Chapter 885: Chapter 887: You’re Not Wrong, They Are
"No, nothing happened," Little Shitou stammered as he replied, darting off in a flash.
In the yard, Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao exchanged a glance; this kid was definitely bullied outside. As they were unsure of what to do, they saw Little Shitou running out again with clothes in his hands, heading straight for the kitchen.
Seeing this, Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao quickly followed him into the kitchen and saw Little Shitou fetching water as if he was about to wash up.
For this child, Xiaoxiao always felt a pang of sympathy. "Little Shitou, did you get into a fight outside?"
Little Shitou had been in such a hurry that he didn’t notice his uncle and aunt had followed him in. Hearing her voice, he looked up abruptly, and the water dipper in his hand fell to the ground with a thud. "I...!"
Xiaoxiao handed the child over to Yang Ming and walked to Little Shitou, "Come here, let me take a look."
Little Shitou kept dodging, not wanting Xiaoxiao to see, but Xiaoxiao gently took hold of his arm and rolled up his sleeve.
After seeing it, Xiaoxiao felt a pang in her heart; there were clear scratches from falling, and a lot of old scabs.
Xiaoxiao then rolled up Little Shitou’s trouser leg; similarly, the injuries were quite severe.
Looking up at Little Shitou, she saw tears welling up in his eyes. He pleaded, "Aunt, please don’t tell my mom."
Those words struck a chord in Xiaoxiao’s heart; this child must often suffer such humiliations outside, yet he doesn’t let his mom know.
Feeling heartbroken, Xiaoxiao said, "Aunt won’t tell your mom. Can Aunt help you treat your wounds?"
Seeing Xiaoxiao agree, Little Shitou nodded gratefully, "Mm, thank you, Aunt."
Then Xiaoxiao had Little Shitou sit on a stool. She brought the leftover hot water from the pot and found a clean cloth to wipe Little Shitou’s wounds.
The place was very basic, and this was the best they could do to prevent dust from causing an infection.
Little Shitou was strong; he held back his tears while the wounds were cleaned. This made Xiaoxiao all the more heartbroken. How could such a young child have to endure this kind of pain?
"Little Shitou, does it hurt?"
"Aunt, I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all, these little injuries are nothing, I’m already used to it."
The child spoke so casually, but Xiaoxiao could imagine what he had gone through. Little Shitou couldn’t go with them, and who knew what else he would face in the future? Xiaoxiao wanted to tell him, "Little Shitou, Aunt wants to tell you, if you encounter this again, if you can’t fight back, just run. Running is not shameful, don’t suffer in vain."
"They say my mom and I are jinxes, that we brought bad luck and death to the family." Little Shitou suddenly spoke, looking at Xiaoxiao with firm eyes, "Aunt, we are not jinxes, we didn’t bring bad luck to our family."
"Mm, Aunt believes you and your mom are not jinxes, you did nothing wrong, they are wrong." Xiaoxiao’s eyes were full of sympathy; how many innocent people were harmed by such superstitions?
That sentence of belief from Xiaoxiao finally made Little Shitou’s long-suppressed emotions burst forth, and he suddenly broke into tears.
Since he could remember, the villagers labeled him as a jinx, and he was constantly bullied, unable to let his mother know. Such a small child had endured it all alone, and today, finally, someone believed they weren’t jinxes. He cried tears of joy.