Dragon, Truly Shameless (Yuri Futa, Farming) - Chapter 24

The bamboo basket, ordinary in appearance, contained something that truly astonished the villagers. Beneath the old cloth, there were two pairs of velvet antlers!

Second Aunt Shen’s eyes almost popped out of her head on the spot.

Old Man Shen quickly stepped forward and lifted the covering cloth. Two horn-like objects were clearly visible. Although he, a mere farmer, had little knowledge and had never seen anything truly precious, velvet antlers were like ginseng – precious medicinal herbs were a common understanding among ordinary people. Even if they hadn’t seen them, they had usually heard of them. He had seen deer antlers before; dried deer antlers with the velvet removed could only be velvet antlers.

“Shen girl, did you get these in the mountains?” The old man was incredulous, giving Shen Qingming a deep look. An orphaned girl living alone in the deep mountains and old forests, by all accounts, should have faced certain death. Yet, Shen girl not only survived but seemed to be living well; she had grown taller, become prettier, and even acquired velvet antlers. How much good fortune had she accumulated?

“Yes, they were all hunted in the mountains. Second Aunt Shen, please give them back to me. I’m going to sell them,” Shen Qingming was a little anxious, both fearing Long Qing would wait too long and that her family wouldn’t return them to her. Just like the person making dried persimmons couldn’t eat dried persimmons, everything at the Old Shen family’s house would be confiscated, and then it would be none of her business. If it were just her own things, it would be fine, but these belonged to Long Qing. Whether she admitted it or not, she was unwilling to present all the good things to her so-called elders now.

“I know you inside and out. You say you hunted them in the mountains, so you hunted them? Forget velvet antlers, for a little girl like you to survive on your own in the mountains is already an act of heaven’s mercy. Don’t you weigh your words when you lie? Or did you steal them?” Second Aunt Shen asked with ill intent.

Shen Qingming quickly shook her head, “I didn’t steal them. I really got them from hunting.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You, hunt? You’ve only been away from home for a few months and already your wings are hard, and your elders can’t control you? Not only stealing, but also lying. Leave the velvet antlers at home for now, lest the owner come looking for them someday and it becomes unclear.”

“No, it’s not like that, give them back to me.” Second Aunt Shen’s words were clearly no longer what they seemed on the surface. Shen Qingming instantly grew anxious, completely forgetting about borrowing the cart. Seeing Second Aunt Shen carrying the bamboo basket towards the house, she tried to snatch it back but was blocked at the door. She looked at Old Man Shen, “Grandpa, that’s not my property, please give it back to me.”

“So it was stolen, right? Tell me, whose family did you steal it from? And what about the clothes you’re wearing, are they stolen too?” Second Aunt Shen had just put down the bamboo basket and turned around to see Shen Qingming’s clothes, her eyes glinting with avarice again.

She rushed forward and grabbed it. Just a touch, and the soft, smooth feel already conveyed a lot of information. In the village, cotton cloth was only used for making wedding dresses. She had been married into the Old Shen family for so many years and had never dared to cut a bolt of cotton cloth for clothes. The fabric Shen Qingming, that dead girl, was wearing was actually better than cotton cloth!

Jealousy could easily drive a person mad. That dress became particularly dazzling, and Second Aunt Shen wished she could rip it right off. The clamor quickly attracted another wave of onlookers. The news of Shen girl’s return to the village had spread through several village women and was now known throughout the entire village. Coincidentally, it was the slack farming season, so idle villagers came running at the scent of trouble.

The Old Shen family’s yard was quickly surrounded three layers deep. Villagers whispered among themselves, discussing animatedly.

Second Aunt Shen grabbed Shen Qingming’s clothes and violently tore at them, cursing, “So you steal, huh? Hurry up and take off your clothes! Is this something you can wear?”

“I didn’t steal!”

“Still saying you didn’t? If it wasn’t stolen, then was it given by someone else? Who would give you such good fabric for no reason? Did you hook up with a young master from a wealthy family? Did he give it to you? You’re still a maiden, yet you’re seducing men. Do you have no shame?”

“I didn’t!”

The young girl’s terrified scream was quickly drowned out by the woman’s harsh and venomous scolding. Shen Qingming desperately held onto her clothes, but she, being frail, was no match for Second Aunt Shen. A faint tearing sound was heard during the struggle, and she fell heavily to the ground, her clothes fluttering and dust rising.

