The next day, when Qi Ziyue woke up, it was already afternoon.
She slipped out of the house when no one was paying attention and went to a nearby bookstore, the Xinhua Bookstore, to look through whatever limited materials were available to understand the current situation.
From the few cultural reading materials she could find, she noticed that books related to traditional or feudal culture had almost completely disappeared. English books and all high school textbooks had been removed from the shelves. Foreign novels and storybooks were nowhere to be seen either.
Qi Ziyue carefully glanced at the street outside. People wearing red armbands—the Red Guards—were inspecting passersby. The streets were gray and dull, and everyone was walking hurriedly. It was clearly not a safe time.
Seeing all this, she understood the situation in her heart.
She didn’t buy any books. She had no money or ration coupons anyway, and there was nothing she could purchase outside.
After wandering briefly, she returned the newspapers and publications to the shelves and left the bookstore. Then she quickly slipped back into the alley where the Qi family courtyard was located.
But just as she reached the back courtyard of the Qi residence, she spotted a familiar small figure.
It was the little boy.
Qi Ziyue walked up to him. “An’an, why are you here? Mommy was looking for you and couldn’t find you. You’re not allowed to run around alone, understand?”
She blocked his path.
The alley was lined with dense old trees on both sides. It was already evening, and although it wasn’t snowing, the child was wearing thin, tattered cotton clothes and was limping as he walked outside. Something was clearly wrong.
But when he looked up and saw her, his eyes were still cold and guarded. He shoved her away and tried to run.
“Answer Mommy,” she said firmly, grabbing him again, clearly threatening to spank him if he kept running.
“What happened to your leg?”
She crouched down and saw footprints all over his ragged cotton pants. He had clearly been kicked.
The child was only a little over four years old, yet even after being hurt, he said nothing.
Qi Ziyue couldn’t tolerate this.
Normally, she was the kind of person who repaid grievances immediately. Seeing a child suffer silently like this only made her angrier. If such resentment accumulated, a child would inevitably grow distorted.
“Say it,” she pressed.
But the child remained silent, his eyes even carrying deep hatred.
So Qi Ziyue squatted down and pulled him closer. From her spatial storage, she took out a box of pastries.
A box of osmanthus cakes.
In this era, where even white flour was a luxury, the pale golden cakes looked delicate and almost glowing. Just their appearance was enough to trigger appetite.
She even heard a swallow.
Even if he would become a future blackened villain, right now he was still just a child. Hunger was instinct.
She even saw a wolf-like protective look in his eyes—but then he suddenly turned his head away.
His stomach gave a loud growl.
Qi Ziyue softened a little. She placed the cakes into his hands.
“Tell me who kicked you, and this is yours.”
Then she took out another box.
“If you can fight back next time, Mommy will reward you—two boxes.”
This time, the child finally looked at her. Surprise flickered in his eyes before returning to coldness.
But perhaps the temptation was too strong.
Finally, he spoke.
“Cousin… brother…”
He could only manage fragmented words.
Qi Ziyue understood immediately.
It was one of the original host’s brother’s children.
“Big cousin or second cousin?” she asked.
There were two boys in that family, around ten and eight years old.
She leaned down and whispered something into the child’s ear.
This time, the boy’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief as he looked at her.
Qi Ziyue didn’t explain further.
“Tonight, whoever runs first is the coward.”
Without another word, the child grabbed the cake and limped back into the courtyard.
Qi Ziyue called after him, telling him where to meet later.
About half an hour later, around five or six in the evening, Qi Ninghao and Qi Ningrui walked home after saying goodbye to their friends.
They were still chatting about what good food would be prepared at home that night when suddenly—bang—a black sack dropped from above and covered their heads.
“Who is it?!”
Before they could react, they were dragged aside. Then came a flurry of punches and kicks aimed at their legs.
The attacker didn’t speak at all.
The blows weren’t severe, but hitting the knees and ankles hurt a lot.
The boys screamed and cried, shouting that they would tell their father to get revenge.
But by the time they struggled out of the sack, the attacker was already gone.
They ran home crying.
Inside the courtyard, Qi’s eldest daughter-in-law was washing vegetables when she saw them. After checking them carefully and finding no visible injuries, she frowned.
“No marks? Then who hit you?”
The older boy insisted, “It was definitely an adult! They put a sack over our heads and hit us! It hurt a lot!”
Hearing that adults might be involved, the matter became serious.
The eldest daughter-in-law immediately wanted to find the culprit and even considered reporting it to the police—but the children couldn’t identify who did it.
She nearly exploded in frustration.
At that moment, Qi Ziyue returned—along with Qi Ning’an.
Qi Ziyue casually greeted, “Beautiful big sister-in-law, what happened?”
The eldest daughter-in-law explained angrily that her children had been beaten by some unknown person.
Qi Ziyue immediately supported her.
“Exactly! We can’t suffer this silently. We must find the mastermind. Beating children at our doorstep is outrageous—it’s slapping our family in the face!”
She urged everyone to check the children carefully and even suggested compensation and police involvement.
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, even mentioning reporting it to the authorities and revolutionary committees.
The eldest daughter-in-law quickly panicked and stopped her.
“This is just kids fighting! We can’t escalate it like that!”
Qi Ziyue obediently shut her mouth—but then quietly led Qi Ning’an away.
Old Master Qi, already overwhelmed, warned her not to speak nonsense again or she’d be locked up.
Qi Ziyue immediately acted obedient, as if nothing had happened.
The investigation soon revealed that the children had been arguing with kids from a neighboring courtyard because those children mocked Qi Ning’an.
They had almost fought, but the others were older and stronger, so they had backed off.
No one could identify the attacker.
Old Master Qi finally concluded it might be local troublemakers or even Red Guards causing chaos.
Qi Ziyue, however, had already quietly made her move.
And in her mind, one thought became clearer than ever:
This situation… absolutely could not spiral out of control.