"Damn it, this little slut even laid herself down on purpose?" Chi the Third pounced straight at her, but Xiao Mandong flicked a handful of medicinal powder right in his face. His first instinct was to cover his eyes, and in the next second, the scalpel in her right hand stabbed toward his chest.
The blade did not sink into his flesh — the scalpel was too short, and he was wearing thick layers of clothing. Chi the Third grabbed Xiao Mandong by the neck in a chokehold. "You little bitch, how dare you sneak up on me? I'm gonna kill you today for sure."
Squelch. A pair of scissors appeared in Xiao Mandong's left hand, and she drove it straight into his lower back. Chi the Third wailed in agony, and the pain made his grip on her neck loosen. She did not give him a chance to recover, and plunged the scissors into his shoulder again. Chi the Third latched onto Xiao Mandong's legs to stop her from scrambling away, with the desperate resolve to drag her down with him even if he died. Xiao Mandong drove the scissors straight into his throat. Blood splattered all over her cotton-padded jacket. She pushed the dead man off her body and leaned over to retch violently.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly dragged the corpse into her spatial storage.
"Chi the Third, where are you?" It was Liu Mengyao's voice, which soon faded into the distance. Xiao Mandong rushed to find a shovel in the storage room, dragged all the bloodstained dirt and snow from the scene into the space, and only relaxed after double-checking that nothing was left out of place.
The blood that had been flowing from Chi the Third's throat dried up the second the corpse entered the space. Xiao Mandong stared at the dead body, and all the strength drained out of her all at once. Her hands started trembling uncontrollably. She had actually killed a man?
She did not come back to her senses until what felt like ages later. She dragged the corpse to a corner and decided that she would head back to the village tomorrow, find a cliff in the mountains, and dispose of the body there — she would not let a dead man like him sully her space.
Xiao Mandong rushed to take a bath, changed into a clean set of clothes, and then stepped out of the space.
She was in a daze the whole ride, and it took her about twenty minutes to get to her destination.
She went to look for Xiaoli first, but Xiaoli and Bowen were nowhere to be found in the guest house.
Xiao Mandong called the attendant over, handed the packed meals to the children, and opened the cloth bag right in front of the attendant to confirm everything was intact before wrapping it back up. She told the attendant not to let the children step out of the guest house, said a few more words to the two kids herself, and then left with her things.
When Xiao Mandong got back to the hospital, Shen Linzhou was nowhere to be seen. Sister Du was looking much better than she had earlier.
"Sister Du, where is Regimental Commander Shen?"
"You've been gone for ages in the middle of the night. Linzhou was so worried about you that he went back to look for you." Sister Du noticed that Xiao Mandong had changed her clothes, and she was extremely displeased with her, her tone laced with clear resentment.
She was in the middle of giving birth, and she had asked this woman to run a simple errand to get food for her. But the woman had dragged her feet for so long just to go home and change clothes. How could anyone be so irresponsible? How could a woman like this be good enough for Linzhou?
Xiao Mandong was too exasperated for words. She told herself that she would never go out of her way to help others anymore.
She had been through way too much that day, and her heart was still racing. She needed to get home to calm down. She was just about to leave when Sister Du stopped her.
"Doctor Xiao, don't misunderstand. My husband and Linzhou were comrades-in-arms, and my husband just sacrificed. Linzhou is just looking after us out of the last promise my husband made him. He's a good, responsible man..."
"Sister Du, Shen Linzhou and I are just friends. There's nothing to misunderstand here. Don't let your thoughts run wild. The doctor said you need to keep your emotions stable to have a safe delivery. I'm heading out now, I'll come visit you again later." Xiao Mandong cut Sister Du off before she could finish.
She could tell exactly what Sister Du was implying — she was subtly reminding her that Shen Linzhou only owed them this duty out of her husband's last wish, and that none of this had anything to do with her. Xiao Mandong had been reborn once, and she was not about to play the selfless saint. It had not been easy to get a second chance at life, and heaven had even blessed her with a third do-over. She was going to live her life for herself, and only herself and her family mattered in her world.
