Chapter 12

Little Gu Yang had just come in, and the first thing he saw was his grandma crying. Instinctively, he thought that the “bad woman” had bullied her again. Like a little cannonball, he charged forward, ready to knock Lin Xi away.

“Bad woman! You liar! You said you wouldn’t do bad things, but you bullied Grandma again! I’m gonna beat you up!”

Lin Xi, who had been holding Tian Yufen, took the full brunt of his hit — and just like that, her back went out.

“Yangyang, how could you hit your aunt like that?”

“Xiao Xi, are you alright?”

“Hiss— I can’t get up… I think I threw my back out.”

Tian Yufen, still crying just moments ago, suddenly felt herself sway. She looked down and saw Lin Xi collapse to the ground, and then her little grandson shouting as he tried to pounce again.

She instantly forgot her sadness, grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck, and landed a smack on his backside.

The little cannonball froze mid-struggle at her words, turned to glare at his grandma, and protested angrily:

“She’s not my aunt! She’s a bad woman! She bullied you! I’m gonna kill her!”

Only then did Tian Yufen realize her grandson had misunderstood. Holding him in place before he could dart off again, she explained:

“Your aunt didn’t bully me — I just got something in my eye, and she was helping me check.”

“Really?”

The boy stopped struggling and turned his head suspiciously toward his grandma. When he saw her eyes didn’t have that “lying” look he recognized from the past, he froze.

Seeing he’d calmed down, Tian Yufen let him go and went to pull Lin Xi up from the ground.

“Come on, I’ll take you to the clinic for a check. Yangyang really doesn’t know his own strength.”

“Wait, wait… slowly… ah, it hurts…”

Lin Xi gritted her teeth, one hand on her back, the other holding Tian Yufen’s for support as she slowly stood up. The first thing she did once she sat down was glare at the culprit:

“I didn’t do anything bad. Why did you hit me? Do you want to turn into a little puppy?”

The boy, guilty, avoided her gaze. At her words, he lowered his head further and muttered in a tiny voice:

“I didn’t mean to… I thought you were bullying Grandma…”

Even though it was barely above a whisper, Lin Xi still heard him. She raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not being fair at all — you didn’t even check what was going on before hitting me. You are a little puppy. Ow~ my back…”

“I… I really didn’t mean it. I’m not a puppy. If you want… you can hit me. I won’t run.”

Seeing the boy so tense, Lin Xi couldn’t help but laugh — which only pulled at her back again. “Ow!” This time it was genuine pain.

Tian Yufen, worried, asked:

“Xiao Xi, where exactly does it hurt? Maybe we should still go to the clinic! What if you hurt a bone?”

Since coming to this house, the heaviest work Lin Xi had done was cooking these past two days — even walking too much had left her feet blistered.

She looked so delicate, her skin pale and tender, the type to bruise easily from a bump — let alone taking the full force of a little boy’s charge that had sent her to the ground.

Tian Yufen was truly uneasy, but Lin Xi insisted:

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Just need to rest for a few days. Could you help me to bed?”

Then she noticed the little boy’s eyes glistening with tears, and she softened her tone to coax him:

“Yangyang, Auntie knows you didn’t mean it. You just wanted to protect Grandma — that’s very brave of you. But from now on, you have to make sure you understand the situation before you act, okay?”

The boy nodded with watery eyes. He thought maybe his aunt wasn’t completely bad after all — he’d hurt her, and she was in pain, but she hadn’t hit him.

“A real man doesn’t cry over every little thing. Yangyang, are you a real man?”

“Yes. I’m not crying.”

Tian Yufen couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of two watery-eyed kids — the bigger one spooked by hurting Lin Xi, the smaller one crying in sympathy with her grandma.

“Xingxing, be good, don’t cry. Grandma’s fine. I’ll get you some candy later.”

After a bit more coaxing, she didn’t linger with them. Supporting Lin Xi, she brought her back to her room.

“Are you sure you’re alright? What if it’s more than a sprain?”

Since arriving here, Lin Xi had been pampered compared to before — her skin so fair and tender, a simple bump could bruise her badly. Now, with that direct collision…

Tian Yufen still didn’t feel at ease, but Lin Xi waved her off:

“I’ll be fine, really. But could you get me a basin of cold water and a towel?”

In this era, most families didn’t own a fridge, so an ice pack was out of the question — a cold, wet towel would have to do.

Tian Yufen, already tucking pillows behind her for comfort, frowned.

“Silly girl, no trouble at all. But there’s no open wound — why the water? There’s an old man in the village who knows a bit about treating sprains. I’ll get some medicinal wine from him. You just stay put.”

Lin Xi nodded. She wanted to move… but the pain said otherwise.

Fortunately, she’d instinctively braced herself earlier — otherwise, she might not have been able to move at all now.

When Tian Yufen stepped out, two little heads peeked in from the doorway. Lin Xi caught sight of the taller one’s guilty expression, tinged with remorse, and her heart softened.

People always said children were pure — quick to sense good and evil, but also kind at heart.

Before she came here, the original Lin Xi had bullied these two so badly they were terrified of her. Yet, after just a little kindness, their impression of her had already begun to waver.

Children were just that easy to win over.

It reminded her of her own childhood — back then, those distant relatives who’d wanted to cheat her out of her inheritance had also treated her nicely for a while. If they hadn’t always followed up with questions about money and property, she might have believed she had a family again.

“Little man, do you know where Grandma keeps the candy? I feel like having some.”

The boy nodded, then admitted sheepishly:

“I know… but I can’t reach it.”

“Oh? Then I guess I won’t be having candy today.”

She didn’t actually want candy — she just wanted to chat more with them so they wouldn’t be so afraid of her.

But no sooner had she spoken than a small hand appeared beside her, offering her a candy.

She turned to look — it was little Xingxing, shrinking back slightly, her round black eyes full of fear… but she didn’t take the candy away.

“You’re giving this to me?” Lin Xi asked in surprise.

“Mhm.” The little girl nodded.

“Do you have more?”

The little girl shook her head.

“Thank you, Xingxing.”

Lin Xi took the candy, unwrapped it, and smiled gently.

“Xingxing, say ‘Auntie.’ If you do, I’ll give this candy to you.”

Fear flickered across the girl’s face. Even her brother pulled her back and warned Lin Xi:

“You promised you wouldn’t hit anyone!”

Lin Xi understood why they reacted this way, but she still wanted to give them a new starting point.

“I keep my word. The old auntie and the me now aren’t the same person. Yangyang, Xingxing — will you believe Auntie?”

Her gaze was full of sincerity. The little girl stared at her, watching as she spoke to her brother, as she smiled at her…

“Auntie.”

The timid voice was barely above a whisper, but Lin Xi heard it. And so did Gu Yang — who immediately shot Lin Xi a wary look.