Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Giving Thanks

Qin Hui Yin truly felt there was no need for all this.

But she also knew what her mother was doing—making sure her place in this household stayed solid. Pushing Qin Hui Yin forward as the gentle one, the reasonable one, the good cop. Qin Hui Yin couldn’t let her down.

With a muffled thud, Tang Yi Xiao dropped to his knees and kowtowed to Li Tao Hua.

Li Tao Hua jolted as if someone had thrown cold water on her. “What are you doing?”

Tang Yi Xiao didn’t look up. His voice rasped, thick with emotion. “Thank you… for saving me.”

Li Tao Hua’s mouth opened, then shut. Her hands fluttered helplessly. “You don’t need to kneel. Get up!”

Before Tang Yi Xiao could rise, Tang Lu Wu knelt beside him and kowtowed as well. “Thank you, Mother, for saving his life.”

Li Tao Hua froze.

Her fingers trembled, and her expression stiffened into something almost frightened. “You called me… what?”

“Mother!” Tang Lu Wu shouted, eyes bright. “You saved my younger brother. From today on, you’re our mother!”

Li Tao Hua turned to Qin Hui Yin like she was begging to be rescued.

Qin Hui Yin couldn’t help it—she laughed, warm and wicked. “Mother, congratulations. You have two more children now.”

Tang Yi Chen, standing off to the side, didn’t move. He didn’t correct them, but he didn’t join them either. And no one forced him. Just like Qin Hui Yin—she had no intention of changing how she addressed Li Tao Hua, either.

Li Tao Hua couldn’t stand the atmosphere. She flung one arm impatiently, as if swatting away smoke. “Aren’t you hungry? If you’re not, I am. Call me whatever you want—just don’t go telling people I forced you when they ask.”

Tang Lu Wu helped Tang Yi Xiao up, smiling through her own tears. “Younger brother, from now on, we have a mother too.”

Tang Yi Chen watched them with a complicated expression.

Unlike Tang Yi Xiao and Tang Lu Wu, whose memories of their birth mother were hazy, Tang Yi Chen had been old enough to remember. He’d been the eldest son, the clever one, the one she’d doted on. He couldn’t bring himself to call someone else “Mother” the way his younger siblings did.

But he didn’t stop them.

For them, a mother’s love was a blessing they’d been missing for too long.

Tang Da Fu looked at Li Tao Hua accepting his children and seemed to breathe easier, as if a knot in his chest had finally loosened.

“Sit down and eat,” he urged. “Otherwise it’ll get cold again.”

That night, the moonlight was clean and bright. Under it, they ate a reunion meal together, and for the first time, it truly felt like the whole family sat at the same table.

Tang Yi Xiao’s face was still tender. Chewing hurt, so he only dared to eat rice soaked in broth, swallowing carefully.

Li Tao Hua watched him for a moment, then looked to Qin Hui Yin. “Daughter, how will this matter be settled in the end?”

“Tomorrow he’ll apologize to you in front of the whole village,” Qin Hui Yin said. “Then we’ll talk about compensation.”

“Compensation?” Li Tao Hua leaned forward, eyes glittering. “We can still make them pay? I beat Li Er Niu even worse—won’t it be hard to demand anything?”

“They started it,” Qin Hui Yin said. “Of course they should compensate us. What you did was self-defense, and you did it to protect my younger brother. You weren’t wrong.”

Li Tao Hua’s shoulders straightened, pride returning in full. “My daughter is right. I knew it—I didn’t do anything wrong, and I have nothing to feel guilty about. So how much will we make them pay?”

“We spent a lot on medicine,” Qin Hui Yin said. “We can’t go too far, or we’ll push Tang Ji Zu past his limit and the deal won’t hold. Let’s ask for one tael.”

Li Tao Hua’s face fell. “Only one tael? I thought we could squeeze out ten or eight taels.”

“Mother,” Qin Hui Yin said patiently, “you said it yourself—you beat Bao Yu’s mother pretty badly too. We already went to the doctor. If we ask for less on their side, we look generous.”

