Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Cold sweat drenched my back. Every nerve in my body was stretched taut.

Just then, the harsh beam of a flashlight shone against the glass, and a cool, steady voice rang out. “Why are you at Jingjing’s house in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?”

It was Sister Xiangliu.

I scrambled up from the bed.

Then I heard Sister Xiangliu shout, “Are you stupid? If he sticks his hand in, hit him!”

Her voice gave me courage.

I grabbed the carrying pole behind the door and brought it down hard on Uncle Dog’s arm.

At the same time, Sister Xiangliu kept shining the flashlight in his eyes.

Uncle Dog flew into a humiliated rage. “You damned little brat. I want to sleep with Jingjing. What’s it got to do with you?

“If you don’t want her to sleep with me, then you sleep with me.”

Sister Xiangliu sneered. “Try it, then. I’ve got a sickle on me. If I really lose it, I’ll chop your arm off too!”

Afraid Sister Xiangliu would be bullied, I opened the door and went out holding a kitchen knife.

My voice trembled as I said, “I… I’ll chop you too!”

Uncle Dog got scared.

He left, cursing under his breath.

The next day, when the villagers criticized him, he just laughed it off. “I drank too much and took the wrong road, that’s all.”

Seventh Uncle, meanwhile, glared viciously at Sister Xiangliu and scolded her. “Not sleeping at home in the middle of the night, prowling around outside like a stray cat!

“Even if someone did sleep with you, you’d deserve it.”

Sister Xiangliu gave a cold, sinister laugh. “If anyone dares lay a finger on me, I’ll chop him up and feed him to the dogs.”

Seventh Uncle’s face visibly paled.

He said nothing more.

From that day on, Sister Xiangliu came to sleep with me every night.

Some older women in the village even advised me, “Stay away from that lunatic. Be careful she doesn’t hurt you when she goes crazy.”

She would never hurt me.

She was the only person in this world who would protect me.

We were too weak.

If we didn’t bare our teeth and claws with everything we had, how could we possibly scare off those hungry wolves watching us so greedily?

Back then, I was in fifth grade. Because Sister Xiangliu had started school late, she was in the first year of middle school.

In the past, no one had disciplined me, and I often didn’t even do my homework.

That wouldn’t do anymore.

Sister Xiangliu forced me to do it with her.

She checked my schoolwork too, correcting the questions I got wrong.

Human nature is probably lazy. Even with her constant nagging, I still couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for studying.

I didn’t know what the point of studying was.

Until one day, she brought back a photo album.

She had borrowed it from her teacher.

She flipped through it page by page, her eyes filled with longing. “This is the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai. This is the Forbidden City. This is the Great Wall…

“Jingjing, when you grow up, do you want to go see these places?”

“They must be really far away. Can we go there?”

In my mind, the farthest place I could go was Guangdong, where there were lots of factories.

“Of course we can!” Her voice rose. “As long as we study hard, get into high school, and then get into a good university, we can leave this place.

“My English teacher’s hometown is even poorer than ours, but she got into university and was assigned a job. She’s only staying here for two years. Soon, she’ll be transferred away.”

She looked into my eyes. “You’re smarter than me. That’s Heaven making it up to you.

“Do you really want to grow up and marry a man like your father? Become a woman like your mother?”