Lin Shilan held onto the idea that “as long as she spoke properly, her mom would understand,” and went to reason with Lu Xiaorong. But she had to admit that many times, when she wanted to reason, her mom didn’t want to reason.

So much so that the result of their communication in the end depended on her mom’s mood. When her mom was in a good mood, what she said would be at least heard; when her mom was in a bad mood, she could revoke what she had promised at any time.

Tan Jin imitated Lu Xiaorong’s style of exaggerating facts and being unreasonable, giving her a taste of her own medicine on Lin Shilan’s behalf.

To be honest, Lin Shilan felt very satisfied inside.

Moreover, his method worked very well.

For the entire evening afterward, Lu Xiaorong didn’t scold her again.

On Saturday, she went to Tan Jin’s house to learn from him the technique of sharp retorts.

“You’re really amazing, you really dared to say it, you left my mom speechless.”

This was the first time Lin Shilan had praised him so directly.

Unable to contain his happiness, Tan Jin’s feet secretly swayed joyfully under the table.

“It’s nothing amazing, you can do it too. The reason you can’t is because you care too much about your mom. If you learned from your mom and didn’t care whether what you said would hurt her feelings, she couldn’t possibly out-argue you.”

He had complete confidence in her.

Lin Shilan, hearing his words, became thoughtful.

Sunday.

Lin Shilan returned from cram school.

Before even entering, she knew Uncle Tang had come again.

Downstairs from home, from far away, she could hear the noisy sound of them playing mahjong in their house.

She hadn’t entered yet when her mom stopped her, asking her to go out again to buy cigarettes and alcohol for Uncle Tang and his friends.

“I don’t want to go.” She resisted with a cold voice.

Lu Xiaorong snorted lightly: “What’s this? Now when I ask you to do something, I have to beg you?”

Lin Shilan still didn’t give in: “I don’t like them, I don’t want to buy for them. I still have to review and do homework. Didn’t you say I’m about to take the college entrance exam and need to focus on studying?”

“Wait until they leave, then you can study. Right now there are guests here, you can consider it as being tired from studying and relaxing a bit…”

She interrupted her mom: “I don’t think it’s relaxing.”

Lu Xiaorong lost patience: “Alright, I don’t have the spare time to argue with you here, I have a pile of things to do. Consider that I’m troubling you, go out for a trip, okay?”

In the sink, meat and vegetables were piled up waiting to be processed, tap water flowing swiftly. She looked at the beads of sweat emerging on her mom’s nose and let out a long breath.

“Fine, I’ll go buy it. There are many people at home, you take good care of Jing Jing for me.”

Lu Xiaorong agreed repeatedly and urged her to leave.

The air outside was stuffy.

Heaven and earth seemed covered with a large quilt.

Her nose felt blocked, unable to breathe fresh air.

Lin Shilan carried a whole case of beer, the backpack straps cutting marks into her shoulders.

The weather was hot, and hot in a completely suffocating way. It looked like a thunderstorm would come soon.

Her footsteps hurried, rushing to get home before the rain came.

Inside the small house, people were smoking and swearing loudly, playing mahjong, treating the place exactly like a card room.

Lin Shilan busily cleared a clean table to place things on.

The dog cage lock had somehow come loose.

Jing Jing, seeing her return, hobbled out to find her.

Lin Shilan, hearing the dog’s bark, turned her head.

The dog ran toward her. Its legs hadn’t healed properly, so it ran very slowly.

Uncle Tang’s luck at cards was poor, and he had paid two chips to the previous player.

Cigarette in his mouth, seeing a lame stray dog pass by his feet, in a foul mood, he viciously kicked the dog.

The puppy let out a pained “Ao—” cry.

Its body was only the size of her two palms.

Kicked by an adult, it was sent flying directly into the corner by the wall.

Whether from pain or fright.

The dog faced away from everyone, crying out miserably with whimpers.

Lin Shilan walked expressionlessly to the mahjong table.

With one lift of her hand.

She flipped the entire table.

The table along with everything on it crashed thunderously to the ground.

Tea water splashed on people before they could even stand up.

Mahjong tiles scattered with a clatter, mixing with chips and cards as they hit the floor.

The heavy sound of objects falling to the ground seemed ready to create craters in the floor.

“Fuck! What’s wrong with you!”

“Are you crazy!”

“Sister-in-law, come quick and see, your daughter’s gone mad!”

Outside the window, a clap of thunder exploded across the sky.

Lin Shilan grabbed Uncle Tang by the collar.

Just as her palm was about to strike down, her wrist was caught by her mom.

“Rui Rui! You can’t act wildly!”

Lu Xiaorong called her childhood name through gritted teeth, gripping her tightly.

But Lin Shilan didn’t show the slightest sign of losing her rationality.

Her pupils were calm and still.

Her expression showed neither joy nor anger.

A room full of adults, no one spoke.

Lu Xiaorong’s hand was trembling. With her strength, she couldn’t hold Lin Shilan back much longer.

“Mom.”

“What are you afraid of?”

The young girl’s expression was indifferent.

That obedient little girl had quietly grown from being tiny into who she was now.

Once, she cried and whimpered, scolded angrily by her mother.

Now she carried an aura of deadly intent, afraid of nothing.

“Stop making trouble! Everyone is watching! Your uncle just accidentally kicked it, is it really necessary? It’s just a dog!” Standing in opposition to her, Lu Xiaorong defended Uncle Tang.

—Oh, just a dog.

Lin Shilan looked at her as if for the first time recognizing her.

The person before her was a very weak adult.

For the first time in her life she thought this: Mom is very weak.

When she was small, she thought Mom was the strongest.

Mom was a teacher, the smartest in the whole world, possessing the most knowledge.

No matter what question, if you asked her, she knew the answer.

Mom was always right. Mom could do everything well. Her nimble hands could conjure delicious meals, soft quilts, the cute braids on her head.

She was carried on Mom’s shoulders, and Mom was her entire sky.

Everything, entrusted to Mom—she only needed to listen to Mom, and that was enough.

For the first time.

Lin Shilan recognized so clearly.

—Mom is very weak.

—Mom is wrong.

Clearly, Uncle Tang went too far, did something wrong.

Clearly, these outsiders who came to play mahjong and drink shouldn’t have come.

Yet Mom didn’t dare say they did wrong.

It’s just a dog, she said.

Playing mahjong and drinking, which couldn’t disturb studying at all, yet playing with a dog for a bit could affect it.

Raising a dog was a big deal requiring bitter pleading; kicking the dog and injuring it was a small matter that shouldn’t be pursued.

Why was it that between adults and adults, everything could be minimized into nothing?

But when adults dealt with her, even the slightest negligence would be infinitely magnified?

Because in their eyes, this little dog was insignificant.

It cried for help with all its might, trembling curled up in a corner.

Its existence was still so inconsequential.

Lin Shilan looked at that little dog as if seeing herself who could be treated casually.

—If this is what adults are, then adults are nothing special.

—Adults are afraid of things they themselves don’t even care about.

She looked down upon Uncle Tang.

She had gone mad.

Everyone was right.

What was written in her eyes were precisely those two words: “gone mad.”

He sat in his chair, scared motionless by the imposing aura pressing down on him.

Lin Shilan exerted fierce strength and broke free from her mom’s restraint in one motion.

Then.

A heavy slap.

She struck it across Uncle Tang’s face.

His face swelled from the force of her blow.

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, Lin Shilan let go.

She walked to the corner and picked up her dog.

—Mom has no power to protect me.

—Then I will protect myself.

Just then, a rainstorm poured down.

She slammed the door and stepped into the rain.