When she finally got home against the biting cold wind, she finally started to feel like she was alive again. But the thought of the corpse in her space still made her too uneasy to sleep inside it.
The next morning, with the restorative effect of the spiritual spring water, Xiao Mandong had almost fully recovered. She quickly tidied herself up and was just about to head out when she heard Zou Yan banging urgently on her door.
"Doctor Xiao, are you home? Come out quick, that girl Xiaoli you know — something's happened."
Xiao Mandong wrenched the door open, and Zou Yan was panting so hard she could barely catch her breath.
"It's... it's Xiaoli. She and Tang Jing got into a huge fight. Hurry over and see."
She rushed after Zou Yan toward the Tang family's house.
The Tangs' front door was wide open, and the whole place was a total mess. Bowen was lying on the sofa like he was fast asleep, and not even all the racket had woken him up.
Tang Jing and Shi Xiaoli were rolling around fighting on the floor. Two women standing by were blatantly taking sides — they were holding Xiaoli's arms back so Tang Jing could keep slapping and scratching her face. Xiaoli couldn't break free, and her face was already covered in several bloody scratches.
Xiao Mandong hurried over and shoved the two biased women apart.
"What do you think you're doing? That's not breaking up a fight — that's ganging up on her."
The two women were furious at Xiao Mandong's words.
"Who do you think you are? How dare you say we're ganging up on her? Don't spout nonsense."
"This is our family's business. It's none of your concern. Get out."
Zou Yan glowered at the two women. "We all saw what you did. You two were holding that little girl's arms back to let Tang Jing beat her up."
"Ah..." Tang Jing shrieked. "Let go of me, you little bitch, you little bastard..."
Now that no one was holding her back, Shi Xiaoli quickly pinned Tang Jing to the ground and started beating her.
"I'm a bastard? At least I know who my parents are. Do you even know who your father is? Is Tang Guanshan your uncle or your real dad? Your own mom ran off with another man, didn't she? You dared to drug my brother. I'm making sure you get locked up for this."
Shi Xiaoli did not hold back at all. She had been trapped and forced to take a beating earlier, and now she was finally getting the upper hand.
"You're lying! I never drugged him... Ah... Let go of me..."
Just then, the bedroom door swung open, and Cui Lijuan stumbled out, leaning against the doorframe. "Stop it, all of you!"
"Shi Xiaoli, can't you hear me? Stop hitting her right now." Her words did nothing to stop Shi Xiaoli.
No one had expected Cui Lijuan to be hiding inside the bedroom the whole time. She had not stepped out to stop the fight when her own daughter was the one dishing out the beating, and she only opened the door to intervene when Tang Jing was the one getting pummeled.
"You two, pull Shi Xiaoli off her!" Cui Lijuan yelled at the two women who had been pulling sides earlier. She saw the bloody scratches all over Tang Jing's face and panicked — Tang Guanshan would fly into a rage if he saw her like that.
The two women, along with several other neighbors, finally managed to drag the two girls apart.
Cui Lijuan pointed right at Shi Xiaoli's nose. "Shi Xiaoli, have you lost your mind? You're the older sister, how dare you hit your own younger sister?"
Shi Xiaoli smacked Cui Lijuan's finger away. "Cui Lijuan, are you the one who's lost your mind? Where the hell did I get a younger sister from? She slipped sleeping pills to your son, and you're acting like you didn't see a thing?"
"I didn't! You're framing me..." Tang Jing denied the accusation immediately.
Shi Xiaoli's tears dripped down her wounded cheeks, stinging the cuts, but even that pain was nothing compared to the ache in her heart.
"Do you know how many people in the village bullied my brother? Do you know that even when he gets beaten so bad he can't remember anything, he still squats in the corner calling for his mom?"
"Make way, make way." Just then, several uniformed police officers arrived at the entrance.
Xiaoli dropped to her knees with a thud right in front of the officers, begging them to do her justice.
