ISBH - Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Taking a Beating
Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the roof, thin and bright, and the tiny dust motes drifting in it could be seen clearly.
It had rained all night, and by now the rain outside had stopped.
Han Tian opened her eyes and found herself lying over the edge of the bed with her head pillowed on her arms, and she had not fallen to the floor as she usually did...
A faint rustling came from the corner.
Han Tian glanced over. Mo Sheng was in the corner sorting the scraps she had picked up.
Bottles in one pile, flattened cardboard boxes stacked in another...
"Good morning!" Her arms had gone numb from being pillowed so long. Han Tian yawned and slowly stood up and stretched.
"It's getting late. Why aren't you going to school today?"
Han Tian looked at the time. The wall clock showed it was already nine in the morning.
The little girl kept her head down and paid no mind to Han Tian's words, and Han Tian had not expected Mo Sheng to answer. She moved closer to Mo Sheng and carefully examined the injuries on her body.
After a night had passed, perhaps because Han Tian had wiped away the grime, the bruises on the little girl stood out even more clearly, and whether the wounds were inflamed or not, Mo Sheng's face glowed with an unnatural flush.
"Does it hurt?" Han Tian's brows knitted tight.
"You can't go on like this. You have to find a doctor to take a look..."
...
Even as she said this, Han Tian knew it was empty talk. Mo Sheng had no money at all to see a doctor!
She was such a heartbreaking little girl!
"Do you know? I've never wished so desperately to have a physical body..." Han Tian sighed in frustration.
Then she could protect Mo Sheng at the critical moment, take Mo Sheng to see a doctor, buy her pretty dresses, and make sure she could eat her fill at every meal...
Instead of only being able to sigh as she watched the poor little girl like this.
Because she had leaned in close to look at the wounds, Han Tian had not noticed how extremely close she was to Mo Sheng, so close she could almost have touched Mo Sheng's cheek.
Mo Sheng's eyelashes trembled. She pressed her lips together and turned to pick up a bottle on the other side.
...
Han Tian paid no mind to the little girl's movement. She sat down on the floor in frustration, thinking of ways to earn money, and then rejecting them one by one...
As a transparent person, it was far too hard for her to earn money!
Han Tian had grown up in a wealthy family, and after returning to the country she had enjoyed generous pay. She had never fretted over money like this before!
...
While she was thinking, the little girl before her had already finished sorting the scraps. She hoisted a thick stack of waste cardboard onto her back, picked up the plastic bottles, and prepared to go out...
Mo Sheng's tiny figure was almost invisible beneath the tall stack of waste cardboard.
As she was about to leave, Mo Sheng paused, and said as if talking to herself, "Today is Saturday. The sun is shining bright outside, and the scrap station is open to buy scraps..."
...
This was the first time Han Tian had heard Mo Sheng's voice. Perhaps because she had not spoken for so long, the little girl's voice was extremely hoarse, and not pleasant to hear at all.
After speaking, Mo Sheng pressed her lips tightly together, lowered her head, and opened the door as if annoyed with herself.
So it was the weekend!
So the little girl had not been skipping class...
Han Tian froze for a moment, then curved her lips at the little girl in relief. "What a good child!"
"Once you sell the scraps and have money, buy some medicine, and come back early to rest..."
For some reason, Mo Sheng did not open the door all the way when she went out. She opened half of it, squeezed through with effort, and then locked it again from the outside.
Han Tian knew that as Mo Sheng left, the strength in her own body would gradually fade away.
Before that strength faded completely, Han Tian still wanted to do something more for Mo Sheng.
Han Tian's gaze fell on the dripping faucet in the house. There had been no water during the drought before, but after yesterday's rain, water was finally coming out of the faucet again.
Han Tian found several towels in the house, washed them clean, and hung them up to dry...
After finishing these tasks, just as Han Tian had expected, the strength in her body vanished completely, and she could no longer touch anything at all.
Han Tian yawned and lay down freely on the floor...
"Mo Sheng, you wretched girl, don't run!"
"Just look at the wound on my A Qiang's hand! You really are a thing born but never raised, biting people like a dog..."
...
Han Tian was woken by a shrill female voice.
