Upon seeing Hu Li, Qin Xiangnuan burst into tears with a loud cry, "Mom, she took my jade, she took my jade."
Hu Li was also startled and reached out to feel around her daughter’s neck, but indeed, the jade was nowhere to be felt.
"Where’s the jade?" she suddenly widened her eyes and jerked Qin Xiangnuan’s small arm harshly.
"Give me the jade," she demanded, her face twisted with rage as she pinched the flesh of Qin Xiangnuan’s arm fiercely. But pinching here and there, where could there be any flesh? It was all bones.
Qin Xiangnuan lifted her head, her face stoically calm. Her arm hurt, but she just kept her mouth tightly shut, her grip on the piece of jade in her hand just as firm. Hu Li, with one hand clutched Qin Xiangnuan’s arm and fumbled around with the other, not noticing Qin Xiangnuan’s tightly clenched fist in her haste.
With a loud slap, Hu Li struck Qin Xiangnuan across the face. Qin Xiangnuan felt a sharp pain at the corner of her mouth and tasted a metallic sweetness, then felt something running down her lips. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and indeed, there was blood – she had been hit hard enough to bleed. She spat out the blood in her mouth; thankfully, no teeth had fallen out, but her mouth had been split open.
"Will you give it or not?" Hu Li’s voice was shrill and fierce.
Qin Xiangnuan remained standing silently, not moving an inch.
Frustrated, Hu Li pushed Qin Xiangnuan roughly, causing her to fall to the ground, and then kicked her small body with force.
Qin Xiangnuan knew what it felt like to be beaten. She protected her head with her arms, curled up into a small prawn-like shape. She didn’t cry, shout, or make a scene; she just bit down hard on her knuckle.
Hu Li seemed to have gone mad, relentlessly stomping her large foot down on the small body lying on the floor.
"Nuannuan..." Qin Xiangyang had just returned to witness Hu Li hitting Qin Xiangnuan.
"Mom, don’t hit my sister."
He lunged forward, enveloping Qin Xiangnuan in a tight embrace, yet Hu Li’s beating was not yet sated, with nails sharp as daggers, she continued to tear at Qin Xiangyang and his sister.
Qin Xiangyang, already sickly with a ghostly pale face, was now covered with numerous injuries from the beating, while Qin Xiangnuan’s situation was even worse, with her small face bruised purple and blue, her mouth split open, and her arms and legs nearly devoid of any unscathed skin – even the cotton filling was ripped out of her clothes by Hu Li’s violent tugging.
Qin Xiangmei quickly ran to Qin Guohua as soon as she saw him coming and clung to his legs.
"Daddy, the wretched girl stole my jade, Daddy, can you get the jade back for Meimei, please? Meimei wants the jade, it’s the jade mom gave me."
Qin Guohua picked up Qin Xiangmei and did not stop Hu Li from beating his own children. He stood coldly aside, as if the two kids were not his own but rather a dog, a dog that failed to guard the house and deserved the beating.
It was only after Hu Li ran out of steam and finished hitting them that he approached with Qin Xiangmei in his arms.
"Where is the jade?" he asked coldly the two siblings sprawled pitifully on the ground.
"Where is the jade?" His voice raised in volume.
Scared, Qin Xiangmei in his arms also jumped from the sound.
"Where is my daughter’s jade?" Hu Li added, still panting from the exertion of the beating.
Qin Xiangyang, with his not so large hands, shielded his little sister’s head, hugging her tightly to his chest, presenting his back to Hu Li.