Li Tao Hua clicked her tongue, but she didn’t argue further. The plan settled, the food finished, they went to rest early.

On the Tang Family’s side, the night ended warm and quiet.

On the other side of the village, it ended in misery.

Li Er Niu was tied to the trunk of a big tree in her courtyard. Mosquitoes swarmed her like smoke, raising welt after welt across her battered face. She was already swollen beyond recognition, and now the itching piled on top of the pain until she could hardly breathe.

“Husband,” she cried hoarsely toward the dark doorway, “I know I was wrong. Spare me!”

“You watched Bao Yu get beaten like that,” Tang Ji Zu said coldly. “And you’re his mother. How did you take care of him? When something happened, all you knew was to charge in. You made us lose face, and you made us lose a pile of silver. You have no brain.”

He let the silence stretch, sharp as a knife. “Tonight you’ll stay awake and clear your head. Think about what you should do next time.”

“Bao Yu!” Li Er Niu sobbed. “Tell your father. Have him let Mother down! I’m hurt—I really can’t take it…”

Tang Bao Yu pouted. “Dad is right. It’s because you’re so stupid that I got bullied. We spent so much money just now—that money was supposed to buy me meat. Because you’re useless, I haven’t had meat lately.”

Li Er Niu’s face crumpled. “Husband, next time I’ll take good care of Bao Yu. I won’t let him get hurt. Next time something like this happens, I… I…”

Tang Ji Zu laughed once—short, ugly. “You’re truly stupid. Even now you still don’t understand what you did wrong.”

His voice sharpened. “You should have taken Bao Yu to apologize first. Turn a big problem into a small one, a small one into nothing. Once everyone forgot, you could find a chance to deal with them—make sure no one could tell it was revenge.”

He spat the words like nails. “I always tell you not to offend people. To make more friends. You haven’t learned a thing. You’re stupid, and you want Bao Yu to be stupid like you.”

Tang Bao Yu jerked his head up. “Dad, I’m not stupid!”

“Enough.” Tang Ji Zu’s temper snapped, then cooled. “I’ll spare you tonight. Bao Yu, untie her. It’s late, and I’m starving. Have her make something to eat.”

Li Er Niu was finally freed. She staggered into the kitchen, hands shaking.

It was pitch-black. Their family refused to buy an oil lamp, so she cooked by feel—fumbling, groping, guessing.

She made noodles, but in the dark she dumped in far too much salt. The first bite was unbearable.

Tang Ji Zu’s face turned vicious. He flung the bowl of noodles at her.

Scalding broth splashed across her arms and chest. Li Er Niu screamed.

Tang Bao Yu copied him, splashing noodles onto her as well.

She barely had time to register one pain before another crushed down. Her knees buckled. The world tilted. She collapsed, scalded into unconsciousness.

Tang Ji Zu stared at her for a moment, disgust written all over him. Then, fed up and still hungry, he strode out and went to knock on Widow Wang’s door next door in the middle of the night.

That night was destined to be restless.

Across the village, people whispered in bed about the two families. Some said Li Tao Hua was putting on an act—she bullied Tang Yi Xiao more than anyone on ordinary days, yet now she insisted on standing up for him. They said it was only because she hated Li Er Niu and had found a reason to make trouble.

Others said Tang Bao Yu had always been a tyrant. With a father who earned money in town and brought him sweets, he bought a few village children as lackeys. Now someone had finally taught him a lesson—and that was a good thing.

They guessed at what had happened after the two families went to see the doctor, and how the matter would be handled. The more they guessed, the more they talked, and the longer the night stretched.

Some people even worried the fire would spread to them.

Tang Bao Yu had three or four little lackeys. Besides the two who’d followed him yesterday, there were two more who’d bullied Tang Yi Xiao with him before. Their parents lay awake, hearts pounding, fearing that if they offended Tang Yi Chen’s family, they’d be dragged down with them.