Little Demon

I've been a notorious "demon child" since I was small. When my uncle pointed at my dad's nose, cursing him for having no sons to carry on the family name, my dad, too honest and weak, couldn't say a harsh word. I grabbed a pair of scissors and lunged at my cousin's family jewels. My uncle's family nearly died of fright and never dared to appear in front of me again. When another uncle tried to seize the house Grandma left to Mom, claiming "money-losing goods" (daughters) didn't deserve inheritance... Mom only knew how to cry. I set the house on fire. Scared my uncle so bad he moved overnight and never coveted the house again. My reputation as a demon child spread far and wide. People spat when they heard my name. Gradually, no relatives came to visit for holidays. The whole family sighed, and I was bored. During Christmas, my sister's serious boyfriend brought his whole family over. He opened with: "The trend now is zero engagement gifts, but you need to give a $200,000 dowry. Otherwise, the wedding is off." Mom, Dad, and my sister dared not speak. But my eyes lit up instantly. Hehe, looks like I've got work to do. 1 My sister Chloe's boyfriend, Caleb Vance, sat opposite us on the sofa with his parents. Mom and Dad were happy. We hadn't had guests in a long time, and these were future in-laws. Their smiles were genuine. "Linda, hurry up and wash the strawberries, cherries, and mangoes." Mom winked at me frantically, whispering in my ear, "Little ancestor, please behave today." For my sister's sake, I nodded reluctantly. When the fruit came out, Caleb's mom grabbed a handful of cherries and stuffed them into her mouth, spitting pits while eyeing us sideways: "Isn't the trend zero engagement gifts now? But the Vance family isn't unreasonable. How about this: we offer $100,000 as a gift, and your family returns double as a dowry. Fair, right?" Mom and Dad's smiles froze. The two honest souls exchanged glances, stammering for a long time before managing, "Double dowry?" Before they could finish, Caleb's mom interrupted like a machine gun: "Double dowry is normal! It's standard where we come from." "I see you're not unreasonable people. We're willing to pay $100,000. Surely you wouldn't refuse to give $200,000?" Mom and Dad were speechless. Caleb's dad, who had silently eaten half a bowl of strawberries, chimed in: "Cash doesn't hold value like gold. For the couple's future, we decided to use gold instead of cash." Saying this, he arrogantly opened a box at his feet. As soon as the box opened, I squinted and blurted out, "Whoa, almost blinded my dog eyes." Opposite us, the three Vances looked even smugger at my comment. Caleb looked at Chloe lovingly: "Chloe, I will never let you suffer." Chloe clenched her hands, expression grim, biting her lip. "Gold instead of cash? But—" Caleb grabbed her hand. "The value of this gold is far above $100,000. Really, your family is gaining an advantage." So Chloe pursed her lips and fell silent. Caleb and his parents exchanged glances, hiding竊喜 (secret delight) in their eyes. "Since we agreed, this box of gold is yours today. We gave the engagement gift; when will you give the dowry?" In the stagnant atmosphere, I suddenly let out an exaggerated gasp. Everyone looked at me. Caleb's mom said impatiently: "Adults are talking, why is a kid interrupting? No manners—" The rest of her sentence choked in her throat. She stared, jaw dropping, as I used a magnet to suck up all the gold jewelry in the box. Meeting their horrified gazes, I tilted my head innocently: "So gold is made of iron? I wonder how much gold our big iron pot can make. Mom, Dad, we're rich!" 2 The faces of the three Vances turned green. Caleb snatched back all the jewelry from the magnet. "We brought real gold! Someone must have switched it!" He glanced at me while speaking, clearly trying to frame me, a pure and innocent child. I grinned, pulling out my Apple Watch to call the police. "That's terrifying! An invisible ghost stole things right in front of seven living people!" "Good thing we have cameras. I'm calling the police to catch the thief!" Caleb's eyelid twitched violently. He jumped up and grabbed my hand. "Forget it. Maybe the gold shop owner tricked me. It's the holidays, no need to call the police." I cupped my face with both hands. "Deceived out of $100,000 and not pursuing it? Brother, you're a saint." Caleb's face darkened. He endured it, suppressing his anger. He signaled his mom, who started blabbering again: "Oh, we sincerely wanted to give $100,000. Maybe it's God's will for us to follow