Traveling through ancient times: daily life on the run

Chapter 216 The Suffering of Being Human

The thatched hut of Hu Daya's family was more unsightly than any other house Xia Liang had ever seen.

If she said that this was not as good as other people's toilets, she would feel that it was a bit of a compliment.

The kitchen was built with a few pillars and a thatched roof, and the only pot seemed to be missing. The main house had only three walls, one of which seemed to have collapsed. It was made of several tree trunks placed diagonally across the wall and covered with branches.

The small thatched hut next to them was where the three sisters slept, and it looked suffocating.

Fortunately, there was a small fenced yard. Xia Liang pointed to the empty space next to it and said, "Let's bury Mother here! This is her home. She must have wanted to return to her roots."

Erya shook her head: "Sister, will Daddy scold us when he comes back?"

"It's okay, he won't live long."

"what."

Having said that, Xia Liang still took Erya to bury the body in an open space not far from the backyard, and asked Sanya to find the elders in the village to serve as personal witnesses to confirm that their mother had passed away.

After they finished digging the pit, Lao Lizheng from the village also came with a cane, followed by many villagers who came to watch the fun.

Xia Liang was speechless. Even though someone had died, they still came to join in the fun. I wonder if anyone can give them some food so that they can have a full meal?

Sanya was very sensible. She explained the situation to the village head, Uncle Feng, and specifically said, "Grandpa, my sister has lost her memory and doesn't recognize us anymore."

Grandpa Feng sighed and could only ask for help: "Now the three girls' mother has passed away, and the head of the family, Hu, has disappeared with the only iron pot. Fellow villagers, please be kind and look around at home for any extra items to help these children."

When the villagers heard this, they all waved goodbye and left.

Xia Liang sat beside the body of Hu Daya's mother and said calmly, "If anyone lends me a roll of tattered mat, I will definitely repay them later."

"Hey, Daya, you should go find the Hu family. What's the point of looking for us? Everyone is doing well these days. Who has any extra things?"

"Yeah, your Hu Lao Er is also a useless guy. It would be a waste to give him to you."

Xia Liang thought it made sense. Hu Laoer should have his own family. Although Erya had said that Hu Laoer was separated from the family by the elders of the Hu family because they disliked him for having only daughters, it was mainly because Hu Laoer often gambled and drank, and did not make enough for the family. Such a person really did not deserve sympathy.

But Hu Laoer's wife has died, so it shouldn't be too much to ask the Hu family for a broken mat at this time, right?

Seeing that the number of onlookers was decreasing, the old village head took out five cents from his pocket and handed it to Daya.

"Daya, Grandpa Feng doesn't have any extra money. You must hide these few coins carefully so your father won't find them. Take your two sisters with you to the town to get some food to fill your stomach."

Xia Liang's eyes lit up. It turns out there are still good people out there.

"Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you. I'll go to the Hu family and ask for a broken mat later."

When almost everyone had left, Xia Liang looked at the sky which was getting dark and smiled bitterly.

At this moment, an aunt came over and secretly handed Xia Liang a bag of millet.

"Hu Daya, Aunt Wang can't do much to help you. Just take this rice and cook a meal for your sisters. I heard your father took the pot out. Why don't you ask Erya to come to my place and borrow a pot later?"

"Aunt Wang, thank you!"

Xia Liang almost wiped away tears. It turned out that there were still good people in this dire environment.

Alas, she had better go to the Hu family to borrow a tattered mat. She couldn't just give the only quilt in the house to her poor mother as a tattered mat. It was so cold now, and they didn't know what to cover themselves with that night.

Thinking of this, Xia Liang had no choice but to follow San Ya to the Hu family to borrow things.

The Hu family has ten people, including two old people, two sons and their wives, and four grandchildren. They live happily together.

But when they heard that the second son's wife had passed away, no one went to see her.

Even if Hu Lao Er is no longer a good-for-nothing, he wouldn't do this, right?

