Chapter 10: The Beating

Thinking of her daughter’s head injury, Qin Xueqiong quickly nodded. “Okay, let’s make chicken soup tonight.”

The two children subconsciously swallowed. Although they had eaten a little better these days, they hadn’t had chicken soup. They wanted some too, so they nodded.

Grandma Tang was still clutching her chest in pain. Hearing Qin Xueqiong’s words, she shrieked, “Don’t even think about it! Even if this chicken is dead, it’s still my chicken. Even if you want chicken soup, you won’t have any.”

Li Cuilan followed, “That’s right, hand over the chicken.”

Tang Xiaorou chuckled, “So you want chicken soup too? I’ll be generous and give you one.”  Her eyes turned cold, and she quickly killed another chicken. “There, don’t thank me too much.” She looked at Qin Xueqiong. “Mom, let’s go back.”

“Okay.”

Qin Xueqiong quickly took the two children and returned to their room.

“Ah…”

Not long after they left, Grandma Tang cried out in despair, “My chickens! My chickens are all gone!” They couldn’t afford to raise many chickens; they only had three, and Tang Erya had killed two.

Li Cuilan stared at the dead chicken on the ground and said, “Mother, the chicken is dead, there’s no use being sad. Let’s take it to the kitchen to process it. Otherwise, it’ll go bad.”

“Eat, eat, eat! All you think about is eating! Why didn’t you stop Tang Erya when she was killing the chickens?”

Hearing this, Li Cuilan secretly rolled her eyes. She had seen Tang Erya’s crazy look.  She still had a knife; Li Cuilan didn’t dare to approach. Didn’t even the old woman dare to go near her?

“Mother, if we don’t process the chicken, it won’t bleed well later.”

Grandma Tang came to her senses and stood up angrily. “What are you standing there for? Quickly take it to the kitchen to process it.  We’ll cook half tonight and marinate the other half.”

“Okay, Mother, I’ll do it now.”

Thinking about eating meat tonight, Li Cuilan didn’t care about Tang Xiaorou and Qin Xueqiong. She just wanted to eat meat.

On the other side, Tang Xiaorou, armed with a sickle, confidently returned to her room with Qin Xueqiong and the children. “Mom, let’s make chicken soup. Let’s add some greens to it; it’ll be delicious.”

Seeing her daughter’s eager expression, Qin Xueqiong smiled. “Okay, I’ll do it now.”

While her mother was making chicken soup, Tang Xiaorou looked at the two children. “Little Liang, Little Yan, have you eaten dinner?”

“No.”

Both children shook their heads. Pang Yunli had rushed to deliver the children and then rushed back with Shen Huaixu, so he just sent them here.  But he did prepare food for them.

Little Yan, remembering her new mother praising her beauty, opened her small bag and gave Tang Xiaorou a sponge cake. “Cake, yummy.”

Seeing the little girl’s willingness to share, Tang Xiaorou’s heart softened.

“I’m not hungry, you eat it.” She patted the little girl’s head.

“Hiss…”

Hearing the little girl’s cry of pain, Tang Xiaorou quickly removed her hand and parted her hair. Seeing a large bump, she asked anxiously, “When did you hit this? Why is it so swollen?” She quickly blew on it. “Blow… blow… the pain away.”

Seeing her new mother’s worried expression, Little Yan subconsciously hugged her and softly called, “Mom…”

It was her first painless experience of becoming a mother. Tang Xiaorou was stunned, but the soft and fragrant little girl in her arms made her heart melt. “Ah… I’m your mother now, and I’ll take good care of you.”

Little Liang still had some vigilance in his eyes, but seeing Tang Xiaorou being so gentle with his sister, his expression finally relaxed. He explained, “It wasn’t an accident; she was beaten.”

“What?”

Tang Xiaorou was shocked, followed by a surge of anger. “Who did it? Little Yan is so young. Who was so cruel?”

Little Liang silently lowered his head, biting his lip without speaking. Little Yan said vaguely, “Mama.”

Tang Xiaorou thought she was calling her. She quickly turned to Little Yan. “Mama is here.”

Little Yan tapped her head with her small hand. “Mom… hit.”

Tang Xiaorou finally understood. Little Yan meant that the injury on her head was inflicted by her biological mother.  But she didn’t understand how her mother could bear to hit such a young child.

Soon, she thought of herself and sighed. There were really parents who beat their children from a young age. Wasn’t that the case with the Tang family? She had been beaten a lot as a child.

“Little Yan, Mom will never hit you. Mama will protect you. Don’t be afraid.”

Tang Xiaorou hugged Little Yan and gently patted her back.

“Mom… like…”

Little Yan, although young, could tell who truly loved her, so she hugged Tang Xiaorou back.

Little Liang saw the bright smile on his sister’s face and his eyes turned red. How long had it been since his sister had smiled like this?  Thinking of this, his gaze towards Tang Xiaorou changed. He finally accepted this new mother, and he told her about his mother beating him and Little Yan.

“We have many more injuries, all inflicted by that woman.”

Little Liang no longer wanted to call that woman “Mama.” Tang Xiaorou’s face darkened. She lifted Little Liang’s clothes and saw the crisscrossing scars on his body.  Her eyes turned red with anger. “Too much! She’s too much!” Then she examined Little Yan and found that the little girl was also covered in scars.

“Isn’t your father a soldier? Didn’t anyone in the compound control that woman?”

Little Liang was several years older than Little Yan. Although still young, he was already sensible. “We were just brought here a few days ago. We were at our hometown before.”

Understanding this, Tang Xiaorou patted Little Liang’s head. “Don’t worry, Mama will protect you from now on.”

At this time, Qin Xueqiong came with the chicken soup. “Come and have some chicken soup.”

Tang Xiaorou and the two children sat down at the table. “Wow, it smells so good.”

“Eat.”

Qin Xueqiong smiled and served a bowl of chicken soup for her daughter and the two children. “Try it. It’s a pity there’s no rice.” Grandma Tang controlled the food, so they didn’t have any rice. But this large bowl of chicken soup should be enough for them.

Tang Xiaorou stood up. “I’ll go check the kitchen.”

“Xiaorou, the chicken soup is already very good.”

Tang Xiaorou smiled and waved at Qin Xueqiong. “Mom, I’ll be right back.” She picked up the sickle and went out.

“Tang Erya, what else do you want to do?”