In Lihua Village, Su Xiaofeng was feeling down because she hadn't had her period for two months. Walking with her head down, her thoughts drifted back to the incident that occurred two months prior, when a man in a floral shirt blocked her path.
Su Xiaofeng looked at the sleazy man who suddenly appeared before her, fear flashing in her eyes. She wanted to return to the village but was abruptly grabbed by him. In her ear was his sleazy voice, "Xiaofeng, why are you running away upon seeing me? No matter what, I am still your boyfriend, right? Come on, let's go behind the stack of firewood to get cozy. I've missed you so much."
The man said this as he dragged Su Xiaofeng towards a pile of firewood at the entrance of the village. While dragging her, he groped her with a lecherous expression on his face.
Humiliated by the man's touch, Su Xiaofeng was inwardly frantic, but she didn't dare cry out. She couldn't dare, and above all, she couldn't let it be known she had any entanglement with Liu An or else she wouldn't be able to clear her name even with ten mouths. She struggled silently.
But her little bit of strength was no match for Liu An, and she was soon dragged to the stack of firewood.
"Where did this hooligan come from? I'll beat you to death, you rogue, for daring to bully my daughter." Liu An, busy dragging Su Xiaofeng towards the stack, had failed to notice a man resting in the shade by the firewood.
Without a word, the man picked up a hoe from beside him and started swinging it at Liu An.
Liu An was terribly frightened; he pushed Su Xiaofeng forward and ran while shouting, "Murder! Murder!"
The man, fueled by anger upon hearing Liu An's shouts, threw the hoe directly at him, and the wooden handle struck Liu An in the back, sending him tumbling face-first to the ground.
Pushed by Liu An, Su Xiaofeng couldn't steady herself and fell forwards. Next to the stack of firewood was a large rock that the man had just been sitting on.
There was a "thud" as Su Xiaofeng's head struck the rock, and blood gushed out.
"Have you heard? Doctor Cheng just came by and said that Fengfeng is pregnant. Tsk, tsk. That girl Fengfeng usually can't cough up a word, and now to think she's pregnant, I wonder whose it is."
"People, no matter if they're talkative or not, probably act just like their mom—seeing a man and wanting to pounce on him."
"Getting pregnant before marriage, she's really quite progressive."
"Progressive? More like utterly disgraceful."
In no time, the news of Su Xiaofeng's pregnancy spread throughout the village, from the eighty-year old seniors to the three or four-year old toddlers, everyone knew that Su Xiaofeng was with child.
Outside Old Man Su's house, a crowd had gathered.
Most were there to mock the family.
The noise, an incessant mix of talking and laughter, was so loud that Su Xiaofeng couldn't sleep peacefully. It felt like her soul was drifting without a home.
"Old Man Su, what do you mean by this? You blame me for not keeping a better eye on Xiaofeng, but how am I supposed to watch over such a grown person?" There were arguments by the bedside.
"Brother-in-law, you can't put the blame on my sister. Xiaofeng is a grown girl; unless she's willing, who can force her?"
"Old Man Su, you'd better make Xiaofeng abort the child. Having a baby before marriage, tsk, tsk, how is she going to face people in the future?" The schadenfreude was palpable.
Old Man Su, with a darkened face, looked at Su Xiaofeng who still hadn't woken up, his mood agitated. He began to chase people out, "All of you, go away, get out of here."
This damn stubborn girl, once she wakes up, see if he didn't break her legs.
The villagers, having seen enough excitement, scattered.
Su Xiaofeng remembered taking medicine, wanting to conceive a child by borrowing seed. She didn't know if the medicine was wrong, but after taking it, she felt off everywhere, now only feeling a burning sensation in her throat and an uncomfortable soreness in her body.
Was it the effect of the medicine that made her so uncomfortable? Her hands flailed in the air, as if trying to grasp something, "I feel terrible..."
It would be alright after one night; as long as she was pregnant after this night, she planned to raise the child alone without getting married.
Su Xiaofeng's hands grasped at something in the air, occasionally twisting her body and muttering to herself.
Old Man Su watched her behavior, fuming with anger. He took a thin whip and struck her slender hands, "Su Xiaofeng, come clean with me. Whose child is in your belly?"
Family disgrace, indeed this was a family disgrace.
Su Xiaofeng's hands stung with pain, and she dared not flail any longer. In her daze, she thought, "What child? She hadn't even started to seek seed, how could there be a child?"
She slowly opened her eyes, but the light was too bright for her to adjust, and she closed them again.
To Old Man Su, her reaction seemed like she was feigning sleep. The bamboo whip in his hand struck Su Xiaofeng's arm again, "Su Xiaofeng, don't you play dead with me. If you can't make clear whose child is in your belly, then get out of this house, get as far away as you can."