Chapter 10

Yang Ruoqing sat back on the damp hardwood bed, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them, quietly thinking. Her ears, however, were always alert, listening for any movement outside, not missing a single sound.

After an unknown amount of time, a commotion suddenly arose from the courtyard outside, and faint cries of a woman could be heard.

Yang Ruoqing's heart tightened; she recognized the voice as Sun's. She hurriedly got off the bed and pulled open the door of the west wing room. She saw a group of people, both men and women, with grim faces, rushing in from the wooden door. Leading them was Old Yang, and behind him, Yang Huazhou and several villagers she didn't recognize were carrying a stretcher toward this side.

"My third son... my heart, my flesh, what sin have you committed to suffer such a fate..."

Suddenly, a small, thin figure rushed out from the east wing room, ran to the front of the stretcher, and threw herself onto it, gripping the edges tightly with both hands, almost unable to catch her breath from crying.

Yang Ruoqing looked closely and saw it was Tan.

Tan was crying with disheveled hair, tears streaming down her face, and her whole body trembling.

Immediately, two elderly women from the village rushed to Tan's side, trying to calm her down. They finally managed to pull her away from the stretcher and comforted her: "Old sister, don't worry, Uncle Fu is going to get the medicine box, he'll be here soon..."

Tan, sobbing, was supported by the two women as they followed the stretcher.

"Quickly, quickly, this is the room, hurry and bring him in!" Old Yang had already pushed open the door of the room next to Yang Ruoqing's and was shouting at the entrance.

Yang Huazhou and the others almost ran past Yang Ruoqing's door, carrying the stretcher, and stepped into the room. Yang Ruoqing caught a glimpse through the crowd, seeing a man lying stiffly on the stretcher, covered with a patched quilt. His exposed head, face, and feet were all covered in blood. Yang Ruoqing noticed that the thumbnails and index finger nails were torn off, with fresh blood streaming down his feet!

Yang Ruoqing took a deep breath, wondering if he had lost so much blood that his life was in danger.

"Father..."

Behind them, Sun stumbled in, her hair disheveled, eyes swollen, voice hoarse, and covered in dust. Her knees were torn and bleeding, clearly from running too fast and falling on the way. One foot was in a shoe, the other bare, and her eyes were unfocused.

Yang Ruoqing suspected that if not for the two young women supporting her, Sun would have collapsed on the ground.

Everyone rushed into the neighboring room, blocking the door and windows tightly. Tan's wailing and cursing, mixed with Sun's hoarse sobs, and the loud arguments and discussions of the crowd, turned the small courtyard of the Yang family into a boiling pot of noise!

Someone shouted, "Uncle Fu is here!"

The crowd parted to let the old man with the medicine box enter the room.

Yang Ruoqing, worried about her father's injuries, saw the village doctor enter and wanted to push her way through the crowd to go in and see if she could help. In her previous life, she was a special agent, and when not on missions, she was a doctor, specializing in traditional Chinese medicine.

With her father in such a state, she didn't care about anything else; she just wanted to see if she could help! After all, this was an ancient rural area, and she was skeptical of the skills of this village doctor, Uncle Fu!

Suddenly, someone grabbed her messy hair from behind, pulling her out of the crowd and pushing her to the ground.

Yang Ruoqing looked up and saw the person who had pulled her was a plump, middle-aged woman with a horse-like face. This woman was probably the best-dressed in the courtyard, with no patches on her clothes and a mountain tea flower embroidered on her black shoes.

However, her face was not very pleasant. Although she had applied powder, making her face pale, her eyes were long and narrow, her lips were thin, and there was a black mole at the corner of her mouth, giving her a sharp and difficult-to-please appearance!

A fierce face flashed in her mind, and Yang Ruoqing felt an inexplicable fear, instinctively wanting to shrink back.

She paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that the fear was a remnant of the original owner's soul. The object of fear was the horse-faced woman in front of her, the second daughter-in-law of the Yang family, Yang Ruoqing's stepmother, Yang!

"You fool, you're always in the way! Haven't you caused enough trouble for your father? With your stench, you still want to push your way into the crowd? Get lost! If you dare to come closer, I'll beat you to death!" Yang glared at Yang Ruoqing, who was sprawled on the ground, spat, and then pushed her way into the crowd.

Everyone's attention was focused on the events in the room, and no one noticed what had happened behind them. Even if a couple of villagers saw Yang bullying Yang Ruoqing, they showed no surprise.

This was the Yang family's internal affair, and outsiders couldn't say much. Besides, Yang Huazhou's foolish daughter was seen as a troublemaker by the villagers. If not for her causing so much trouble, would Yang Huazhou be lying half-dead in the room now? This foolish daughter deserved to be taught a lesson!

Yang Ruoqing struggled to get up from the ground and saw Yang pushing other onlookers aside, eager to get into the room.

Yang Ruoqing sneered inwardly. This stepmother still thought she was the former foolish and easily bullied Fat Girl. She had miscalculated! Yang Ruoqing quietly approached, appearing foolish as she tried to push her way into the room. But in a place where no one could see, she used a clever move, hooking her foot and bringing a fist-sized stone toward her.

After throwing Yang Ruoqing to the ground, Yang didn't plan to pay her any more attention.

She had just returned from town, originally intending to go to her mother's house in the eastern part of the village for dinner. Her mother had slaughtered a chicken and made a pot of soup. Just as she entered the village, she heard about the incident with the third son of the Yang family. Her eyes lit up; she loved to watch the commotion, so she rushed to the Yang family's house without even catching her breath.

Unexpectedly, she arrived late, and the curious villagers had already taken up all the space. She raised her voice, demanding that others make way for her, and tried to push past the people in front of her to see the commotion. Suddenly, she felt something under her feet, and her large, sturdy body lost balance, falling backward.