Chapter 6

Aunt Brenda cracked sunflower seeds, laughing sarcastically.

“Serves her right!”

Cousin Brad poked his head out from inside, hearing the commotion.

When my mom had first picked him up from school, he’d affectionately called her Auntie.

Now, he held small pebbles in his hand, throwing them one after another at my mom’s back.

“Serves her right!”

I glared at him, and Brad seemed to get energized.

“What are you glaring at, you worthless burden! Get out of my house!”

He threw a pebble at me.

Aunt Brenda and Grandma happily clapped.

“Good boy! That’s the spirit!”

I immediately scurried out, picked up a small rock from the yard, and threw it at his head.

My strength was too small, though, and it didn’t hurt him.

But Grandma and Aunt Brenda immediately grew frantic.

“You worthless drain, are you out of control?!”

“Get over here! I’m going to send you away today, no matter what!”

Grandma grabbed my arm, trying to pull me over.

I turned and clung to my mom’s leg, holding on tightly.

“Mom, I don’t want to go! I want to stay with you!”

Grandma, enraged, was about to pick up the stick again.

My mom blocked me.

“You can hit me, but you can’t touch my daughter!”

“If you two cause any more trouble, I’ll take you all down with me!”

“Fine, you win!”

Grandma huffily threw the stick aside.

She gave my mom a cold look.

“Fine, you want to leave, then get out. I won’t stop you. From now on, don’t ever step foot in this house again.”

With that, she turned and left.

“Big Sister, some things, once said, aren’t good for family harmony.”

“You should apologize to Mom soon, or else you’ll suffer for it later.”

With that, Aunt Brenda dragged Brad away, chuckling.

Leaving my mom to pack our things.

I secretly took my mom’s hand.

“Mom, Iris is here too.”

“Okay, Iris, be a good girl.”

My mom wiped the plastic ring that had fallen to the ground, then placed it in my palm.

As my mom packed, Grandma and Aunt Brenda kept chatting inside.

Their loud laughter occasionally drifted out from within.

“…She’s been a worthless drain since she was little…”

“…Her daughter’s not much better, still a money pit…”

They still thought my mom was just talking tough.

Their voices showed no restraint.

Clearly, they intended for my mom to hear them.

My mom listened in silence.

Until she finished packing, my mom told me to wait outside with the luggage.

She turned and went back inside.

I peeked my head in curiously.

I watched my mom open the chicken coop, the duck coop, and the pigsty, then, without a word, she herded all the livestock out of the door.

I quickly moved aside, then watched my mom rush into the kitchen.

My mom grabbed a basket of eggs and forcefully smashed them onto Aunt Brenda’s face, who was the first to emerge.

Then Grandma, and finally my cousin Brad.

Brad got the most eggs smashed on him.

My mom laughed wildly as she smashed the eggs.

“Serves you right, serves you right!”

The house was in chaos, but my mom wasn’t finished.

She grabbed a shovel and scooped pig manure, flinging it directly into every room.

Until the neighbors heard the commotion and rushed over. My mom immediately dropped the shovel and shrieked, fleeing in a panic.

“Help! My mom thinks I’m bad at chores and wants to sell my daughter!”

“If I don’t let her, she’s kicking me out of the house!”

Grandma and Aunt Brenda didn’t even have time to explain. The neighbors held their noses and pointed fingers at them.

“I see Elara working hard from dawn till dusk every day, and they still want to kick her out.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t know this family is heartless? They sold off three of their own daughters back then!”

“This little girl is only five, so cute. How could her grandmother be so cruel?”

“Serves them right, this family will get their comeuppance eventually!”

The neighbors’ accusations made Grandma and Aunt Brenda unable to lift their heads.

Soon after, our door was shut.

My mom took me and left Grandma’s house, heading straight for the county seat.

My mom spent all her money and bought a house near an elementary school.

At that time, the concept of a "school district" hadn't been fully recognized, but my mom just wanted it to be convenient for me to go to school later.

It was my mom’s first time living outside the countryside.

But she had grit and vitality.

She quickly adapted to this new world.

Using her past experience managing the small store at our house, she applied for a cashier position at a supermarket.