CHATER 902

Half an hour later, the woman had cooked the meal and invited Estelle to dig in

It was regular country bread, along with two main dishes- a vegan local veggie stew, and some fried

wild mushrooms with home-pickled meat. In this village, this could be considered a feast.

Estelle noticed that only she was served, while the woman was just watching with her child in arms.

She kindly offered, “Come on, join in!”

The woman immediately shook her head. Perhaps she was worried that Estelle might not pay if they

ate together.

“I’m treating the kids, come on over!” Estelle pushed the two dishes to the center.

Only then did the woman come over with the children. She grabbed two slices of rye bread and started

eating at the table.

The boy snatched a slice of pickled meat first. After stuffing it in his mouth, his eyes were glued to the

meat on the plate.

The girl, however, was munching on the greens, never touching the meat, but occasionally sneaking a

peek at it. Estelle served her a piece, and after a glance at her mother, the girl gave the meat to her

brother.

The woman smiled at Estelle and said, “She doesn’t fancy meat.”

Estelle didn’t say a thing, and just kept eating her meal.

After the meal, Estelle gave the woman some money, which she happily accepted.

But before the smile on the woman’s face faded, her expression changed and she turned around to

scold, “Beatty, what the hell are you doing?”

Estelle turned around to see a piece of meat still on the plate. The girl couldn’t resist and tried to grab it

while doing the dishes.

As soon as the woman shouted, the girl was startled and dropped the meat. The boy next to her also

started crying out of fear.

The woman was even more furious. She picked up a wooden stick nearby, and started walloping the

girl. The first hit landed on the girl’s neck. The girl didn’t dare to cry. She only tried to dodge it

“You shameless pig. You glutton. I’ll beat the hell out of you!”

She mercilessly swung the stick at the girl, who couldn’t help screaming for mercy. There were bloody

marks on her arm and face.

Estelle stepped forward to stop her, “Enough! It’s just a piece of meat, don’t beat the kid!”

The girl hid under the table in terror. Her eyes widened and her body trembled

Panting, the woman stopped and started comforting the crying boy in her arms. She glared at the girl

with hatred, “Try being greedy again.”

The girl was sobbing uncontrollably.

Estelle took her to the yard. She took out some antiseptic from her bag and gently applied it to her

wounds, “Why didn’t you escape? Run far away!”

The girl was still crying and shook her head, “If I run, she’ll beat me harder when I come back!”

Estelle paused with the medicine in her hand, feeling heavy-hearted. She looked up and smiled, “Then

grow up fast, study hard, and get out of here, go far

away

The girl nodded, not fully understanding.

“Miss! The girl timidly looked at her, with a trembling hand, she took something out of her pocket and

gave it to Estelle, “This is for you!”

In the girl’s hand was a red ball, made of leather. This is from .

As Estelle reached out to take it, she pushed the girl away and threw the ball away in the next second.

“Bang

The red ball exploded in the air, its shell scattering like petals. A pale powder dispersed in the air and

was quickly blown away by the wind.