Chapter 64: Little Yu…
Walking alone on the way back from school, Xia Yu felt rather liberated despite having no companions. Could this be the advantage of being alone?
As she walked, she soon arrived at a fork in the road. One path led back to the village via a wide main road, while the other, though also leading to the village, was a small path overgrown with wild grass.
Xia Yu still vividly remembered what happened. If not for her and Xia Le’s penchant for taking the shortcut, she wouldn’t have encountered that unfortunate event; now she was stuck in this awkward situation.
Since the incident had already occurred, Xia Yu didn’t blame anyone; she only blamed herself for being useless. As for Older Brother Xia Le escaping afterward, she was glad he could get away. If Xia Le had ended up like her, how terrible would things have been if they’d all returned home? Xia Yu couldn’t bear to think about it.
Right, seeing that small path brought back some painful memories. She wanted to cry but held back, as there were many students on the main road. If she were seen crying by younger classmates, she’d be mortified.
So, Xia Yu decided not to take that small path and instead headed home via the main road. It was partly out of fear and partly because she had lost the adventurous spirit of her childhood—she wasn’t sure why, maybe growing up?
Upon returning home, she unsurprisingly found no one there. Her grandparents likely went to work in the fields, but she didn’t know exactly what kind of work they were doing—maybe planting or weeding. There was too much farm work for her to figure it all out.
What she did know was that her parents had left for work far away. After the kids started school, the parents needed to return to their jobs too.
She put down her bag with books and started doing household chores in the kitchen, including fetching water, cooking, picking vegetables, feeding chickens…
Yes, these tasks usually fell on Xia Yu. As for Xia Le and Xia Ling, forget it—they were the prince and princess of the house, both being showered with affection by either grandparents or parents.
So, leaving Xia Yu, the middle child, with the most work made sense. She used to complain about it, but once she understood her place in the family, she stopped. Perhaps that’s just where she belonged.
Luckily, apart from getting and boiling water, these chores weren’t overly exhausting. Over time, Xia Yu got used to handling them, making it second nature.
Xia Ling came back next. After dropping her bookbag, she hopped outside to play jump rope with her sisters. Girls will be girls, after all.
An hour later, the water was ready, but her grandparents were still out working. Now, there was just Xia Yu at home.
So, she closed the door, then went upstairs with her bag to find clothes for a bath. Forget about going out to play; that was a thing of the past.
Glancing at the set of feminine clothes on the bed, Xia Yu didn’t touch them. Unconsciously, she thought of her classmates’ disdainful looks and wondered—was she really that disgusting?
So, Xia Yu picked a few tattered boy clothes, headed to the bathroom, and decided to return the female clothes to Xia Ling. Perhaps such things simply don’t suit her.
Unbeknownst to herself, Xia Yu’s heart grew increasingly depressed. Wearing women’s clothing? She was born male; she was just a man who had his “bits” removed. Feeling disgusted wasn’t strange; maybe people like her should just disappear like failed experiments.
Slowly, Xia Yu’s clear, innocent eyes lost their sparkle and turned gloomy. She was falling into despair, slowly succumbing to depression, unnoticed by anyone.
Suddenly, Xia Yu saw an unopened box of steel razor blades in the alcove. Her dad or grandpa must have forgotten to pick it up when changing razors.
For a moment, Xia Yu reached out toward that box…
