I Crossed Over with My Enemy, Only to Find Him Running the Empire - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Thinking You’re Feeding a Pig?

Li Qiaoqiao grabbed two coarse ceramic bowls. She filled the first one to the brim; the porridge was scalding hot. Then she took a smaller bowl and filled it about three-quarters full.

“Third Sister-in-law, I’ll head over now to bring this to Mother and Tieniu-ge.”

“Go on, go on. Be careful, it’s hot,” Liu-shi waved her off, turning back to tidy up the stove.

Li Qiaoqiao stepped out into the courtyard. The dirt path had been baked hard by the sun, feeling uneven and a bit sharp under her feet. Her tattered straw sandals made a rhythmic pa-ta, pa-ta sound. The surroundings were deathly quiet, save for the faint, distant calls of a farmer urging his ox in the mountain hollow.

Through the thin, dilapidated wooden door of the room, a muffled sobbing sound—thick like water-soaked cotton—seeped out.

“Oh, Heavens… What sin did I commit to deserve this…” Zhang Jinhua’s suppressed, tearful voice pricked at Li Qiaoqiao’s ears.

Li Qiaoqiao froze, standing paralyzed on the mud ground two steps away from the door. The sun splashed across her back, warm and pleasant, but a sudden chill shot up her spine.

What is the old woman acting up for now?

Zhang Jinhua’s crying grew even lower, broken by gasps: “…Back then, in those years of war and chaos… I was carrying you in my belly, begging for food all along the way, stumbling until we finally found a place to settle in this mountain corner. The cold seeped right into my marrow…”

She seemed to sniffle hard, her voice trembling even more. “I finally managed to give birth to you, but then the cave collapsed! The rocks and mud from the whole mountain came crashing down…”

Li Qiaoqiao felt her heart tighten and held her breath. Through a crack in the door panels, she saw the silhouette lying on the earthen kang bed. The “fool” had his eyes closed, motionless, save for the almost imperceptible rise and fall of the quilt.

He’s playing dead quite convincingly!

“Your mother was useless. When I dug you out of the mud pile, your tiny face was purple from holding your breath… Your breath…” Zhang Jinhua choked up, her finger seemingly poking something soft—likely the cheek of the person on the bed. “It’s all my fault for being useless, for delaying the moment, which made you turn out like this…”

“I’ve failed you, Tieniu. But don’t you worry. Your mother spends day and night spinning thread and doing odd jobs; I’m saving money! Even if I have to sell everything we own, I’ll take you out of this poor mountain gully to the provincial capital to find a doctor who can save you!”

So, the fool’s condition was brain damage caused by suffocation.

An inexplicable bitterness welled up in Li Qiaoqiao’s heart. How could a few brief sentences in a book ever compare to the raw, bloody confession of a living person whispered in her ear? The image of Zhang Jinhua as an eternally cruel and heartless old hag seemed to shift slightly in that instant.

Almost simultaneously, Wu Ya, who had been “playing corpse” on the kang for a long time, suddenly twitched. An indistinct gurgle came from his throat before he snapped his eyes open, staring straight at the thatched ceiling.

“Hungry… Mother… I’m hungry…” He wailed at the top of his lungs, his hands flailing wildly against the bed. That perfect image of a fool was so convincing that anyone watching would believe it.

Li Qiaoqiao, hidden behind the door, narrowed her eyes sharply.

This kid! His timing is impeccable!

Zhang Jinhua’s guilt was currently so thick it was practically liquid. His wail was like a ladle of boiling oil thrown onto a fire—it sent her sense of debt skyrocketing!

Is this a fool? This is a fox spirit in human skin!

Zhang Jinhua wiped her face clean, but just as she raised her hand to stroke her son’s head, Li Qiaoqiao took a sharp breath and pushed the door open with a loud creak.

The light in the room was dim. Zhang Jinhua, like a stray cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly sprang up from the edge of the kang. Traces of tears and snot still hung on her face, but her gaze had already switched back to being sharp and fierce: “Looking for death? Don’t you know how to make a sound before entering?”

