Characters:

Ruan Mingzi: The Female Lead of the story.

Ruan Mingyan: Blood Sister of Mingzi. A mute.

Old Madam Zhao: The matriach of the Ruan Family.

Madam Mao: A daughter in-law, wife of the 2nd son of Ruan Family.

Ruan Angui: Third son of the matriach. “Ruan Laosan” 3rd Uncle of the Female lead.

Ruan Chengzhang: The eldest male son of the Ruan's 3rd Generation. From the second branch of the 2nd Generation. Cousin of Female lead.

The heavy rain had only just passed, leaving the fields soaked and muddy. No one could work the land that day, so the villagers were idle, eager for any sign of excitement. When they heard a commotion in front of the old Ruan house, the neighbors quickly gathered around.

The woman surnamed Wang, already in high spirits, grew even louder as more onlookers gathered. She yanked her son forward, her shrill voice louder than before.

“Everyone, you all know how it is,” she began, clutching at the torn sleeve of her boy’s tunic.

“This piece of cloth... good material! Our family tightens our belts, saves every coin, just so the child can wear something decent. Now, never mind that my boy here took a tumble, we’re reasonable folks. Country boys are tough! A fall or two doesn’t matter! But this fine cloth, ruined like this? There must be an explanation!”

Her words were both emotional and reasonable, and the onlookers nodded in agreement. Her son, nicknamed Gangzi, smirked and made a face at Ruan Mingzi, clearly not the least bit remorseful. Seeing this, the Wang woman grew even more smug. She stretched out her hand toward Ruan Mingzi.

“Now don’t say we’re bullying you, Ruan girl. Every household has to live, right? This outfit of Gangzi’s cost me a good piece of cloth. You don’t have to pay much...just thirty copper coins will do!”

Encouraged, the other women who had also come with their children began to chime in. One demanded fifteen coins, another twenty, until the yard was filled with noise and clamoring voices, each louder than the last.

Ruan Mingzi, however, remained calm and composed. She bowed respectfully to the gathered neighbors. “Aunties, may I say a few words in my defense?”

Her appearance was pitiable. Her hair was still sticky with dried blood from an earlier injury, her old patched clothing now caked with mud. Yet even in such a state, she remained composed and courteous, speaking with dignity.

Seeing this, several of the bystanders felt a stir of sympathy.

“Go on, speak, child.” someone urged.

“You’ve a right to speak.”

“What’s there to say?” she snapped. “Just pay what you owe and be done with it!” Wang woman said irritably.

Among the onlookers was a woman surnamed Gao, known for being bold and outspoken. She crossed her arms and spoke sharply to Wang.

“Oh, what’s the rush? Can’t you let the girl speak a few words? Why so domineering? The Ruan girl’s never been one to cause trouble. Maybe there’s more to this than we think!”

Wang’s jaw tightened with anger. Listen to that! Saying the Ruan girl’s not a troublemaker—wasn’t that just implying her son was?

Ruan Mingzi, ignoring the jab, turned to Madam Gao and bowed again. “Thank you, Auntie Gao, for speaking up for me.” Madam Gao blinked, surprised by the girl’s earnestness. It had only been a passing comment, yet the child treated it like a great favor.

Feeling somewhat proud, Madam Gao smiled broadly. “You just go ahead and talk, girl. We’re all reasonable folk here. No one’s going to take sides unfairly.” Her words struck a chord with the crowd.

That statement neatly included everyone present, and the crowd, feeling flattered, nodded in agreement.

This Auntie Gao is a clever one, Ruan Mingzi thought. I’ll have to thank her properly someday.

Ruan Mingzi’s lashes lowered slightly, her expression softening into one of quiet sorrow. “Then, Aunties,” she began, her voice small but steady, “please help us judge fairly. My sister and I only arrived at the old house last night. We don’t even know how we offended Gangzi and the others. But just now, they kept throwing mud at my sister…”

Madam Wang’s face turned awkward. She quickly said, “They’re just naughty boys, covered in mud all day. Probably just playing around.”

Ruan Mingzi shook her head gently and pointed toward the ground. Where the splattered mud still lay, mud that clearly contained something else. “Auntie Wang, that wasn’t play. There were stones mixed in.”

The villagers bent to look. Sure enough, embedded among the splattered lumps were bits of stone, small, sharp rocks still slick with wet dirt. The sight drew a collective murmur of disapproval. Throwing mud was one thing. Throwing stones was entirely another.

“Well, would you look at that…”

“So it wasn’t just mud after all!”

“Throwing stones? At little girls? That’s not playing!”

Those two Ruan girls were thin, quiet, and poor—always the most well-behaved in the village. They’d never provoked anyone. How could the boys go so far as to throw stones at them?

Under the weight of everyone’s reproachful gazes, Madam Wang’s face turned red, then pale. She snatched her son toward her and smacked him on the back. “How could you be so reckless!”

The sound of the slap was loud, but it was mostly for show. The villagers could see well enough that her hand had barely touched the boy—her strength had gone soft halfway through. A few exchanged knowing glances, their lips curling faintly in disdain.

Pretending to discipline him now, after being caught red-handed—who did she think she was fooling?

Madam Wang gave her son a few light smacks—finished her half-hearted act of scolding her son and turned back toward Ruan Mingzi, her tone suddenly soft, almost coaxing. “Alright, alright,” she said, sighing dramatically.

