It was February, and the young rice seedlings were beginning to sprout. The entire year’s harvest depended on a single plot of seedbed in the field. At that moment, a commotion was taking place by the seedbed at the entrance to Wanjia Dam Village.

“I didn’t push him. He was already in your paddy field when I got there. I just told him not to trample your rice seedlings. He plopped right down on them himself and ruined them—it’s not my fault.” Liu Qishuang was still patiently explaining to Wan Dongyang, but inside, he was already losing his patience.

He hadn’t done anything wrong—why should he be the one to apologize?

Earlier, he’d seen Wang’s eldest son in the Wan family’s paddy field. Aunt Wan had always been kind to him, and he didn’t want to see her family’s rice seedlings ruined, so he had called out to him not to trample them.

But he never expected that just because he spoke up, he’d end up in a verbal spat with the Wang family’s eldest ger. The moment the ger opened his mouth, he hurled insults at him, accusing him of trying to act as the Wan family’s boss, as if he wanted to stick to them like glue—only the Wans didn’t think much of him.

Those who toil in the fields to make a living cherish their crops above all else. Today, had it been anyone else but the Wang family’s eldest son trampling the Wan family’s rice seedlings, Liu Qishuang would have spoken up as well, calling Wang’s behavior unreasonable. He was just about to confront the man when the fellow, acting as if he were ill, suddenly plopped down in the field.

Then Wang Chungyu stepped forward, began to sob and complain, putting on a show of vulnerability, and even claimed that he had pushed him into the paddy field.

Wan Dongyang frowned. Just as he turned to look at the man in the field—seemingly ready to believe Liu Qishuang’s story—Wang’s eldest son immediately protested, “How thick-skinned are you, you ger? You just blurted that out without batting an eye—that I jumped into the paddy field myself? Don’t you see what the weather’s like? The water in this paddy is freezing cold. Why don’t you come in yourself?”

With Liu Qishuang’s earlier remark and now Wang’s words, Wan Dongyang finally understood what had happened.

The two gers had gotten into a fight; somehow, one of them had ended up in the paddy field. Now they were each sticking to their own version of events: the one on the roadside claimed the one in the field had gone in on his own, while the one in the field claimed the one on the roadside had pushed him in.

Ugh, this is so annoying!

“Enough already! Is your butt rooted to the field or something? Get up this instant!” Looking at the rice seedlings he had trampled, Wan Dongyang was annoyed, but since his uncle had taken a liking to this boy, he had to give him some face and couldn’t be too harsh.

As soon as Wan Dongyang said this, Wang-ger in the field not only showed no intention of getting up, but his eyes immediately welled up with tears, and he looked as if he were about to burst into tears.

Wan Dongyang couldn’t stand people who cried over the slightest thing. He couldn’t be bothered to give him another glance and instead turned to Liu Qishuang by the roadside. “Just apologize to him, and we’ll call it even.”

“I didn’t push him!” Seeing that Wan Dongyang believed Wang-ger’s story, Liu Qishuang could no longer hold back the distress he’d been suppressing. His nose stung, his mind went blank, and his hands reached out on their own.

It wasn’t until he realized what he’d just done that Liu Qishuang panicked. He hadn’t pushed Wang-ger—he’d pushed Wan Dongyang down.

The village where Liu Qishuang lived was called Wanjia Dam. Situated at the foot of the Great Mountains, Wanjia Dam was named for its flat terrain and the wide river flowing past its front.

About four or five li away from Wanjia Dam was a large town. The town held a market on the 2nd, 5th, and 8th of each lunar month. Today was the 25th day of the second lunar month, which happened to be market day. It was now approaching noon, and people were just returning to the village from the market.

Thus, while it was unclear earlier whether Liu Qishuang had pushed the Wang-ger, now several pairs of eyes had seen him shove Wan Dongyang into the paddy field—there was no way he could get away.

The moment Liu Qishuang pushed him, he immediately regretted it. He knew he was in for a beating today.

Wan Dongyang was not someone to be messed with; everyone in the village knew that. He showed no respect for the elderly and no care for the young—he even dared to hit his own uncles. He was a complete scoundrel, and no one dared to cross him.

Wan Dongyang’s face was a terrifying shade of dark. He stood there in a daze for a while before slowly getting to his feet.

