Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Egg Incident Unfolds Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Egg Incident Unfolds Bai Xiao arrived at the clinic where the village doctor, Doctor Xu, used to be a barefoot doctor, walking through streets and alleys to treat the villagers for headaches and fevers. Later, due to government policies, every village had to establish a clinic, and since it was hard to find the right person, the village chief and the villagers decided to let Uncle Xu take the position directly.
Uncle Xu examined her and, using a thermometer to check her fever, continuously shook his head in disapproval. “The family of this child is truly irresponsible,” he commented as he looked over her body full of wounds. “In fact, the lump on her head and the untreated wounds filled with dirt and dust have led to the inflammation. Now her fever has already reached 39.5 degrees Celsius. If it continues, I fear the child might become feverish and delirious.”
He gave her an injection to reduce the fever and handed Bai Xiao about a dozen pills from a bottle, instructing her to take two at a time, three times a day; she should recover in about three days. He also advised her to keep the wounds dry and to rest more in the next few days.
But he knew that his advice might as well be in vain. This girl from the Bai Family was always busy with various chores around the village. Moreover, since she lived with her grandmother and uncle instead of her own parents—who might have insisted she rest properly at home—he doubted his advice would be heeded.
Bai Xiao nodded her head in thanks to Uncle Xu and reached into her pocket to give him money.
Uncle Xu was somewhat surprised that this girl actually had money in her pocket.
Most villagers ran a tab and settled their dues at the end of the year. He took fifty cents from her and let her go.
After receiving the injection, Bai Xiao already felt less feverish. The whole ordeal had drenched her in sweat, which might actually help break the fever.
Securing the remaining one yuan and fifty cents in her pocket, Bai Xiao walked back home, wondering what she should do next.
Since she had returned, the first step was to get her admission letter. If she remembered correctly, it was due in the next few days. This time, she could not let Li Chunhua intercept the letter, the key to changing her fate, and force her into servitude for the Bai Family unless she agreed to it.
Once she had the admission letter, she would face an even more serious problem. Although the government provided monthly stipends for students, these only covered the basic necessities and started after arriving at school, merely enough for routine meals in the cafeteria. However, the travel expenses to and from the university were supposed to be out of her own pocket.
Not to mention university bedding and other essentials; she had to prepare her luggage herself. Having defied the wishes of Li Chunhua and Bai Jianguo, she couldn’t even dream of their assistance with these items; not setting traps for her already counted as fortunate.
So, the pressing issue now was finding some money. Once she had the admission letter in a few days, she would visit her sister and decide what to do next. These days, no family was truly well-off. One of her sisters had four children, the other three children; both families struggled to make ends meet. They managed to save two yuan a month for her, cutting their expenses to the bare minimum, but travel costs for university were not just a few yuan.
Moreover, in her previous life, both sisters didn’t have it easy. After she left, afraid of being discovered, she dared not contact them. Only years later did she hear that her older sister fell off a cliff while searching for her one night and died instantly, and her second sister had contracted a severe disease and had languished in bed for over a decade before passing away.
Her older brother had already been killed in action, and not one of the remaining children lived a good life.
She missed her sisters and brother, the people who had been closest to her in the world. No matter how hard or tough her life was, they had always treated her kindly. Bai Xiao did not know whether they were aware of her real background, but they showed her the greatest kindness and warmth in the world, which had fueled her resolve to endure the hardships that followed.
This time, everything was imminent; she wished her family safe, that all her brothers and sisters would live safely and healthily until old age.
While thinking about this, she involuntarily remembered her special ability. She must retrieve her own special ability, for it was so potent that it could bring the dead back to life and reduce white bones to dust. With her later mastered proficiency, she undoubtedly deserved to snatch people right from the hands of Lord Yama.
As long as there was a breath left in someone, that person absolutely couldn’t die.
For her brothers and sisters, for herself, she also had to retrieve her special ability.
As she walked back to the Bai Family home and entered the courtyard, the whole family sat under the persimmon tree in the yard, eating dinner. Several people saw her enter, but none even lifted their eyelids; Bai Xiao had long grown accustomed to this treatment.
After all, if they didn’t consider her part of the family, she didn’t consider them part of hers either.
Bai Xiao called out to Li Chunhua, “Grandma, the doctor gave me an injection and prescribed some medicine, told me to rest more at home, so I’m going to lie down for a while.” As no one else cared about her presence, she didn’t want to stay and be an eyesore, twisting her body as she headed straight for her own small house next to the livestock shed in the back yard.
“Stop!” Li Chunhua glared with her triangular, droopy eyes. She slammed her chopsticks down on the table with such force that the bowls on it jumped three times.
Bai Xiao stopped; the old lady was apparently tallying up past grievances.
She suddenly realized she was still about ten steps away from the courtyard gate. Given that everyone was eating inside their homes and the gate was wide open, she had noticed as she passed by that the neighboring Aunty’s family, young and old, were all dining there.
“Grandma, what’s the matter?” pretending ignorance, Bai Xiao asked.
“You still have the cheek to ask? How can you be so greedy? Was it you who messed with the flour at home? Were the eggs eaten by you? How old are you now? For a girl, how embarrassing it is to be so greedy, what will people say about our family raising a child like that?”
Bai Xiao laughed, “Grandma, you beat me unconscious in the room all day yesterday; I didn’t eat or drink. Barely getting up at noon, I was seeing stars, but thinking of the leftover rice from breakfast in the kitchen. It turned out that grandma and uncle, you didn’t leave any food for me. Usually, Bai Mei, Bai Shan, and Bai Zhuang, when they are sick, aren’t they eating flour and eggs? I thought being sick meant eating those, so I took the liberty of maybe noodling some egg into the soup. What’s wrong with that?” Generally in the Bai Family, of course, only Bai Jianguo’s three children received such treatment. As for her? She only had the chance to envy.
Li Chunhua, angry enough to want to stand up and hit someone, scolded, “You damn girl, do you even see whether you have the destiny to eat flour and eggs? I say one thing, you answer ten, do you think you are like Bai Mei or them? Don’t you even look at what you weigh, eating and drinking for free and still being picky, why haven’t you choked on your greed yet?”
These words became unbearable for Bai Jianguo to hear; it was as if he was being included in the accusation.
Having just announced in front of the entire village that the old lady had taken Bai Xiao’s money, to now say she freeloaded truly was unreasonable, and he had no face to say that.