“You see, I’ve disciplined the boy. He’s been quite unruly, I admit it. But let’s keep things clear—whatever the case, my son’s tunic was torn. You can’t deny that, can you? You’ve got to admit, girl, it’s not right for you to damage my boy’s clothing like this.” The shamelessness of it made several bystanders exchange looks.

Ruan Mingzi only smiled faintly, her expression calm and measured. She pointed toward the broken section of fence lying on the ground, her tone gentle yet clear. “About that, Auntie Wang,” she said sweetly.

“Since you mention that, Auntie Wang, I was hoping we could also speak a little about the fence. Your Gangzi led the other boys to climb on my fence sitting on top of it earlier, throwing stones mixed with mud at my sister and me. I tried to dodge, but couldn’t avoid it in time and hit the fence. Normally, that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but there were still people sitting on it. That’s why the fence collapsed. You just said you’re a reasonable person, so let’s be fair. The fence broke because your son and the others were sitting on it, and his clothes were torn when he fell. So, Auntie Wang, wouldn’t that mean, by logic, you should be the one compensating us for the damage?”

Her tone was so mild that for a moment, it almost sounded like a genuine question. The crowd erupted. One of the onlookers immediately stepped forward to testify, waving a hand toward the scene.

“That’s right! I was in my yard earlier and heard the Ruan girl scream! It makes sense now. The mud had stones in it. If one hit your body, it’d hurt for sure. If you ask me, Gangzi brought this on himself! If he hadn’t been so mean as to throw rocks at the girls, would he have fallen and torn his own clothes?”

The logic was simple and irrefutable. The villagers murmured to one another, nodding in agreement as they pieced together the truth.

“Yes, yes, that sounds right.”

“Can’t blame the girl if the boy hurt himself doing something wicked.”

“Throwing stones—what were they thinking?”

Madam Gao, the outspoken woman from earlier, gave a short, cold laugh. “See? You reap what you sow. Sister Wang, how can you have the nerve to come here demanding compensation for your son’s tunic? Seems to me you should be the one paying for this poor girl’s fence!”

A ripple of laughter broke through the crowd. Madam Wang’s face turned an ugly shade of red. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for air, her chest heaving with embarrassment. She stammered, trying to find ground to stand on.

“This—this courtyard’s been deserted for months! Who even needs that fence anymore?” Her voice gained confidence as she went on, her shame turning to defensive bluster.

“What’s the use of fixing up a fence that’s falling apart anyway?” Her voice grew louder. “You two don’t even live here anymore, do you? What’s the point of asking us to pay for it?”

Ruan Mingzi’s smile deepened slightly, though she kept her expression mild. She had led the conversation carefully to this point—step by step. This was the perfect opening to make known what she had long intended... that she and her younger sister, Ruan Mingyan, had already separated from their grandparents, the old Ruans.

She bit her lip delicately, letting a flicker of hesitation cross her face. Then, with a quiet sigh, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The movement seemed casual, but it revealed—ever so conveniently—the jagged, half-healed wound on the side of her head. The ugly gash, still red and crusted, caught the light.

“Auntie Wang, you might not have heard… My sister and I moved back here last night. From now on, we’ll be living in this old courtyard. We won’t be returning to our grandparents’ house.”

The crowd gasped as one.

Now that her hair was out of the way, the wound was plain to see. Earlier, the muddy blood in her hair had looked only dirty, not frightening. Now, with her head turned just so, the sight was startling—such a deep gash on a young girl’s head!

Even Madam Wang stepped back a little, startled. Her heart leapt—until she realized that the injury was already half-healed, the blood long dried. Clearly, her son hadn’t caused it today. Relieved but defensive, she raised her voice before anyone could accuse her.

“H-heavens! What happened to your head? That wound’s old—it’s clearly not from today! Everyone look! Don’t go saying it was my Gangzi who did that!” Ruan Mingzi lowered her gaze, as if embarrassed, letting her hair fall again to cover the mark. Her voice turned faint, almost trembling.

“It’s nothing… I just fell yesterday, that’s all. No need to make a fuss.”

“Anyway, since my sister and I are on our own now, this house and yard are all we have. So this fence is important to us. Aunties, if you’d be so kind as to help us fix it, we’d be very grateful.”

Her vague, hesitant manner—so full of things unsaid—only stirred the villagers’ curiosity more. What had really happened? Why would two young girls live alone in the old house, cut off from their elders?

The questions spread like ripples in a pond. Word of this would travel through the entire village before sundown.

And indeed, the day before, at the old Ruan residence, something had happened—something not easily hidden. After all, some people already knew part of what had happened last night at the Ruan family’s main house. People would soon know that Ruan Mingzi had been pushed down the slope by her own cousin, Ruan Chengzhang, and then cast out by her grandmother would soon become public knowledge.

She didn’t need to say a word more. The rumor would travel faster than wildfire on a windy day.

And once everyone knew, old Madam Zhao would have no way to hold that secret over her again.

Ruan Mingzi’s lashes fluttered, and she allowed herself the faintest smile, so small and fleeting that no one but her sister—watching silently from the side—could see it.

She had taken one string of coins from Madam Mao, a promise not to speak of that night.

But if the story were to come from someone else’s mouth… Well, then it wouldn’t be her saying a word, would it?

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