Chapter 260: Chunxiao Gets a Beating

She had only said it in passing, but the little leopard cat stretched its head and rubbed against her trouser leg, then looked up at her with a pitiful expression, melting her heart completely: "Then as you wish."

The sun was already slanting westward, so she didn't dare linger any longer; with a wave of her hand she tucked it into the mountain on her space.

Near the foot of the mountain, she also caught a pheasant that had been startled and was fleeing in all directions.

Seeing no one around, she took some fresh shepherd's purse and a dead tree she had previously stored in her space out of it, and only then headed home with a pheasant in one hand and the dead tree in the other.

When she got home, she happened to run into Mother Liu, who had just come back from work: "Mom, didn't you say you'd only start work tomorrow?"

Mother Liu saw both her hands were full and hurried forward to take the dead tree from her: "There's nothing much going on at home either, so I figured working half a day more would earn a few more work points."

Looking at the chicken in her hand, she couldn't help sighing: "Your luck is really something else."

Ever since her daughter had her accident, that luck had been something else—as long as she went up the mountain, she rarely came back empty-handed; if it wasn't fish, it was pheasant or wild rabbit, and the whole family had put on quite a bit of weight thanks to her good fortune.

Back when they were still in the old house, the Liu family people had often smelled the aroma and cursed them; now it was better, this end of the village had few households to begin with, and they were all some distance away, so even if the smell drifted out, by the time it reached each house it had basically dispersed: "Tonight let's braise a mixed-grain rice and stir-fry spicy chicken, perfect since your Aunt Cuihong gave us a whole basket of dried chili peppers earlier."

Those words happened to be overheard by Chunxiao, who had just come back from school: "Really?"

The moment she finished speaking, she saw the wild pheasant in Liu Chuxue's hand: "Second Sister, you're really amazing, our family's almost living like a landlord's household these days."

The moment she finished saying that, she saw the anger on her own mother's face, and only then realized she had gotten carried away: "Mom, Mom, Mom, I was wrong, I won't talk nonsense ever again."

This time even Liu Chuxue didn't plead for her—this child really did need to be taught a lesson; after a few good days she'd forgotten her place.

Mother Liu was truly angry as expected; she pulled a bramble switch from behind the main door and chased Chunxiao around the whole courtyard.

Liu Chuxue wasn't affected in the slightest—she heated water and plucked the feathers in one smooth motion.

When Mother Liu came in, Liu Chuxue was rinsing the cleaned chicken, ready to chop it into pieces.

Chunxiao followed behind with a face full of grievance: "Second Sister, you just watched Mom chase me and beat me, and didn't even try to shield me a little—are you even my sister?"

Liu Chuxue was a bit speechless hearing this, and said slowly: "What do you think I risk my life going into the mountains day after day for? One careless word from you could bring disaster on this whole family—shielding you would be harming the entire household."

At those words, a flicker of unease crossed Chunxiao's face—she was already twelve, and naturally understood some things: "Mom, Second Sister, I know I was wrong, I won't talk nonsense ever again."

Liu Chuxue did want to protect her for the original body's sake, that was true, but if she was someone who didn't know her limits, then there was no need to give her everything; the plot had already been changed, and as for the future, that would depend on her own fortune: "You're not a child anymore. Our family's recent changes have already drawn attention in the village. If you keep running your mouth and hand people a pretext, I don't need to spell out the consequences for you, do I?"

Chunxiao was quite frightened, and she could tell Second Sister was truly angry: "Second Sister, I just got too excited and couldn't keep my mouth in check."

Liu Chuxue set the chopped chicken pieces into the basin, turned and looked at her: "Disaster comes from the mouth, illness enters through the mouth. I hope you'll remember today's lesson—the good life we have today didn't come easy."

(End of this chapter)