No one stepped forward to stop it, nor did anyone turn away. Men’s playful gazes fell on her from all directions. Shen Qingming quickly gathered her loose clothes, hugging herself tightly. Her eyes welled up, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

“If you dare to hook up with men, then have the guts not to come back! Run off with a wild man like your mother did! Why come back? Where in the ten-mile radius has there ever been a girl with dirty hands and immoral conduct? You have no shame, but I do! I’ve had eight lifetimes of bad luck to have a shameless niece like you, and a sister like yours! How will my two daughters ever get married?” Second Aunt Shen continued her relentless scolding, speaking logically, completely forgetting that this was merely her unilateral speculation.

The villagers, hearing her speak like this, also believed that Shen girl had gone off to hook up with men. They immediately pointed fingers at Shen Qingming. After all, in a “simple” little village, stealing chickens and dogs was already a major crime for the whole clan to punish. Hooking up with men, according to the rules, meant being drowned in a pig cage. How could the Old Shen family produce such things that ruined the family’s reputation?

Old Man Shen, seeing that enough was enough, began to drive people away. “Alright, alright, stop looking. Today, my Old Shen family is disciplining our daughter who ruined the family’s reputation. Stop looking.” Then he turned to Shen Qingming, “Shen girl, since you’ve done such shameless things, my Old Shen family can no longer keep you. We won’t drown you in a pig cage, but today you are expelled from the family register. From now on, you are not to come looking for us again; the Old Shen family has no more ties with you.”

“Wuwu… wuwu, I didn’t, I didn’t, wuwu… Give me back the velvet antlers.” Shen Qingming struggled to get her belongings back, but Old Man Shen’s warning gaze made her heart tremble.

Her grandfather, he even resorted to uniting everyone to intimidate her.

Shen Qingming found it incredibly ironic. How much did she have to be hated to be criticized by so many?

“I never thought Shen girl, at such a young age, would be so promiscuous. I used to think she was a good child, thin and weak, but it turns out she’s a truly hidden talent!”

“What’s so strange about that? With such parents to teach by example, how good could she turn out to be?”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, for our Taohua Village to produce such a girl, it’s truly a moral decay and a disgrace to our family’s reputation. If this gets out, where will we put our faces?”

The villagers pointed fingers, completely disregarding that Shen Qingming was just a young girl. The evil in human nature was fully exposed at this moment, scolding merely for the sake of scolding.

Shen Qingming desperately wanted to escape, but found herself surrounded, with nowhere to go. Helpless and alone, she could only huddle into a ball, trembling uncontrollably amidst the insults. At that moment, a familiar cool fragrance wafted on the wind, and a heavenly voice came from afar, splitting through the curses like thunder.

“Does a group of adults ganging up on a young girl make you respectable?”

Shen Qingming trembled violently and looked up. A figure slowly emerged from the crowd, still carrying the heavy bamboo basket, panting from exhaustion, her back bent under the weight, yet still standing defiantly.

“A-Qing.”

The moment she saw Long Qing, Shen Qingming’s tears surged, and she called out to her softly, full of grievance. Long Qing’s heart ached upon hearing it. She walked straight to Shen Qingming, grabbed the girl’s hand, and pulled her a step behind her. Only then did she straighten her back and look directly at Old Man Shen.

“Who are you?” As Long Qing scrutinized Old Man Shen, he was also scrutinizing her. Although the girl in front of him was carrying a plain, crude bamboo basket, her appearance was handsome, her clothes neat, and her demeanor extraordinary. She was fair-skinned and clean, not looking like someone from the mountains.

“Heh,” Long Qing’s dark eyes seemed to hold ice, and just her gaze was chilling enough to make people shiver. “Greedily seizing my belongings, indiscriminately ganging up to interrogate my friend, not hesitating to verbally abuse, slander, and discredit her. Is this what you call morality and family honor?”

Her voice was a little weak from fatigue, but her words fell crisply and powerfully, hitting directly at the core, instantly intimidating these uneducated villagers into silence. Old Man Shen was stunned. When he finally understood her meaning, his face instantly turned pale and flushed. “What business is it of yours how I educate my granddaughter? And who are you?”

“You don’t need to know who I am. And your granddaughter? That’s amusing. I heard it clearly just now; Qingming has already been expelled from your family register. If that’s the case, how is she still your granddaughter? Besides,” Long Qing intentionally paused, then slowly continued, “For these past three months, Qingming has been living with me, eating my food and wearing my clothes. You could say she’s mine now. As for you, old man, you’ve stolen my property and torn my clothes, how will you account for that?”

“Your property?” Old Man Shen didn’t understand at first. Following Long Qing’s gaze, he saw the bamboo basket in his daughter-in-law’s hand and then understood. “The velvet antlers are yours?”

“Naturally.”

Before Old Man Shen could speak, Second Aunt Shen grew anxious. She stiffened her face and retorted, “You say it’s yours, so it’s yours? This was brought by Shen girl to show filial piety to her own elders, so it’s naturally ours.”