the zero-gift trend." She smiled, fat piling up on her face. "I believe the in-laws aren't people who sell their daughter for money. Since we already offered, you should just accept this gold." Caleb's dad abruptly reminded: "We gave the gift. Now it's your turn for the $200,000 dowry." Mom and Dad, clumsy with words, wanted to object but didn't know how. They could only rub their hands awkwardly. I smirked. Bastards. Didn't check my reputation before coming to my house to act tough? Today, I'll show you what a demon child can do! Just as I opened my mouth, Mom covered it. She looked bitter. "Forget it, don't delay your sister's marriage. We didn't want the money anyway." I looked at her like she was an alien. Dad thought the same. After a silence, he nodded. "We need time for the dowry. We'll withdraw the money tomorrow." Hearing this, the greed in the Vances' eyes was unconcealable. Caleb's dad suddenly walked around the house, speaking reluctantly: "This house is old, but the location is okay. Perfect for a marital home." Caleb's mom played along: "Yes, we're family. Leaving this house empty is a waste. The children's marriage comes first." Caleb hammered the final nail: "Right. Mom and Dad, you should move in too, to take care of Chloe." Mom and Dad were stunned by their shamelessness. Chloe teared up, trembling, unable to speak. I rolled my eyes, popping out from behind Mom and asking innocently: "Brother, if your whole family moves in, are you marrying into our family?" "Does that mean you won't be Caleb Vance anymore, but Caleb Miller? And your parents will take my sister's last name too?" 3 These words instantly cracked their hypocritical masks. Caleb cursed: "How could I marry in? And make my parents change their names? Keep dreaming!" Mom and Dad's faces changed too. They protected me behind them, explaining weakly: "Child's talk, Bella is joking." Caleb's mom looked like her eyes would fly out of her head, glaring at me viciously: "If a girl in my family dared to say such rebellious things, I'd tear her mouth open. No upbringing at all." Mom and Dad looked pale, but I grinned: "So coming to rob us and eat off the dead is called upbringing? Learned something new." This mockery made the already angry Caleb furious. He rolled up his sleeves to hit me. "I'm going to teach you a lesson for your parents today, you little brat!" I slipped away like a fish, ran into the bathroom, grabbed a handful of foul-smelling yellow slime, and threw it at Caleb and his parents. "Come on, catch me!" Seeing the smelly stuff stuck to their faces, the three of them retched violently and ran out of my house screaming. I shouted from the door: "Don't go! I have more gifts for you!" Hearing this, they ran faster, as if ghosts were chasing them. "Sigh, boring." Turning around, I saw Mom, Dad, and Chloe standing five meters away, looking wary. Chloe covered her nose, suppressing nausea, asking incredulously: "Bella Miller, you can even do that to yourself now?" I flicked the stuff off my hand nonchalantly. "It's just wet paper mixed with some stink spray. Intended for classmates, but the scumbag family got lucky." Hearing it was fake and I hadn't actually played with poop, they sighed in relief. I climbed onto the table, pointing at their noses dissatisfiedly: "People bully you in your own home and you don't make a sound. You're pissing me off!" The three of them looked down, submissive. Dad even asked hesitantly: "We went too far... offending Caleb's family like this, is it bad?" I almost fainted from anger. "Caleb wants to eat off our family, and you're worried about offending him?" "Forget it. Can't talk to soft buns like you. Give me a hundred bucks, I'm buying candied hawthorn." Chloe stuffed a hundred dollars in my hand. I happily went out. It was New Year's, most neighbors were gone, the complex was deserted. If I hadn't offended all the relatives years ago, we would have gone back to our hometown too. But I didn't regret it. Mom and Dad were too nice, always bullied by those leech relatives. Only after having me, the notorious demon child, did they back off. I licked my candied hawthorn, humming a tune, entering the complex from the back gate. Just turning into a small path, a figure jumped out from under a tree, covered my mouth, and carried me away. 4 "Mmph!" I struggled hard, receiving a heavy slap on the face. I instantly went quiet. The person carried me, ran, and threw me into a dirty alley. Opening my eyes, I saw the fierce faces of Caleb and his parents. I curled up in fear. Caleb sneered: "Little brat, weren't