PCJ – Chapter 79 Eating alone

*Smack!*

Usually, Ma Sibao, who could get a generous compensation just by crying, received a slap this time.

“Crying, crying, all you know is crying. If it weren’t for you causing trouble outside, how could your father end up like this?” The one hitting him was Ma Sibao’s indulgent mother, Liu Yuehong. Normally, Liu Yuehong couldn’t bear to hit Ma Sibao. Anyone in the family who dared to touch Ma Sibao would have to face Liu Yuehong’s wrath. But this time, she really laid a heavy hand on him. It was the first time she had hit her darling son so severely.

Ma Sibao was dumbfounded; the plot had completely gone awry. This was supposed to be his usual protective shield; how could it…how could…wow…baby doesn’t agree!

Ma Sibao hadn’t fully entered his usual state of crying, and another storm was upon him.

*Slap, slap, slap…*

The slaps sounded like firecrackers on Ma Sibao’s face, covering his tender, dark, rural-kid face with blood-red fingerprints.

“Crying, crying, let you cry! Cry again, and I’ll beat you to death!” Liu Yuehong suddenly transformed into a completely frenzied beast.

The neighbors were all disgusted with Ma An’s family, especially this spoiled brat, watching him get beaten. There was an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. Only when Ma Sibao suffered the second wave of beatings did a neighbor symbolically pull him aside.

Ma Sibao was completely stunned; everything was deviating from the usual script. If he used his old tricks again, he might end up crippled by this mad beast. So, he chose to remain quiet, but the sadness in his heart was difficult to suppress, silent sobbing, body twitching violently.

Liu Yuehong’s murderous gaze made Ma Sibao tremble every time.

Zhang Jiaohua ate a cookie, then clapped his hands to clean off the crumbs. While watching Ma Sibao get beaten, he enjoyed his favorite cookie very much.

“Look! Ma An’s skin isn’t as dark as before!”

Suddenly, someone in the crowd excitedly shouted.

Everyone immediately turned their gaze to Ma An. Sure enough! The body that was initially somewhat darkened due to poisoning had gradually begun to return to normal skin color.

This discovery was pleasantly surprising; shedding the black color meant that the snake venom in Ma An’s body might have begun to be slowly neutralized by the snake water.

However, Ma An had been affected by the snake venom for so long; the extent of damage to his body was unpredictable. Due to being bitten by poisonous snakes in multiple places, a large amount of toxins entered Ma An’s body. The reason these snake venom toxins were lethal was that they could cause severe damage to human organs, even leading to organ failure. Even if the snake water cleared the toxins from Ma An’s body, could Ma An recover his health?

Everyone harbored such doubts. Zhang Jiaohua also didn’t know what miraculous effects his water had. He had encountered situations like Ma An’s with the old Taoist. In a dream, the old Taoist took him to save a villager who had accidentally entered the snake valley. When the villager was brought back by the villagers, he had been bitten by poisonous snakes in multiple places. His entire body was as black as Ma An’s, resembling an African. The old Taoist simply gave the man a bowl of water, and he was brought back from the brink of death.

“Little Master, why hasn’t Anzi woken up yet? Is there anything else we can do?” After waiting for a long time and Ma An still hadn’t awakened, Ma Changzhi couldn’t help but ask Zhang Jiaohua.

“You didn’t see how he looked just now. The fact that he can look like this now is already a great stroke of luck. Go and feel if he still has a heartbeat.” Zhang Jiaohua was a little impatient. If it were the old Taoist, and someone doubted him like this, he would have slapped them right away.

Seeing Zhang Jiaohua’s displeasure, Ma Changzhi regretted it deeply; he shouldn’t have been so anxious. But still following Zhang Jiaohua’s words, he reached out and felt Ma An’s chest. Although he didn’t feel a heartbeat, he felt warmth at Ma An’s chest. Previously, Ma An’s body was as cold as a corpse. Ma Changzhi didn’t understand medical skills, his hands were rough with calluses, and his senses weren’t that sensitive, naturally, he couldn’t feel Ma An’s weak heartbeat.

However, Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t worried at all because he could see the death energy dissipating from Ma An’s body while his yang energy became stronger. It indicated that Ma An was improving, and at worst, he was hanging by a thread.

After a while, Ma Changzhi’s wife, He Ximei, came over and said that the meal was ready. She asked if they should eat first outside or wait for Ma An to wake up before eating.

“Who knows when he’ll wake up? I’m starving. Your family is really something. Even when the King of Hell sends hungry ghosts to work for you, you still have to starve them? I said you should send me back first, but you insisted on making me stay.” Zhang Jiaohua was unhappy; children couldn’t manage so many things, so he spoke very frankly, making Ma Changzhi’s family embarrassed.

“Then let’s eat first.” Ma Changzhi was embarrassed and had to arrange for everyone to eat.

As soon as they entered the house, Zhang Jiaohua said, “We have a rule in the Water Division; before eating, we must pay respects to the ancestors. The chicken and duck must be whole; any shortage is unacceptable. Otherwise, the ancestors will blame us for eating leftovers. I’m telling you now; if the water doesn’t work later, don’t blame me.”

Ma Changzhi quickly glanced at his wife, and He Ximei hurriedly ran to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of chicken, containing a chicken leg and several pieces of breast meat. She found it difficult to understand why the chicken was only enough for him.

Why did Zhang Jiaohua say that? In fact, as soon as he entered, he saw that the bowl of meat didn’t seem right. Did his eyes deceive him? He immediately noticed that there was only one chicken leg inside, with the characteristic parts like phoenix head and chicken wing, but why were there only a few pieces of breast meat? The chicken wing also had only one. It turned out that they were trying to pass off one chicken wing as a chicken leg.

When the old Taoist went out to do temple duties or eat, good things had to be eaten until he was full and satisfied, before anyone else could eat. The Ma family, on the other hand, took advantage of him being a child and tried to cut corners.

If the Ma family hadn’t started out like this, Zhang Jiaohua might not have been prepared to eat alone. But now it was different.

With a twist of his eyes, Zhang Jiaohua said, “We also have a rule in the Water Division that when eating, we must invite all the ancestors to come, and we can only sit at the lower end of the table ourselves. I can’t break this rule; otherwise, the ancestors will blame me, and that won’t be good.”

Originally, everyone thought that after Zhang Jiaohua paid respects to the ancestors, they could start eating. Unexpectedly, Zhang Jiaohua suddenly made such a request. For a moment, the atmosphere became awkward, and everyone didn’t know whether to advance or retreat. But no one dared to act out. They were in need of this little brat’s help now and wouldn’t risk offending him over a meal.

Embarrassed, Ma Changzhi forced a smile. “Then we’ll wait outside.”

Waving his hand, Ma Changzhi let everyone wait outside.

Ma Sibao, who had just been beaten up, originally thought he could come and eat heartily to make up for it. Who knew that when he reached the door, he could only smell the delicious aroma but couldn’t enter. Seeing his grandmother bringing out a bowl of chicken clearly meant for him, his heart broke.