Northeast: My Absurd Woman

Chapter 54 Eats everything except people

Zhang Changyao thought the old man was Guan Shunzhi, so he called him "Uncle".

"Whose child is this? He looks unfamiliar."

The old man blinked, but still wouldn't open the door for Zhang Changyao.

"Uncle, I am Guan Lin's cousin. My horse is thirsty as I pass through your village. Do you have any water? I would like to let my horse drink some."

Zhang Changyao came up with a plausible reason so as not to arouse suspicion or speculation from others.

"Child, then you can't call me Uncle anymore. I am Guan Lin's master."

My son, Guan Shunzhi, is Guan Lin's uncle.

The old man smiled and was about to open the door to let Zhang Changyao in.

"Um... sir... please keep an eye on the dog, or you can tie it up first."

I attract dogs; even dogs that don't bite will bite me.

Zhang Changyao was so frightened that he hung himself on the gate, too afraid to go into the yard.

"Okay...okay...child...wait a moment, I'll go leash the dog."

The old man grabbed the dog by one ear and carried it to its kennel.

Tie a rope made of five or six strips of cloth in different colors around the dog's neck.

Seeing that the dog was tied up, Zhang Changyao pushed the wooden gate open a crack and squeezed in, crouching low.

"Master, is my uncle Guan Shunzhi home?" Zhang Changyao followed the old man into the house.

"Shunzhi, Guanlin's cousins ​​are passing by our house. Come out here for a moment," the old man called out towards the west room.

"Here he comes." The door to the west room was pushed open, and a man with a limp walked out.

The man looked younger than Guan Lin, around thirty years old.

His hair was a mess, like a bird's nest, and his face was covered in stubble.

He is of medium height, neither fat nor thin, and has thick eyebrows and big eyes; he is not ugly.

Upon seeing Zhang Changyao, he looked him up and down, then entered the east room without saying a word.

"Son, you chat with my son while I go water the horse."

Guan Shunzhi's father turned around, picked up a bucket, and went to the well to pump water.

Zhang Changyao followed Guan Shunzhi into the east room and sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), opposite Guan Shunzhi.

"Why didn't Guan Lin come? What are you doing in our village?"

Guan Shunzhi picked up a broom handle, held it in his hand, and started picking his teeth.

"Uncle, I was just passing by. The horse was thirsty, so I gave it a drink of water."

Zhang Changyao felt pressured while chatting with this person.

"Don't give me that nonsense, you're just passing by, it sounds fake."

Why don't you just say you're bored and wandering around aimlessly? That would sound better.

Guan Shunzhi raised his head disdainfully and glanced at Zhang Changyao again.

"Throw me the fruit you're holding, I'm really hungry."

Guan Shunzhi pointed to the fruit that Zhang Changyao was holding, which he hadn't yet put down.

Zhang Changyao hadn't expected Guan Shunzhi to be such a young person.

And he was dressed in such a slovenly and unruly manner.

For a moment, she didn't know whether to say it or not, so she obediently handed him the fruit in her hand.

Guan Shunzhi tore open the kraft paper wrapping the fruit and began chewing them one by one.

"Uncle, you're right. I didn't just happen to be passing by; I came to your house on purpose to find you."

I'd like to ask you about someone; I don't know if you're familiar with their family.

Zhang Changyao was very careful with his words, knowing that Guan Shunzhi would be unhappy if he lied again.

I had no choice but to tell the truth, hoping he could tell me.

"I knew you were lying. You can't miss this place no matter where you go in this remote mountain village."

"Who do you want to ask about? Just say it!"

Guan Shunzhi kept talking, and said this as he swallowed.

Do you know Yang Deming's family? I want to know about their family.

"Yang Erhunzi, everyone in this village knows him."

That old geezer does everything except act like a monster.

Not only did he lose badly, but he was also incredibly arrogant.

I don't know where he got the audacity to walk around with his head held high all day.

"Uncle, tell me about their children."

I want to know about their children.

Zhang Changyao became somewhat impatient; he couldn't wait to find out what Yang Wuni's home was like.

What kind of family could have allowed her to never have a full meal from childhood to adulthood?

"That would be a long story. Go to the floor outside and fetch me a ladle of water, and I'll tell you while I drink it."

Guan Shunzhi pointed to the water vat at the entrance of the outer room and asked Zhang Changyao to fetch water.

Zhang Changyao obediently took a water ladle from the water vat, filled it halfway with water, and handed it to Guan Shunzhi.

Guan Shunzhi gulped down half a ladle of water.

Only after the water ladle was placed on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) did he finally speak.

It turns out that Yang Deming has a younger brother named Yang Deshan, and the two brothers depend on each other for survival.

Later, Yang Deming married and had three sons and four daughters.

Yang Deshan never married and lived in the lower room of Yang Deming's house.

Yang Deming's eldest son, who worked as an accountant in the village, for some unknown reason, hung himself from a tree branch on the southeast side with a rope.

The eldest daughter-in-law lived in the main house with her daughter and three sons.

And so, life became increasingly difficult, with the whole family helping the eldest daughter-in-law and her children.

They overlooked the few teenagers who were still growing.

Yang Deming's second son is named Yang Dianwu, and he is considered a promising young man.

A few years ago, I settled down in the city and had two children.

The wife is in charge of the household, so she never dares to come back to this poor home, for fear of being taken advantage of.

The youngest son, Yang Dianjun, followed his father's example of being idle and spending his days catching sparrows and fishing.

They don't go home; they sleep and eat wherever they can find a place.

The eldest daughter died of massive bleeding after giving birth to two children.

My second daughter went crazy and ran away on the night of her wedding; her whereabouts remain unknown.

The fourth daughter is alright; she married a pig butcher and is living a decent life.

The most pitiful one was the little girl Yang Wuni, who was only five years old when her mother died.

She is two years younger than her older brother's eldest daughter, and she watches her niece eat all day long, longingly but unable to get any food herself.

When she was starving, she would follow her brother Yang Dianjun around, howling and screaming.

Yang Dianjun was even better than his father; no matter what he ate, he always knew to leave a bite for Yang Wuni.

There were also kind-hearted people who saw how pitiful Yang Wuni was.

He would give her half a bowl of his own leftover soup and rice.

This child survived only thanks to the help of everyone.

Later, when Yang Wuni grew up, she stopped going from house to house asking for food like before.

They went hungry when there was nothing to eat, and one time they even fainted from hunger.

Fortunately, a woman passing by saw her and dragged her back.

Her father even beat her up for this.

Later, Yang Wuni learned her lesson and followed Yang Dianjun and Du Qiu to catch sparrows and roast snake meat.

She eats anything that is alive, except for people.

They also steal other people's chickens, ducks, geese, and leftover food.

Later, as she grew older, she learned that being ugly was beautiful.

They didn't steal anything; they relied entirely on digging for wild vegetables and eating raw corn from the ground.

People in the village saw her stealing crops from the fields, but they all pretended not to see it.