A Cannon-Fodder Alpha Marked The Future Villainess After Transmigrating Into A Novel - Chapter 5

There was only one outsider family in the village, but Xie Jing did not know much about them. The original novel had never explained it. Still, she guessed there was a good chance they were Ning Yunqing’s family.

She had only just arrived in this world, and the information transmitted by the system contained nothing about Ning Yunqing’s relatives. This was the perfect opportunity to ask around.

At that thought, Xie Jing brightened.

“Is that Ning family very poor?”

The moment she finished speaking, all three people at the table turned to stare at her.

Zhao Cui’e was the first to speak.

“Have you gone stupid?”

“…”

Xie Jing rubbed her forehead.

It seemed her question had been far too foolish. In this era, whose family was not poor?

She reorganized her words.

“What I mean is, the people in that Ning family…”

Xie Jing hesitated.

How was she supposed to ask?

Everyone lived in the same village. What could there possibly be that the original character did not already know?

Zhao Cui’e shot her a sidelong glance.

“Eat properly. Stop asking pointless questions.”

“…”

Xie Jing’s plan was mercilessly crushed.

She sighed softly. It seemed she would have to learn about Ning Yunqing’s situation little by little.

However, judging from Xie Dahai and Zhao Cui’e’s words and tones earlier, she could tell that they looked down on the Ning family.

Xie Jing did not ask anything else. After finishing dinner, she returned to her room.

She had marked Ning Yunqing here earlier that day. The moment she lay on the bed, she could still faintly smell the lingering scent of rose tea in the air—sweet, with the slightest hint of bitterness.

Xie Jing abruptly sat up, jumped out of bed barefoot, and rummaged through the cabinet for suppressant ointment. She smeared it over her gland, and the cooling sensation immediately suppressed the restlessness inside it.

No wonder people said that once fed and warm, the mind turned to lust.

She had only just eaten her fill.

Xie Jing sighed and lay back down.

This time, the agitation had finally faded. After an exhausting day, combined with her susceptible period, she soon fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Ning Yunqing and her younger sister, Ning Niannian, entered a dilapidated mud-brick house.

Half the outer wall had already collapsed.

Ning Yunqing gently pushed open the rotting door, half of which had fallen apart. The room inside was dark and contained nothing but a broken wooden bed.

She carefully spread the mushrooms she had gathered that day across the bedboards.

“Fourth Sister, don’t go gathering mushrooms there anymore. That mountain is too dangerous.”

Ning Niannian looked at her sister with heartache written all over her face.

Ning Yunqing smiled.

“As long as your illness can be cured, I’m not afraid of danger.”

Five years ago, Ning Niannian had suddenly fainted while playing in the courtyard.

When they took her to the village’s barefoot doctor, he said she had a heart condition—a potentially fatal illness. She could not run, jump, or do heavy work and needed to be examined at a major hospital.

Ning Fugui refused to spend money on a hospital visit. She was only a worthless little girl, after all. If she died, then she died.

Their mother, Liu Dani, also favored sons over daughters and always put her three boys first. Why would she care whether her daughters lived or died?

All these years, Ning Yunqing had been the one caring for her younger sister.

She had heard the educated youths say that people in the city liked eating wild mushrooms, so she had risked entering the mountain to gather them. She wanted to sell them and use the money to take her sister to the hospital.

The only thing she had never expected was that she would be deceived by that bastard Xie Jing!

Ning Yunqing bit her lip and took out the cloth bundle Xie Jing had given her.

When she unwrapped it, Ning Niannian’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Sister, where did you get that?”

Ning Yunqing lowered her eyes and pressed her lips together.

“Don’t ask so many questions. Hurry and eat it. If we take it home and they see it, they’ll only snatch it away.”

Ning Niannian stared at the cornbread bun and swallowed.

Their family drank nothing but wild-vegetable soup all year round. Only her older brothers were allowed to eat cornbread buns like this.

“Did that sister from earlier give it to you?” Ning Niannian asked, tilting her little face upward.

Ning Yunqing’s heart tightened, and her fingers curled slightly.

