Chapter 47: Teaching a Lesson

That person looked at her, frowning even more.

She remembered.

In the memory of the day, that shrew had cursed her like this—”mute,” “little mute,” “can’t even speak a human word.”

Because of this?

Just because she said “mute”?

She looked at the trembling thing in her hands, a bit confused.

When she was bitten by a dog, she didn’t cry like this.

When her shoulder was crushed, she didn’t cry like this.

When her hand was bitten, she didn’t cry like this.

Just because someone called her “mute,” she cried like this?

She clicked her tongue. “Just because someone said ‘mute’?”

Su Yutao trembled harder upon hearing those two words.

No.

It wasn’t just being mute.

At the orphanage, she wasn’t mute.

She could speak, could shout, could cry.

Later, she transmigrated and became mute.

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t shout, couldn’t cry.

When someone called her “bastard,” she could curse back.

Now, called “mute,” she couldn’t even curse.

She could only whimper, like an animal.

She had resisted.

She had resisted this person.

Then she was beaten even harder.

Shoulder crushed, hand bitten, stomach kicked.

How could she resist?

What could she use to resist?

Su Yutao buried her face in Qiansui’s fluff, her muffled whimpers even more pitiful.

That person looked at her like that and grew impatient. “If you cry again, I’ll tear your mouth so you can’t even whimper.”

Su Yutao’s whimpering stopped.

She shuddered, then clamped her mouth shut.

But that made her look even more pitiful.

Curled up, hugging the penguin, lips pressed together, tears unable to flow, but trembling all over.

Like a kicked puppy, too scared to bark, just cowering.

That person looked at her, even more annoyed. “Can you stop shaking? Damn annoying.”

Su Yutao kept trembling.

She couldn’t control it.

She pointed to her mouth, then to her eyes.

‘I don’t mean to shake.’

‘I don’t mean to cry.’

‘I can’t control it.’

‘I can’t even cry; I can only tremble.’

That person looked at her like that and couldn’t take it anymore.

She reached out, pinched Su Yutao’s mouth, and pulled it to both sides.

Su Yutao’s face was twisted, mouth stretched, teeth exposed, like a cloth doll being squeezed.

That voice was right in her ear, filled with anger. “I really can’t stand you. That woman just cursed you a few times, and you’re crying like this?”

She let go and tossed Su Yutao onto the bed.

Su Yutao fell into the covers, still curled up, still hugging Qiansui, still trembling.

That person stood by the bed, looking down at her, silent for a moment.

Then she clicked her tongue. “Fine, I’ve got nothing to do anyway. Watching you all stifled and miserable is killing me. I’ll teach you how to handle it.”

She bent down, grabbed Su Yutao by the scruff of the neck, and lifted her off the bed.

Su Yutao was carried like a cat by the nape.

Qiansui nearly slipped from her arms, but she held it tight.

That person carried her toward the door.

Su Yutao didn’t know where they were going.

She only knew that person was annoyed.

Annoyed at her crying, annoyed at her trembling, annoyed at her misery.

She was going to teach her how to fight back.

The door opened.

The cool air of the corridor rushed in.

That person carried her, step by step, outside.

Su Yutao shrank in her grip, hugging Qiansui, trembling all over.

Qiansui whispered in her ear, “Don’t be afraid… I’m here…”

Su Yutao hugged Qiansui tighter.

She didn’t know where that person was taking her.

She didn’t know how that person would teach her to fight back.

She only knew it was night.

That person was awake.

She couldn’t escape.

The corridor light was sound-activated.

Footsteps triggered it, and the light came on.

Su Yutao could sense the change in light—a slight warmth on her eyelids.

But she didn’t know where they were going.

She didn’t know where this person was taking her.

She was just being carried, curled up, hugging Qiansui, trembling.

Downstairs.

One floor, two floors, three floors.

Each floor’s light turned on, then off again.

Su Yutao heard the sound of the building door being pushed open. The night wind rushed in, cool, carrying the scent of outside—leaves, soil, and dust from the distant road.

That person stood beneath the building, holding her.

Silent for a moment, then that voice came again, impatient. “Where does that woman live?”

Su Yutao froze.

That woman? The shrew? She didn’t know.

She didn’t even know what that woman looked like, only that her voice was shrill and her curses were ugly.

She shook her head.

That person clicked her tongue, didn’t ask further, and carried her out of the residential area.

Su Yutao was carried like a cat by the nape.

Qiansui whispered in her ear, “She’s heading for the main gate… out now… turning left…”

Su Yutao didn’t know what that person was doing.

She only knew that person was walking, walking all the way.

They walked for a long time.

The night wind blew on her face, chilly.

Occasionally a car passed by, tires rustling over the road.

Then that person stopped.

Su Yutao heard a sound—very soft, muffled, coming from a distance.

She pricked up her ears.

It was the sound of a TV, a man’s laughter, a woman’s voice.

That person carried Su Yutao toward the sound.

Footsteps grew closer, the sound clearer.

Su Yutao could make it out—it was that shrew’s voice.

The one that had called her “mute.”

Beside her was a man, mumbling something, reeking of alcohol.

That person stopped in front of a door.

The door was closed.

The sounds inside leaked through the crack.

That person reached out and knocked.

“Bang, bang, bang.” The same way as this afternoon, the same force.

The noises inside stopped.

Then came footsteps, dragging slowly toward the door.

A man’s voice sounded, slurred, with alcohol. “Who’s there?”

The door opened.

A strong smell of alcohol and smoke rushed out.

Two people stood at the door.

In front was a man, shirtless, with a brutish face, drunk, squinting out.

Behind him was the shrew, cowering behind the man, staring out with her beady eyes.

The man saw Lin Qingxue, then saw Su Yutao in her hands, and hesitated. Then his voice grew loud. “Who the hell are you? In the middle of the night—”

Lin Qingxue didn’t look at him.

She looked down at Su Yutao in her grip.

That voice was right in her ear, calm. “How many times did she curse you this afternoon?”

Su Yutao was stunned.

The man was also stunned.

When that woman saw Su Yutao, her expression changed, and she shrank behind the man.

Lin Qingxue’s voice sounded again, still calm. “Three times? Five times? Ten times?”

Su Yutao didn’t know.

She only knew that woman had called her “mute,” “little mute,” and said “even a dog’s bark is better than yours.”

She nodded.

Then shook her head.

She didn’t know how to answer.

That person looked at her, clicked her tongue, her tone more impatient. “Look at you. Someone curses you, and all you do is whimper like a dead mosquito. Annoying, isn’t it?”

Su Yutao shrank back, afraid to move.

That person set her down, letting her stand on the ground.

Su Yutao’s legs were weak, her whole body still trembling.

She didn’t know what to do.

She only knew she was at that shrew’s doorstep, that person had set her down, and that man and that woman were staring at her.

That person stood behind her.

That voice was right next to her ear, very close, very calm. “However she cursed you this afternoon, you hit her back the same way now.”

Su Yutao opened her mouth.

No sound came out.

She was mute.

She couldn’t speak.

She pointed to her mouth and shook her head.

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