Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 415 - 388: Xu Wu Side Story III

Xu Wu

I’m called Xu Wu, oh no, I’m now known as Xu Wangzheng, a name I gave to myself. My sister said that my name means hoping to become the most prominent person like King Qin. Actually, she’s wrong. What I want is to be as merciless as King Qin. Whoever owes me, I’ll have them pay back double!

I was born in the Huai Tree Village of Guanzhong. Right after my birth, I became an orphan when my mother died in childbirth. People in the village said I had a tough fate, claiming I had doomed my father while I was still in my mother’s womb, and then caused my mother’s death during my birth.

So, I was taken in by my little uncle’s family.

These people are worse than beasts. At first, I didn’t think what they did was too outrageous. I mean, not having enough to eat or wear wasn’t a big deal, but having something to compare with made me realize, the life I was living was even less than what animals deserved.

That year, when I was ten, before the New Year had even ended, my little uncle’s daughter got married. The family slaughtered a pig, I alone took care of the whole pig and cleaned the intestines, heart, and liver. Despite the five banquet tables set up, I didn’t get a single piece of meat to eat. Honestly, I wasn’t too bothered, this family had always been like this. Being able to eat a piece of burnt bread already made me happy.

What I didn’t expect was the youngest daughter of my little uncle dropped a piece of lung on the ground. I swallowed hard, and when she walked away, I quickly picked it up and ate it. But just when I put it in my mouth, I heard the little girl of my little uncle’s family screaming out loud. I didn’t understand why, but when I heard what she was shouting, I was stunned. She screamed: "Ah, Daddy, Xu Wu stole my meat to eat!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Then no matter how I tried to explain, it was useless, and the family beat me mercilessly.

They beat me severely that time; my little aunt and little uncle muttered to each other before deciding to have my eldest cousin drag me to the riverbank. They actually threw me into the river. In the icy cold river water, I immediately thought I was definitely going to die.

Maybe God pitied me, but when I woke up again, I found myself warm, lying on a heated brick bed, and there was a fairy watching over me. I was terrified.

Later I learned her name was Li Xianglu, she wasn’t a fairy, she was human, a good person.

Living in Li Family Village was like being better than being a deity. Every day I would still work, but I ate my fill and wore warm clothes. The fairy sister even taught me how to read.

Life felt like a dream, and I always feared waking up to find myself back in what resembled the hell I once knew.

And sure enough, after two months, they came to find me.

My little uncle and little aunt came, not to take me back, but to adopt me to Grandpa Li, and in exchange, they wanted money and food tickets.

The fairy sister, she was very worried. She quietly told me to go back first, that she would find a way to bring me back and even gave me five jin of food tickets and twenty yuan.

I was stunned at the time. I knew about money; I had been to the county town with them for medical treatments. A meat bun was just five cents, and I heard that workers in the county only made about ten yuan a month, yet she gave me twenty yuan. I held that money tightly in the palm of my hand.

But as soon as I returned, I suffered their brutal beating. They wanted to strip the cotton clothes and pants my sister gave me. This time, I fought back fiercely, swearing to fight anyone who dared to touch me. Finally, my little uncle and aunt seemed frightened, cursing and shoving me into the firewood room.

I found a place to hide the money, and somehow, I had a bad premonition that returning this time would bring more harm than good, so I didn’t dare sleep too deeply. Finally, two days later, I overheard a terrible piece of news outside their window.

This couple actually wanted to kill me and have me wed in a ghost marriage with someone from the opposite river bank.

Of course, a ghost marriage meant being dead, how could it be done while alive?

I laughed, very delighted. I no longer had to stay here, I planned to leave, but I wasn’t going to let these people off easily.

I started sneaking around the village, stealing food, creating chaos without anyone knowing it was me.

I saved up all the stolen food, and on the night before they were supposed to act, I knocked my little aunt unconscious first, then tied her up. Next, I lured my little uncle over and knocked him unconscious too.

But my little uncle is a grown man after all. My strength was limited, and I got hurt. I left a sickle with each of them to collect some interest first. I didn’t want to end up killing them, fearing I wouldn’t be able to escape then.