Chapter 20: Severing Family Ties

"Good heavens! Has this girl Hua Ning been beaten internally by Hua Dingyue?"

"Poor thing, look at her swollen little face; if it’s not internal bleeding, she must have suffered some other serious injury."

"Sigh, when a mother lacks a backbone, isn't it normal for her daughter to be bullied? Who told that woman... to only know how to cry when trouble arises?"

The gossip from the onlookers made the anxious Su Qiuxin flush with shame and then turn pale. She knew well enough that she was weak-willed. But since childhood, she had been raised to be gentle, submissive, and virtuous after marriage. Even after her family fell on hard times, the upbringing etched into her bones prevented her from ever engaging in a brawl with her two sisters-in-law. Now, being openly discussed by the villagers, Su Qiuxin felt an unbearable sense of shame and guilt. Especially since her poor daughter had been beaten to the point of fainting by those sisters-in-law.

Su Qiuxin sat tearfully by the edge of the brick bed, watching Hua Ning, whose cheeks were swollen like buns and whose eyes were tightly shut. A silent decision formed in her heart.

"Ningning, you must be okay. From now on... from now on, Mother will... will change."

Her whisper was as faint as a mosquito's hum; had Hua Ning, who was feigning unconsciousness, not had sharp ears, she would not have heard it.

Once the village doctor, summoned by Li Qingxi, had examined Hua Ning and fed her some medicine, Hua Ning put on a show of slowly regaining consciousness.

"What... what happened to me?" she asked, looking at the crowd surrounding the bed with a face full of confusion.

Seeing her wake up, Li Qingxi breathed a sigh of relief, then asked with concern, "Girl Ning, how do you feel? Is there anywhere else that hurts?"

Hua Ning followed his lead, knitting her brows and moving her limbs, then shook her head timidly. "Uncle Captain, aside from my face hurting a bit, my chest just feels a little tight."

Hearing this, Su Qiuxin and Hua Dingxiang, who had been watching Hua Ning intently, exchanged glances, their eyes welling up with tears.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness."

Li Qingxi’s expression turned stern as he looked at Hua Ning. "Girl Ning, I have already had the production team keep your second and third aunts under guard. What are your thoughts on today’s incident?"

Hua Ning shifted her gaze to Su Qiuxin and Hua Dingxiang. Seeing their nervous expressions, she bit her lower lip, struggling with the decision, and remained silent for a long while.

"Uncle Captain, can I... can I... sever ties with my second and third aunts?"

Seeing Li Qingxi’s stunned expression, her eyes turned red again. Tears streamed down her swollen cheeks as she choked out, "I’m just so scared! I’m afraid that if this happens again, and you don’t arrive in time, and my third aunt decides to beat me to death... then my mother... *sob*—"

Hua Ning lowered her head, her body trembling as if she were sobbing uncontrollably.

Li Qingxi considered the situation Hua Ning had described. But the act of severing family ties was something that had never happened in the Xin'an Production Team! If he really let the girl do this and word got out, their team would become notorious throughout the commune! But if he refused...

"Uncle Captain, you don't know—when I got home, my second and third aunts were rummaging through my mother's room! They kept insisting that Grandma and my second uncle and aunt had left behind secret savings that my mother had hidden away."

Hua Ning looked up, her tear-drenched eyes filled with longing as she stared at Li Qingxi, explaining with lingering fear, "I don't want to sever ties either! No matter what, they are my own aunts. But they don't want to leave our family a way to survive!"

Her sorrowful, raspy voice was filled with such helplessness and despair that it made Li Qingxi’s heart ache. On an impulse, he declared loudly, "Sever the ties! I’ll send someone to bring the village officials over right now!"

Watching Li Qingxi’s retreating back, Hua Ning allowed a faint smile to touch the corner of her mouth.

"Ningning, do we really... have to sever ties with your second and third aunts?" Su Qiuxin asked, conflicted.

"Yes, Ningning, your aunts were certainly in the wrong, but is there really a need to sever ties?" Hua Dingxiang added, looking at Hua Ning with worry.

"Big Aunt, don't you already know what kind of people the second and third aunts are?" Hua Ning lifted her head, her red-rimmed eyes challenging her.

If it weren't for the fact that Hua Dingxiang hadn't done anything too outrageous, she would have wanted to sever ties with her as well. After all, with Hua Dingxiang around, even if she broke from the others, there would inevitably be entanglements. But once the document was signed, no matter how harshly she treated them in the future, the villagers could no longer criticize her based on the aunt-niece relationship.

Meeting her niece’s clear, tear-filled gaze, Hua Dingxiang swallowed her words. She realized today for the first time that this niece’s temperament was so... capricious. Especially since she was quite the actress. Before the captain arrived, it had been her own sisters who were the ones beaten.

As a married woman with a temperament as weak as Su Qiuxin's, she couldn't bring herself to sternly rebuke Hua Ning. After offering a sheepish smile, she left the room.

With the eldest aunt gone, Su Qiuxin spoke without reservation. "Ningning, if the people in the team find out that you were the one to propose severing ties with your aunts, they might say that you..."

"Say what about me?"

Hua Ning sometimes truly didn't know how to deal with the original owner's spineless mother. But she felt some things needed to be made clear. "Mother, people will talk. Compared to them gossiping about me, I would rather not worry about you being bullied or insulted by them whenever I’m not home."

Su Qiuxin met her daughter's earnest eyes, and a wave of warmth washed over her weary, grief-stricken heart. She turned her face away, flustered, and silently wiped her tears before replying in a muffled voice, "I will do whatever you say."

When it came time to sign the documents, Hua Dingyun and Hua Dingyue caused a scene again. Hua Ning, bearing her swollen face, said with cold determination, "If you two don't want to sign, then from now on, Grandma can take turns living at your houses! After all, since my father and second uncle are gone, every child has a responsibility to care for the elderly."

"No way!" Hua Dingyun shrieked in protest. Her in-laws' household was already crowded; if she brought her paralyzed mother back, her husband would beat her to death.

"I don't agree either!" Hua Dingyue stared at Hua Ning with venomous eyes. "We’re already married off, why should we have to take care of a paralyzed mother?"

"Because you and the second aunt wanted to steal the secret savings left by Grandma and my second uncle's family!" Hua Ning retorted with a sneer.

"W-well, we didn't actually take them, did we?" Hua Dingyue mumbled, unconvinced.

"No, you didn't," Hua Ning mocked, "only because you couldn't find them. If you had, you’d have run off with the money long ago!"

"Bah! Talk is cheap!" Hua Dingyue glared at her. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, you little bitch. You just want to force us to sign these papers, don't you? Forget about it unless there's money involved!"

"That's right! No money, no signature!" Hua Dingyun chimed in, pleased.

Hua Ning didn't even spare them a glance. She turned to Li Qingxi and said, "Uncle Captain, I think we should just call the police and tell them we've found the thieves who stole our money and grain!"