Afraid Ning Niannian would notice anything, she forced out a smile and said gently, “Hurry and eat.”

If one listened carefully, there was still a trace of unnaturalness in her voice.

“Why did that sister give this to you? Does she like you?” Ning Niannian continued relentlessly.

Ning Yunqing froze.

Why had Xie Jing given it to her?

Probably because she felt guilty.

She sighed softly. Afraid Ning Niannian would keep questioning her, she deliberately put on a stern expression.

“Children shouldn’t talk nonsense about adult matters.”

Ning Niannian pouted.

“You don’t have to tell me. I already know. Fourth Sister is so beautiful, so that sister must like you.”

Unable to withstand the questioning any longer, Ning Yunqing shoved the cornbread bun into the little girl’s hands.

“Hurry up and eat!”

Ning Niannian lowered her head and looked at the bun in her hands.

She knew her sister always put her first, so she broke the bun in half and held one piece out to Ning Yunqing.

“We’ll each have half.”

“I’m not hungry. You eat it.”

Ning Yunqing curved her lips into a smile.

How could she not be hungry?

That morning, she had eaten only a bowl of wild-vegetable soup. Then Xie Jing had forcibly marked her, and she had practically stumbled home on trembling legs.

At noon, there had not even been any wild-vegetable soup in the house.

After that, she had carried her bamboo basket along the mountain paths for half the day before entering the mountain to gather mushrooms.

By now, hunger had made acid churn in her stomach.

The sight of that half bun made her eyes burn.

“If you won’t eat, then neither will I.”

Ning Niannian looked stubbornly at her sister.

Unable to refuse her, Ning Yunqing accepted it with tears in her eyes.

After the sisters shared the single cornbread bun, they quietly left the abandoned house and headed home.

The moment they entered the courtyard, Liu Dani’s harsh voice rang out.

“I told you to dig for wild vegetables! Where did you disappear to? Were you out fooling around with some wild man?”

Ning Yunqing lowered her head and set down the bamboo basket.

She had long since grown accustomed to her family’s vicious words.

When Liu Dani saw that she did not answer, she stormed out while cursing and snatched the basket away.

“You wretched girl! You didn’t bring back a single thing! What are you expecting this family to eat?”

As she shouted, she grabbed the broom beside her and began striking Ning Yunqing with it.

Ning Yunqing did not dodge.

She endured every blow.

She knew that unless she allowed Liu Dani to hit her, the matter would never end.

“Stop hitting Fourth Sister! Stop hitting her!”

Ning Niannian cried as she wrapped her arms around Ning Yunqing.

Afraid Liu Dani would strike her younger sister instead, Ning Yunqing pulled her protectively into her arms.

The blows continued landing on her body, one after another.

Ning Yunqing gritted her teeth and remained completely silent.

Once Liu Dani grew tired, she threw the broom onto the ground and cursed viciously.

“Giving birth to a daughter like you must be the worst luck from eight lifetimes! All you know how to do is eat, yet you can’t even bring back a mouthful of wild vegetables.”

Still not satisfied, she glared fiercely at Ning Yunqing.

“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and make dinner! Are you trying to starve the whole family?”

Ning Yunqing clenched her teeth and whispered to Ning Niannian, “I’m fine. Go back to the room for now.”

With tears in her eyes, Ning Niannian shook her head.

“Be good. Go back inside first,” Ning Yunqing said.

“Why are you both still standing there?” Liu Dani shouted again in displeasure.

Ning Niannian trembled in Ning Yunqing’s arms.

She gave her sister a worried look before lowering her head and returning to the room.

Only after she had left did Ning Yunqing limp toward the kitchen.

There was nothing in the house.

The rice jar had been empty for a long time.

Ning Yunqing pressed her lips together, found some dried wild vegetables in the cabinet, placed them in a basin, and added water to soak them.

By dinnertime, the rest of the Ning family had returned.

When Ning Dabao saw another basin of wild-vegetable soup, he glanced at it and complained unhappily, “Wild-vegetable soup again? We’ve been eating this for days.”

