Chapter 5: Finding a Way

Zhaodi and Pandi found themselves being treated differently yet again.

Although all three of them were clinging to the old woman’s legs, she forcefully pushed the two sisters aside, her rough hands gently resting on Song Liangzuo as she said, “You all go away; not one of you is useful.”

Despite her harsh words, she ultimately decided not to leave.

Looking up, Song Xiaoxiao took the opportunity to ask again, “Grandma, if I can prove I’m a boy, will that settle this matter?”

“You are a boy…”

“Yes, yes, I am a boy.” Song Xiaoxiao wasn’t about to dispute the matter of the original owner’s gender at that moment.

This place was unfamiliar to her, and she couldn’t allow this family to run into trouble without understanding the situation first. They had to remain stable; only then could she take her time to learn about other things.

She didn’t want to arrive only to be treated like a wet dog being beaten.

“Lil’ brother, they want to see your little… thing.” Zhaodi interjected, reminding Liangzuo that he didn’t have such a thing.

“I know.” Song Xiaoxiao nodded. She then released her grip on the old woman’s legs, stepping back two paces to say, “Grandma, we can’t go back just yet. Let my sister return alone first.”

When Song Xiaoxiao said this, she turned to Zhaodi and directly instructed, “Sister, you go back and tell Mom and Aunt that you didn’t find us. If anyone wants to come searching for us, just say that Grandma should be back soon; she usually returns around this time, so let them wait.”

The old woman looked at her suddenly sensible grandson and exclaimed, “My good grandson, you’ve thought of a way?”

Song Xiaoxiao nodded.

“What are you waiting for? Didn’t you hear what your brother said? Hurry back! Remember what my good grandson said, don’t say a word differently, or I’ll skin you alive if anything goes wrong.” The old woman shot a fierce warning at Zhaodi.

Each time, Song Xiaoxiao would be startled by the old woman’s inexplicable fierceness toward the little girls.

Zhaodi tightly pursed her lips and nodded. After glancing at their grandmother and little brother, she turned and raced back.

Once the three of them were alone at the foot of the mountain, Song Xiaoxiao pulled the old woman to sit on a nearby stone.

The elderly woman had no idea what her good grandson was planning; she only knew he had come up with a solution. She wrapped her arms around Song Liangzuo like she had found a lifeline, asking, “My dear grandson, what’s your plan?”

The smell of sweat from her clothes, the unmistakable odor of someone who hadn’t bathed in a while, and the grass scent filled Song Xiaoxiao’s nose.

It wasn’t a pleasant smell, and she could only hold her breath, allowing the elderly woman to embrace her for a while. Just as she felt like rolling her eyes, she wriggled free from the old woman’s embrace, took a deep breath, and said, “Grandma, I’m going to go down to find Grandpa the hunter. You and my second sister continue cutting grass here.”

“Why do you need to see him? Although your grandpa was friendly with him, he can’t really help our family,” the elderly woman hurriedly waved her hand, thinking her grandson wanted the old hunter to side with them.

Song Xiaoxiao sighed inwardly. If it were in the past, she could have just ordered something realistic from the internet to fool people. But now?

Ugh, she didn’t have a system, no space, no magical keys…

She couldn’t grow such a thing herself, so she had to think of a way to create a fake just to get through this situation.

Her only thought now was to head to the hunter’s place and see if he had caught any animals recently. After all, any male animal would have that particular anatomy, right?

This would give her a chance to find a way to counter this whole situation.

While internally complaining, she maintained her innocent childlike demeanor and said, “Grandma, when Grandpa took me to the hunter’s place before, I saw him catch rabbits, and they had two little eggs below.”

“And then what?” the old woman asked.

“I want to see if there’s a way to get those eggs for myself.” Song Xiaoxiao answered innocently.

“Get them for yourself? Little brother, how do you expect to do that? Just looking at yourself won’t make them grow! Why not just check Li Erniu’s? Then you’d have the real thing!” Almost six-year-old Pandi replied with a shocking statement.

To which the old woman slapped her on the head, her expression fierce as she scolded, “You little brat! What do you know? Don’t ask what you shouldn’t!”

Pandi bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, too scared to speak again.

Seeing this unfold, Song Xiaoxiao felt her head was spinning—why did everything lead to hitting children?!

She began to understand that the old woman noticed every action of her fake grandson, putting her completely in a favorable light, while the two little girls could hardly breathe without the elderly woman’s anger.

Song Xiaoxiao suspected that this old lady might have a split personality.

She clearly knew that she was fake, yet she treated her as a real boy with great diligence. With such an attitude, the original owner had eaten more than enough from the household.

It seemed like she wasn’t just putting on an act.

Hence, whatever she said would not evoke the old woman’s anger, but the moment the two little girls spoke, they would face the brunt of her wrath.

“This idea won’t work. You and Pandi find somewhere to hide first. I’ll go back and drive them away.” The old woman still favored the approach of brute force.

Song Xiaoxiao felt like she had sighed more today than in her entire 23 years of life. “Grandma, there are a lot of them. The more we resist, the more they’ll think we have something to hide. Since we know we can’t escape, we need to find a way. I will see if there’s anything useful at the hunter’s place. Even if I can’t find a suitable method there, we can still go back and fight later.”

Song Xiaoxiao’s strategy was simple: she wanted to go to the old hunter’s place to see if there was anything they could use.

When night fell and they returned home, she’d take advantage of the decreasing light to find a chance to slip away unnoticed.

Although there was a risk of being exposed, it was better than following the old woman back to get into a brawl.

If the uncles in the main courtyard got involved, the numbers would be overwhelming, and pulling her pants down for verification would be a certainty.