"Aunt Su, we're here!" Early in the morning, a few women were knocking on the gate outside the Old Su Family's courtyard, shouting inside as they knocked.
In the Old Su Family's backyard stood a large pomegranate tree that had been planted many years ago. However, perhaps because the Su Family didn't know how to care for it, the tree never bore much fruit each autumn. Even so, pomegranates were a rare treat in those days, and Old Su had always treasured them, never sharing a single one with outsiders.
This year, for some unknown reason, Old Su had a sudden change of heart and actually told them they could come to her house today to pick pomegranates.
Although each person could only pick one, a single pomegranate had so many seeds that it was enough for the whole family to have a sweet taste.
And so, the women had come together to the Old Su Family's house first thing in the morning.
Lying in the woodshed, Su Qing heard the commotion and raised an eyebrow. 'Looks like the show is about to start.' She quickly retied the rope that had bound her, making it look like it was still secure, and then lay quietly on the bed, waiting for the drama to unfold.
"Coming, coming." Old Su, who was the earliest to wake, heard the calls from outside. She quickly woke Shi's mother, signaling for her to get ready, before running to the courtyard to open the gate.
"Aunt Su, we're here for the pomegranates." Afraid Old Su might suddenly go back on her word, the women greeted her with cheerful smiles the moment she opened the gate, getting straight to the point.
"Alright, alright." Hearing them mention the pomegranates, Old Su cursed them inwardly for being so shameless and eager to take advantage of her. But since she was the one who had invited them, and she needed them as witnesses later, she kept a smile on her face. "Come on, I'll take you to the backyard now."
The women exchanged glances, surprised. She was actually letting them pick pomegranates? 'The sun must be rising in the west.'
However, before they could follow Old Su to the backyard, Shi's mother rushed out of the house. "Aunt Su, where's my son? Oh my, how could my son go missing while I'm a guest in your home?"
"Isn't your Shitou sleeping in the house?" Old Su said, feigning ignorance.
"Oh, Aunt Su, you have relatives visiting?" one of the women asked with a smile. Her surname was Liu, and her name was Liu Cuixia. She was in her forties, and the villagers all called her Aunt Cuihua.
"Yes, her mother-in-law and I are sworn sisters. She's here with her son to visit me on her mother-in-law's behalf," Old Su said with a chuckle.
Shi's mother put on a frantic expression. "Oh, I just went to look! There's no one in the room. My son isn't there at all! The house is only so big, where could he have gone?"
As she spoke, Shi's mother clapped her hands together, her face a mask of anxiety.
"Hey, don't panic. Let's look for him first."
"That's right, that's right. Don't worry yet, let's just search. How could he go missing after coming to the Old Su Family's house? No one, adult or child, has ever gone missing in our Lihua Village. It's very safe here."
Aunt Cuihua and the other women chimed in, trying to calm her down.
Shi's mother collected herself, then suddenly put on a look of realization. "Right! Your Erya was making eyes at my son yesterday. Don't tell me she seduced him in the middle of the night!"
"Don't talk nonsense," Old Su said, pretending to be displeased.
"Erya! That child wouldn't do that, would she? She's usually so timid. How could she do something like that?"
"Exactly, you shouldn't make such wild accusations."
Aunt Cuihua and the others quickly spoke up. When it came to Su Qing, most of the villagers had a good sense of the situation and felt the young girl was pitiful. But ultimately, it was the Old Su Family's private affair. That girl Su Qing had never asked anyone to help her seek justice, so the others couldn't very well interfere. Besides, Old Su had once declared that whoever stood up for Su Qing would have to take her in and raise her. In this day and age, every family was struggling. They were having a hard time supporting themselves, so how could they possibly afford to raise an outsider?
But now, hearing Shi's mother try to ruin Su Qing's reputation right off the bat, they couldn't stand by and watch. They all spoke a few words in Su Qing's defense.
Shi's mother stomped her foot. "Whether it's true or not, we'll know once we take a look! Let's see if I'm wrongly accusing your Erya!"
With that, she marched toward the woodshed where Su Qing lived. Seeing that Su Qing was forced to live in a woodshed in the Su Family home, Aunt Cuihua and the others exchanged glances, their disdain for the Old Su Family's conduct growing even stronger.
Su Qing had been listening to the commotion in the yard the whole time. Seeing that Shi's mother was now leading the crowd over to "catch them in the act," she scoffed inwardly. She quickly squeezed out a few tears. The moment the woodshed door opened, she cried out weakly, "Help... help me..."
When they saw the scene inside the room, everyone—not just Old Su and Shi's mother, but Aunt Cuihua and the other women as well—froze in astonishment.
Old Su and Shi's mother stared dumbly at the bed in the woodshed. 'Where's Shitou? We definitely brought him to this room last night. But where is he now?'
Aunt Cuihua saw Su Qing lying on the bed with her hands tied behind her back, looking completely weak. Fury welled up inside her. She turned to Old Su and demanded, "Aunt Su, why do you have Erya tied up? She's just a young girl! What could she have possibly done to deserve being treated like this?"
"You!" Old Su was still reeling from the shock, staring blankly at the tear-streaked face of Su Qing.
Seeing that Old Su was speechless, the other women rushed forward to untie the ropes on Su Qing. "Erya, don't be afraid," they comforted her. "Whatever grievances you have, you can tell us aunties."
Looking at Su Qing, who was sallow, emaciated, and had dry, brittle hair, the women's eyes grew warm with emotion. 'This child has truly suffered these past few years.'
"SOB SOB SOB..." Su Qing's face was a picture of lingering fear and grievance as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Just then, Shi's mother snapped out of it. She started jumping up and down, wailing, "Shitou! Where's my son? Oh, my big boy, where is he? My son!"
Not seeing Shitou in Su Qing's room, Shi's mother was now genuinely panicking.
Su Qing scoffed inwardly. She secretly communicated with the Touch-Me-Not plant in Su Tao's room. The plant trembled, and two or three black seeds shot out, hitting Su Tao on the forehead.
"Ouch!"
Su Tao was jolted awake by the seeds. Dazed, she tried to rub her forehead, but her hand wouldn't lift, as if something was pinning it down.
'Wait, that's not right. Why does it feel like there's someone next to me?'
Groggy, Su Tao turned her head and saw the chubby, dark-skinned boy beside her.
"AHHH—"