Notes on Living Abroad

Chapter 3 make a quick getaway

"There's a noise inside. I'm going in to check."

Granny Chen had always resented Qin Yuan, so her tone was naturally hostile.

"Who’d be in there in broad daylight! Take one more step, and I’ll tell Brother Jiu!"

Qin Yuan figured this old hag was up to her usual tricks again, trying to rummage through her things. They’d fought countless times over this before, and she’d never let herself lose out.

"You useless bitch..." Granny Chen started cursing in dialect, but in the end, she didn’t dare step into the room.

Zhang Wei’s heart was thumping—she needed to find a way out...

Luckily, her fortune held. Seeing Granny Chen didn’t dare enter, Qin Yuan closed the door, picked up the clothes, and went to hang them in the yard.

It was a good thing Granny Chen had shown up. Zhang Wei had forgotten to close the door earlier, so Qin Yuan assumed Granny Chen had opened it—otherwise, she’d have been caught.

As soon as Zhang Wei heard the sounds at the door fade, she darted out of the room, slipped through the back door of the main hall, found a hidden spot to stash the money, then strolled openly back in through the front yard.

She was greeted by Granny Chen’s curses—apparently, the old woman was venting her frustration after taking a blow. But Zhang Wei was in high spirits. Sure enough, having money could make a person happy.Zhang Wei was still thinking: since this family wasn’t actually poor, maybe she should find a chance to act normally and see if Chen Jiumei would be willing to send her to school. He was the absolute authority in this household.

But things that happened just a few days later forced her to leave immediately.

That day, Zhang Wei was woken up by the sound of firecrackers. The village suddenly seemed to come alive, and even Granny Chen’s perennially gloomy face had a hint of joy—it turned out there was a wedding in the village, with a feast to go along with it.

Only, Chen Jiumei still had to go out to work, so he took out ten yuan and told Qin Yuan to give it as a wedding gift. Qin Yuan smiled especially gently, and the fierceness in Chen Jiumei’s expression softened a little as he looked at her.

Zhang Wei followed along to the feast. Seeing that all the other kids around her were much older, she decided to abandon all propriety—she was sick to death of eating sweet potatoes and pickles every day.

She noticed each table had a roast chicken, so she didn’t touch the other dishes much at first. Everyone stared at her like she was a fool. Then, when the waiter passed by with a roast chicken, she grabbed it with lightning speed, hugged it to her chest, and ran home.

Thanks to the exercise she’d been getting these days, she ran back without even blushing or panting, paying no mind to what others were saying.She’d just taken a bite of the roast chicken when she reached home, only to see Qin Yuan step out of the room. The moment Qin Yuan spotted her, she actually took a small step back, as if startled. It was the first time Zhang Wei had seen a hint of nervousness on Qin Yuan’s face.

Zhang Wei, still biting into the chicken, stared her down for a few seconds. When she caught a flicker of ill will in Qin Yuan’s eyes, the alarm bells finally went off in her head—

Plop!

The roast chicken slipped from her hands and hit the ground!

Before Zhang Wei could even taste it, she turned to run, but Qin Yuan grabbed her by the collar, dragged her back, and hurled her forcefully backward.

Thud! Zhang Wei’s head slammed against the earthen wall, dazing her. She quickly decided to pretend to faint, slumping limply to the ground.

Luckily, Qin Yuan was in a hurry to leave and didn’t look back to check.

After a few minutes of recovery, Zhang Wei climbed to her feet. A huge bump had swollen on the back of her head.

She went into the room and saw the box was locked. Reaching under the pillow, she found the little stick was still there. Unlocking the box, she saw all the money was indeed gone—but there was a flashlight, and a receipt for five thousand yuan. What a huge sum!

Good thing she’d struck first!

She took the flashlight, relocked the box, then packed a bundle. She wrapped up the half-eaten roast chicken and sweet potatoes, hiding them away. For a moment, she considered running after Qin Yuan. But this body was only six years old—where could she go like this?It was a pity that Qin Yuan had not an ounce of motherly affection for her. The way she’d acted so decisively—flinging her against the wall without a care for her life—if they crossed paths on the road, Zhang Wei feared she’d end up dead.

The festive gong and drum beats still rang in her ears. Zhang Wei decided to take advantage of the chaos to check the village entrance. Sure enough, there were no guards left at the**, and Qin Yuan was long gone.

Zhang Wei took a tentative few steps forward. Even without looking at the cliff side, she was immediately dizzy and lightheaded, her legs shaking uncontrollably—she couldn’t possibly walk on. The path looked to be at least two or three li long; there was no way she could make it through like this.

So instead, she lingered around the house hosting the wedding feast, just like the other children. When they passed out wedding candies and coins, she managed to pick up two 10-cent coins and a pocketful of hard candies.

As she moved through the feast, Zhang Wei picked up bits of gossip. She couldn’t understand much, but she finally figured out why Qin Yuan had acted so irrationally...

It turned out Qin Yuan had been bought. No wonder—everything made sense now. She avoided interacting with the villagers, cared nothing for her daughter, loathed Granny Chen, and curried favor with Chen Jiumei only to lull him into lowering his guard. And it had worked—she’d seized her chance to escape.

Zhang Wei never thought of reporting her. She’d suspected there was something fishy about Qin Yuan marrying Chen Jiumei from the start; now it was clear only a fool wouldn’t run. She admired Qin Yuan’s patience—keeping up that act for seven years was no small feat.It would be a lie to say Zhang Wei felt no anger over that throw. Didn’t she know this daughter was now a mute? It could only be said that she truly didn’t regard Chen Laidi as her daughter. Well, that was fine—Zhang Wei had no desire to have a new mother; she’d never had one before.

She had no plans to stay long in the Chen household. Chen Laidi had died alone in illness on that wooden bed; now that she’d come back to life, she was Zhang Wei. If only Chen Jiumei and Granny Chen had cared a little about her, she never would have died of illness—not to mention that she often didn’t get enough to eat.

“Found her! Laidi’s here!”

As she was dragged home, Zhang Wei had been squatting on the ground watching ants scurry about. After the feast, there were lots of food scraps on the ground, drawing swarms of ants. She’d made up her mind to wait until dark to head back.

“Hurry! Your mother ran away!”

Before Zhang Wei could make out who was coming, she was slung over someone’s shoulder and hurried home.

When she was set down, her stomach felt so crushed she nearly vomited. Looking up, she saw the main hall was packed with people, and through it all, only Granny Chen’s wailing, cursing cries could be heard.Chen Jiumei, leading the group, stared at her with a murderous look. The lad who’d brought her over, however, spoke sense:

“Uncle Jiu, Laidi’s been playing in Brother Thirteen’s yard the whole time. Gouwa and the others saw her—she definitely doesn’t know anything.”

Chen Jiumei stepped forward, dragged Zhang Wei up close, and fixed his eyes on her, like a predator eyeing its prey. In a low, gravelly voice, he demanded, “When did your mother leave?”

Zhang Wei’s heart tightened under that gaze. She knew this wasn’t the time to confront him head-on. Pretending to be terrified, she opened her mouth wide and wept silently. Lucky for her, children’s tear ducts are quick to respond—tears streamed down her face, making her look utterly pitiful.

At that moment, an elderly man puffing on a tobacco pipe spoke slowly, “Enough! What’s the point of scaring a mute? The first thing to do now is figure out how to recoup the losses.”

“Chen Xing was the one guarding the gate today. He let her escape—if we can’t get her back, he’ll pay the compensation,” Chen Jiumei wasn’t one to be easily fobbed off.