Chapter 9

“No matter who she is, she’s just a girl. Her real parents haven’t come looking for her. She’s definitely not favored at home.”

Xia Lao said, “I picked her up because she was well-dressed. I thought she was from a rich family. I thought I could get some money when her real parents came looking for her. But it turned out that all these years, I haven’t seen a single trace of them.”

“Old man, we’re not at a loss. We got 100 yuan from her for breaking off the relationship, plus the jade pendant. We’re making a profit. We didn’t spend much raising her anyway.”

“Old man asked, “Did you hide the jade pendant well? Don’t let anyone find it.” “Don’t worry, it’s hidden under my bedboard. Good things can’t be found by others. That’s good. We can’t let anyone see these things now.”

“Oh, what good news,” Xia Yunxuan thought. “It’s just as I guessed. She’s not really their child. She was picked up by Xia Lao.”

Now she had no burden in breaking off the relationship. If they had treated her better, maybe she would have repaid them. Unfortunately, they missed their chance.

Since it was her thing, she had to get it back. No matter why her real parents didn’t want her.

She would make a good life for herself. It was already 1975. She remembered that the college entrance exams would be in 1977. She would be able to leave this place then.

Just as Xia Yunxuan was thinking about how to leave, the Captain’s voice came. “Little girl, are you home?”

Xia Yunxuan came out and said, “Chief, I’m home.” “Uncle, Auntie, come out here,” the Captain said.

Hearing the Captain’s voice, Xia Lao and Old lady He reluctantly came out. Old lady He asked, “Captain, what do you want us for?”

“Auntie, don’t pretend with me. I’m here to talk about the little girl breaking off the relationship with you. What do you think?”

“Hmph,” Old lady He snorted and turned her head away, not saying a word.

“Auntie, you can’t do this. This matter needs to be resolved. Do you think you can solve it by not speaking?”

“What if the little girl really gets discouraged and does something stupid? Do you think you won’t be responsible?”

The Captain said sternly, “Auntie, I can tell you, if anything happens to the little girl, I will be the first to go after you. I’m not trying to scare you.”

Old lady He said, “It’s absolutely impossible for that dead girl to break off the relationship. We raised her for so long. We can’t raise her for nothing. What girl doesn’t get married? We haven’t mistreated her. We just wanted her to marry someone. She’s making a fuss about nothing.”

“Even if we go to the police, we’re in the right. What parent hasn’t beaten their child? Why is it not okay when it’s us?”

The Captain said, “Auntie, don’t tell me these things. When other people beat their children, they don’t beat them as hard as you. You beat her to death. That’s called abuse, you know?”

Xia Yunxuan knew what her grandparents were thinking. She didn’t say anything and let them put on a show. They just wanted her money, didn’t they? Her money wasn’t so easy to get.

The Captain was really on fire. His aunt was so unreasonable. No matter what he said, she wouldn’t listen.

“Uncle, Auntie, that’s enough. Stop putting on a show. Tell me, what do you want to sign this letter of severance?”

“Captain, since the little girl is so ungrateful and wants to break off the relationship with us, we can only comply with her wishes,” Xia Lao said.

“She’s so impulsive and doesn’t understand. We’re adults, so we can only let her go out and experience some hardships. Let her see who’s really good to her.”

Xia Lao was a master of acting. He looked at the Captain and said, “Captain, we raised her for so long. It wasn’t just a bowl of rice that raised her. We gave her all the good food. Now she wants to break off the relationship. She should give us some compensation for our hard work.”

“What other girl has it as good as her? Who sends their daughters to school? We saved every penny for this. It was our coffin money.”

“I never thought that sending this child to school would make her so smart. She dares to threaten us. She even dares to jump into the river. What’s wrong with that butcher in town? He gets paid every month and he doesn’t lack meat. How many girls would want to marry him and he wouldn’t even look at them.”

Xia Yunxuan chuckled in her heart. “I told you, this old man is the most cunning. He lets Old lady He do all the bad things. Look at how beautifully he’s speaking. In the end, it’s still Xia Yunxuan who’s wrong.”

The Captain was speechless. How come he hadn’t noticed before that his uncle was so infuriating? He even learned to speak sarcastically like the old women in the village.

The Captain said impatiently, “Don’t change the subject. Tell me, what do you want to sign this letter of severance? I’m telling you, once you sign this letter of severance, the little girl has nothing to do with you. Don’t come crying to me about being elders.”

“I have a lot of things to do. I don’t have time to argue with you. When you’re arguing, you’re very capable. But when it comes to doing something serious, you drag your feet.”

Xia Lao and Old lady He were both thick-skinned and didn’t feel ashamed. They wanted money, that was the real issue.

Xia Lao looked at Old lady He, and she said, “Captain, we’re not against breaking off the relationship. This little girl has to give us 100 yuan for breaking off the relationship. It’s her who wants to break off the relationship. Don’t blame us. Besides, we can’t raise her for so long for nothing. Otherwise, we’ll fight to the death. We won’t break off the relationship no matter what.”

“Uncle, Auntie, aren’t you bullying the little girl? Where would she get 100 yuan for you?” Old lady He said, “We don’t care. If she wants to break off the relationship, she has to give us the money. Otherwise, we won’t agree no matter what.”

The Captain looked at Xia Yunxuan again. Xia Yunxuan knew it was her turn. “Chief, since Grandpa and Grandma want me to give them 100 yuan to break off the relationship, that’s fine. But I have my own conditions.”

“Tell me what your conditions are,” the Captain said.

Xia Yunxuan said, “First, I can’t give them the money until next month. I don’t have it now. If they don’t agree, I’ll go to the police right away. I have nothing to lose.”

“Second, I don’t want anything from their house. I just want my household registration to be separated from theirs. From now on, we’ll be two separate families. It’s best if we never see each other again.”

“Third, they can’t use their status as my elders to interfere in my marriage. If they dare to have any dirty thoughts, I’ll chop off their hands. I don’t care who they are.”

Xia Yunxuan looked at the Captain and said, “Chief, after I’m separated, you need to give me a piece of land to build a house.”