Dormancy 013

“Host, I think you…”

“I didn’t tell her to do anything specific,” Fang Zhiyi said, spreading his hands. “Is it a problem if I keep up the original owner’s uselessness?”

“Uh… I guess not.”

“Well then, I have no flaws now!” Fang Zhiyi clapped his hands together.

Xiaoxiaohei couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but the host really wasn’t much better than the original owner—driving away his parents, mortgaging the house, loafing around, deceiving his wife, and even abusing his own biological daughter…

Hopefully, he wouldn’t get struck by lightning.

“Come here.” Fang Zhiyi waved at Fang Xiaolian. She hesitated, then shuffled over to him.

Fang Zhiyi suddenly raised his hand to strike her. Fang Xiaolian closed her eyes on instinct, but the pain never came.

She opened her eyes. Fang Zhiyi frowned. “What are you closing your eyes for? If you know I’m about to hit you, why don’t you dodge?”

Fang Xiaolian stood there, momentarily stunned.

“Alright, I’ll give you a chance,” Fang Zhiyi said, standing up. “If you can dodge my hand, you get to rest today. If not—hmph.”

Fang Xiaolian hesitated, but Fang Zhiyi didn’t waste any more words. He swung his hand again. After a moment’s delay, she bit her lip and ducked. His hand grazed the top of her head.

Then came his kick. Fang Xiaolian quickly stepped back, narrowly dodging it.

Fang Zhiyi pressed forward and raised his hand again. By now, Fang Xiaolian seemed to be getting the hang of it. Having been beaten by her father so often in the past, she curled up and rolled on the ground, dodging once more.

Fang Zhiyi stared at his daughter as she scrambled to her feet. He let out a cold laugh. “Pretty quick reactions, like a monkey.”

Fang Xiaolian looked at him nervously.

“What are you looking at me for? You want to rest or not? Take a half-hour break!”

From that day on, Fang Zhiyi added yet another way to torment Fang Xiaolian. At first, she was terrified, but over time, she got used to it. She even started to anticipate his next move.

She didn’t always succeed—sometimes she still got hit—but her mindset began to shift.

So her father’s beatings could be dodged. Could she dodge the hits from her older brothers or her stepmother too?

She didn’t have to wait long to find out.

When the two brothers, who had fallen out, saw each other, they turned away. But when they saw Fang Xiaolian, she became their outlet for venting their anger.

“Fang Xiaolian, get over here!” Liu Wen barked when he saw her passing by.

Fang Xiaolian hurried over. “Big Brother.” His nose was a bit crooked, making him look mildly ridiculous.

“Pah, who lets you call me that? You worthless thing. You think just because you go to work every night that you’re something? You ate an extra bite at breakfast this morning, didn’t you?” Liu Wen noticed the twitch at the corner of Fang Xiaolian’s mouth—a sign she was laughing at him—and immediately started picking a fight.

Fang Xiaolian didn’t know how to respond. Liu Wen raised his hand to hit her, but her newly conditioned reflexes made her shrink back and dodge.

“You dare to dodge?” Liu Wen froze, then flew into a rage. He kicked, but Fang Xiaolian stepped back, avoiding him again.

Thwarted twice, Liu Wen lost it completely. “You little bitch, dodge one more time and see what happens!”

Fang Xiaolian stood still. But just as she did, her father’s words echoed in her mind:

“Next time you get beaten up, you’d better come straight back to farm! Studying and still getting beaten like that—I can’t afford that kind of shame!”

Just as Liu Wen’s slap was about to land, she dodged again. His hand smacked against a railing instead, and he howled in pain while clutching it.

“Big Brother, I didn’t mean to…”

“You—how dare you fight back! I’ll tell my mom when I get home! You’re done for!” Liu Wen yelled, then ran off.

Fang Xiaolian’s heart was pounding with anxiety. For the rest of the day, she could only imagine the beatings she’d get from her parents. It seemed inevitable—and worse, what if they made her drop out of school?

Her mind was a mess.

“Violence doesn’t solve problems, but it can solve the people who create them.”

The thought suddenly surfaced in her mind, alongside the memory of her stepmother’s fierce face and her father’s slaps.

In the past, Liu Wen and Liu Wu always walked home together. But since the fallout, Liu Wu left school early, while Liu Wen, a grade above, had to stay later. He was determined to get home and file a good, thorough complaint. That kid, Liu Wu, had hit him. And even that cheap slut Fang Xiaolian dared to look down on him!

But as he walked down the country path, he saw a familiar figure.

“Fang Xiaolian? What are you doing here?” Liu Wen was surprised, then sneered contemptuously. “Come to beg me? It won’t work, I’m telling you. You, Liu Wu—you’re all worthless!”

Fang Xiaolian didn’t answer. She just kept muttering something to herself, like she was trying to psych herself up.

Liu Wen frowned and moved to push her aside, but the moment his hand reached out, Fang Xiaolian grabbed it—and her fist came flying.

“You want to tattle? I’ll give you something to tattle about!”

With that first punch, something inside her seemed to break. An unprecedented surge of exhilaration flooded through her.

Liu Wen started with fierce threats, but soon they turned into pleas. He couldn’t understand how this little bitch had gotten so strong. He had a sinking feeling that if he didn’t beg, she might actually beat him to death.

But Fang Xiaolian didn’t stop. In her eyes, the person she was pinning down was Liu Wen, but also Liu Wu, her stepmother, and even her father. All the pent-up grievances from her childhood erupted in that moment.

Then a voice from not too far away called out: “Hey! What’s going on there!”

Fang Xiaolian snapped back to reality. She scrambled off Liu Wen, took a deep breath, and pointed a finger at his face. “If you dare squeal when you get home, I’ll beat you every single day. I could kill you!”

“I won’t, I won’t squeal no more,” Liu Wen sobbed, covering his face. Every part of his body seemed to ache.

“If I lose the chance to study, I’ll come after you every single day. Remember that!” Fang Xiaolian shouted before running off without looking back, her heart racing.

Liu Wen watched her run until she was out of sight. It took him a while to pick himself up. That crazy little bitch! She dared to hit him! He was definitely going to…

But then it hit him—what if she really did come after him every day? His mom hit her, and she hit him? Wouldn’t he be the one who suffered in the end?

Liu Wen stood there dazed for a moment. If that person hadn’t yelled earlier, he probably would have died, wouldn’t he?

Wait—where was that person? They didn’t even come to check on him?

He looked around, but saw no one.

Meanwhile, strolling down another path, Fang Zhiyi hummed a tune to himself.

“Seems to me, stopping my own biological daughter from assaulting my beloved stepson doesn’t count as breaking the rules, does it?”

“No… but Host, what exactly are you trying to do?” Xiaoxiaohei was genuinely baffled.