After the rooster crowed three times, dawn had yet to fully break.
Chen Family Village was still shrouded in a hazy gray morning mist.
Creak—
The dilapidated wooden door of the abandoned thatched hut at the village entrance was suddenly yanked open from the inside.
Chen Zhiwei stepped out. Behind her, she dragged a person with a coarse straw rope—it was Zhao Si, the vagrant who had come to harass them the night before. He was tightly bound, his mouth stuffed with a rag, his body covered in mud and bits of grass.
Like a sack of heavy grain, Zhao Si was dragged along the dirt road, letting out muffled groans and scraping sounds.
In the stillness of the early morning, the noise was especially clear.
“Huh? Isn’t that girl Zhiwei?” Aunt Wang, who had gotten up early to fetch water, was the first to notice. Her bucket fell to the ground with a clang, splashing her pant legs, yet she didn’t even notice.
“Heavens! Isn’t that Zhao Si she’s dragging?!” Old Man Li, who was opening his courtyard gate nearby, rubbed his eyes and gasped.
This was exactly the effect Chen Zhiwei wanted. It wasn’t for nothing that she chose a route with more people—today, she intended to sever ties completely with Old Madam Liao and the Chen family in front of the entire village.
“Something big happened! Come take a look!”
The news spread like wildfire. Peddlers just opening their stalls, farmers preparing to head to the fields, women stepping out with basins of water—even children in split pants—were all drawn to the scene. They poured in from all directions, quickly forming a growing crowd behind Chen Zhiwei. Whispered discussions, shocked gasps, and children’s cries blended into a noisy wave that shattered the village’s quiet.
Chen Zhiwei paid no attention to the commotion behind her—but this was exactly what she wanted. She even slowed her pace slightly to ensure more people could see. As she walked, she spoke in a clear voice loud enough for everyone around to hear, as if talking to herself yet also addressing the crowd:
“Everyone, come and judge this fairly.”
“This is the house my parents left behind. My younger brother and I just moved in last night.”
“In the middle of the night, a ‘kind-hearted person’ came sneaking to our door, wanting to see if we were sleeping well.”
“If I hadn’t been alert, who knows who would be the one tied up and dragged right now.”
Her words were like stones thrown into a calm lake, stirring waves upon waves.
“What? Zhao Si went to break into Zhiwei’s house at night?”
“That shameless bastard! Bullying an orphan girl and her little brother!”
“Zhiwei, are you alright? Were you hurt?” a woman called out with concern.
Chen Zhiwei nodded slightly in the direction of the voice and continued, “Thank you for your concern, Auntie. I’m fine. But someone like this must be punished. Otherwise, who would dare let their children play safely in the village?”
Dragging Zhao Si, she headed straight toward the house of the village chief, Chen Fugen.
By the time this “procession” reached the chief’s house, nearly half the village had been alarmed. Chen Fugen had just thrown on his outer robe when the sight at his door made him stumble back two steps.
“Zh… Zhiwei! What… what is this?!” The chief looked at the miserable, trembling Zhao Si on the ground, then at the small but imposing girl before him, his tongue practically tied in knots.
Chen Zhiwei stopped, loosened the rope, then bowed respectfully to the chief and the crowd of villagers. Her voice carried restrained anger and a clear accusation:
“Village Chief, elders, uncles, and aunties! Please bear witness for my brother and me!”
“This man on the ground, Zhao Si, came to the broken hut where my brother and I had just settled last night at midnight, attempting to break in and do harm. I caught him on the spot!”
She paused, her sharp gaze sweeping across the crowd. “I did not drag him here today to cry for sympathy—I came to seek justice! Village Chief, how should Zhao Si be punished for such actions?”
The chief was taken aback and pondered. “At the least, he can be expelled from the village. At worst, he can be handed over to the authorities, or punished according to village rules.”
Chen Zhiwei nodded and looked coldly at Zhao Si. “Zhao Si, you heard that. Village Chief, I choose to report him to the authorities.”
Zhao Si was terrified out of his wits, tears and snot streaming down his face. “No! Don’t! Zhiwei, I was wrong!”
