Yang Chuxia took a few steps before recalling that the boy seemed to walk with a limp, and he had also been called a cripple by another boy earlier. She looked back at him; the boy walked with one leg longer than the other, and his slender figure looked increasingly desolate.
"Dad, who is he? You called him Brother An, right?"
"He’s also a poor child." Yang Dachuan sighed and spoke slowly, "He is the son of your grandmother’s... your step-grandmother’s niece. Don’t underestimate him; he used to be a nine-year-old Cultivated Talent, and his mind was very intelligent..."
By the time they reached Old Yang Family’s gate, Yang Dachuan had almost finished telling the story about Brother An. However, after hearing his experiences, Yang Chuxia couldn’t help but feel that Old Lady Hua must have played a significant role in this.
As it turned out, Brother An’s real name was Ye Zi’an, and the villagers called him An Ge. He was the son of the village Cultivated Talent, Ye Bosheng, who lost his mother at birth. For many years, it had only been the father and son relying on each other. Unfortunately, the year Ye Zi’an became a Cultivated Talent at the age of nine, a matchmaker recommended Ms. Hua Junior to Ye Bosheng. Ms. Hua Junior was Old Lady Hua’s niece and had two sons entering their family, behind Ye Bosheng’s back, she treated Ye Zi’an harshly while showing utmost affection in front of Ye Bosheng.
Under such circumstances, Ye Zi’an’s life was hard but bearable. However, his misfortune did not end there. A year after Ms. Hua Junior entered the household, Ye Bosheng caught a sudden illness and passed away. With his biological father gone and a stepmother with two sons, one can only imagine the level of Ye Zi’an’s suffering in that family.
He could no longer attend school and had to stay home doing farm work like a beast of burden. On the other hand, what about Ms. Hua Junior’s biological sons? The eldest, Ye Ziping, spent his days idling around the village while the second son was sent to school by their mother.
Furthermore, Ms. Hua Junior still hated Ye Zi’an, constantly finding ways to make life difficult for him. Even her two sons would often hit and kick him.
Later, somehow, the village began spreading rumors that Ye Zi’an had a cursed fate that could bring misfortune upon whoever crossed him, causing the death of both his parents.
Rural people were often superstitious, as evidenced by the issue with the seaweed girl alone. As a result, upon hearing these rumors, the villagers began to keep their distance from Ye Zi’an. Previously, some people had been sympathetic to Ye Zi’an’s plight and helped in private, but even these meager aids disappeared as rumors spread.
Ms. Hua Junior seized this opportunity to drive Ye Zi’an out of the Ye Family. Since her two sons had taken Ye Bosheng’s surname upon her entry into the house, the Ye family’s properties wouldn’t be returned or inherited by the village or the clan, and her sons would retain the right of inheritance.
Originally, Ms. Hua Junior wanted to rally people to drive Ye Zi’an out of the village, but Land Officer Yang couldn’t bear to do so. He allowed Ye Zi’an to stay in the village, building two thatched huts at the back of the village, which became Ye Zi’an’s refuge.
There was a saying in the village: nieces were as venomous as their aunts. Comparing Ms. Hua Junior and Old Lady Hua, one truly outdid the other in wickedness!
There was more to Ye Zi’an’s story. He was not only a Cultivated Talent at age nine but also entitled to silver and rice. It could be said that, even without working, he could make a living based on that alone.