Quick Transmigration: Refusing to Be a Victim's Child

On the contrary, Shao Dashan, who had already reached the gate, looked at the books, clothes and bedding belonging to his youngest son on the oxcart and felt his heart pounding, with an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

His vision blurred, forcing him to stop, brace himself against the doorframe, and gasp for breath.

Upon seeing this, Mrs. Sun was startled and quickly ran over from behind to support the old man's arm, saying in a worried tone:

"Father! Are you alright?"

They haven't even managed to borrow the money. If this old man collapses now, their third branch of the family will really be in trouble.

Fortunately, Shao Dashan was still in good health. Even though the series of blows had aged him by ten years, he still managed to go to Village Chief Yu's house to borrow money.

Sun bit her lip, stood there hesitating for a long time, and was extremely reluctant to make this trip.

If only the old man himself were to step in, this debt would not fall into the name of the third branch of the family.

Then, the second wife and husband wouldn't let her have her way.

Seeing that the woman was dawdling and hadn't left for a long time, the two exchanged a glance and loudly urged her on in a sarcastic tone, their voices probably audible even to the neighbors.

Feeling humiliated, Mrs. Sun tucked her sleeves and jogged to catch up with the old man.

-

After the two left, Shao Changgui, who remained in the main room, was held back by Zhao Shi:

“Tell me in detail, how could the third brother have his arms and legs broken while he was studying at the academy? Such a cruel method, did anyone report it to the authorities at the time?”

"Doesn't their academy care about anything? What deep-seated hatred could drive someone to beat someone like this? That person is too cruel."

Shao Changgui glanced at the adulterer who was eavesdropping, though he was eager to expose his third son's shameful deeds in front of his mother.

But seeing that there were outsiders present, he changed the subject and turned his gaze back to Shao Linshen, feigning curiosity, and asked:

"I heard that my elder brother did not return home last night. He must have stayed overnight in the county town. Why didn't he come to find me then? He could have saved some money."

And what is the name of the doctor who treated you? If his medical skills are truly exceptional, then it would be a good opportunity for this miraculous doctor to examine your third brother's injuries.

Upon hearing this, Shao Linshen, who was sitting in the courtyard, paused. His eyes sharpened instantly as he turned to look at his second brother, who was pointing the finger at him, and said in an icy voice:

"Why beat around the bush? You just want to tell everyone that I secretly pocketed the money, and that the medical treatment and medicine didn't actually cost that much, right?"

As Shao Linshen spoke, he slowly put down the palm-leaf fan in his hand. His movements were unhurried, yet they carried an undeniable sense of pressure.

He stood up, walked steadily to Shao Changgui, raised his hand, gently patted the other's cheek, and then chuckled, a laugh full of mockery:

"Hey Shao Lao Er, our parents are still alive, it's not your place to tell us what to do. Ha, you actually think you can tell me what to do?"

What, you're so greedy for someone else's few taels of silver? If you're so capable, why don't you sell your own daughter for money?

"You happen to have twins, a son and a daughter, which is an extremely auspicious sign. They might fetch a few more taels of silver."

"Shao Changfu! What nonsense are you spouting? Say it again if you dare."

Upon hearing this, the second brother, Shao Changgui, instantly flew into a rage. His face turned bright red, and veins bulged on his forehead. He immediately prepared to grab Shao Linshen's collar.

Before he could even touch the other person, he felt a sharp pain in both knees, as if a huge force was pressing him down, and he uncontrollably knelt on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, his hands were twisted behind his back, and his head was pinned to the ground, rendering him unable to move.

"How dare you address me by my name? You don't understand the difference between elders and juniors. Have you been wasting your life for the past twenty years?"

If you dare to yell at me again, you'll regret it.

Anyway, I'm just a worthless old man now, I don't even know if I can live a couple more years. If I can take a few people down with me when I die, I won't be lonely on the road to the underworld."

Shao Lin's gloomy words were like cold knives, echoing in everyone's ears and startling Qian Shi, who was about to rush over and cause a scene.

Seeing the brothers fighting from not far away, Zhao was shocked and swallowed back the words he was about to say.

***

Zhao stared blankly at her eldest son, feeling that he was terribly unfamiliar and had none of the honest and simple appearance he once had.

Ha, a bunch of cowardly bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong.

Shao Linshen thought disdainfully, but he increased the force in his hands, directly causing Shao Changgui, who was pinned to the ground, to scream and wail.

"When your mother asked you how your third brother got injured, you kept making excuses and refused to answer. Could it be that this whole thing is related to you?"

"Bullshit... ah..."

