While Mo Guoqiang and Liu Fengying stood there stunned, Mo Xiaosu, who was resting on the stone stoop by the door, started shouting at the top of her lungs, "Oh no! This is a disaster! Uncle kicked down Grandpa and Grandma's house! Dad, Mom! Come out and look!"
Uncle Mo and Second Aunt Mo came running out of their house. Uncle Mo's mouth was still stuffed with food, his cheeks puffed out, while Second Aunt Mo clapped her hands and started shouting, "Oh my god! What are we supposed to do now? Brother, Sister-in-law, what do you think you're doing? You kicked our house into this state! You have to pay for this!"
After a great effort, Uncle Mo swallowed the food in his mouth. He craned his neck and shouted at Mo Guoqiang, "Brother, even if you want to beat your own kid, you can't take it out on my house! Look at it! You kicked it so hard it completely collapsed. Building this house cost me dozens of yuan!"
"Bullshit!" Liu Fengying cursed at Uncle Mo. "A shabby thatched hut cost dozens of yuan? Who do you think you're swindling? Look who you're talking to before you open your mouth. This is your brother—your own flesh and blood!"
Second Aunt Mo, not to be outdone, immediately shrieked back, "So what if he's his brother? We split the family and have been living on our own for ages! Even blood brothers must keep clear accounts! He destroyed our house, so he has to pay! Right now! Hand over the money, or this isn't over!"
"..."
Meanwhile, Granny Mo was forcefully pushing Mo Xiaoman. "Aren't you going to run? Do you want them to beat you to death?"
"Grandma, it's dangerous here. This wall looks like it could collapse at any moment... Let's go together!"
"It's fine! It's just a thin, rammed-earth wall. It won't kill anyone! Now go!"
"Grandma!"
"Xiao Man, are you disobeying me?" Granny Mo's face hardened, her expression surprisingly stern.
Mo Xiaoman bit her lip and let go of Granny Mo. She pulled aside some of the collapsed thatch, dragged her grandmother away from the precarious wall, and positioned her in a safer spot in the middle of the yard. Only then did she get ready to climb over the pile of thatch and escape.
But, as it turned out, someone was already watching her. Mo Xiao Zhi jumped out and shrieked, "Mom! Mom, look! Mo Xiaoman is over there! She's trying to run away!"
Liu Fengying and Second Aunt Mo's argument had reached a stalemate, and for a moment, neither could be bothered with anything else. Mo Guoqiang, however, turned his head. The sight of the main culprit sent a wave of uncontrollable rage through him, and his eyes reddened. 'If it weren't for this damned wench, I never would have kicked the door and provoked that pestering second brother and his wife for no reason!'
Mo Guoqiang snatched a long bamboo pole, used for drying clothes, from a rack in the yard. He strode forward a few steps and, with the force of a sweeping army, swung it hard at Mo Xiaoman, who was standing on the pile of thatch!
How could Mo Xiaoman possibly dodge in time? The pole sent her tumbling to the ground. Fortunately, it was just a bamboo pole, and the thatch cushioned her fall. It was also fortunate that she had instinctively twisted her body, so the pole hit her on the buttocks. Even so, the pain was so intense her backside went numb.
Granny Mo heard the WHOOSH of the air being split and Xiao Man's cry as she fell. How could she not know what had happened? "Xiao Man!" she cried out. "Child, are you all right?"
She stretched both hands out toward the yard, shouting, "Stop! Stop it! You can't hit her!"
"Grandma, I'm okay!" Mo Xiaoman climbed out from the pile of thatch, reassuring her grandmother first.
"She's got a worthless life! A hit like that won't kill her!" Mo Guoqiang raised the bamboo pole again, but this time, he intended to jab with it.
One end of that pole had been roughly cut with a knife. It was harmless if you just touched it, but if you used it to jab someone with all your might, it would have the effect of a sharp blade!
This time, the color drained from Mo Xiaoman's face. Just as she was thinking of grabbing a stool or something to block the attack, she heard a loud shout, "Mo Guoqiang! Take a look at this!"
Mo Guoqiang froze. He reflexively glanced toward the courtyard gate and saw a tall, thin old man in his fifties standing there. Though his frame was slight, he looked wiry and strong. His hair was salt-and-pepper, his face was scruffy with stubble, and he carried a large basket on his back. The old man was glaring, his eyes wide with rage, and he held up a wood chopper, poised to throw it at Mo Guoqiang.
