RFGCF 06

Chapter – 06

Great-Aunt’s Weakness

Qin Xiulian didn’t go into the mountains much. Though she’d grown up in the countryside, she’d never seen mantis egg sacs before. Curious, she brought one to her nose and sniffed—it had no particular smell.

“Look at you—picking a whole bunch of inedible things and making us adults worry. What can I even say to you? With no adult around to keep an eye on things, who knows what trouble you’ll cause next. You were lucky to make it back this time, but there’s no guarantee next time.”

Qin Xiulian fiddled with the mantis egg sac in her hand, putting on the airs of a patient advisor. “It’s one thing if you want to fool around yourself, but don’t drag Little Bean into it.”

She glanced at Ye Xiaohua’s bamboo basket, which was full of these unknown items. “And you brought back a whole load of this stuff.”

“Great-Aunt, this thing is a treasure! It’s a mantis egg sac!”

“A what? Treasure?” Qin Xiulian let out a scornful laugh, but the next moment she realized what it was. “Mantis egg sac? That’s… ah… Mother!”

Ye Xiaohua stood there calmly, enjoying the sight of Qin Xiulian’s face draining of color. The mantis egg sac she’d been holding was flung far away, and she looked as pale as if she’d seen a ghost—whiter than if she’d powdered her face.

“Y-you… you… why didn’t you say so earlier?” Qin Xiulian’s voice cracked with fright. Just thinking about how she’d held it in her hands and brought it to her nose made her break out in goosebumps, as if something were crawling all over her body.

She hugged her shoulders, but then remembered that her hands had touched that disgusting thing too, and immediately let them drop.

Old Mrs. Ye shot her daughter-in-law a glare, thinking she was far too delicate. A country woman shouldn’t be afraid of mantis egg sacs that don’t bite—she’d even catch rats with her bare hands.

Thinking about the humiliation and anger she’d suffered here that morning, her gaze toward Ye Xiaohua grew increasingly venomous. “You worthless girl! You haul back a pile of useless junk and think it’s treasure. Looks like you need a beating. Your own miserable life doesn’t matter, but you’re endangering Little Bean. If something happened to him, how could I go on living? If I don’t beat you, you’ll never learn.”

Old Mrs. Ye raised her hand to strike, but with so many people watching, she definitely wouldn’t be allowed to follow through. Qin Xiulian, suppressing her urge to kill Ye Xiaohua, decided she couldn’t let an outsider play the good guy.

Before anyone else could intervene, she stepped between Old Mrs. Ye and Ye Xiaohua, pleading for Xiaohua while signaling to her mother-in-law. “Mother, don’t be angry. They’re safe—that’s what matters. People who know you will see you’re worried about them, but those who don’t might call you a wicked grandmother.”

Qin Xiulian didn’t name the “others,” but everyone present knew she meant Guan Qiu. Guan Qiu was frustrated—as a man, he didn’t want to trade barbs with these women, but their words were infuriating.

Ye Xiaohua wasn’t surprised at all that Qin Xiulian stepped in. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. She’d never actually hit Xiaohua herself, but she’d certainly goaded Old Mrs. Ye and the Eldest Uncle into doing it. Either way, she always got to play the good person.

Old Mrs. Ye genuinely wanted to beat Ye Xiaohua to vent her anger, but calming down, she realized it wouldn’t look good to act in front of so many people.

It was just a silly girl—there’d be plenty of chances to teach her a lesson later.

“Xiulian, I’m at my wit’s end. I see it clearly now—if I let this silly girl keep looking after Little Bean, they’ll both end up dead one of these days. I wanted to take them back this morning, but someone insisted on stopping me, as if I, their own grandmother, wanted to harm them. Not this time—I’m taking them back no matter what.”

“Mother, we’re thinking the same thing. The poor children have had it hard enough. I’m their great-aunt—how could I stand by and watch them walk to their deaths? From now on, as long as I have a bite to eat, they’ll have one too.”

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went back and forth, putting on their little act, while Ye Xiaohua watched coldly from the sidelines. She guessed that the person regretting things most right now was Guan Qiu!

He’d tried to save face for Old Mrs. Ye that morning, but not even a day had passed before she seized the chance to bite back.

As they say, “leave room for others and you’ll meet again”—but that doesn’t apply to shameless villains.

Ye Xiaohua stole a glance at Guan Qiu. He wasn’t suited to dealing with these women. Dealing with such wicked people required her personal touch.

As for the onlookers, after what happened that morning, none of them dared to advise Ye Xiaohua again. After all, if something really did happen, no one wanted to take responsibility. So they kept their mouths shut and watched the show.

“Xiaohua, let’s go?” After what just happened, Qin Xiulian no longer suspected anything odd about Ye Xiaohua. If she really had regained her senses, would she have brought back a load of this useless junk when they were starving?

So she really had overthought it. She was a complete fool through and through. And wasn’t a fool easy to manipulate?

Unexpectedly, Ye Xiaohua shook her head. “Uncle Sun is fierce.”

Out of nowhere, she blurted this out, and everyone laughed, thinking the silly girl was talking nonsense. Qin Xiulian was talking about going home, but she went off on a tangent about someone else.

However, no one noticed that Qin Xiulian’s expression flickered repeatedly. She kept her head down, and the night hid her unease.

She forced a dry laugh. “Silly girl, we’re talking about you—what’s this about Uncle Sun? What Uncle Sun? You really are a fool.”

Ye Xiaohua looked up with the same innocent, bewildered smile. She appeared to be nothing more than a naive young girl, yet in Qin Xiulian’s eyes, she was more terrifying than the most ferocious demon from hell.

“Uncle Sun is—”

“Alright, alright, child. I was trying to be kind and take you in, but it looks like you don’t want to go. Fine, I’ve wasted my good intentions. I wash my hands of it. Mother, let’s go. This silly girl has a mind of her own.”

The onlookers were completely confused by their exchange. What Uncle Sun? There wasn’t a single Sun family in the village—where did an Uncle Sun come from?

Old Mrs. Ye was waiting for her daughter-in-law to handle things, but instead she’d backed out on her own. She hadn’t paid any attention to the fool’s words, just feeling that all their crying and making a scene had been a waste of effort.

But since Ye Xiaohua wouldn’t leave, they really couldn’t forcibly take her in front of so many people. And there was still that troublesome Guan Qiu to deal with—how was it that he always showed up whenever something happened?

Old Mrs. Ye glared at Qin Xiulian in frustration. She hadn’t backed down, yet her daughter-in-law had already given up. Feeling her authority challenged, she stood there with no intention of leaving.

Qin Xiulian had something on her mind—something serious, like a thorn lodged in her throat. She needed to go home and think of a solution.

Why hadn’t she drowned last time? She’d thrown her into the water and watched her sink, yet somehow she’d come back to life.

Though the girl was a fool, she’d occasionally blurt out something deadly.

Ye Xiaohua couldn’t be allowed to live.