Chapter 12 Ye Xiaodie’s face was scratched

Yuyou worked quickly—by the time it returned, Ling Yu still hadn’t finished shopping. Back inside the space, Yuyou dropped the stolen goods onto the ground and spoke impatiently to Ye Wuyou:

“Little bandit, I got you the stuff, and I taught those two a lesson for you. Now I’m really tired, so don’t bother me unless it’s important—I want to sleep.”

No sooner had it said that than Yuyou flopped down on the ground and started snoring away.

When Ye Wuyou saw the items it had brought back, she realized they were exactly the ones she had spotted earlier. Even better, not only had Yuyou taken all their goods, it had also stolen the rest of Old Lady Wang’s money. Seeing this, Ye Wuyou felt a little better inside. Looking at the sleeping Yuyou, she decided not to disturb it any further.

Before long, Ling Yu finally came out, his shopping done. Spotting Ye Wuyou still sitting obediently where he’d left her, he let out a sigh of relief. He had noticed Old Lady Wang and her niece inside the market earlier, and had been worried that if Ye Wuyou saw them she might cause a scene, given how volatile her temper had been lately. But it looked like his worries had been unnecessary. Little did he know Ye Wuyou had already taken action against them.

He walked over, broke off a piece of the brown sugar he’d just bought, popped it into her mouth, and said, “Come on, we’re done here. Let’s head back now.”

The sweetness on her tongue immediately eased some of Ye Wuyou’s earlier irritation. She had always loved sweets as a child. In her previous life, that fondness had ruined her teeth, forcing her to limit her sugar intake. Later, during the apocalypse, she didn’t even dare to hoard too much candy in her space, afraid she wouldn’t be able to control herself. Now, even though this body wasn’t pretty, at least its teeth were healthy. That small comfort made her feel better.

Soon, they arrived at the ox-cart stop in the village. It was still early. Ling Yu paid four fen and took Ye Wuyou onto the cart. Usually, each person paid one fen per trip. Since he hadn’t had small change earlier, he had owed Liu Laohan for the ride there. Now that he had change, he settled both trips at once.

Once on the cart, Ye Wuyou sat quietly in a corner, outwardly dazed but in truth slipping her consciousness into the space to organize her supplies. Looking at the neatly arranged shelves filled with goods, then at the endless mountain of materials still piled up, she finally realized just how much stock her space contained. No wonder Yuyou had been complaining so often these last two days.

Watching the little beast sleeping soundly, Ye Wuyou knew she couldn’t push it too hard. So she started organizing herself—but after tidying just a few shelves, she felt drained. Her mental and spiritual strength weren’t strong enough to keep up the effort. She gave up with a sigh.

Forget it. The space is mostly Yuyou’s domain anyway. I only come in when I need to fetch something. If it’s messy, so be it. Besides, I’m sure Yuyou will clean it sooner or later.

Ye Wuyou thought this with a clear conscience. After all, Yuyou had a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder—wherever it lived had to be kept spotless. In their previous life, they had lived together outside the space most of the time, in a luxury RV that was always kept immaculate. Since Yuyou preferred staying outside back then, the space often fell into disarray. But now, if Yuyou didn’t want to live outside with her, it would just have to keep the space tidy.

Half-asleep, Yuyou suddenly twitched, as if sensing something dreadful. Drowsily, it opened its eyes, glanced around, and reassured itself that nothing dangerous could exist inside the space. Then it drifted back to sleep. It never realized its senses weren’t wrong at all—Ye Wuyou, whom it trusted, was in fact its greatest danger.

Before long, just as the ox cart was about to set off, Old Lady Wang finally showed up with Ye Xiaodie. After Yuyou’s attack, she had comforted her niece for a long time and even considered taking her to the hospital to check her face. But when they looked for their purchases, everything was gone. Not only that—the money Old Lady Wang had been carrying had also vanished.

That was when she truly panicked. She had brought fifty yuan that day to buy her darling niece’s dowry items. After making some purchases, she’d still had over twenty yuan left—but now, all of it was gone without a trace.

She searched the area for a long time, but neither the goods nor the money ever turned up. Fifty yuan! For ordinary folk like them, that was something they had to save for ages. How could it just vanish?

But with the sky growing dark, she could only swallow her anger and hurry back to the village. As much as she hated to, she was afraid of missing the ox cart. If that happened, they would have to walk home. Old Lady Wang herself could endure it, but her precious niece? No way. She couldn’t let her darling walk such a long distance.

On the way here, they had barely walked a short distance before her precious daughter couldn’t take it anymore, so they ended up hitching a ride on another village’s ox cart. Now, they finally arrived with Wang Xiaodie to wait for their own cart.

“Oh, isn’t this Auntie Wang? What brings you to market today too? Didn’t see you in the morning. And what’s with your face? Looks like a cat scratched you,” one of the village women remarked with schadenfreude as soon as Old Lady Wang came near the cart.

Everyone in the village knew Old Lady Wang had sold off her least favored granddaughter for 200 yuan, saving on food while doing it. The worst part? The buyer was the dream suitor of nearly every young girl in the village. Who wouldn’t be jealous? Several families who had hoped to marry their daughters to Ling Yu had been fuming ever since. They had no idea what Old Lady Wang had done to end up looking like this today, but that didn’t stop them from taking delight in her misfortune.

Already upset over losing her goods and money, Old Lady Wang grew even more furious when someone dared to mock her. Her eyes widened in anger as she snapped back, “What business is it of yours whether I come to market or not? Got nothing better to do than meddle in other people’s affairs?”

With that, she pulled Wang Xiaodie onto the ox cart. Only then did everyone notice that Xiaodie’s face was also covered in scratch marks, just like Old Lady Wang’s.

That same woman had always been a little afraid of Old Lady Wang, but the sight of Wang Xiaodie’s scratched-up face suddenly emboldened her. With even more glee in her tone, she added, “Auntie, why so prickly? I was only showing concern. But really, what’s going on with your girl? How did her face end up like that? I heard Xiaodie’s supposed to be marrying into the city soon. You can’t possibly send her looking like that, can you? Won’t the groom’s family despise her?”