Quick Transmigration: The Gossip Master Took the Black Lotus Script - Chapter 33

“You little beast! You little beast! You little beast!” Old Man Luo cursed inwardly — afraid his second son might be watching — and finally could only sigh in helplessness.

What sin had he committed to end up with a granddaughter who would eat up his coffin savings?

As it turned out, things could always get worse.

While he sighed, a fierce quarrel erupted next door.

“I’m not going! I’m not going! If you force me to go down to the countryside I’ll run my head into the wall and die!”

“Run then! Run! If you don’t die today I’ll make sure you do!”

Ever since word spread that Luo Ping couldn’t father children, he had become extremely irritable, blaming everyone — especially Luo Ning — for his misfortune.

He convinced himself that if it weren’t for Luo Ning’s affairs attracting Luo An’s attention, his own problem would never have been exposed and everything would still be as planned. If neither he nor anyone else knew, he could have married off properly. That he couldn’t have children — why shouldn’t someone pay for that? Why not lay blame elsewhere?

As he wallowed at home, brooding, he ran through all the possibilities and grew more convinced that fate had cheated him; he was supposed to be marrying some rich beauty. He couldn’t swallow it — he wanted to vent.

Luo Ning stared at the furious Luo Ping with no fear at all. After all, she was going down to the countryside anyway — what worse could happen? And why should it have to be her sent down?

Thinking that, she yelled out, “I won’t go. You should go! Everyone already knows you can’t have kids — good chance for a fresh start somewhere else!”

That was a cruel strike; Luo Ping did not want to hear it, and she deliberately aimed at his sore spot.

Unsurprisingly, Luo Ping exploded. He lunged forward, slapping her so bl00d trickled from the corner of her mouth. Before she could react, he grabbed her by the throat, squeezing until she could hardly breathe.

“You b1tch! You b1tch! You’re all bitches! I’ll show you — die! Die! Die!”

Luo Ping’s eyes were bloodshot and his grip only tightened, seeming ready to choke her to death.

Luo Ning felt the pain in her throat, gasping for breath, but watching the once-haughty Luo Ping turned into this state made her grin.

At last — finally — the whole family would be unable to continue the line; how splendid!

Since their son’s problem came to light, Chen Juhua had poured all her energy into trying to cure him. The first night Luo Ping made a scene until midnight, she stayed with him; only at dawn did she manage a little sleep. Then, after a couple hours, they were fighting again.

Hearing her children’s quarrel, Chen Juhua cursed her daughter in thought — how could she, knowing his mood, still provoke him? The whole household was a mess.

She hurriedly dressed and ran next door, flung open the door and saw her daughter’s face pale. Her heart dropped.

“Ping! Don’t do this! Let go, or Ning Ning will die!”

Chen Juhua grabbed to pull her son away, but Luo Ping’s hand was like a clamp — it wouldn’t budge. She begged, frantic.

“Ping! You can’t kill someone! If your sister dies you’ll pay with your life! You’re breaking your mother’s heart! Why is my fate so bitter? Wake up, son! No matter what you are, you’re still my son — don’t do something foolish!”

Something in that plea reached Luo Ping. Just as Luo Ning was about to pass out, he suddenly loosened his grip.

Luo Ning slid down the wall and collapsed, coughing until she recovered.

Then Chen Juhua, pointing an accusing finger, launched into a tirade, “Why did you provoke your brother? Who made those remarks that only a sister could say? You should have gone down to the countryside — I helped, I put in effort. Now that things are back where they were, accept your fate, okay?”

No one cared that she had narrowly escaped death; no one asked how she would manage after being sent down. For a moment she felt worse than Luo An — at least Luo An had a mother who cared. As for her…

She remembered when she had boasted about being the true daughter of the Luo family, about how Luo An was just trampleable grass — she wanted to laugh.

“Daughter of the Luo family?” Yes — a daughter the Luo family could discard at any time.

Luo Ning rose and walked out step by step. Chen Juhua said nothing; her heart was wholly with her son now. As for her daughter, she couldn’t manage that too.

That night Luo Ning did not return home, and no one in the Luo household went looking for her.

Throughout the commotion next door, Old Man Luo hadn’t stepped out once. He had seen enough: his grandson was done for.

When Luo Song got off work and arrived home, Old Man Luo called him into his room.

“What is it, Dad?” Luo Song asked.

Old Man Luo took a drag of dry tobacco, then said after a pause, “You and your wife must have another child — quickly.”

Luo Song knew what his father meant. Seeing the changes in their child recently, he wasn’t entirely unsympathetic; his fear, however, was what the next child would be. What if it wasn’t a son?

“Well, whether it’s a boy or a girl, we must have a child first. At worst, we’ll keep trying. The Luo family can’t let the line end here.”

Old Man Luo used to go out and stroll or play cards with other elders after meals. Since the grandson’s issue surfaced, he hadn’t left the house — his head hung low. “Ah — what a sin…”

“I know.” Luo Song agreed. The foreman at the workshop had been making things difficult for him and his coworkers mocked him; he eagerly wanted to change his fortunes.

Luo Ping didn’t know how quickly his father and grandfather had given up on him; he only saw the unfairness of fate.

Old Man Luo, reluctant with money, nevertheless sent fifty yuan to Luo An with a tearful account of the family’s hardships, telling her to work hard in the countryside and support herself.

Houshan Village.

Luo An had caught another rabbit; Duan Jia happily busied herself in the kitchen, already planning a letter home to boast about the wonderful roommate who fed her meat and had fattened her up.

She’d always heard how harsh going down to the countryside could be — but she was living better than at home. If her brother heard, he might run back on the next bus.

They’d barely finished eating when Yu Sheng and Xu Quan rushed over with urgent news.

“The Youth Office wants you two to come by tomorrow.”

Duan Jia was puzzled. “Why call only the two of us?”

“I don’t know, but something feels off,” Yu Sheng said, frowning. “If it were important, they’d call us all. Why summon just the two girls?”

His mind raced with things he’d heard before; he grew anxious. What if they wanted to do something to them? Could they escape it?

“Shall we go with you tomorrow?”