The voice was followed by a burst of laughter.

Liu Qishuang said nothing and did not look up at the people on the road. He simply removed the object from his head in silence, took a few quick steps back to the edge of the ditch, climbed onto the large rock there, and with a single leap, jumped to the other side of the ditch. He then quickly disappeared into a thicket of thorny bushes, his figure vanishing from sight.

Watching him slip away unnoticed, the people on the road continued to laugh, with Cao Chunyan—the eldest daughter-in-law of the family whose daughter had been described as desperate to marry—laughing the hardest.

“How strange! Little Xu has actually dressed up. Could it be he’s really hooked up with the Wan family and set the wedding date?” To be fair, Cao Chunyan usually got along quite well with Liu Congxiang, but today, with the young man her family favored traveling with her, she couldn’t help but tease the other young men a bit to curry favor.

Today, quite a few people had come into the mountains with Cao Chunyan. There were three from her own family, plus several other young men and women from the village, and even the two young men from the Wang family.

Ever since they’d been kicked off Wan Dongyang’s cart, the two Wang brothers had harbored a grudge against Liu Qishuang. Now, seeing him alone by the deep ditch—and spotting a tung tree in full bloom below—they made up an excuse to go pick tung flowers and told their companions to go on ahead.

The spot where the group was standing was separated from the ditch below by a high embankment and several field ridges. Both sides of the ditch were overgrown with lush vegetation and thickets of thorny vines. Unless one came very close or paid special attention, a passerby would never notice what was happening on the other side of the ditch.

The Wang brothers had come into the mountains today not solely to gather wild produce; they had also picked and dug up quite a few wildflowers to take home. Since they said they were going to pick oil-tea flowers, no one suspected anything and went back to the village on their own.

However, after the rest of the group had walked a short distance, Cao Chunyan used the excuse of needing a breather to tell the villagers accompanying her to go ahead. She then pulled her husband’s younger brother, Zhou Laoya, aside and said, “Laoya, don’t go back yet. Go find those two Wang gers.”

Cao Chunyan was in her thirties and had a daughter of thirteen or fourteen at home. She knew exactly what was going on in the minds of teenagers—there was no way she could be fooled.

“Those two gers from the Wang family are probably off to pick a fight with Xu-ger. Go after them—it doesn’t matter whose side you take. Just pick the one you like and look after him. It’s best to get pregnant first. You absolutely must arrange a marriage this year; at your age, you can’t afford to wait any longer.” Cao Chunyan wasn’t particularly tall, but she had a shrewd face, and she lived up to it—she was indeed quite calculating. She didn’t even bother to hide the fact that her daughter was right there, blurting out those malicious remarks without a second thought.

To be honest, the Zhou family wasn’t doing too badly. They owned their own fields, and their daughters had all married well, often sending money back to support the family. Zhou Laoya himself was handsome—broad-browed with large eyes, tall and well-built—yet for some reason, even though he was nearly twenty, he still hadn’t found a bride.

Zhou Laoyao had indeed taken a fancy to the two gers from the Wang family. Hearing his sister-in-law’s words, he was only too happy to oblige. He tossed the back basket on his back into the roadside bushes and set off at a run toward the ditch he’d just passed.

After dodging the group of people teasing him, Liu Qishuang placed the flower wreath on his head on a large rock beside the thornbushes, then began searching for thornberries along the ditch.

There were three varieties of prickly fruit in the village. The earliest to ripen were the “wild raspberries” he was picking right now; their color was mostly deep red or orange-red, followed by the ground fruit, which ripens in May. 

Once ripe, it turns purplish-black; though less juicy, it has a rich, fruity aroma. The latest to ripen is the yellow thorn fruit, which can be eaten around the time of the rice harvest. Its color resembles that of a ripe loquat, and while its taste has a slight bitterness, this is followed by an indescribable fragrance—its flavor is no less delightful than that of the two earlier varieties.

It is only early March, and the fruit is still scarce, but Liu Qishuang has been lucky. No one seems to have been here in the past few days, and many ripe fruits in the thorn bushes along the gully have now found their way into his mouth and the leaf bag in his hand.

Liu Qishuang popped all the smaller, less flavorful fruits straight into his mouth, while the large, bright red fruits with sweet flavors went into the leaf pouch to take back and share with his grandfather.

Before the leaf pouch was full, he could find no more fruit. Liu Qishuang didn’t want to waste any more time, so he started walking back.