In her haste, she seemed to have completely forgotten that she had just been spreading rumors about Shen girl stealing and seducing men. With a sudden change of subject, she claimed it was Shen girl showing filial piety to her elders.

Such a specious and brazen display even astonished Long Qing. She hadn’t expected someone to be so shameless. What angered her even more was that the “onlooker” villagers actually nodded in agreement, seemingly endorsing this view, completely forgetting their earlier indignation in condemning the little girl.

Long Qing considered herself not to be a hot-tempered person, and her words were rarely sharp. But at this moment, facing a group of shameless individuals who had no stake in the matter, she was truly angry. An unprecedented rage welled up from within her, especially when she thought of the little girl being collectively attacked, and her fury became unstoppable. Her aura grew colder and colder, finally culminating in a strange, cold laugh. “Alright, if that’s the case, there’s nothing more to say. Taking something without asking is stealing, so I can only report it to the authorities and let the magistrate judge.”

With that, she pulled Shen Qingming and turned to leave, acting as if she were genuinely going to report it.

Seeing her like this, the villagers who were enjoying the show finally realized things were bad. As the saying goes, “the common people do not contend with officials.” Ordinary folk would generally rather suffer a loss than report to the authorities. The biggest official these villagers had ever seen was the village chief, so how could they dare to bring it to court? Hearing the girl threaten to report them, combined with her scholarly remarks earlier, some timid ones immediately scurried away, afraid of getting involved.

Old Man Shen also thought about retreating, but on the one hand, he felt that it was already known throughout the village and he couldn’t back down, so he stubbornly stood his ground. Just as they were at a stalemate, the village chief arrived.

The village chief arrived belatedly and was greatly surprised to see Shen Qingming. This girl was actually still alive! However, seeing Shen girl’s disheveled clothes and another unfamiliar young woman, he inwardly cursed the Old Shen family for being unable to have a peaceful day. He urgently asked, “What’s going on?”

“This must be the village chief. You’ve come at a good time. This old man and old woman stole my velvet antlers and refuse to return them. Such bullying is too much. I ask the village chief to arbitrate, otherwise, I can only seek justice from the magistrate.” Long Qing subtly moved Shen Qingming further back, shielding her as she spoke to the village chief.

The village chief’s eyebrows rose upon hearing this. Stealing? He quickly said, “Young lady, don’t rush. There might be some misunderstanding here. I’ll clarify it.” With that, he walked over to Old Man Shen and whispered something. At first, Old Man Shen stubbornly kept a straight face, but gradually, he actually nodded, and then seemed to deflate like a punctured balloon.

Under Long Qing’s cold gaze, Old Man Shen stepped forward, tentatively saying, “Just now, I saw Shen girl take out velvet antlers for no reason. Velvet antlers are precious things after all, and Shen girl is just a mountain girl, without parents, and her hands aren’t clean… We were just afraid that you, young lady, might have something stolen, that’s all. It was out of good intentions. Since it wasn’t stolen, then it’s a misunderstanding. Here, we’ll return it to you.” He snarled at Second Aunt Shen, “Hurry up and give her back her things.”

“But…”

“Hurry up.”

Second Aunt Shen reluctantly brought over the bamboo basket. Long Qing didn’t rush to take it but said in a deep voice, “Misunderstanding? Can a misunderstanding allow you to casually slander a girl, and even tear her clothes?”

These words left Old Man Shen speechless, but his meaning was clear: he didn’t want to let it go just like that. Old Man Shen’s face flushed, and he instinctively looked at the village chief.

“Young lady, what are you saying? It was just a misunderstanding. The things have been returned to you, and they’ve also learned their lesson. Continuing to argue will only hurt feelings,” the village chief seemingly advised, but every word favored Old Man Shen.

Long Qing remained unmoved. The village chief then looked at Shen Qingming, who was hiding behind Long Qing.

“Shen girl, they are your elders after all. It wasn’t easy raising you. How can a junior sue an elder? There’s no point in dragging this out, what do you say?”

If the village chief maintained a certain courtesy towards Long Qing, his words to Shen Qingming were a mix of threats and intimidation. Shen Qingming bit her lip, hiding her bitterness in her eyes, and looked up at Long Qing. Long Qing stood in front of her, carrying the bamboo basket, her back slightly bent, clearly tired, yet still trying to win some justice for her. She pulled Long Qing’s sleeve and whispered, “A-Qing, let it go.”

