Chapter 3: Running Away from Home

Xu Meng said, “I’m a reasonable person. If you’ve got something to say, let’s talk it out properly.”

Was this what “talking properly” looked like? Granny Xue’s tongue started to tie itself in knots. “What are you trying to do? Killing someone gets you sent to prison.”

Xu Meng waved the long knife in her hand. “I’m not trying to chop anyone. I bought this knife myself. Can’t I hold it and play around a bit? If someone with no eyes walks into it, that’s on them, not me. I’m a very reasonable person. Since you all dislike me so much, then I’ll just move out. The knife I bought, naturally, comes with me.”

Move out? Where was there to go?

But faced with her daughter holding a long knife, Feng Yanwen panicked too.

If her daughter had just talked to her properly, she might not have agreed to let her move out.

But looking at the situation now, Feng Yanwen was afraid that Xu Meng might really chop someone just to vent her anger on her behalf. Whether they lived or died, these people had to be separated. So Feng Yanwen gritted her teeth and actually agreed to move out. “Fine, we’ll move. We’ll just move out.”

Granny Xue never expected that not only did she fail to get rid of the girl this time, but the girl had also become even more aggressive than before. What kind of proper young lady brandished a knife at the drop of a hat? She hadn’t expected this damned girl to be even harder to deal with than she imagined. Though she was getting older, she cherished her life more than ever. She immediately hid behind Li Xiuzhi, grabbed her by the clothes, and shoved her forward.

Li Xiuzhi was so furious she nearly fainted. That damned old woman actually dared to use her as a human shield.

She wasn’t surprised by Xu Meng’s change. That damned girl was never easy to deal with in the first place—she had just evolved into someone even fiercer now.

Fine. If she wanted to move out, let her move.

“If you’re going to move, then do it cleanly. Don’t spend a few days outside, find life unbearable, and come crawling back,” Li Xiuzhi said.

Good. Let her move out. That would be one less mouth to feed at home, and Li Xiuzhi was more than happy to see it happen.

“Don’t worry. Even if you beg me, I won’t come back,” Xu Meng said.

As for that long knife—she wasn’t really planning to kill anyone with it. She had intended to use it to cut a watermelon. If she was leaving, then the watermelon wasn’t going to be left behind for this bunch to enjoy.

She glanced at Feng Yanwen. She had no intention of leaving her mother behind.

Feng Yanwen gritted her teeth. “I’ll go with you.”

Granny Xue panicked when she heard that. It was fine for that little wretch to leave, but how could Feng Yanwen go too? As much as she disliked her, if she left, her third son would be without a wife.

“You’re not allowed to go—” Granny Xue’s voice pierced the air.

But Feng Yanwen was already enraged by the look in the old woman’s eyes just moments ago. “I’m leaving. I said I’m leaving. Who do you think can stop me?”

She had wanted to do this many years ago—but back then, she was alone.

Granny Xue saw she couldn’t stop them, so she at least tried to keep them from taking anything. “You can leave if you want, but you’re not taking anything with you.”

Feng Yanwen replied, “I’m just taking my own clothes.”

Those clothes were already very old. Keeping them wouldn’t fetch any money anyway, so Granny Xue didn’t argue about that. But she absolutely refused to let her open the drawers in the house. There was money inside—not to mention the household registration booklet. If Feng Yanwen got her hands on it, she could disappear without a trace.

When Feng Yanwen realized she couldn’t get the household registration booklet, she became anxious too.

In her previous life, Xu Meng had lost her ID documents more times than she could count. Unlike a diploma, this kind of thing could just be replaced if lost. Seeing that her mother was still tangled up with the old woman, she grabbed Feng Yanwen’s hand and pulled her toward the door.

When Granny Xue realized Feng Yanwen was serious about leaving, she was momentarily dumbfounded.

Li Xiuzhi stood by gloating, adding fuel to the fire. The mood had already reached a boiling point. Although Granny Xue was beginning to regret it, she couldn’t bring herself to stop them now.

Xu Meng didn’t have much luggage. She quickly packed up the few things she had, slung her school materials over her back, and took the long knife meant for cutting watermelon.

Feng Yanwen simply began gathering up clothes, pants, and shoes as well.

The Xu family members were still trying to save face:

“Go, go, go. Let’s see how long you two can last out there.”

“Mom, don’t be angry. With her gone, she won’t be an eyesore anymore.”

“But what if Third Brother comes back?”

“When Jiefang comes back, he can give her a good beating and she’ll fall in line. Besides, those two have nowhere to go. They won’t last more than a few days before coming back.”

Xu Meng didn’t forget to remind her mother, “Mom, bring all your stash of private savings with you.”

How much private savings could Feng Yanwen possibly have? Ever since she stopped working, the family hadn’t let even a single mao pass through her hands. Even the living allowance given by the school was collected by other members of the Xu family. She didn’t have much money on her at all. Her face turned red. “Actually, Mom doesn’t have much money.”

Xu Meng: “…”

So what now? But running away from home was something that, once begun, had to be carried through in one go.

Even with no money, they would leave. Back then, she had gone to Shencheng with nothing but her bare hands. What was there to be afraid of, staying in the capital?

“Take whatever we’ve got,” she said.

Neither mother nor daughter had many clothes, so they packed quickly.

The two of them stormed out the door—one carrying a watermelon, the other holding a knife—and they actually left without looking back.

The two of them walked farther and farther away, their figures vanishing completely at the end of the alley.

Granny Xue slapped her thigh. “Aiyo, that heartless little wretch didn’t even leave me the watermelon!”

Watermelons were expensive this year. It had been days since she last had any.

All because of that watermelon, the little wretch left, the daughter-in-law left too, and in the end, she didn’t even get a sweet bite out of it.