He planned to play for a while at the spot where he’d placed the wreath before returning to find his grandfather. That spot had several large boulders, with a few lacquer-leaf trees nearby that provided thick, dense cover. There were also thickets of thorn bushes blooming with small, white, unnamed flowers—fragrant yet not overpowering—as well as wild grapevines and various wildflowers. Sitting there in the breeze would surely be pleasant.

Liu Qishuang was still some distance away when he spotted people there. Upon closer look, he recognized the two Wang gers. They were holding his wreath and were smiling at him.

As he was pinned to the ground and beaten, Liu Qishuang was still puzzled by the two gers’ dual personalities. To others, they were always gentle and delicate, as if they might break at any moment, yet now, with him, they were so fierce—ready to beat him without a word.

Though puzzled, he didn’t hesitate to fight back. He not only used his hands and feet to wrestle with them but kept his mouth busy as well.

The Wang brothers were both older and bigger than him, and with the two of them attacking him together, he was bound to come out on the losing end no matter what. But even if fighting back meant getting beaten even worse, he had to strike back!

“Ah!” Wang Chunyu suddenly let out a piercing scream. The reason was simple: Liu Qishuang had bitten down hard on his wrist. The pain was excruciating, as if a chunk of flesh had been torn right out.

Wang Chunyu, having been bitten, quickly released his grip on Liu Qishuang’s collar. Wang Qiushuang, enraged, lunged at him. Liu Qishuang let him come, waiting until they were entangled in a struggle before closing his eyes and recklessly ramming his head and face into him.

This morning, when Niu Meiyu had knocked her mother’s nose bloody, he’d picked up a fighting move of his own.

His head was the hardest part of his body; all he had to do was ram it into her. He refused to believe that their mouths could be harder than his head.

When young girls and gers fight, it usually involves pulling hair or tugging at clothes—at most, some scratching and pinching. Who would ever charge at someone recklessly like a bull calf, the way Liu Qishuang did?

Both brothers had taken a beating and were already beginning to regret coming here to pick a fight. Just as they were fuming, their backup arrived.

Wang Chunyu heard the commotion and knew it was the youngest Zhou brother. He deliberately tore his collar open a bit, revealing a patch of pale skin on his chest and, whimpering, called out to the youngest Zhou brother still standing under the tung tree: “Brother Zhou, come judge this for us. This guy is so unreasonable—he won’t even let us pick the flowers, saying whoever sees them first gets them. He claims they’re all his and won’t give us a single one.”

Wang Qiushuang was feeling dizzy and disoriented at that moment, his mouth even feeling hot. Just as he was about to mimic his brother’s words to speak to the newcomer, his brother suddenly let out a startled cry.

“Qiu, what’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with you!” Wang Chunyu was terrified. How could his younger brother have been beaten into such a state in the blink of an eye, with blood streaming from his nose and mouth!

The Wang brothers were truly panicked and in tears now. Zhou Laoya had known there would be friction between the group, but he’d assumed they were merely bickering. He never expected these gers to actually come to blows—and so fiercely, with blood already drawn.

“Xu-ger, you’ve gone too far.” Taking a few quick steps toward them, Zhou Laoya first reached out to shield the two Wang gers, then glared fiercely at Liu Qishuang—but that was all he could manage.

He was taken aback.

He knew the Liu family had an unloved ger who rarely showed his face. He vaguely remembered the ger as skinny and frail, with not an ounce of meat on his bones, always dressed in drab, dusty clothes. He hadn’t even paid attention to what the ger looked like. He never imagined that over the years, this ger had changed so drastically—he’d actually grown into such a handsome ger.

The fierce expression on his face slowly faded, and Zhou Laoya quickly began to calculate.

He was no longer a greenhorn; he could tell at a glance that the Wang family’s eldest son was no longer a virgin, though the younger one was still pure. He’d originally planned to lure both of them in for a bit of fun, but unlike the other dim-witted gers in the village, these two had been stringing him along for days. He’d showered them with food and gifts, yet they hadn’t even let him hold their hands.

If it weren’t for the fact that he still had some pride left, he would have turned on them long ago. But this one before him was different.

This ger was neglected by both father and mother; he’d likely never even tasted a single piece of candy in his life. He figured spending a few wen on some candy would be enough to get him in bed.

Zhou Laoya was already smiling as he made up his mind—he didn’t plan on letting a single one of them off the hook.