Shao Changgui let out a miserable cry, no longer daring to be stubborn, and no longer caring about saving face for his third brother, he revealed everything that had happened in the county.

Finally, he said in a wronged tone:

“That scoundrel didn’t have a single copper coin on him. Instead, I was the one who ran around carrying him to the clinic, cleaning up the mess, and even hiring an oxcart to take his luggage home.”

Now that things were out in the open, he didn't want to waste his own money to cover for his third brother.

Their second wife's family has also suffered heavy losses. If they could get some copper coins back from the old man, that would be good.

But as soon as he said these words, Zhao, who had been standing by and not intending to interfere in their brothers' conflict, felt her blood rush to her head and felt a sweet, metallic taste in her throat. With a "pfft," she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Before Qian could even catch her, she collapsed to the ground, barely breathing, her face as pale as if she were about to die.

Startled, Qian knelt down with a thud and crawled to her mother-in-law's side, calling out to her. She even touched the woman's nose with her finger and found that she was still alive. Only then did she feel a little relieved.

After all, if her husband were to be accused of causing his mother's death, not only would he be unable to stay in the village, but he would likely be arrested and imprisoned by officials within half a day.

"Mom, wake up! Don't scare me!"

Seeing that the old woman was still lying on the ground, Qian was afraid that she might catch a chill from vomiting blood and falling into a coma, and that it would cost even more money to treat her.

So she quickly helped the person up, but to her surprise, this old woman, who looked thin and small, was so tired that she tried to lift the person up twice but couldn't manage it.

Shao Changgui, who was standing next to him, was also quite frightened when he saw his mother vomit blood. No matter what he really thought, he dared not bear the infamy of causing his mother's death.

He immediately broke free of his restraints, scrambled to his mother's side, picked her up, and even tried to refuse her advances.

"It's all that scoundrel's fault. If he hadn't done such a ridiculous thing and been kicked out of the academy, Mother wouldn't have fainted from anger."

"Wife, go out and see if Dad's back yet. I'll handle things here. Don't let the old man get too upset."

Shao Changgui spoke quickly, shifting the blame onto his third brother, Shao Zhixue, in a few words. Then, he hurriedly carried Zhao Shi back to the main house.

Watching the unfolding drama unfold, Shao Linshen, who was standing nearby, finally felt a little relieved of the frustration in his heart. He stretched his wrists, then sat back down on the small stool and leisurely continued to brew the medicine.

The three sisters, Shao Er and Ya, who had previously retreated to the woodshed after sensing something was wrong, were now standing behind the door, peeking out and meeting the gaze of Qian, who was lying on the ground.

Seeing the woman's calculating gaze, the three sisters trembled with fear, hurriedly pulled their heads back, closed the door, and dared not peek out again.

Little did they know that Madam Qian's gaze was fixed on the woodshed, staring at it intently for quite a while before she snapped out of her reverie at the calls of her two children.

She glanced at her brother-in-law, who was still decocting medicine, then looked down at their similar little faces and asked softly:

"Didn't your mother tell you to stay at your maternal grandparents' house and not come over for the time being? Why did you sneak home at this time?"

“Mother, it’s not that we wanted to come back; it was my aunt who brought us back.”

Ten-year-old Shao Qiulan had larger eyes. Hearing her mother's question, she spoke with reddened eyes:

“My aunt said that she was too busy with farm work these days and was afraid she wouldn’t be able to take care of us, so she could only send my brother and me back first.”

Shao Minghui, standing to the side, pouted, his face full of grievance as he complained:

"No, that's not it. They just thought my sister and I ate too much. They were unhappy after we only stayed for half a day yesterday. When they didn't see you come to pick us up today, they rushed us back."

Mother, I also overheard some of my aunts talking privately... saying that our family is so poor now that we can't even afford to eat, and they're afraid you'll ask your family for food, so they're all thinking of ways to refuse..."

"Shh!"

Qian nervously covered her son's mouth, glanced around to make sure no one was listening, then released her hand. Suppressing the bitterness in her heart, she whispered a warning to the two children:

"Your mother knows everything. You are not allowed to tell anyone else these things. Our house is in a mess right now. Go back to your rooms and hide. Don't open the door unless your mother calls you."

"Can't we tell Father either?" Shao Minghui asked.

"No one is allowed to tell."

"Second son's wife, what can't you say?"

Outside the door, Shao Dashan, supported by Madam Sun, slowly entered. His gaze swept over the scene in the courtyard, and he frowned in confusion.

"Where are the old woman and the two old men?"