Xia Liang didn't understand, so he went to knock on the gate of the Hu family's compound.

As a result, when the aunt opened the gate and saw that it was Hu Daya, she immediately started cursing: "What are you doing here again, you damned girl? Are you borrowing rice or a pot this time? You have a useless father and an incompetent mother, why don't you just die? You come here every day to borrow things and never return them. What's the difference between you and a beggar?"

San Ya was so frightened that her voice trembled: "Auntie, my mother is dead."

I thought she would be more careful with her words, but she ended up cursing even more crazily: "It would be better if you died. What's the point of living if you can't give birth to a son? You only know how to eat and waste food. Now that you die, it will be clean and neat. Don't waste our Hu family's food anymore."

As soon as he finished speaking, he was slapped by Xia Liang.

It was ruthless and accurate, leaving a big red palm print on her originally dark and red face.

In fact, Xia Liang was so hungry that she felt dizzy and had no strength left, but these few words woke her up.

It's a pity that I don't have a knife in my hand, otherwise I could just chop it down...

"You, you bastard, dare you hit me?"

"What's wrong with hitting you? You have a dirty mouth. I will teach you a lesson on behalf of your mother."

Just at this moment, the son and daughter of my uncle's family came out of the main room after hearing the noise.

Seeing his mother being beaten, her ten-year-old son immediately came out with a stick to beat Xia Liang.

The ten-year-old brat is almost as tall as Hu Daya. I don’t know if it’s because he eats too well or Hu Daya doesn’t grow at all. Look at San Ya, who looks like a bean sprout. She doesn’t look like she is eight or nine years old at all. Compared with the ten-year-old boy, she is a full head shorter.

Xia Liang felt inexplicably sad when he saw this. It was obvious that their short stature was caused by long-term malnutrition. The girls in the Hu family had such a miserable life.

But why does Hu Daya look so strong?

It's strange...

Xia Liang was still lost in thought when the brat swung his stick at her. San Ya shouted, "Sister, be careful!"

Xia Liang grabbed the stick with one hand and snatched it away easily. Then she displayed her Shaolin stick skills and hit the brat's head, body, hands and feet with the stick, not leaving any part untouched.

When the aunt saw her precious son being beaten, she rushed to stop it, but ended up being hit by several sticks as well.

Xia Liang was secretly surprised. He didn't expect that Hu Daya had a talent for martial arts. Her skills were no worse than Xia Liang in the present world.

When the people in the house heard the pig-slaughtering screams coming from outside, they all ran out.

When several grown men saw Hu Daya playing around in the yard with a stick, hitting the mother and son with it, they were so angry that they grabbed the guys next to them and prepared to help.

When Hu Daya looked around, she saw that everyone in the room had arrived. She hadn't eaten all day and didn't know if she could beat this group of people.

"If you dare to come over, I will fight you to the death today. Anyway, my mother is dead and my father is useless. I will not live today. I will kill everyone in your Hu family!"

When she roared, no one dared to move.

It is said that the shameless are afraid of the vicious, and the vicious are afraid of the desperate. Now when they see this vicious and desperate Hu Daya, everyone is a little scared.

San Ya was also smart. She found a kitchen knife from somewhere in the Hu family and handed it to Hu Daya, who then used a stick to protect herself.

Hu Daya saw it and thought, hey, there's a kitchen knife, then I'll chop a few of them first. Anyway, these fools probably won't even report to the police, so it's better to be ruthless. If they really report to the police, then I can use the excuse that I'm a weak woman being bullied by this family...

However, no one in the family, young or old, strong or weak, dared to move when they saw the kitchen knife in Hu Daya's hand.

In the end, it was the old man who was the bravest. Old Man Hu asked everyone to put down their weapons, and asked Hu Daya with a fake smile: "Da Ya, what are you doing? If you have something to say, just talk to me. Why are you using a knife?"

"Are you the manager of the Hu family? You look quite old, but why haven't you managed the people under you well? I came here to discuss things, but you want to kill me."

