Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Running Away from Home
That night was very quiet.
Yuan Bao thought she might hear her parents’ whispered conversations, but despite her efforts to stay awake until midnight, she didn’t hear a single word between them.
Eventually, Yuan Bao fell asleep lost in her thoughts.
By the time she awoke in the morning, still not having slept enough, it was Mrs. Xiao Li who noisily got her up.
"Get up quickly, it’s time to eat!"
"The sun’s already shining on your back, hurry up and get up!"
"Quickly, if you don’t get up now, there won’t be any breakfast left for you!"
Yuan Bao woke up to Mrs. Xiao Li’s clamoring, looked at her as if she had changed, and didn’t make a fuss.
It’s said that the child who cries gets the milk, but from her observation, if she dared to cry now, she’d probably get a beating.
Breakfast was even worse than yesterday; all there was, was millet rice and the homemade pickles.
But her dear brother Yuan Shouhu had eggs and millet porridge.
Really~ favoring sons over daughters!
Yuan Bao silently ate her millet rice and pickles, inexplicably feeling like this was her retribution.
All the pampering she received at the Yuan Family before, now she had to pay it back.
Swallowing down breakfast with effort, Yuan Bao did not contest with Yuan Shouhu, behaving extremely well and sensible.
"Mom, I want to go out and play!"
"Big brothers, let’s play together!"
After breakfast, Yuan Shouhu approached Mrs. Xiao Li, saying he wanted to go out to play with his cousins.
Mrs. Xiao Li, upon hearing this, changed her attitude and surprisingly agreed.
"Jiaojiao, you go out with your brother to play, and make sure to look after him, you hear?"
"Oh! Okay!"
Yuan Bao obediently agreed, then like a little follower, left the house with Yuan Shouhu.
The weather was nice, with bright sunshine.
Only, winter’s wind was like a knife, stinging her face.
Yuan Bao clasped her hands together, walking backwards out of the wind.
Ahead of the village, children gathered in the open area, chasing and playing.
Yuan Shoucheng, the leader of the Beishan Village kids, led them to play for a while, then fetched a bamboo basket, saying they should continue catching sparrows to roast them and eat.
"Jiaojiao, you come along!"
"I won’t!"
Faced with her second cousin’s invitation, Yuan Bao bluntly refused.
In her current mood, she was upset and didn’t want to deal with anyone.
"You come, if you don’t, I’ll tell mom you’re bullying me!"
Yuan Shouhu suddenly appeared, pointing at Yuan Bao, annoyingly speaking up.
"Fine, I bullied you, go ahead and tell!"
As an adult, Yuan Bao wasn’t going to indulge this bratty behavior. Besides, she had already decided she was going to run away from home.
Even though she was just a toddler not yet two years old, so what?
Rather than being tormented at home, she might as well seek another way of life.
"Just wait, I’m going to find mom!"
When Yuan Bao said that, her brother Yuan Shouhu really started to cry as he walked towards home.
Yuan Bao watched this and thought, fine, let him do it!
She also walked off, taking her little steps out of the village, onto the main road, heading in the direction of Yunyang City.
...
As Yuan Bao walked on the main road leading to Yunyang City, Yuan Shouhu was also telling on Yuan Bao to Mrs. Xiao Li, complaining about her behavior.
"That damn girl, where is she?"
Upon hearing that Yuan Bao didn’t listen to her son, Mrs. Xiao Li became somewhat angry, "Let’s see if I don’t give her a good thrashing!"
"Enough!"
Yuan Zhaodi, hearing Mrs. Xiao Li’s nagging, suddenly spoke up, "Since yesterday, your attitude towards Jiaojiao has changed drastically, what exactly are you thinking?"
"Yesterday, we officially split from the family, you desire men to work outside and women to stay inside, and I gave in to you!"
"But look at what you’ve done, does our family lack that bit of food for a girl?"
"Why wouldn’t we lack it?"
Mrs. Xiao Li angrily glared at Yuan Zhaodi, "They’re all semi-productive lands, the annual yield might not even be enough to pay the land tax, shouldn’t the household budget wisely?"