Startled, Mo Guoqiang shouted, "Uncle! Uncle, what are you doing?"
He instinctively lowered the bamboo pole in his hands.
The tall old man didn't say a word. He strode over, snatched the bamboo pole from Mo Guoqiang's hands, and only then let out a string of curses. "I'm the one who should be asking you what you're doing! Are you trying to kill her so you can go face a firing squad, is that it? Other people use their energy to go out, earn work-points, and support their families. And you? You come home to beat and kill your own daughter! Boss Mo, you've really made something of yourself!"
Mo Guoqiang retorted, "It's not like that, Uncle. Listen to me. That girl has sticky fingers. She stole from me!"
"Stole what from you? Are you her father or not? You brought her into this world, so you're responsible for raising her. If she takes something that's yours, she's just taking it. How is that stealing?"
Mo Guoqiang: "..."
Mo Xiaoman stumbled over to Granny Mo's side, grabbing her hand in delighted surprise. "Grandma! Grandpa's back!"
Tears streamed from Granny Mo's eyes as she ran her hands all over Mo Xiaoman's body. "Are you hurt? My poor child... When I heard that sound, my heart just broke! Was he trying to kill you?"
Mo Xiaoman's vision blurred with tears she could no longer hold back. She sniffled and said, "He was about to stab me with the sharp end of the pole... Grandma, I'm used to it! Behind closed doors, they tie me to a post and whip me. Mo Xiaoqiang even kicks my stomach!"
"Why didn't you ever say anything? You should have just screamed and cried! If people heard, someone would have come to save you... You stubborn girl!"
Granny Mo tapped Mo Xiaoman's arm as she broke into loud sobs, crying and shouting at the same time. "For treating a child this way, you'll all face retribution! Oh, heavens! There's no justice in this world!"
Mo Xiaoman rested her head on Granny Mo's lap. 'Grandpa's back,' she thought. 'Now Grandma has her rock, and she's about to let loose!'
Sure enough, Grandpa Mo paid no attention to the collapsed house. He shrugged the heavy basket from his shoulders and, using his hands and feet to kick and pull debris aside, quickly cleared a path. He ran to Granny Mo's side in a few large strides and called out:
"Old woman! Old woman, are you hurt? Who did this? Did they bully you?"
Mo Xiaoman lifted her head. For the first time in two lifetimes, she took a proper look at Grandpa Mo. He was just as she remembered: his hair always in a buzz cut, his face covered in scruffy stubble after a few days in the mountains. His teeth, like Granny Mo's, were bright white, and he hadn't lost a single one. His features were plain and ordinary, but the expression he had as he looked at Granny Mo was incredibly moving.
Mo Xiaoman had a feeling that Grandpa and Grandma definitely had a story. 'They're deeply in love with each other. I should have realized that in my last life!'
Granny Mo was crying into her hands. Grandpa Mo wanted to reach out and comfort her, but with Mo Xiaoman right there, he hesitated. Instead, he just lifted the girl up. "You. Tell me what happened. Did you drag your grandma into this?"
Mo Xiaoman nodded readily. She turned her head to glance at the people in the yard, who had separated into two groups: one was the first family of Mo, the other was the Second Mo Family. They had stopped arguing for now and were all, young and old, glaring at her.
Mo Xiaoman let out a cold snort and began to recount everything in a loud, clear voice. "Grandpa, please listen carefully to what happened. Today, I went across the river to gather pig feed, but on my way back, I fell off the bridge and into the water. It was pouring rain. Uncle Man Cang was by the river checking his fish traps when he found me and pulled me out. But my basket and sickle sank, and I couldn't get them back! When I got home, Mom wouldn't give me any food. She just whipped me! Grandma came out and saved me, and some of the neighborhood aunties came in to talk some sense into her. Grandma told me to go inside and change. After I changed, I went to the kitchen. I saw some crispy rice in the pot, and there was a bowl of egg fried rice in a basket hanging from the rafters! I was starving, Grandpa. I felt like I was going to faint. So I split the egg fried rice in two—I ate half and brought the other half for Grandma! Then Mom came after me to hit me again. I was already in so much pain, I couldn't let her hit me anymore. I listened to Grandma and bolted the door. I didn't come out, no matter how much she yelled! I waited until Dad got home. When he heard that I had eaten the egg fried rice that was being saved for him, he got furious and kicked the door in! And now, well, he's destroyed the whole house!"