“Brother Wan, could you give me a hand?” Wang-ger, still standing in the Wan family’s paddy field, reached out to Wan Dongyang, a faint smile even playing on his lips—perhaps because he felt the truth had come to light and someone was standing up for him.

“Don’t you have a single bone in your body that you can’t stand on your own?” Wan Dongyang glared fiercely at the ger beside him, ignoring his flushed face, and scrambled up onto the main road at the edge of the paddy field in a few quick movements. He then turned to look at Liu Qishuang, who was staring at him in a daze, his expression complex.

Liu Qishuang was once again at a loss. He hadn’t expected Wan Dongyang to yell at Wang-ger like that. Moments ago, he’d been wrongly accused by Wan Dongyang and had assumed that Wan Dongyang had simply taken a liking to Wang-ger because of his good looks—that was why he’d believed Wang-ger’s words and sided with him.

But it turned out Wan Dongyang didn’t really care much for the ger after all.

Perhaps Wan Dongyang was truly worried about his own rice seedlings; if that were the case, he wouldn’t be so angry.

Liu Qishuang saw Wan Dongyang, soaked through from head to toe, with muddy water even dripping from his hair, and knew he was in for a beating today. He was afraid, but not that afraid—it was just a beating, after all, and it wouldn’t kill him.

As long as it didn’t kill him, he wasn’t afraid of anything.

“You good-for-nothing brat, what on earth were you thinking! All you ever do is get into trouble!” A woman’s voice suddenly rang out from the distance—Liu Qishuang’s mother had arrived.

Liu Qishuang’s mother was named Liu Congxiang. As soon as she arrived, she wasted no time and immediately began raining blows on her son. Liu Qishuang couldn’t dodge and took several hits.

Liu Congxiang had been slapping her son haphazardly on the head earlier, but when the pain in her palm only made her angrier, she actually tried to slap him directly across the face, but unfortunately, she was unable to land the blow—someone grabbed her.

Wan Dongyang grabbed Liu Congxiang by the collar and hauled her away. No one had expected this move; they all thought Wan Dongyang would be doing Xu-ger a favor just by not beating him himself, but to their surprise, he actually wouldn’t even let his own family hit him.

“Perhaps he’s worried about that Changqing lad. Lately, that mother and son have been going around trying to curry favor with everyone.”

The “Wan Changqing” this man was referring to was one of Wan Dongyang’s maternal uncles. Though technically a maternal uncle, the two were of similar age, shared a kindred spirit, and were on excellent terms—as close as blood-related uncle and nephew.

“That’s right. If it goes through, Wan Dongyang will have to call her ‘aunt-in-law.’ He’d better save some face for her.”

Someone whispered this comment about Wan Dongyang’s reaction, and it was immediately overheard by those nearby.

Instantly, everyone looked at the Xu family—mother and son—with smirks on their faces, thinking to themselves that the pair were quite shrewd, knowing how to use the marriage to their advantage by latching onto the Wan family.

To be honest, the people of Wanjia Dam looked down on this mother and son entirely because of Liu Congxiang.

This Liu Congxiang is a native of their village. Her husband was a son-in-law who moved into her family’s home, but she’s so shameless at heart that she threw herself at his feet willingly. She’s practically given away the entire Liu family—her household is now run entirely by that so-called son-in-law, a man surnamed Xu. 

The villagers call her “Auntie Xu,” and they call her own ger, “Xu-ger.”

A few years back, when the villagers saw her family being mistreated, they’d step in to give that Xu fellow a piece of their mind. But not only was the woman ungrateful, but she’d even complain that they were meddling and making her husband feel humiliated. Gradually, the villagers stopped getting involved. It’s their own business—no matter how they act in front of outsiders, behind closed doors, they’re still a family. Why should they go out of their way to make themselves unpopular?

It’s just—it’s just a shame about that young ger in her family. What a lovely child he was when he was little, but now he’s all scrawny and skinny as a monkey, and he never says a word, like a gourd with a sealed mouth.

That alone would be bad enough, but he’s also picked up his mother’s habit of throwing himself at men. At such a young age, he has the nerve to go looking for men to throw himself at—who knows if anyone will ever want him.