Frowning, Han Tian drifted outside, and saw a fat woman holding the same little boy Mo Sheng had bitten blocking the doorway, pointing at Mo Sheng's nose and cursing her out.
How dare this woman say such a thing?!
"Who says my Mo Sheng has no one to raise her!"
"It was clearly your rotten boy who bit my Mo Sheng first!" Professor Han had never met such a shameless person! Once again forgetting that she could not be seen, her face flushed red as she pointed at the fat woman and scolded her aloud.
Mo Sheng lowered her head, her gaze sweeping past Han Tian's direction as if by accident. She pressed her lips slightly together, looked up at the fat woman, and said, "What exactly do you want..."
Naturally, the fat woman could not hear Han Tian's words. Her eyes darted as she stared at Mo Sheng's pocket. "My A Qiang's medical bills cost two hundred yuan! I don't care. You have to pay me back..."
"I have no money!"
Mo Sheng sensed danger warily and turned to leave, yet she was no match for the fat woman and her son attacking from two sides. The fat woman's son pinned her to the ground...
"You still say you have no money!" The fat woman pulled the thirty yuan Mo Sheng had earned from selling scraps out of Mo Sheng's pocket and stuffed it into her own pocket. She yanked her son up with disgust and kicked Mo Sheng in the body. "Seeing as you have no mother, I'll let you off this time. If you bite my A Qiang again, I'll beat you to death..."
...
The fat woman left Mo Sheng's doorway triumphantly with her son.
Mo Sheng clutched her waist, frowned, and opened the door.
From the corner of her eye she saw a white figure drift into the house as well, and Mo Sheng bit down hard on her lower lip.
She had already been running a fever and felt terribly sleepy. After being kicked, every part of her body ached. As soon as she entered, she collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep...
Mo Sheng was woken by soft sobbing.
That 'female ghost' was sitting on the edge of her bed crying without stopping.
That female ghost had followed her home a few days before. She was very beautiful, like a fairy from the sky. At first Mo Sheng had been very afraid and had not even dared to come home. Only later did she learn that this ghost was utterly useless, and would only cry when trouble came, without any of the power to summon wind and rain that the ghosts in stories had...
Mo Sheng had originally wanted to find a chance to lure the ghost out into the sun to kill her, but before she could carry out her plan, the ghost had rushed out when she saw her getting beaten...
Perhaps because it was cloudy, the sun had not killed this ghost.
...
What was she crying about now? Could it be that she had been scorched by the sun at noon and was about to die?
Mo Sheng opened her eyes with effort...
In the dim light, the ghost had cried until her eyes were swollen. "Mo Sheng, wake up! Go see a doctor..."
"Woo, if you don't see a doctor, then the money I stole will have been stolen for nothing..."
"I've never stolen anything in my whole life..."
...
During the day the fat woman had robbed Mo Sheng of her money, and Han Tian, her head blazing with anger, had reached out in a fit of rage and taken all the money from the fat woman's pocket.
Professor Han had never done such a thing as stealing another person's money. After taking the money she felt unbearably regretful, and was just about to return it when she saw that Mo Sheng had already fainted...
Han Tian had secretly pressed damp towels to Mo Sheng's forehead for half the day, yet the heat on Mo Sheng's forehead still had not gone down.
...
Stealing money?
Mo Sheng turned over, her gaze secretly brushing past the two hundred and thirty yuan neatly stacked on the pillow, her eyes flickering.
The ghost beside her was still crying without stopping...
She had never seen such a useless ghost!
Mo Sheng pressed her lips together, thinking of how the ghost had rushed out without regard for herself before, and finally lowered her head and spoke as if sleep talking. "Sixth Aunt, don't take my family's television. Don't take my mother's clothes..."
"Sixth Aunt... don't kick me! I won't bite A Qiang...!"
...
Taking the television? Taking clothes!
Listening to Mo Sheng's sleep talk, Han Tian's eyes went wide!
Anger rushed back into her mind, and her guilt vanished in a puff of smoke!
So this fat woman had once taken so many things from Mo Sheng?
Han Tian now hated only that she had not ripped the gold chain from the fat woman's neck!
...
Comments
Post a Comment