half of the meat in his bowl, and then gave some to Su Tao.
He knew that Taozi's family was poor and could not eat meat often.
Su Zhi immediately smiled and said sweetly, "Brother Yuntang, you’re so nice. You’re better than my sister. My sister always eats good food behind my back."
"Last time, she ate candy but didn't give it to me."
Su Tao, "..."
This fool had sharp eyes.
"What nonsense are you talking about, rascal? Your sister didn’t eat good food behind your back."
Lin Sanzhu was afraid that Xie Yuntang would have her daughter sacked after hearing that her daughter was bad.
Actually, she was worrying unnecessarily.
No matter what her wretched daughter did, the landlord’s silly son liked it.
She said kindly, "Yuntang, you eat. Don't worry about them. When you come next time, I’ll fry meatballs for you."
Xie Yuntang nodded obediently. "Thank you, Auntie Su."
This child was so well-behaved. Lin Sanzhu became fonder of him. It would be great if he could be her son-in-law.
At the thought of that, she glanced at her daughter who was eating with her head down. Her hair was messy, her face was a little dirty, and she was only concerned about eating.
She looked like a starving ghost reincarnated.
She didn't have the image of a girl at all.
Lin Sanzhu glared at Su Tao secretly. Su Tao felt a little puzzled, but after being glared at many times, she soon didn't care.
If she knew what Lin Sanzhu was thinking, she would probably spit out a mouthful of rice.
She must be delusional to think of Milksop as her son-in-law.
That was even more delusional than her going home.
……
Su Fu felt guilty that his daughter was frightened, so he personally sent them to school after lunch.
He touched Su Tao's head. "Taozi, study hard with Yuntang. I’ll pick you up later."
Su Tao wanted Su Fu to be this way. She sniffed. "Dad, I'm fine. With you here, I'm not afraid."
Su Fu felt even more guilty when Su Tao said that. His wife and children had nothing after they moved out. Now, her daughter even had to live in fear. "Yeah, I won't let anyone take you away."
Su Tao nodded obediently. "Dad, don't work too hard."
After Su Fu left, her obedient look disappeared. She casually asked, "Milksop, can you write the sentences taught by the teacher?"
"Yes." Xie Yuntang nodded.
The teacher in the school gave the students a dictation and then collected their papers. Only Xie Yuntang and Su Tao got it right. The teacher knew Xie Yuntang would get it right because he was serious about studying in the first place.
He looked at Su Tao's rather neatly written dictation and said, "Su Tao, recite the sentences once."
Su Tao didn’t get cold feet. She recited them fluently. "Don't avoid to do a good deed even if it seems trivial, and don't commit an evil deed even if it seems small."
She had learned to recite these sentences in elementary school and could even recite them backwards.
The teacher looked at her in surprise. This girl had an aptitude for studying. No wonder the Xie family wanted to send her to study here. "Very good, sit down."
Then he began to teach.
It was already afternoon when Su Tao learned that the Su family's lands were taken back by the Xie family.
As soon as she left the school, she saw Mrs. Su-Qian rushing over angrily. "Wretched girl, did you ask the Xie family to take back the lands?"
Su Tao was stunned for a moment. Just as she reacted, there was a figure in front of her, half a head taller than her.
The boy said in a serious voice, "Auntie Su, you can't hit Sister Taozi."
Mrs. Su-Qian's raised hand froze in mid-air. She didn't dare to hit the landlord’s son. "You worthless girl! Come here, or I’ll beat you to death."
Su Tao felt that this old woman was simply sick. She blamed everything on her. She really wanted to find a few burly men to beat her up.
"Wretched old woman, don't go overboard. What does it have to do with me? It's obviously because you’ve done too many bad things. You wanted to sell me to pay the debt owed by my uncle."
"Are you even human? Even animals are better than you."
"Who could I sell if not you? You’re a girl and useless. Why should we keep you here? You’re a freeloader! I don't care. You go and get the lands back immediately, or I’ll beat you to death." Mrs. Su-Qian wanted to grab her over, but was stopped by Xie Yuntang.
Su Tao felt that this wretched old woman was simply shameless. Just when she was about to say something, her hand was suddenly grabbed by someone. She looked down and saw that the hand that grabbed hers was fair and clean.
Then, Milksop said, with obvious comfort, "Sister Taozi, don't be afraid, I’ll take you home."