Qian's heart tightened suddenly, her palms unconsciously rubbing back and forth on the hem of her clothes, her fingers trembling slightly with nervousness, but she still forced a smile and replied:

"Father, Mother said she feels a tightness in her chest, so Changgui helped her back to her room to rest."

Shao Dashan frowned deeply, recalling that his wife had been coughing for half the night this morning. He didn't suspect anything at the moment and was about to ask his second son to accompany him to the county clinic to find his third son.

"laugh--"

A cold laugh suddenly came from the corner of the main room. The strange man sitting with his head down curled his lips and glanced at Qian's reddened ear tips.

"You pretty boy, what are you laughing at!"

Shao Changgui grabbed a jujube wood stick from behind the door, slamming it heavily on the ground with a dull thud, and threatened:

"Dare to spout nonsense? Believe me, I'll beat all your teeth out."

The adulterer didn't argue. Upon hearing this, he glanced meaningfully at Shao Changgui and Madam Qian in the courtyard, then suppressed his smile and lowered his eyes to pretend to sleep again.

Shao Dashan looked back and forth between the three men suspiciously, but ultimately worried about his youngest son's injuries, so he patted his second son's shoulder forcefully:

"Stop wasting time talking to this guy, let's get going!"

Sun, who had just accompanied the old man out to borrow money, sensed something was wrong. Her eyes flickered, and she subconsciously looked up towards the main house.

Just as he was about to step over, Qian stopped him.

"Sister-in-law, please wait!"

Qian affectionately took her arm, her voice suddenly rising:

“I’ll take care of Mother. You should go to your mother’s house and bring Mingjin and Mingyu back.”

They're both eleven-year-old boys, and now that something's happened at home, they can't just run away and wash their hands of the family's business, can they?

Sun's expression changed drastically. Just as she was about to retort, she caught a glimpse of her father-in-law's sullen and tacitly acquiescing look. She could only bite her lip and reluctantly hum in agreement.

As she stepped out the door, she turned back and glared fiercely at Qian Shi, her nails almost digging into her palms.

Seeing the troublesome person leave, the second wife and her husband both breathed a sigh of relief, but unconsciously ignored Shao Linshen standing next to them.

Or perhaps it's due to their past habits, subconsciously assuming that the other person won't expose them.

Shao Dashan didn't notice anything amiss with the couple. Remembering the widow Wu who had gone back to Xiahe Village to collect money, he was afraid that the money would fall into the eldest son's hands again, so he specially entrusted the written contract to Qian for safekeeping, so that the money would be exchanged for the contract in the future.

Mrs. Qian readily agreed and followed the father and son all the way to see them off.

But as Shao Dashan passed by the woodshed and saw the still tightly closed door, he suddenly became angry:

"Er Ya, San Ya, Si Ya! Are you three all dead inside? Get back to the fields and work! We don't feed freeloaders!"

Seeing that no one responded from inside, Qian volunteered to kick the door open.

"You three good-for-nothings, get out here right now! You dare ignore your grandfather's words?"

As she spoke, she kicked the door, and the dilapidated wooden door creaked and groaned.

Seeing that the door was about to be kicked open, the three sisters had no choice but to dawdle out with their arms crossed.

The second daughter, Er Ya, twisted her sleeves and said in a sweet voice, "Grandpa, we've never done farm work before, we're afraid we won't do it well..."

"fart!"

Shao Dashan slammed his cane on the ground, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"Which girl in the village hasn't done farm work by the age of twelve or thirteen? Do they really think they're some kind of pampered young lady? If they don't know how, they should learn! Anyone who dares not to work can get out of the Shao family home!"

Er Ya and San Ya are both daughters born to the second son's wife. They are thirteen and twelve years old respectively. Si Ya is born to the third son's wife and is the same age as San Ya.

The girls had been pampered by the eldest son since they were little, and they only did odd jobs around the house, such as picking pig feed at the foot of the mountain. They were spoiled and didn't know their place, and they really thought they were some kind of pampered young ladies.

Previously, the Shao family had some wealth, and with the eldest son leading the way, the others were naturally happy to play the good guys in front of them.

But now, not only is there no food in the house, but even the iron pot on the stove has been stolen. Shao Dashan has no heart to indulge these girls anymore.

If they still don't know what's good for them...

Shao Dashan thought of Daya, who had already been sold by the eldest brother, and his gaze swept over the three girls' pretty faces one by one, his eyes growing increasingly deep.

The three sisters, standing in front of the woodshed, felt a chill run down their spines, as if a cold shiver was rising from the soles of their feet, and they sensed that something bad was about to happen.

They looked helplessly at Shao Linshen, waited for a while, but he never spoke up for them. They could only reluctantly agree to what the old man had instructed.

……