Ning Erbao immediately agreed.

“Exactly. Dad, haven’t we saved up quite a lot of work points? Why don’t we ask the production team leader to advance us some grain? How are we supposed to have the strength to work if we drink wild-vegetable soup every day?”

Ning Fugui slammed his bowl heavily onto the table.

The sharp crack instantly silenced everyone.

Ning Dabao glared at Ning Erbao.

“What are you making such a racket for? Isn’t every family living like this?” Ning Fugui said.

He swept his gaze over his children and found every one of them irritating.

Just then, Ning Sanbao came in from outside.

He was the only Alpha in the family.

The moment he sat down, he frowned and looked toward Ning Yunqing.

“What is that smell? It’s disgusting.”

Ning Yunqing’s heart lurched.

She had been marked by Xie Jing that day, so there was undoubtedly an Alpha’s scent on her body.

Alphas and Omegas instinctively rejected pheromones from those of the same classification.

This was especially true for a marked Omega like her. Other Alphas would naturally avoid approaching her.

Had Ning Sanbao noticed?

“What smell?” Ning Fugui asked.

Ning Sanbao suddenly stared at Ning Yunqing and exclaimed, “You’ve been marked!”

“What?!”

The moment he said it, everyone at the table turned to look at Ning Yunqing.

Liu Dani’s eyes filled with venom.

She immediately grabbed the fire poker and struck Ning Yunqing hard across the back.

“You shameless little slut! Tell me! Who was it?”

Ning Yunqing gritted her teeth and said nothing.

Her silence only made Liu Dani angrier.

“You let someone mark you before you were even married! If word gets out, you’ll disgrace the entire Ning family!”

The Ning family’s reputation?

Did the Ning family have any dignity left to lose?

Ning Yunqing bit down hard on her lip.

Liu Dani’s stick came down like pouring rain.

“Are you going to tell me or not? I’ll beat a shameless thing like you to death!”

“Mom, Mom!”

Ning Sanbao suddenly stepped forward and stopped Liu Dani.

“Calm down first.”

Liu Dani was also growing tired from the beating.

She continued cursing, “If you still refuse to tell me, I’ll beat you to death and pretend I never gave birth to you!”

“Mom, calm down first,” Ning Sanbao repeated.

“Third Brother, what are you doing?” Ning Dabao suddenly said. “She did something like this. Just let Mom beat her to death. It’ll save her from disgracing our family once everyone finds out.”

“What do you know?” Ning Sanbao snapped.

He pulled Liu Dani aside and whispered a few words into her ear.

When Liu Dani returned, the fury from moments earlier had disappeared from her face.

She tossed the fire poker beside the stove and glanced at Ning Yunqing.

“What are you still standing there for? Hurry back to your room. Stop making a disgrace of yourself here.”

Ning Yunqing said nothing.

Supporting her battered body, she left the dining room.

“Fourth Sister, I’ll help you.”

Ning Niannian quickly took hold of her arm.

Ning Yunqing shook her head.

“I’m fine. Stay and eat.”

“I’ll help you back,” Ning Niannian insisted.

“If you leave with her, then you don’t get to eat,” Liu Dani’s spiteful voice came from behind them. “How did I end up giving birth to two worthless burdens like you?”

Before she finished, she added, “Both of you are working in the fields tomorrow. No one is allowed to be lazy.”

If Third Son had not warned her that beating Ning Yunqing too badly would lower the price they could sell her for, Liu Dani truly would have beaten this worthless girl to death.

If Ning Yunqing had to work in the fields, she would have no chance to return to the mountain and gather mushrooms.

She pressed her lips together and said to Ning Niannian, “Be good and stay here to eat. Fourth Sister is fine.”

She gently removed Ning Niannian’s hand and limped toward the room.

Ning Niannian watched her sister leave, then glanced at the wild-vegetable soup on the table.

She had already eaten half a cornbread bun that day. Although she was not full, she was not terribly hungry either.

Gritting her teeth, she turned and ran after Ning Yunqing.

…