Why did you provoke me?

It was quite a while after dinner when Mr. Yu returned home.

The mother quickly stepped forward and asked, "What did Mr. Zhou say?"

"He said it's nothing serious. Just practice more and it will be fine in a few days." Mr. Yu sat back down at the table and started eating.

"Hai Zi told me today that our little Si'er has pulled out a fish face again." Yu's mother sat to the side, taking out clothes and starting to mend them.

"It's true. Little Si'er hasn't even started learning yet, and he can already pull out a fish face. We absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this." Mr. Yu was very worried. Although he had told his children, who knew if there were eavesdroppers next door?

"And there's something else," Mrs. Yu said in a low voice. "Dali told me that her younger sister helped her find the third and fourth leads."

At this, Mr. Yu's chopsticks fell onto the table. "Do you remember when Xiao Si was three years old?" Mr. Yu pointed to his head, his voice very low.

"How could I not remember? It almost scared me to death. I don't know how we got through those seven days." Tears welled up in Yu's mother's eyes as she recalled the incident.

Yu Meng was already fast asleep. She was too young; she was at the age where she loved to sleep.

The town's hospital. Sister Xia lay on the hospital bed, tears streaming silently down her face. She had been calling out all the way there, and her voice was hoarse from shouting.

She's seven years old now, and she understands what the doctor said: she'll be lame from now on. She'll never be properly lame.

She begged her father to save her, but they didn't have the money to send her to the city. "My sister does; she gets a reward when she takes the test. Dad, please, save me! I don't want to become a cripple!" Xia cried, her snot and tears mixing together.

"That's something your sister earned through her own abilities. How can you use it? It's her dowry," Mr. Xue refused.

Her daughter is completely ruined. She's seven years old, but hasn't developed a single memory. She thought that once she grew up, she could marry someone and receive a dowry, so it wouldn't be a waste of her upbringing. But now she's crippled. What decent family would marry a cripple?

Now she's even eyeing her sister's dowry. What a waste of raising her!

Her father's rejection shattered Xia Jie's hopes. Her empty eyes stared at the ceiling, and suddenly she remembered Yu Jia's fourth son. She remembered Hai Zi protecting her.

A surge of resentment suddenly erupted in her young heart. It's just a fish! You can't just give it to me? If you give it to me, I won't fall in the river and I won't become a cripple.

At this moment, Sister Xia transferred all her misfortunes onto Yu Meng.

The next day at noon, Xia Jie was taken home by her father.

She can no longer walk and has to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed). Her younger brother is pulling her along, urging her to catch some fish for him; he wants to eat fish.

Looking at her mischievous little brother, Sister Xia suddenly remembered how well-behaved the fourth child in the Yu family was. She reached out and gave him a sharp shove, "If you want to eat fish, go catch it yourself, don't bother me."

The little brother suddenly sat down on the ground and started wailing. When Xue's mother came in, she picked up her little son and said, "You brat, you've grown up so big, daring to push your little brother." As she spoke, she slapped Xia Jie.

Xia Jie lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and wailed loudly. "Mom's going to beat me to death! I don't want to live anymore!" Her voice was so loud that it seemed to shake the dust off the ceiling.

Xia Jie cried miserably and loudly, which angered Xue's mother, who slapped her several more times. Coincidentally, one of the slaps landed on her broken leg.

Xia Jie's voice stopped abruptly. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

The mother and daughter's cries and curses attracted their neighbor, Granny Wei, a woman known for her quick feet and even quicker tongue. There was nothing in the surrounding area that she didn't know, and nothing that she couldn't tell.

Hearing Xia Jie's cries, she came over. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, Xia Jie's crying stopped abruptly.

"Aunt Xue, you can't beat a child like that, it'll scare him to death!" she said as she ran into the house.

Mother Xue raised her hand, staring blankly at the child on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"You've killed the child!" Aunt Wei's voice trembled.

"I didn't." Looking at her child, who was motionless on the kang (a heated brick bed), Xue's mother felt a pang of panic. "I didn't push."

"Are you confused? How old is this child? And she just came back from the hospital. What could she have done to offend you?" Aunt Wei stepped forward and reached out to touch Xia Jie's small body.

She felt a faint heartbeat. "He's still alive! Quickly find someone and get the child to the hospital. If it's too late, something bad might happen," Aunt Wei urged.

After recovering, Xue's mother turned and ran out.

Seeing that Xia Jie's pants were stained red with blood, Aunt Wei guessed that she had been hit on the leg and the child had fainted from the pain.

Aunt Wei curled her lip. What mother would hit her child like that, especially a sick child?

A short while later, Mr. Xue and several neighbors came in. Seeing the blood on the kang (heated brick bed), they frowned. "How could there be so much blood?"

"Sister Xue, get the money ready, we'll take her to town. We need to hurry, she's bleeding quite a bit," one of them said.

Several people wrapped Xia Jie in a blanket and took her to the hospital.

When Yu Hai told his older sister that Xia Jie had been beaten by her mother and hospitalized again, Yu Meng was diligently eating the long, thin rice noodles in her bowl, which she couldn't pick up with her chopsticks.

"Didn't she just get discharged from the hospital? How come she got beaten up again?" the older woman asked curiously.

"According to Aunt Wei, she was the one who pushed my little brother down." Yu Hai helped Yu Meng put the vermicelli into a spoon.

Then Yu Hai whispered mysteriously, "Uncle Xue went to the families where Xia Jie used to hang out and said that Xia Jie fell because they pushed her, and that they should pay compensation."

"Did you lose money?" the older sister asked quietly.

"While they were arguing, Aunt Xue showed up. I don't know what happened in the end."

Yu Meng listened with great interest. It was a good story, perfect for watching while eating.

"Hai Zi, stay away from the Xue family in the future. They're unreasonable," the eldest sister instructed.

Yu Hai nodded, "I understand, eldest sister."

Yu Meng nodded in agreement. Her older sister's judgment was quite accurate in this regard.

Seeing Yu Meng nod, the older sister and younger brother both smiled. "Our little fourth son is the best-behaved."

With Yu Meng's help, the eldest sister finally managed to memorize the fifth line two days before the test.

When Yu's mother learned about this, tears streamed down her face. "Good, good. My Dali is truly blessed."

On the day of the test, my father, mother, and even my older brother went to town.

After these past few days, Yu Meng finally understood what his older brother had been doing. He was following his father to find those things that could strip away all shame.

Things in this world are strange; it seems every creature has a second face. And this second face can be exchanged for money, or for high-end nutritional supplements.