Feeling the slight tug on her sleeve, Long Qing felt the rage she had just barely suppressed begin to resurface. She looked at Old Man Shen, raising an eyebrow, “Learned their lesson? Are you referring to the village chief’s few insipid scoldings? Qingming and I are like sisters; what’s mine is hers. She can use whatever she wants; I’m happy for it. As for you, as her grandfather, you constantly accuse her of having dirty hands. Just for a tiny bit of profit, you conspired with your family to spread rumors about your granddaughter’s innocence. Compared to that, how clean are your hands?”

“You…”

“Shameless.” Even though Long Qing was carrying a huge bamboo basket and was much thinner than Old Man Shen, who did farm work all year round, her presence was no less imposing. Old Man Shen was so overwhelmed he couldn’t refute a single word. This middle-aged man, accustomed to using the women in his family to stir up trouble and gain advantages, had hit a brick wall this time. Aside from a flushed old face, he dared not say a word, like a grandson.

Long Qing scoffed, pulling Shen Qingming and walking away in full view of everyone.

After leaving the Old Shen family’s house, and wondering where to borrow a cart, the village chief caught up to them.

“Young lady, wait.”

“What is it?” Long Qing stopped.

“I just heard Old Brother Shen say you’re Shen girl’s friend?”

“Problem?” Long Qing became alert. She once again shielded Shen Qingming.

The village chief smiled obsequiously and waved his hand, “No problem. I just heard you wanted to borrow a cart. Young lady, are you planning to transport these dried persimmons to the city to sell, right? It takes an hour to walk to the city, carrying them would be quite tiring. If you don’t mind, may I lend you a cart?”

Long Qing was surprised. They had just been verbally attacking them, and now he was offering help? How fickle. However, she indeed needed a cart, so she nodded.

The village chief was quick and efficient, and soon he had borrowed a cart. The family who lent the cart was the Li family, neighbors of the Old Shen family. It wasn’t strange for Madam Li to lend the cart; after all, in the entire village, Madam Li was probably the only one who genuinely wished Shen Qingming well without any ulterior motives, even Old Woman Shen was distanced by her eldest son’s relationship.

With the cart, Long Qing could rest for a while. The village chief helped them load the heavy bamboo basket onto the cart and even told them which apothecaries offered the fairest prices, his enthusiasm surprising Long Qing.

Only after they left Taohua Village did Long Qing ask the silent little girl, “Did they always bully you like that?”

She had observed everything from behind; relatives greedy for money, villagers spreading rumors. These people, either for profit or to vent their private desires, had all joined the crusade against Shen Qingming. Had she not intervened, the mob would have returned satisfied, leaving Shen Qingming to bear all the unfounded accusations alone. She had thought a difficult life meant not having enough to eat or wear, but she hadn’t expected this kind of hardship.

Shen Qingming forced down the mist welling in her eyes and nodded.

Long Qing felt a lump in her chest and softened her voice, “How did you live before?”

She asked cautiously, but Shen Qingming still trembled uncontrollably.

How did she live? She simply hid and cried, and after crying, life was still the same. If asked what Shen Qingming felt, she would only say confusion, just as she had endured everything in numbness and silence for years, hoping that things would get better in the future. But it was undeniable that she hated this feeling. In fact, this was the first time someone had protected her. Just now, Long Qing was like a goddess, shielding her from all evil. While she was touched, a budding feeling also grew in her heart. She didn’t know if it was good or bad.

After hesitating for a moment, Shen Qingming still brought out the self-comfort that had helped her through countless long nights: “I am a disaster star; it’s normal for them to despise me.”

Long Qing almost tripped. She said helplessly, “There aren’t that many disaster stars in the world. It’s just like worshiping the Dragon King: ‘choosing’ a sacrifice to offer to fulfill one’s own desires. You, being without parents, naturally became that ‘sacrifice.'”

“It’s not entirely like that, is it? After I was born, our family did get worse day by day. Grandpa not burning me as a demon was already an act of grace,” Shen Qingming deeply believed this notion. Although it was painful, it wasn’t unreasonable. If it were any other family, she might have been burned as a demon long ago, while she only suffered some cold stares and was allowed to grow up. Shouldn’t she be grateful?

Shen Qingming was immersed in a whirlpool of self-negation, both in pain and always finding a sliver of comfort in that pain to convince herself. She seemed to have long been accustomed to this self-pity. After a few steps, Long Qing’s voice suddenly came, not with her usual gentle tone, but with chilling coldness.

“Since you believe you are a disaster star, and will bring trouble to others. Then, what about me?”

Shen Qingming looked up, meeting Long Qing’s cold eyes.

“Aren’t you afraid of bringing me trouble by living with me?”

Instantly, Shen Qingming froze. Long Qing watched that small face, which had just barely regained some color and shown a hint of joy, turn visibly pale before her eyes.