Bo Xin curled her lips into a smile. "So now you have the strength to hit back, right?"
Jiang Yuxu paused, his eyes on her fair, delicate fingers—completely unaccustomed to hardship, so different from his own life.
He wasn't used to being so close to anyone, especially someone who had just looked at him with disdain.
She had suddenly stood up, walked over to him, and without explanation started examining his wounds. Bossy.
His dark eyes fixed on her. "If I can beat him, will you take me away?"
No respect, too lazy to even use a polite address.
But that was the real son's personality—he didn't want to admit defeat in front of someone he cared about.
Bo Xin: "That depends on your performance."
Jiang Yuxu shot her a skeptical glance. Just a moment ago, she had been trying to shake him off; now she was changing her mind so fast.
But... it felt a little better than before.
His eyes wandered over the Jiang family members, then after a moment's thought, they landed directly on Li Qiang'an.
Li Qiang'an was lingering by the door, dirty and not allowed inside—all because of that troublesome city woman.
His mom told him to bear with it, promising him White Rabbit candy after tonight. He had lost two teeth, so his speech whistled. "What do you want?! You're nothing but a jinx nobody wants! Everyone who comes near you ends up unlucky.
Killing your parents wasn't enough—now you're leeching off our family's money."
Li Qiang'an remembered that Jiang Yuxu's father was like that, so he should be, too—given food to eat, he should work like a beast of burden for their family.
What had he said wrong?
Jiang Yuxu rolled up his sleeves and sneered. "You're not wrong."
"Then what are you doing now?"
"I want to make the rumor more real."
Wasn't the rumor that everyone who came into contact with him had bad luck? So why were the Lis still alive and kicking?
Li Qiang'an swallowed hard. He'd never felt Jiang Yuxu so intimidating before.
He stiffened his neck and lifted his head defiantly. "You think you can beat me?"
He was strong and sturdy; his grandparents praised him as a martial champion for moving a stool. A martial champion could beat anyone, let alone Jiang Yuxu, that little scrawny monkey.
Jiang Yuxu ate cornmeal buns every day and had to feed the pigs and cut pigweed. He was thin but not weak—he could carry thirty or forty pounds of pig slop.
He usually didn't fight back because if he did, the Li adults would teach him a lesson. That didn't mean he couldn't win.
Besides, he always thought Li Qiang'an, "really suits the pig slop."
His fat head would fit perfectly into the bucket—tight and flush. No matter how he struggled, the stench filled his nostrils.
The bucket echoed with retching and crying, but Jiang Yuxu was unmoved. He was used to that smell every day; it was high time Li Qiang'an got a good whiff.
He stepped aside as Jiang Cuijuan rushed over anxiously to rescue her precious son.
Normally, he would never do this. But now, with Bo Xin present, he realized he might have been impulsive. What if Bo Xin still planned not to take him back?
He pressed his lips together and looked at Bo Xin.
Then he raised his eyebrows, pretending not to care as he wiped the dust off his hands.
"So, now? Can you take me back now?"