After the family split up, my stepmother and scumbag father begged me to come home.

Tiger's mother called for a long time outside the door until her voice was almost hoarse, but the two broken wooden doors of the Lin family remained tightly closed, and there was not a sound from inside.

Ding Yuxiang pressed Lin Yuanyuan down on the kang (a heated brick bed), covering her mouth and holding her breath. Only when the footsteps outside faded into the distance did Lin Yuanyuan break free of her mother's grasp, her face deathly pale: "Mother, what should we do? What if Father finds out…?"

"Don't make a sound." Ding Yuxiang glared at her, her voice low. "No one saw it, just deny it. Don't talk nonsense when your father comes back—if you do, you won't get new clothes anymore."

Lin Yuanyuan nodded quickly.

Ding Yuxiang finally breathed a sigh of relief, leaned back on the kang (a heated brick bed), but her ears were still perked up, listening to the sounds outside.

She knew what was going on. Lin Guozhu had gone to the fields early in the morning, and the eldest son's family had gone to his father-in-law's house yesterday. Her parents-in-law and sister-in-law had gone to town to visit her brother-in-law who was studying, and they wouldn't be back for three to five days. Only the three of them—the two little ones—were left at home.

No matter how hard they shout, no one will stand up for them.

Tiger's mother called out for a long time, but there was no response from inside. Furious, she stamped her feet, "What a tragedy! Are we just going to watch our child die?!"

Lin Yulong leaned against the wall, his whole body aching and numb. Hearing this, he simply shook his head, his voice weak as if a thread was about to break: "Never mind, Aunt Ding... she won't come out."

Tiger's mother looked down at him—the nine-year-old boy, his face bruised and swollen, blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were fixed on the direction of the woodshed. Her heart ached, and she bent down to pick him up: "Come on, let's see your sister first."

The woodshed was at the far end of the yard, next to the pigsty, and a musty, rotten smell hit you as soon as you pushed it open. The room was pitch black, with only a tiny window letting in a sliver of dim yellow light. Some rotten firewood was piled up in the corner, and a straw mat was spread on the ground. Lin Qianqian lay on it, her face and neck covered in blood, which had dried to a dark red.

Tiger's mother picked her up and placed her in the middle of the straw mat. Lin Qianqian's head hung limply, her face as white as paper.

Lin Yulong knelt down with a thud, his forehead hitting the muddy ground: "Aunt Ding, I beg you, please find a doctor for my sister... She's lost so much blood, I'm scared, I'm scared of her..."

He couldn't continue; his shoulders were shaking violently.

"You child, you're still covered in injuries, get up!" Tiger's mother went to pull him up.

Lin Yulong wouldn't get up, his head pressed against the ground, his voice muffled: "Auntie, please... I have no money, lend me some, I'll definitely pay it back, I'll do any kind of work for your family..."

Tiger's mother's nose stung with tears, and she pulled him up, saying, "What are you saying! Do you think I'm the kind of person who would stand by and watch someone die?"

She turned around and shouted outside, "Tiger! Go quickly and fetch the barefoot doctor!"

Ding Xiaohu was already waiting outside. As soon as he heard this, he took off running.

Lin Yulong sat next to his sister, holding her hand. Her hand was icy cold, with green sap from wild vegetables still stuck in her fingernails. He pressed that hand against his face, trying to warm it up.

"Sis, wake up..." he whispered, "Wake up, I won't fight anymore, I'll be good..."

Tiger's mother stood by and watched, wiping the corner of her eye with her sleeve.

Before long, Ding Xiaohu dragged the barefoot doctor in.

The doctor, surnamed Zhou, was in his fifties, carrying a tattered medicine box, and was panting heavily as he ran. Upon entering and seeing Lin Qianqian's condition, his expression changed: "What...what happened?"

"Stop asking, just take a look!" Tiger's mother urged him.