“Wang, how have these people been bullying you?” Zhou Laoya wasn’t in a hurry to stand up for the two of them just yet; instead, he began chatting with the others.

The two Wang brothers began chattering away in a language Liu Qishuang couldn’t understand, but he didn’t offer a single explanation. Instead, he crouched down and grabbed a fist-sized stone.

Just as Zhou Laoya moved toward him, about to tear at his clothes, Liu Qishuang didn’t hesitate for a moment. He clenched the stone in his hand and smashed it against the man’s forehead. A pained groan immediately escaped Zhou Laoya’s lips.

He quickly sprang to his feet and ran toward the ridge on the other side of the field, but unfortunately, he couldn’t escape. Just as he reached the edge of the ditch, the two Wang gers grabbed his clothes!

He struggled desperately; his clothes were torn to shreds, yet he still couldn’t break free. As he watched the blood-soaked Zhou Laoya approaching, he had already steeled himself for a fight to the death. But just then, Wan Dongyang and Wan Xiaohua unexpectedly appeared on the opposite ridge.

“What are you doing?”

Wan Dongyang and Wan Xiaohua had run all the way here in one breath; they were still slightly hunched over, panting heavily. Seeing the gers tugging at each other, he assumed they were just brawling again over some old grudge. But when he turned his head, he saw Zhou Laoya, furious and out of breath, chasing after them. Only then did he rush over to the group.

“What’s going on here?” Wan Dongyang stood on a large rock by the ditch. He saw that all three gers looked a mess, especially the ger from the Liu family. Not only was his hair a tangled mess, but his clothes had even been torn, with half the front flapping open, revealing glimpses of his undershirt.

He quickly averted his gaze and said to Zhou Laoya, who had just caught up, “Turn around.”

Wan Dongyang was two years older than Zhou Laoya. Since childhood, he had beaten Zhou Laoya senseless countless times. Zhou Laoya was terrified of him to the core; he didn’t dare ask why, and as soon as Wan Dongyang finished speaking, he obediently turned away.

As soon as Zhou Laoya turned away, Wan Dongyang called out to Wan Xiaohua, who had already climbed onto the large rock, telling her to take off her outer garment. Wan Xiaohua obeyed, and then Wan Dongyang began to undress himself, handing his clothes to Wan Xiaohua. “Put them on quickly.”

Wan Dongyang was now wearing only a thin undershirt. Holding his niece’s clothes in his hand, he leaped directly across to the other side, arriving in front of the group in the blink of an eye.

The two Wang brothers’ eyes lit up. Wang Chunyu quickly spoke up, “Brother Wan, this ger has such a domineering temper—he wouldn’t even let us pick these tung flowers. When we refused to listen, he tried to lay a hand on us.”

Wang Qiushuang chimed in, “Could it be that since he got away with pushing my brother last time without any punishment, he thinks he can beat people up however he pleases? He went even further today—he ripped my brother’s collar open.”

As the two brothers finished speaking, they grimaced in pain while clutching their foreheads. Zhou Laoya, who hadn’t dared turn around without Wan Dongyang’s permission, nodded in agreement and added that he, too, had been struck by Liu Qishuang.

Wan Dongyang smiled at Liu Qishuang, intending to ask what exactly had happened, but words of praise slipped out first: “I never would have guessed—you’re actually quite formidable.” 

This infuriated the Wang brothers.

“Brother Wan, how can you still praise him?” Wang Chunyu’s eyes were red with tears, his face full of grievance. He took two steps toward Wan Dongyang, coming right up to him.

Wan Dongyang looked at his low-cut blouse and, stepping back, said matter-of-factly, “He’s younger than all three of you, isn’t he? To beat all three of you into this state, he’s naturally impressive.”

Wan Dongyang knew the truth wasn’t quite as the Wang gers had described it, but just looking at the state of the three of them, he could tell that Liu-ger was indeed formidable. But none of that mattered now.

“Put this on quickly.” Wan Dongyang held out the clothes in his hand to Liu Qishuang.

He didn’t realize that this simple gesture nearly made Wang Chunyu faint with rage. He had assumed the clothes were meant for him!

Wang Chunyu’s voice broke into a sob as she protested, “Brother Wan, that’s not fair.” No sooner had he finished speaking than he reached out to shove Wan Dongyang.

Unfortunately for him, Wan Dongyang was as steady as a rock today and didn’t get pushed into the ditch. But while Wan Dongyang avoided the ditch, Wang Chunyu ended up in the thorn bush behind him.