“Xing’er, you didn’t suffer in there, did you? Oh my, why do I feel like you’ve lost weight?” Qin Yulian said as she reached out to touch his dirty face.
Jiang Xing impatiently brushed her hand away. “I haven’t lost weight. Didn’t I tell you to go home? Why are you still here?”
Qin Yulian looked hurt. “Do you think I wanted to stay? You were the one who refused to come back with me. If I go home alone, your father will blame me again.”
“It’s either me or Dad! Don’t you have anything else to do?” Jiang Xing shouted irritably.
Qin Yulian looked even more aggrieved. “That’s right! Apart from you, Zhao’er, and your father, I have nothing else to do!”
“Do you think I became like this for no reason? It was because I wanted to spend more time with you when you were little. That’s why I gave up everything and stayed home to take care of you and Zhao’er. Why didn’t you complain about me having nothing to do when you were little? Now that you’re grown up, you’ve started looking down on me?”
Jiang Xing said helplessly, “I’m really exhausted, Mom. Can you stop worrying about me? If you really have nothing to do, go find Jiang Zhao.”
“Your brother Jiang Zhao is annoyed with me too. Now that the two of you have grown up, you’re both sick of me. You don’t need me anymore, do you?” As she spoke, Qin Yulian couldn’t hold back her tears. “What’s the point of me being alive at my age?”
“Can you stop saying things like that?” Jiang Xing snapped. “I’m only telling you to find something of your own to do instead of always focusing on me. How did that turn into life having no meaning? I’m really tired!”
“Fine, I won’t say it anymore! But you have to come home with me today. You’re not allowed to stay here!” Qin Yulian wiped away her tears and spoke firmly.
Jiang Xing was equally stubborn. “I’m not leaving.”
With that, he strode toward Jianshan Village.
Qin Yulian stomped her feet behind him. Having no other choice, she followed.
But as soon as they reached the entrance to the village, clumps of mud came flying at them.
“Why are you back again?”
“Get out of the village! You’re not welcome here!”
“You bullied Xiao Li, and you still dare come here looking for trouble?”
As the villagers shouted, one lump of mud after another flew from the fields toward Qin Yulian and Jiang Xing.
“Stop it, you country bumpkins… All of you, stop!” Qin Yulian cursed furiously.
However, the villagers showed no intention of stopping.
Jiang Xing merely raised his hands to shield himself from the mud. He didn’t lose his temper or curse at them.
Before long, Qin Yulian and Jiang Xing were covered in filthy mud from head to toe.
The villagers finally stopped. One after another, they spat in Qin Yulian and Jiang Xing’s direction before leaving.
Qin Yulian pulled some wet wipes from her bag and vigorously scrubbed her face while angrily cursing.
“Xing’er, look at those uncivilized peasants! Your sister Jiang Youli came from a village like this. No wonder she’s so unreasonable! Cough, cough… Not one of those people has any manners! I really can’t stand being here anymore. Let’s go back right now!”
Jiang Xing gritted his teeth and stared determinedly ahead. “I’m not going back. If you want to leave, go by yourself.”
Seeing that her son was still stubborn even after things had gone this far, Qin Yulian finally stopped trying to persuade him.
“…Fine. I’m done caring about you! If you want to abuse yourself, go ahead!”
She turned around and stormed off.
Qin Yulian first returned to the hotel in town. After taking a shower, she went to the roadside and hired the cleanest-looking taxi she could find to take her back to the capital.
On the way, she once again edited what had happened at Jianshan Village into a message and sent it to Jiang Zhao:
[Zhao’er, both you and your older brother have disappointed me so much! Your sister Jiang Youli is the reason we’ve fallen into such dire straits, yet instead of blaming her, the two of you have started blaming me. I truly feel like my life has been a complete failure!]
After sending the message, Qin Yulian unhappily raised her head, only to notice the taxi driver looking at her through the rearview mirror. At first, she thought she was imagining it, but the driver kept glancing at her again and again.
Qin Yulian was already in a foul mood. Unable to restrain herself, she snapped, “Why don’t you pay attention to the road and drive properly instead of staring at me?”
“You’re still quite a beauty for your age. That’s why I’m looking,” the driver said crudely.
Qin Yulian’s heart sank. She had run into a lecher!
“Stop the car! I want to get out!” Qin Yulian shouted.
“Ma’am, I was complimenting you. Why do you want to get out?” the driver said.
The doors had already been locked, and Qin Yulian couldn’t open them. She took out her phone and said, “I said I want to get out! Otherwise, I’ll call the police and report you for sexual harassment!”
The driver laughed. “Call the police? Isn’t your son the one who just got out of the police station? If you call them, do you think they’ll believe you or me? I’m a familiar face around here. Besides, you’re already an old woman. If you accuse me of sexual harassment, everyone for miles around will laugh at you.”
“You… You…” Qin Yulian’s face flushed with humiliation, but she couldn’t think of anything to say in response.
Just then, the driver’s phone rang.
He answered politely. “Yes… The woman’s already in my car. I’ll teach this old woman a lesson. Don’t worry.”
After hanging up, the driver turned the car onto a rural road by the roadside.
Qin Yulian panicked completely. “What exactly are you planning to do? Who paid you to target me?”
The driver replied, “Someone did ask me to humiliate you. They said you were too annoying and needed to be taught a lesson. Originally, I thought about raping you, but you’re too old. Even with all that maintenance, I still can’t bring myself to touch you.”
“Who told you to teach me a lesson?” Qin Yulian demanded. At the same time, she secretly tried to dial Jiang Xing’s number.
“I can’t tell you that. Why don’t you guess?” the driver said with a grin, noticing her attempt to make the call.
Qin Yulian’s first thought was Jiang Youli.
Who else could have done something like this to her?
Just then, the driver pulled the car into a sugarcane field.
The call Qin Yulian had placed to Jiang Xing was rejected.
She stared anxiously out the window and tried calling again.
Jiang Xing rejected the call again.
Pick up!
Xing’er!
Please pick up!
Click.
The driver had already opened his door.
Qin Yulian immediately shoved her own door open as well and clumsily jumped out of the car.
Bang!
The driver shut the door and shouted after her, “Ma’am, why are you running?”
Qin Yulian was so nervous that she tripped over a raised stone after barely getting anywhere.
“Ah!”
The sixth call she made still went unanswered. This time, a recording informed her that the phone had been turned off.
The footsteps behind her drew closer and closer.
“Ma’am, relax. I’m only going to teach you a lesson. I’m not going to kill you, so there’s no need to be so nervous.”
Qin Yulian still tried to retrieve her phone, but when the driver caught up, he stepped on the back of her hand.
Pain shot through her.
“Ah!” Qin Yulian screamed in agony.
The driver bent down and picked up the phone, then flung it far away. After that, he grabbed Qin Yulian by the hair and gave a chilling laugh.
“All right. Now no one can disturb us.”