"..."

It's as if she is not a member of the Hu family.

Sanya then explained: "Grandpa, my sister hit her head today and she doesn't recognize us."

So that's why. No wonder Daya is completely different from usual, like she's crazy.

This crazy guy who hit his head might really kill people indiscriminately. When everyone heard this, they became even more cowardly.

Seeing everyone was so cowardly, the old lady of the Hu family stamped her feet and cursed: "Da Ya is crazy and stupid. Are we going to let her bully us? This damn girl is just like her mother. If we don't teach her a lesson today, she will come back to make trouble again in the future."

"Old woman, my mother is already dead, why are you scolding her?"

"Dead? I was wondering why you're crazy. If you're dead, then you're dead. Go find your prodigal father. What's the point of looking for us?"

San Ya said weakly, "Grandma, my mother said before she died that when the family was divided, you still owed us two mu of land, and you didn't give us any of the money my mother earned from working when the family was divided."

"Nonsense! Your mother always talks nonsense. No wonder God wants to take her life..."

Before she could finish her words, a knife flew over her head and cut off half of the old woman's hair.

When the old lady came to her senses and saw her scattered silver hair, her legs went limp and she collapsed immediately.

This girl is serious!

While they didn't react, Xia Liang pushed San Ya, and San Ya immediately walked around them to pick up the kitchen knife that fell on the ground.

Uncle Hu knew that this girl was crazy. If the whole family beat her together, she would probably hurt a few people. These injuries would cost a lot of money, and it was not worth it to just win or lose.

"Girl, let's talk it over nicely. What are you doing here? I'll take care of it for you."

Xia Liang snorted coldly. Did he finally understand how desperate she was?

"Okay, give me a mat. I want to wrap my mother in it and bury her. Then pay me back the money I owe her. I don't want the two acres of land anymore. Convert it into money and give it to me."

She asked San Ya again: "How much is it in total?"

San Ya blinked. "Mother said she owed more than five taels of silver in total, and when the family property was divided, she only gave me some tattered pots, pans, and two worn-out quilts."

Xia Liang counted the money and said fiercely, "Five taels of silver minus a bunch of junk, and you still have to give me four taels, plus interest, a total of six taels. Then the two acres of land can be sold for about twenty taels, so you can give me a total of twenty-six taels."

"You, you are stealing money."

The eldest uncle and the third uncle, who had been silent just now, finally became so angry that they jumped up and down.

"Send it to me before noon tomorrow, or I'll come to your house in the middle of the night and kill a few people. I don't want to live anymore anyway. If you get the money, I'll find a way to leave this damn place. If you don't get the money, I'll come to you every night to mess with you. You can do whatever you want."

Xia Liang once again made harsh remarks.

To be honest, if this group of people really came together to attack her, she might not be able to defeat them with her current strength. However, she could also see that the people of the Hu family were bullies and cowards, and they were even more afraid of a coward like her who didn't care about her life.

The third aunt was more sensible. She immediately took out a tattered mat from the house and threw it to Hu Daya, saying something nice.

"Daya, you should go back and bury your mother first. We will find a way to deal with the money."

"Hmph, you know what's going on."

But Xia Liang was not so easily fooled. She walked into their kitchen with a kitchen knife, took a quick look, and took away a pot, salt and oil. Seeing that the old lady was about to start cursing again, she immediately raised the knife above her head, scaring the old lady so much that she covered her mouth and ran into the house.

Hu Daya was crazy, completely crazy. The bleeding wound on her forehead suddenly opened up. She just wiped the blood, licked the blood on her hand with her mouth, and smiled sinisterly.

Everyone in the yard was so scared that their legs were shaking, but they could only watch Daya pick up a bunch of things and walk out.

After she walked away, the uncle asked Old Man Hu: "Dad, do you think Hu Daya is really possessed by an evil spirit?"

"I think she's not far from death!"

……

The autumn wind is bleak and the mountain village is extremely desolate and ruthless.