This month I finally returned home.

Counting the days, in order to save those few yuan in bus fare, I hadn’t been back for three months.

The village was still the same as always.

The scenery unchanged, the sky filled with yellow dust, people’s eyes revealing endless disgust toward me.

Just as I was about to reach my doorstep, I heard the noisy sound of shouting.

My heart panicked, and I quickened my pace with my things in hand.

Turning around a small alley, when my gaze swept over my family’s house, I didn’t even know where to look for a moment.

On the left side of the main gate, someone had painted the three characters “Whore’s Home” in red paint. On the right side of the gate, someone had crookedly drawn two breasts.

And right in the center at that moment stood a large crowd of people, with my father shouting loudly at someone.

“Dad…” I hurriedly pushed through the crowd and walked forward, discovering that most were onlooking villagers, and the person shouting at my father was another old man.

“Juan’wa…!” When Dad saw me, his expression turned panicked, and the words at his lips went unspoken.

The old man who had been shouting at my father heard the word “Juan’wa” and also turned his head to look at me.

“Good… Zhang Lijuan… You damn bitch…” The old man roared furiously. “You won’t let my boy have peace… I’m going to club you to death right now…”

The old man had gone mad somehow. He picked up a large wooden club and was about to swing it at me. Seeing this, Dad quickly used his head to push against the man’s chest and shouted loudly, “Club who?! Club who?! If you’ve got the guts, hit me!”

“You useless bastard! You really think I won’t club you?!”

Dad seemed to think this was the only way to protect me—once this man hit him, he would have no reason to hit me. But this wouldn’t work.

The two old men shouted at each other heart-wrenchingly. I stood in place without moving. Many adults in the village fought like this. They would grab weapons and demonstrate loudly but never actually strike.

But what was going on?

Was heaven preparing to drive me step by step into a dead end?

Not only were there people attacking me verbally and mentally, but now someone had come with a wooden club to beat me to death.

Taking advantage of this moment, Mother opened the door from inside the house, ran out with a face full of tears, and pulled me into the house.

“Mom… What happened…” Seeing Mother, I felt a mix of emotions all at once. The strength I had been pretending to have instantly shattered, and tears couldn’t stop spilling out. “What on earth happened…”

“Juan’wa!” Mother cried and hugged me. “Don’t be scared first… Did you provoke a boy named Zhang Mantuan… His father came looking for you…”

“What…?” I was stunned. “I provoked… Mantuan…?”

Since I had indeed had some incidents with Mantuan recently, I wasn’t sure what exactly counted as “provoking.”

“There’s a boy named Mantuan who seems to have gotten sick!” Mother said while wiping her tears. “His father says it’s all because of you. Now Mantuan won’t go to work and drinks all day without any ambition… His fiancée who he hasn’t married yet is also making a fuss about breaking up. What’s going on?”

Hearing this explanation, I didn’t know where to begin explaining for a moment.

My life at the workshop was already like hell, and I hadn’t paid any attention to whether Mantuan was going to work or not.

But was this situation because of me?

Yes, but not entirely.

He became like this because of me, so should I apologize to Mantuan?

Did I ever harm him?

“Why don’t we just ignore it…” I smiled bitterly and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. “Yes, Mom… Let’s just ignore it…”

“What…?”

“I don’t want to care anymore.” I shook my head. “Call Dad back inside too. Don’t let him argue with people outside. I… I’m going to see Liang Wa.”

I suddenly felt extremely exhausted and didn’t know which part to explain from anymore.

Even if I explained over and over, at the root of it all, it still came down to that same old saying.

I didn’t do anything.

“Sis…” Liang Wa huddled on the bed, looking at me cautiously, then turned his head to glance out the window. “What happened… Who’s fighting with who?”

“Liang Wa.” I forced out a smile. “It’s nothing… Sis bought you snacks.”

“Sis… Is someone bullying you?” Liang Wa said. “Sis, don’t be scared…”

“Sis isn’t scared. Sis has never been scared.” I shook my head and took out a bag of Oishi snacks from my handbag.

“Sis! Didn’t you say last time… You met a boy at the workshop who tells jokes and is nice…” Liang Wa said tremblingly. “Let him be brother-in-law… Let him come help fight…”

Hearing this, my hands that were opening the snacks trembled slightly.

What an ironic statement.

The person Liang Wa was describing—I no longer knew him.

The person I knew was no longer like that either.

Not only could he never become Liang Wa’s brother-in-law, but his father wanted to club me to death.

After settling Liang Wa, I came to the courtyard and heard that it was still noisy outside. Mother was also still frantically anxious in the courtyard, her hand tightly gripping a broom as if facing a formidable enemy.

“Mom.” I walked forward and took out an envelope from my shoulder bag. “I earned over two thousand yuan these three months. When you have time, go deposit it.”

“Juan’wa…” Mother didn’t take the bankbook, just listened to the arguing sounds outside the door with her face full of tears. “What should Mom do… Mom really doesn’t know what to do…”

I walked forward and gently hugged her, saying softly, “Mom, don’t be scared. Leave it to me. I’ll talk to them.”

“Juan’wa… Don’t go out… Mom doesn’t want to see you bullied by them…”

“It’s okay, Mom. I’m not afraid of being bullied.”

I had Mother wait in the courtyard, then pushed open the door.

The noisy voices outside the door became instantly silent after I appeared.

The two old men who had been arguing both looked at me, and the expressions of the onlooking crowd were also extremely colorful at this moment, as if an even bigger show was about to begin.

I slowly walked forward and stood between the two old men, blocking Dad behind me.

They all seemed to have not expected that I would suddenly have such courage, and for a moment they were all stunned.

Taking advantage of Mantuan’s father’s daze, I took the wooden club from his hand, then fiercely struck it against the ground.

“Crack.”

The wooden club broke in half with a sound, leaving the section in my hand exceptionally sharp.

I straightened my back, and under Mantuan’s father’s terrified gaze, I handed him the half of the wooden club, then pressed the sharp end against my own throat.

“You… What are you doing…” Mantuan’s father said with a trembling voice.

“Didn’t you come to settle accounts with me?” I asked. “If I die, will things be resolved?”

“What…” Mantuan’s father said with a frown. “You really think I don’t dare…”

“Stab.” I said. “Stab it into my neck.”