Under the threat of being reported, he quickly broke down: “It was Chen Dashan! Chen Dashan ordered me! Yesterday evening, under the old locust tree at the village entrance, he gave me 100 copper coins to scare you. He said there would be another 400 if I succeeded! He even said his mother, Old Madam Liao, knew about it and agreed! Debts have their owners—go after them, it has nothing to do with me!”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Chen Dashan roared, eyes blazing as he rushed forward to kick Zhao Si. “I’ll tear your filthy mouth apart!”
Chen Zhiwei’s eyes turned cold. Just as Chen Dashan’s foot was about to land, she casually stepped aside and lightly hooked her foot.
“Oof!” Chen Dashan felt a sudden force destabilize him. Unable to stop himself, he stumbled forward several steps, nearly falling flat on his face.
It looked effortless, but it required sharp perception and precise skill. Among the crowd, hunters like Zhang Meng immediately showed a flicker of surprise in their eyes. This girl was no ordinary person.
“Uncle, trying to silence him?” Chen Zhiwei said coldly. “With witnesses and evidence present, you still dare to act violently in front of the chief and the entire village?”
“You—!” Chen Dashan was both shocked and furious, but didn’t dare make another move.
Seeing this, Liao Jinfeng sat down on the ground and began wailing, slapping her thighs. “Heavens have no justice! This niece is colluding with outsiders to frame her own uncle and grandmother! We can’t live like this anymore!”
“If that’s what Grandma says, then let’s report it to the authorities,” Chen Zhiwei replied coldly, showing no retreat. “The county magistrate will surely judge what’s right and wrong.”
“How can we trouble the magistrate over such a small matter?” Old Madam Liao immediately backed down like a chicken with its neck grabbed.
Seeing her reaction, the villagers understood everything.
Zhang Meng was the first to speak up, his voice rough. “Dashan, Aunt Liao! At this point, why keep denying it? Zhao Si has already confessed!”
Widow Zhao sighed. “Jinfeng, this isn’t right. The child just split from the family—you’ve gone too far.”
“That’s right, too much!” The crowd buzzed with criticism.
Public opinion completely shifted in Chen Zhiwei’s favor. Village Chief Chen Fugen exchanged glances with the clan elders who had rushed over, their expressions grim. This family scandal must not spread—if someone from their village ended up in prison, it would be a huge disgrace!
“Zhiwei, you’ve suffered,” the chief said. “But if someone from Chen Village goes to jail, our reputation will be ruined. Tell me your demands—I’ll do my best to satisfy them.”
Seeing her goal achieved, Chen Zhiwei did not press further. “Village Chief, elders—you are right. I am also part of Chen Village and do not wish to bring shame upon it.
But what my grandmother and the others did today is too much. Even strangers in the same village wouldn’t do such a thing. I want no compensation, no apology. I only ask for a document to sever family ties.
Let it be written clearly in black and white: from this day on, Chen Zhiwei and Chen Zhiyi will cut off all relations with Chen Dashan, Chen Dahe, Liao Jinfeng, and even Aunt Cuizhi’s family. From now on, we live and die by our own fates, never to interact again. If they dare harass us again, I will not show mercy—I will report it to the authorities.”
“Zhiwei, once you sever ties, you and your brother will have no one to rely on,” the chief said, both admiring her resolve and feeling sorry for her.
“It would already be good if they don’t stab me in the back. How could I expect their help?” Chen Zhiwei said with a self-mocking laugh, lowering her head.
The chief took a deep breath and discussed quietly with the elders. Finally, he nodded heavily. “Very well. Since the bond is broken, there’s no point forcing it. We’ll draw up the severance document as you requested.”
The document was quickly written before everyone’s eyes. Under countless disdainful gazes, Chen Dashan and Liao Jinfeng pressed their trembling fingerprints onto it.
Chen Zhiwei carefully folded the thin yet weighty piece of paper and tucked it close to her body. Without sparing them another glance, she took the hand of her younger brother Chen Zhiyi—who had just arrived, eyes red but lips tightly pressed—and bowed deeply to the chief and to those like Zhang Meng and Widow Zhao who had spoken up for her.
“I will remember today’s kindness.”
With that, she led her brother through the crowd that parted automatically before them, walking toward their home at the village entrance.