Spittle nearly sprayed onto Li Qiaoqiao’s face.

Li Qiaoqiao kept her eyes lowered, walking quickly toward the kang with the bowls. Her voice was low, carrying the submissiveness of a little daughter-in-law: “Mother, you should rest. I’ll feed my husband.”

Her eyes darted a quick signal toward the bed—Opportunity! Quick, follow my lead!

But Wu Ya, lying on the bed, seemed not to see her look at all. His face, which had just been screaming for food, was now grinning foolishly toward his mother. He bared his uneven teeth in a silly laugh, his gaze drifting stickily downward to stare at the chipped ceramic bowl.

He completely and utterly ignored the urgent signals Li Qiaoqiao was shooting his way.

A surge of rage flared up in Li Qiaoqiao’s chest. If she hadn’t been suppressing it with all her might, she would have dumped that ceramic bowl right onto this faking bastard’s head!

Thoughts raced through her mind—This son of a bitch! Is he afraid I’ll actually steal his pig slop? He’s protecting his food even while playing crazy? Is he part-beast or what?

Zhang Jinhua felt that it was her motherly devotion that had touched her son. His foolish dependency greatly comforted her broken heart.

“I don’t need you!” She straightened her back and rolled up her sleeves, practically snatching the bowl from Li Qiaoqiao’s hands. “My son, I’ll take care of him myself! Stand aside, you’re in the way!”

Li Qiaoqiao watched as the bowl was snatched away. Her hands felt empty, and her heart sank with them.

“Mother…” Li Qiaoqiao’s voice was urgent, her body unconsciously moving half a step closer to the kang. “You’ve been tired all afternoon, this task…”

“Get lost!” Zhang Jinhua’s voice suddenly spiked, sounding like a rusted blade scraping against sheet metal. “Are you deaf or blind? Tieniu wants his mother to feed him! Did you hear me? If you keep standing there being an eyesore, don’t even think about eating tonight!”

That gaze, like poisoned needles, pricked her viciously. Li Qiaoqiao felt a chill run from her scalp down to her heels, and she was forced to step back.

The bowl in Zhang Jinhua’s hand was heavy, filled so much it was nearly overflowing. She weighed the bowl of coarse rice porridge, her brow furrowing deeply, her knuckles turning white from the grip.

“Did you serve the food today?” Zhang Jinhua didn’t even lift her eyelids; her voice was flat and unreadable.

Li Qiaoqiao’s heart skipped a beat, but she squeezed out a submissive smile: “Yes, Mother. I saw Tieniu has had a good appetite lately, so I served a bit more.”

Only then did Zhang Jinhua lift her eyelids, her sharp eyes scraping over Li Qiaoqiao’s face like knives. Li Qiaoqiao felt her scalp go numb; the smile on her lips almost faltered.

“A good appetite?” Zhang Jinhua sneered, tilting her wrist so the porridge almost spilled. “This is enough for two of his meals. Do you think you’re feeding a pig?”

Li Qiaoqiao’s throat tightened. Her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her patched clothes.

Over these past few days, using the excuse of feeding him, she had indeed served much more each time—half went into Wu Tieniu’s stomach, and half was quietly used to appease her own. She thought she had been discreet, but who would have guessed…

“Mother, I was just afraid Tieniu wouldn’t have enough to eat…” she tried to explain, her voice growing weak.

“Afraid he wouldn’t have enough?” Zhang Jinhua interrupted her, her voice rising sharply before dropping back down into a mocking tone. “Or were you afraid you wouldn’t have enough to eat? Hmm?”

That final “Hmm?” was like a nail, pinning Li Qiaoqiao to the spot. Her cheeks suddenly burned with a stinging heat. Being caught red-handed stealing food was the most humiliating thing in this household.

Zhang Jinhua wouldn’t let her off. Holding the bowl of porridge, she walked toward her, step by step. Her cloth shoes made no sound on the uneven mud floor, yet the pressure made it almost impossible for Li Qiaoqiao to breathe.