you tough before? Be tough now!" He slapped my face hard. My cheek burned, tears spinning in my eyes. Caleb's dad smoked nearby, spitting impatiently: "Just an uneducated brat, why waste time?" Caleb's mom nodded: "Raising a brat like Bella shows the Millers aren't good people. Not worthy of my family." The more vicious they spoke, the more desperate they seemed. But Caleb shook his head firmly: "No, I must marry Chloe!" His parents were shocked. "Son, you like her that much?" "Caleb, don't be stupid. With your conditions, liking her is her blessing. If she doesn't appreciate it, she deserves to be single!" I peeked at Caleb through my fingers. Caleb sneered: "Chloe is pretty and gentle, I do like her. But that's not the only reason." "You saw it today. That house is in a great location, four bedrooms, worth at least two million." "And her parents have pensions. I have no house or car. Except for a fool like Chloe, no money-grubbing woman would look at me." "Most importantly, the whole family are softies, and there's no son. If I marry Chloe, the Miller family assets will be mine!" Caleb's mom's eyes lit up: "Right, no son means we should eat off them!" Caleb's dad stopped smoking, staring at me fiercely: "What about this brat?" Caleb followed his gaze, eyes fierce. "This brat keeps ruining my plans. If not for her, we would have controlled them today." He rolled his eyes: "Miller money is my money. I don't want to raise a loser. Let's sell her to the mountains." "Make a profit, and with her gone, the family will be lost. I can comfort Chloe and renegotiate the marriage." I widened my eyes in horror. Hoping his parents had some reason, knowing trafficking was illegal. But the two old things were birds of a feather. Caleb's dad even drove the car over, opening the trunk: "Tie her up, let's find a buyer tonight." I shook my head in terror, asking pitifully: "Brother, won't you let me go?" Caleb sneered: "Scared now? Too late!" He roughly tried to lift me into the trunk. I suddenly dropped the pitiful act, revealing a mischievous grin. "Hehe, then don't blame me." I pulled something from my pocket. Opposite me, the three Vances' faces changed instantly. 5 While they were stunned, I lit the firecracker in my hand and threw it at them. It exploded on impact. Being a toy, it wasn't lethal, but it made them scream and jump. They forgot about grabbing me, running away screaming. Fear amplifies pain. I used to play with firecrackers with other kids. Passersby would jump out of their skins even if it was far away, let alone thrown at them. I lit a few more and threw them under a manhole cover. The blast sent the cover flying. Caleb's face was white, staring at me in horror and rage: "Bella Miller, are you trying to kill someone?!" A demon child doesn't speak human. I grinned, making a face: "La la la, I can't hear you." My hands kept throwing. I spent almost all the hundred dollars on firecrackers. Couldn't use them up quickly. The crackling and screaming attracted a passerby. Seeing me throwing firecrackers at people, he was furious. "Hey brat! What are you doing? That's dangerous! Stop!" I rolled my eyes at him, wiggling my butt arrogantly: "Call the police if you dare, none of your business." The passerby gasped, never having seen such an arrogant kid. Furious, he took out his phone to call the police. Caleb, closest to him, slapped the phone away. The passerby looked shocked, like I'm helping you and you hit me? Caleb looked awkward, picking up the phone. "This is our kid, we're just playing. Don't call the police." The passerby got angrier: "Bear parents raise bear kids. Throwing firecrackers at people is playing? No manners!" Caleb turned colors being lectured. But they were guilty and dared not call the police. Caleb's mom pointed at the passerby like a shrew: "We play how we want! Mind your own business! Get lost!" "Damn, a family of psychos!" The passerby cursed, turning to leave. Relieved, the Vances tried to grab me from behind. My firecracker went astray, exploding half a meter from the passerby's feet. He jumped three feet high, turning back in rage. I made a face: "Coward, call the police then." Enraged, he dialed 911 immediately. Caleb turned pale, trying to run. The passerby was huge, grabbing Caleb with one hand. "Your kid almost hurt me, and you want to run?" Caleb shook his head: "She's not mine, we don't know her." The passerby sneered: "Spineless trash. Just said she's yours, now you don't know her?" "I don't care, none of you are leaving today!"

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