His cousin Richard Carter, who had always studied at a private school, suddenly came back and told him that someone had caught a huge fish weighing over ten jin in the river, urging Andrew Carter to go into the river to catch fish. Andrew Carter was worried about losing the horse and hesitated, but his cousin patted his chest and promised that with him watching, the horse wouldn’t get lost.

Andrew Carter thought that made sense, so he happily went off to play. But when he came back, both the horse and his cousin were gone.

He frantically searched everywhere, shouting until his voice was hoarse, running until his straw sandals were worn out... but found nothing. He thought for sure his cousin would bring the horse home, but when he got home, he was met by his fierce second aunt. When she heard the horse was lost, she immediately dragged him to the ancestral hall.

The young boy refused to admit fault and loudly argued that it was his cousin who had come back and promised to watch the horse, which was why he went to the river to catch fish. His second aunt beat him even harder!

Richard Carter was her son, her precious darling—honest, obedient, smart, and hardworking, always diligent in his studies every day. How could he possibly hang out with a mischievous monkey like you, let alone help you watch the horse? What a nerve! If you’re going to lie, at least come up with a better excuse. Clearly, you lost the horse because you were playing around. And you dare to lie and frame her son? You deserve an even harsher beating!

After a round of beatings, Andrew Carter was half dead.

……

The night was cold, and Andrew Carter stared with bright black eyes, unable to sleep at all.

“I was wronged!”

Andrew Carter clenched his fists and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth—he wasn’t making things up.

In his previous life, before attending middle school, he had always lived in the village. There were only about a hundred families in the whole village. It wasn’t like living in an apartment building, where even neighbors across the hall might not know each other’s names. In a small village, everyone knew each other inside out—who was good, who was bad, who liked to steal—everything was clear. If something was lost, you could always guess who took it.

A horse, after all, isn’t like a bracelet or a ring that you can keep on your person.

Such a big target—there were villagers working in the fields and woods on both sides of the village. How could no one have seen it? How could no one have told the Wang family?

Besides, that horse had been with the Wang family for five or six years and recognized its owner. It would be impossible for an outsider to lead it away easily.

Thinking it over, the horse wasn’t lost at all—it was taken, and the biggest suspect was his cousin Richard Carter! He had urged him to go catch fish, clearly to get him out of the way, then took the horse. Since they were all family, the villagers didn’t pay attention. That must be it!

But the question was, why did he take the horse? Was it to frame him on purpose? To get his second aunt to give him a harsh lesson?

Andrew Carter couldn’t figure it out. The more he thought about it, the more determined he was to find out the truth and clear his name! He had just transmigrated here and was already labeled a prodigal son—sorry, but he wasn’t going to take the blame for this!

Andrew Carter kept thinking about it until late at night, finally drifting off to sleep. He didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt something warm and wet on his cheek, as if a puppy was licking him. Startled, Andrew Carter jerked awake and quickly opened his eyes.

He saw two dirty little faces staring at him worriedly. When they saw him open his eyes, a chubby little boy clapped his hands and cheered.

“Big brother’s awake! Big brother’s okay!”

Beside him, a little girl couldn’t hide her joy and timidly asked, “Brother, do you want something to eat?”

Gurgle!

Andrew Carter’s stomach rumbled loudly, and he forced a smile.

The little girl was his younger sister, named Stephen Carter, and the chubby little boy was Samuel Carter, who wasn’t even five years old yet. Stephen Carter looked only six or seven.

There was quite an age gap between the three siblings, but that wasn’t unusual—child survival rates were low in these times. Andrew Carter was the first child of Charles Carter and his wife, and he’d had two younger brothers after, but both had died young.

In his previous life, he’d been alone, but now he had two siblings, which made Andrew Carter very happy. Stephen Carter considerately placed a big bowl of thin porridge in front of her brother, along with two boiled eggs.

Andrew Carter was indeed hungry. He quickly peeled an egg and stuffed it into his mouth. Genuine free-range eggs tasted so good—he chewed heartily, savoring the flavor. When he looked up, he saw his sister hugging her bowl and slurping her porridge, while his little brother swallowed hard, sneaking glances at the remaining eggs.

Damn, how could he have forgotten about them! This wasn’t the resource-rich modern world—eating eggs must be a rare treat.

“Let me see—do you two have any eggs?”

Leaning over, Andrew Carter was stunned. Not only did Samuel Carter’s bowl not have any eggs, even the porridge was different from his—so clear it looked like water. How could he possibly be full?

Andrew Carter snatched up the porridge bowl. Samuel Carter was so scared he froze, pouting in grievance, his eyes brimming with tears.

“Xiang’er, what’s going on?”

Hearing her brother’s question, Stephen Carter shivered and instinctively put down her bowl. Her porridge was even clearer than Samuel Carter’s, with only a few pitiful grains of rice that could be counted.

Andrew Carter pretended to be angry. “Xiang’er, tell your brother, or else I won’t be able to eat!”

Stephen Carter hugged her bowl, tears streaming down her face as she said in a choked voice, “It—it was second aunt who said, since brother lost the horse, you—you have to be punished, and not be given any food…”

“Then my porridge…” Andrew Carter instantly understood and was stunned.

Chapter 2: The Shrew