Chapter 30: The Crime of Gender 30

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: The Crime of Gender 30Qin Shuangshuang had great strength, and Little Chen suddenly couldn’t move her feet. Her body swayed twice, and with a cry, she sat down on the ground, furiously saying to Qin Shuangshuang, "Second Lady, you’ve taken it upon yourself to meddle in your elders’ affairs!" Qin Shuangshuang ignored her and first lowered her head to check on the Eldest Lady’s condition. She saw that the Eldest Lady’s face was white as paper, sweat the size of beans rolled down her forehead, even her hair was wet, and there was a shocking trail of blood running from the corner of her mouth! Qin Shuangshuang frowned, lifted her head with some anger, and said to Little Chen, "I’ve often heard people say that even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs, but you, as parents, are even worse than tigers! Can’t you see the eldest sister is already this injured? How can you still lay hands on her to beat her!" After speaking, she turned to glare at Qin the Third, saying, "Third Uncle, you really have a talent for turning black into white with your words. Wasn’t it Si Lang and Wulang who started the fire? Yet here, by just moving your lips, you shifted all the blame onto the eldest sister! Who hasn’t had kids doing chores like starting a fire? Why are Si Lang and Wulang so precious that they can’t do such work? Do I need to go find the village chief to reason this out, to see whose responsibility this really is, and then publicly announce our family’s fine tradition of easily beating girls to death!" At the last sentence, Qin Shuangshuang fiercely glared at Mr. Qin and Little Chen, making these two feel a jolt in their hearts! Qin the Third was embarrassed and angry at having his thoughts exposed by Qin Shuangshuang, but he had experienced her sharp tongue before, knowing he couldn’t outtalk her. And to try and beat her would be impossible too; with Qin Shuangshuang’s monstrous strength, even one finger could pin him down. Qin the Third could only mutter a couple of low sounds unwillingly and keep his mouth shut. Qin Shuangshuang’s words not only silenced him but also made Mr. Qin nervous. Mr. Qin feared that Qin Shuangshuang, this grandchild beyond his control, would really spread the word about this incident. With several sons in the family waiting to marry, if this reputation got out, no women would dare marry into the family! Mr. Qin rarely glared at his usually most valued eldest son, blaming him for his restless leg, wondering why he kicked the Eldest Lady. Although the Eldest Lady was just a girl, she could fetch a bride price once grown up, but if beaten to death, there would be nothing left. Mr. Qin spoke coldly, "This matter ends here. No one is to blame the children anymore. Consider the lost items as old things being replaced by new ones. Eldest son, tomorrow go buy the missing things back. The kitchen can be repaired after the planting season. This is settled, there is still work in the fields tomorrow. Eldest daughter-in-law and third daughter-in-law, go take some rice and vegetables from the warehouse, hurry and make a meal, eat and go rest!" When the kitchen caught fire earlier, the rice, flour, and vegetables inside naturally suffered damage. Luckily, farmers typically eat the grains they produce themselves, and most of the grain is stored separately in a granary, with only a little for two or three days kept in the kitchen, so the loss was minimal. Everyone agreed, and Qin Shuangshuang felt that Mr. Qin was doing too little, too late. She was quite dissatisfied, but she couldn’t be bothered with them now because the Eldest Lady, who had been curled up in her embrace, suddenly spat blood and fainted. Qin Shuangshuang was alarmed internally, picked up the Eldest Lady, and ran towards her room. Although the Eldest Lady was a ten-year-old girl, she wasn’t much bigger than Qin Shuangshuang, making her feel light as she carried her. Her body felt very thin, showing she hadn’t been living well. Qin Shuangshuang placed the Eldest Lady on the bed. She lay there unconscious, her face frighteningly pale. Mrs. Bai followed Qin Shuangshuang in and couldn’t help but feel some pity seeing the Eldest Lady’s condition; she loved her daughters dearly and couldn’t understand Mr. Qin and Little Chen’s actions. She reached out and touched the Eldest Lady’s sweaty yet ice-cold forehead, frowning, "Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law have gone too far! The Eldest Lady is their own daughter! How could they lay hands on her!" Qin Shuangshuang frowned too, feeling anger surge in her heart, but the urgent matter now wasn’t to be angry, "Mom, the Eldest Lady’s condition is very bad. It looks like she was kicked internally injured by Uncle. We need to call a doctor for her, or else something terrible might happen!" Mrs. Bai was also worried but felt helpless, "We should call a doctor for the Eldest Lady, but we don’t have a single copper coin on hand. If we ask her parents for it, you saw how ready your aunt was to beat the Eldest Lady to death today - where could we get the money from them for a doctor?" Qin Shuangshuang was confident she could get the money if she asked, but it would definitely take a lot of arguing, and the Eldest Lady couldn’t wait in her current state. A doctor must be called immediately. Qin Shuangshuang anxiously glanced around the empty room; there wasn’t even any furniture worth selling. Her eyes inadvertently fell on the strings of smoked meat hanging in the room, and they couldn’t help but light up! Their family had no money, but she had the meat! This meat was hard currency, even teachers at the school accepted meat as a stipend. Surely, it could be used as a doctor’s fee. Qin Shuangshuang hurried forward, pulling down eight or nine strips of dried meat in one go— weighing more than five pounds. She quickly instructed Mrs. Bai, "Mom, you take care of the eldest sister first, I’ll go get the doctor." With that, she ran out with the dried meat. At the head of the village, there was a family named He, one of the few outsider families in the village. Old He’s family had an ox and often drove carts to give villagers a lift to town, charging one or two copper coins in fare. They could carry about ten people in one trip, making substantial earnings daily. Their life was quite good. Searᴄh the NôvelFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The last time Qin Shuangshuang met with an incident, Qin Yuan had asked for Old He’s ox cart to fetch a doctor. This time, Qin Shuangshuang went straight to Old He’s house. By coincidence, Old He was just hitching the ox cart, with about ten villagers carrying large baskets and small baskets waiting to board. Tomorrow was the big market day in the town, held every two weeks. People from ten miles around flocked to the town market. Many villagers brought items to sell in town, and the money they earned was the primary source for buying clothes and daily necessities for the whole year. But the stalls in town weren’t fixed, and there was no curfew in small places like this. Many villagers went a day early to secure a good spot for selling. These villagers waiting for the cart were headed to town early to claim their places. Qin Shuangshuang, ignoring the villagers around her, ran straight over and thrust a piece of dried meat into the hands of Old He, who was about to drive the cart, anxiously saying, "Uncle He, please do me a favor. My eldest sister was beaten to near death by my uncle. I need to fetch a doctor. Uncle He, could you please take me to fetch the doctor alone?" Then she bowed to the villagers around, pleading, "Uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas, please wait a little longer. My eldest sister is dying and needs urgent help. I beg you all to lend a hand!"