As the courtyard gate opened, two frail-looking girls entered, their small bodies straining under large bamboo baskets. These were Yuan Ni’s two younger sisters, Zhaodie and Pandi.
“Oh no, how did Grandma fall?”
“Grandma’s head is bleeding—what do we do?”
“We can’t lift her by ourselves. Hurry to the fields and call Father and Second Uncle back.”
With that, Zhaodie and Pandi took off running on their little legs. Yuan Ni hid behind the door, not moving an inch.
Old Mrs. Yuan lay collapsed beside the wattle fence, where a puddle of water sat nearby. It looked very much like she had slipped and fallen on her own.
Once her two younger sisters were out the door, Yuan Ni tiptoed into the main room, quietly picked up an object, and then, basket in hand, slipped out of the house.
Given the original owner’s temperament, no one would possibly believe she had knocked Old Mrs. Yuan unconscious. But to shake off any suspicion, it was best to manufacture an alibi.
At this time of day, Yuan Ni would normally go up the mountain to cut pigweed. Today she had left a bit late, so she hastily gathered some grass near the village and then headed home.
Before she even reached the house, she heard the villagers buzzing with gossip. “Did you hear? The Yuan family is at it again.”
“What happened?”
“Old Mrs. Yuan cracked her head open. Yuan the Eldest says it’s the second daughter Zhaodie’s fault—he’s going to beat her to death.”
“Would Zhaodie dare do something like that? I reckon it’s Second Yuan’s wife stirring things up again.”
Yuan the Eldest was the original owner Yuan Ni’s father, and Zhaodie was his own flesh and blood—his second daughter.
There was no evidence whatsoever that Zhaodie had pushed Old Mrs. Yuan down. How could he be so muddle-headed as to raise such a vicious hand against his own daughter?
Anger welled up in Yuan Ni’s chest, and she quickened her pace. Old Mrs. Yuan’s death would be no great loss, but she could not let an innocent person bear the blame.
“Heavens above, open your eyes and look! My Zhaodie is still small—how could she possibly push Grandma over? Grandma must have slipped on her own. It can’t be blamed on Zhaodie!”
Yuan Ni’s Mother wailed between sobs and tears.
“Even if Zhaodie didn’t push her, she’s still at fault. She knew Grandma was old, so why didn’t she keep an eye on her instead of running wild around the yard? If Grandma fell, Zhaodie has to answer for it. If we don’t teach this little girl a lesson, who knows what kind of trouble she’ll stir up next.” Yuan the Second gripped a thick wooden club in his hand, ready to strike Zhaodie.
A lesson?
That club was thicker than Zhaodie’s arm. If it hit her head, it could kill her outright.
What grudge, what grievance, warranted tormenting a young girl like this?
Yuan Ni’s Mother looked at her menacing brother-in-law and, terrified, clutched Zhaodie tightly to her chest. “Husband, say something, won’t you?”
Yuan the Eldest squatted by the wall, puffing on his pipe, as if the girl about to be beaten were not his daughter but some unrelated stranger.
“Second Brother is right. A sapling won’t grow straight without pruning. He’s doing this for Zhaodie’s own good. Get out of the way now—don’t hold Second Brother back from disciplining the child.”
The third daughter, Pandi, was frantic with tears. “It wasn’t Sister! We didn’t push Grandma! When we came into the yard, Grandma had already fallen…”
But no one believed her. Yuan the Second charged forward with a fierce expression, yanked Yuan Ni’s Mother aside, and raised the club, bringing it down toward Zhaodie.
Yuan Ni’s Mother let out a blood-curdling scream. “My child!”
In that moment of life and death, Yuan Ni’s Mother threw herself over Zhaodie.
Zhaodie was shielded, but the club whistled through the air and struck Yuan Ni’s Mother square, sending her crashing to the ground.
A stream of dark red blood seeped through her clothes, staining the gray cotton fabric completely.
Yuan Ni had just entered the courtyard when she saw this. She immediately looked at Yuan the Eldest. “Father, are you going to stand there and watch Mother get beaten to death?”
Yuan the Eldest hadn’t expected things to go this far either, but in front of his daughter, he still had to maintain his dignity. “What would a little girl like you understand? Your Second Uncle was disciplining your sister for her own good. Who told your mother to be so foolish and insist on getting in the way?”
Yuan Ni was utterly disappointed in this spineless man. She crouched down to examine Yuan Ni’s Mother’s injuries and found that her shoulder blade was cracked.
Yuan the Second, still not satisfied, leaned on his stick and gloated from the side. “Sister-in-law, don’t you have any sense at all? You brought this injury on yourself today. You’re also responsible for not taking good care of Mother, so consider this your apology to her.”
Yuan Ni shot a vicious glare at Yuan the Second. The man was not yet thirty, strong and vigorous—she couldn’t beat this bastard in a fight.
“Zhaodie, Pandi, you two take care of Mother first. Don’t let her move. I’m going to fetch a doctor.”
“Yuan Ni, you get back here! Where would this family find the money for a doctor? Grab a handful of dirt and sprinkle it on your mother’s wound—that’ll do.”
The moment he heard that calling a doctor would cost money, Yuan the Eldest came back to life, throwing his weight around and exercising his authority as a father.
But Yuan Ni wasn’t about to listen to him. She had already taken off running.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed that a common farmer like Yuan the Second would dare to viciously beat his own sister-in-law and niece.
Old Mrs. Yuan and Yuan the Second ruled the household like tyrants, while Yuan Ni’s Mother and the three sisters were like weeds in the field, trampled and cut down at will.
What Yuan Ni couldn’t understand most of all was Yuan the Eldest. Was this even a man? How could he not know to protect his own wife and children?
She couldn’t figure it out, so she stopped trying. Right now, finding someone to save her mother’s life was the priority.
Just then, Old Captain happened to be leading a group of people toward her. Without a second thought, Yuan Ni rushed up to him. “Captain Grandpa, please help!”
Old Captain couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The Gongshe inspection team was here—the last thing they needed was to make a scene in front of outsiders. What were the Yuans up to now?
“What’s the matter, Yuan Ni?”
“My Second Uncle is trying to kill my mother. I need to go get a doctor.” As she spoke, Yuan Ni held out her hands for Old Captain to see.
Her hands were covered in blood—she had gotten it on herself when she’d helped support her mother just now.
The people from the Gongshe were standing right there. Old Captain cursed inwardly at the Yuan family for being such a nuisance. Just as he was about to speak, he heard one of the men beside him say, “Even family disputes shouldn’t end in murder. Captain Yuan, let’s go take a look.”
Old Captain had no choice. He sent someone to fetch the brigade’s barefoot doctor, then steeled himself and accompanied the Gongshe visitors to the Yuan household.
And so it was—over a small matter, the family’s shame was now spread all the way to the Gongshe.
Two cadres had come down from the Gongshe—one in charge of women’s affairs, and another in charge of public security.
The one handling public security was a young cadre surnamed Gu, a man with a strong sense of justice who dared to get involved in anything.
All one could say was that Yuan the Second was unlucky—he had run straight into the wrong person at the wrong time.
When the group entered the house, Yuan the Second was in the middle of chasing Zhaodie. “You damned little girl, this is all your fault…”