The people in the alley were all talking about what had happened. But not everyone thought Xu Meng was in the wrong. Some of them remembered clearly how the family had gotten a great deal back then, bringing the child home:

“Granny Xue too—back then she was full of thanks and praise. And now, look at her, it’s only been a few years.”

“Ain’t that the truth, always scolding Teacher Feng.”

“And that Xu Jiefang too, always blaming her for not being able to have children. If you want kids so badly, why don’t you go find someone else who can give you some?”

“You shouldn’t say that out loud. Xu Jiefang, he—”

The person speaking suddenly stopped mid-sentence, not daring to say more.

Some things were secrets within the Xu family, things outsiders didn’t dare to talk about carelessly.

Seeing the speaker fall silent, the others didn’t press. Instead, the topic shifted to other gossip about the Xu family.

———

Xu Meng really wanted to beat up those people. They were women too, yet they were always egging Xu Jiefang on to commit domestic violence.

Xu Jiefang was brainless as well. Just a few words from others and he acted like he had caught Feng Yanwen cheating with his own eyes. A man with nothing but muscle in his head, a wife-beater through and through.

Pah, pah, pah. It was best to stay far away from this whole bunch of freaks in the future.

“Meng ah, are we really leaving? Where are we going to live?” Feng Yanwen asked.

Xu Meng knew this was the time to give her mom a bit of brainwashing.

“Mom, think about it. We’ve got four hands between us. Do you really think we can’t survive without this ridiculous family?”

Xu Meng snatched the watermelon from Feng Yanwen’s hands and carried it herself. “Besides, no matter how bad things get, could it really be worse than living with those people? Trust me, I won’t let you end up sleeping on the street.”

Those words were actually a bit empty and grand, but Xu Meng said them with such confidence that Feng Yanwen somehow found her own courage rising.

In her past life, she had been kicked out just like this—alone, heading south—and it hadn’t starved her to death. In this life, at least she had a fruit knife.

Though, of course, she couldn’t exactly do anything with it.

“So, where are we going next?” Feng Yanwen asked.

Xu Meng thought for a moment and decided—they would go seek out Chang Xi.

Chang Xi was her middle school classmate, a pretty loyal person. In her previous life, it was Chang Xi’s parents who had lent her money to handle Feng Yanwen’s funeral, and they had even taken her along to the south. So now, the first person Xu Meng thought of after leaving home was Chang Xi. She planned to stay there for a few days first, then figure out a longer-term place to live.

As she thought about finding a place to stay, something suddenly occurred to Xu Meng. “Mom, how much money do you have on you?”

Feng Yanwen’s face showed a trace of embarrassment. “I brought everything I had with me, but… it’s only five yuan.”

When she said five yuan, her cheeks couldn’t help but flush red.

She was nearly forty years old, yet her entire net worth was just five yuan. Who would believe that if it got out?

Xu Meng hadn’t expected her mom to be this poor either. But it was fine—this could become a weapon to use against the Xu family. “Mom, just think about it. The school gives you dozens of yuan a month as a living allowance, and all of it was taken by Grandma and handed over to Xu Dawei. Neither of us ever even touched that money. Now I really get it. People like us, living in that house, are only good for one thing—working for the Xu family and making money for them.”

That struck right at Feng Yanwen’s sore spot. She didn’t even care about having no money anymore. She gritted her teeth and said, “They really don’t treat people like people.”

Xu Meng smiled. “I’ve still got seven yuan. The two of us together have twelve yuan. We won’t starve. Once I find Chang Xi, we’ll go out and look for work. Don’t worry, I won’t let you go hungry or sleep out on the street.”

Feng Yanwen lowered her head and thought for a moment before slowly turning to look at her daughter. The look in her eyes was one she had never given Xu Meng before. She had never imagined that Mengmeng could think so far ahead.

“That’s why your thinking is right. I’m not afraid of hardship. No matter how hard it gets, it’ll never be worse than living in that house.”

Xu Meng smiled gently. “Mom, I’m going to make sure you live a good life from now on.”

Chang Xi’s home was close to the train station, and to get there from the big pagoda tree, they had to pass by the station.

By the time they reached the square in front of the train station, Xu Meng couldn’t take it anymore. The watermelon was just too heavy, and the nylon rope had dug painfully into her hands.

A watermelon weighing over twenty jin (10 kg)—even if the two of them took turns carrying it, the journey had been exhausting.

Panting heavily, Xu Meng said, “Mom, let’s rest for a bit.”

Both of them were tired and thirsty. Feng Yanwen was reluctant to let the watermelon go, no matter how heavy it was. “How about the two of us just eat it here?”

Here? Right here in the square…

Well, why not? People these days were pretty uninhibited, and besides, Xu Meng had brought a watermelon knife with her—no need to put on a show of splitting it with her bare hands. “Alright then. Let’s go over there, somewhere shadier and with fewer people.”

The two of them found a quieter spot and sat down on a low step. Xu Meng quietly pulled out the knife, gave it a quick, clean wipe, and brought it down on the watermelon in one swift motion.

What a good melon. The flesh inside was bright red and juicy.

Xu Meng handed the first piece to Feng Yanwen, then cut a small slice for herself.

Watermelons these days didn’t have any fancy enhancements. They were freshly picked, guaranteed to ripen on their own. As soon as the knife cut through, the rich fragrance of melon filled the air.

The bright red flesh and the refreshing scent of watermelon made both mother and daughter swallow hard. All the hardship and exhaustion from their journey vanished the moment they took that first bite.

Neither of them dared eat too messily. They both nibbled slowly, in small bites.

Sweet.

So sweet.

Unbelievably sweet.

Crisp and sweet…

It was so hot, people around them gradually began to swallow their own saliva.

“Um,” a woman holding a child asked, “Miss, that watermelon… are you selling it?”