Chapter 8

“Auntie, just talk. Why are you pulling my pants? So many people are watching. It’s not good.”

Old lady He released her grip after the Captain spoke. “Captain, can someone tell me what happened? Why is everything in such a mess?”

Xia Yunxuan said, “Uncle Captain, Xia Dabao wanted to hit me with a stick. I just dodged, but they wouldn’t stop. The whole family chased after me to beat me.”

“I’m so poor, weak, and helpless. I could only dodge. They beat up the room like this. Uncle Captain, look at how vicious they are. I wonder if I’m even part of this family. Why are they so ruthless in beating me? They even want to force me to marry that kind of man.”

“Uncle Captain, since no one cares about me, I’ll just go to the police station and kill myself.” Xia Yunxuan lifted her sleeve, revealing old and new scars on her arm. “They’re going to beat me to death anyway. No one cares about me. I might as well die in front of the police station. Maybe someone will bury me.”

Xia Yunxuan pretended to run outside. The Captain yelled, “Stop her!” If the little girl really killed herself in front of the police station, their village would become famous, and he wouldn’t be able to be the Captain anymore.

It seemed like he had really pushed the little girl too far. She used to be obedient and had good grades. It was just that he couldn’t really interfere in other people’s family matters. He knew this family always bullied the little girl.

He didn’t expect his aunt to want to sell the little girl to Zhang the Butcher, who had beaten several wives to death in town, for a few hundred yuan.

They had heard about Zhang the Butcher. He was a big, mean-looking man who loved to beat his wives and drink. His previous wives had all been beaten to death by him. Now, whenever anyone heard that he was looking for a wife, no one was willing to marry their daughter to him.

Only his aunt, who was blinded by money, had heard some rumors and had her eyes set on her own granddaughter.

No wonder the little girl had jumped into the river and refused to marry. Now, she had walked back from the gates of hell and probably had a change of heart. She might as well just die.

If he didn’t resolve this matter today, something big might happen. It was time to evaluate the advanced teams, and he didn’t want to lose the title because of a few bad apples.

The Captain looked at Xia Yunxuan and said, “Little girl, you’re so young. Don’t talk about killing yourself so easily. Let’s solve this properly.”

“Tell me, what do you want? What will satisfy you?” Xia Yunxuan said, “Uncle Captain, you can agree to all my conditions.”

“Tell me what your conditions are first. I’m just a small Captain. I can’t do everything.”

Xia Yunxuan said, “Actually, my requirements are simple. Since they can’t stand me, I want to break off all ties with them. I don’t want anything from them. But I need a document to sever the ties. From now on, I have nothing to do with them, and they can’t eldest brother me around as elders.”

“Also, I need to move out of the household. I want to live independently. Those are my conditions.”

Old lady He yelled, “You damn girl, don’t even think about it. We raised you. Did we raise you for nothing? You don’t want to repay us, and you want to break off ties? I won’t agree.”

The Captain said, “Little girl, breaking off ties is rare in our village. You need to think carefully. What will you do as a young girl on your own?”

“Uncle Captain, I’ve already thought about it. I’m always an outsider in that family. I wear my sister’s hand-me-downs, eat their leftovers, and I can only go to school if I’m with my sister.”

“Whenever anyone in that family is in a bad mood, they take it out on me. Look at Xia Dabao today. He was unhappy with lunch and took a stick to my room to beat me. If I hadn’t fought back, you would have been arranging a funeral for me tomorrow, Uncle Captain.”

The Captain’s mouth twitched. He didn’t expect the little girl to be so tough and talkative.

The Captain said, “Little girl, this isn’t something I can solve alone. How about I go talk to the village officials and elders? What do you think?”

“Okay, Uncle Captain. But I’ll give you one hour. Don’t drag it out too long. Otherwise, when you leave, they might change their tune, and they’ll gang up on me again.”

Old lady He yelled, “You damn girl, you have no shame. You clearly beat us up, and you dare to say we beat you.”

“Everyone, come and see! This damn girl is twisting the truth. She beat us up, and she dares to say we beat her. Oh, heavens! I won’t live anymore. I’ll go hang myself!”

The Captain yelled, “Auntie, stop making a fuss. If you dare to talk nonsense again, I’ll deduct your family’s work points. Everyone has eyes and can see. You can’t just yell and claim you’re right. The little girl has so many injuries. Did she beat herself?”

Xia Yunxuan didn’t expect the Captain’s words to be so accurate. She had actually drawn the injuries herself. She knew there would be a big drama, so she had to prepare.

Otherwise, how would she separate from this family? She wouldn’t eat all the delicious food in her space and just eat wild vegetables and drink water with these people. She wasn’t stupid.

“I’ll be back. Don’t do anything reckless. Otherwise, don’t blame me,” the Captain said, looking at Old lady He.

After the Captain left, Xia Lao called Old lady He into the room. No one knew what they were talking about, except for Xia Yunxuan. She knew they were plotting something. She asked Feifei to shrink down and listen to their conversation at the wall, then tell her.

She heard Old lady He say in the room, “Old man, do you think that deadbeat has been possessed by something? Or maybe she found out she wasn’t our child?”

“She never resisted before. Why has she suddenly changed so much?”

“She probably got up the courage to fight back because we wanted to marry her off,” Xia Lao said.

“Don’t worry. She’s just a teenage girl. What can she do? If she wants to break off ties, let her. When she runs out of food and money, she’ll come back.”

“But we have to teach her a lesson first. We didn’t raise her for nothing. If she wants to break off ties, she has to give us 100 yuan. Otherwise, we won’t agree to anything.”

Old lady He said, “Old man, you’re so smart. I wonder who her real parents are. The jade pendant she wore when she was a child is a good thing.”