Chapter 3

The first day of school went smoothly.
After school, Grandma Su asked Su Xiaoxiao how her first day went.
“It was fine.” Su Xiaoxiao replied.
Grandma Su breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been worried her granddaughter might struggle to adjust after transferring, but it seemed she was fitting in well.
Since Grandma Su didn’t know how to ride a bicycle, she had bought a tricycle just so she could pick Su Xiaoxiao up from school every day.
Su Xiaoxiao sat dazed in the back of the tricycle, watching the crowd of cheerful students pour out of the school gates. Everyone looked so happy, yet she couldn’t feel an ounce of joy herself.
To her, going to school and coming home felt the same, dull and monotonous.
There were no smartphones yet, and Grandma Su’s house didn’t even have a computer.
Life was just unbearably boring.
As they passed a small shop near the neighborhood gate, Grandma Su stopped and asked, “Xiaoxiao, do you want a lollipop?”
Please, she was way too old for children’s candy.
“I don’t want it,” Su Xiaoxiao said flatly.
“How about bubble gum then?”
“No.”
“Then what do you want to eat?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh dear, how can you not want anything?” Grandma sighed, turning to the shopkeeper. “Granny Xiaoxue, what snacks do kids like these days? Give me a bag’s worth.”
“Your granddaughter sure is well-behaved, doesn’t even like snacks,” the old lady from the corner shop said with a laugh as she filled up a bag.
“She’s a city kid, picky as they come,” Grandma Su said, pretending to complain, but her face was all smiles. “I can’t even tell what she likes.”
“You should be glad. Look at my Xiaoxue, her mouth never stops moving. Just today, when I was cleaning the shelves, I found the cracks stuffed with sausage wrappers and spicy strip packets.” The shopkeeper tapped the head of the little girl sitting nearby watching TV. “How can you eat so much? Why can’t you learn from your little big sister?”
The girl didn’t even glance up, shaking her head impatiently. “Grandma, I’m watching TV.”
Grandma Su laughed. “Hahaha, Xiaoxue’s strong as an ox! But look at Xiaoxiao, thin as a stick.”
The two old ladies chatted for a while longer, until Xiaoxiao, already sitting in the tricycle, started urging her grandmother to go.
When they arrived home, Grandma Su parked the tricycle in the basement, then took the bag of snacks in one hand and reached out with the other to take Xiaoxiao’s schoolbag.
It felt so embarrassing to have an old lady carry her bag for her. She was young, after all.
Xiaoxiao dodged away. “It’s fine, I can carry it myself.”
“I’ll hold it, I’ll hold it. You’ve got such skinny arms and legs, what if you hurt yourself?” Grandma Su gave the backpack a little shake. “What do you have in here, stones or books? Why’s it so heavy?”
As they walked, she kept muttering, “Kids these days have it tough, no wonder you’re all short, with bags like bricks on your backs…”
The Su family lived on the second floor; two turns up the stairs and they were there.
Just as they rounded the corner, Xiaoxiao saw Jin Qishan sitting on the floor by the door, clutching his schoolbag.
Hearing footsteps, Jin Qishan looked up, saw them, and quickly dropped his gaze again, staring blankly ahead.
Grandma Su frowned, displeased by his lack of manners. Her voice came out sharp: “You again? Lost your key? Move inside a little, don’t block the stairway.”
Jin Qishan didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids. This old woman was always sticking her nose where it didn’t belong, nagging nonstop and acting like she knew everything.
Must be nice to live such an idle life.
Then Grandma Su remembered, Jin Qishan also went to Experimental Primary School, and if she recalled right, he was in third grade too.
She asked, “Hey, Qishan, which grade are you in again?”
Jin Qishan acted as if he hadn’t heard her.
Grandma Su shot him a look, thinking to herself, What a block of wood. No wonder no one likes him.
Xiaoxiao, afraid her grandmother might keep asking and anger the boy, quickly said, “He’s in my class.”
“In your class?”
Grandma Su looked surprised, about to say more.
Xiaoxiao hurried to interrupt before her grandmother could start nagging and upset him. “I’m hungry. Let’s go home and eat.”
Just then, Dong Xiaohong came up the stairs.
Seeing Grandma Su talking to Jin Qishan, she quickly hurried over, her tone tight. “Ah, Qishan, you’re back? Forgot your key again? Oh, Auntie and Xiaoxiao are back too, what are you chatting about?”
Grandma Su smiled politely. “Your Qishan and our Xiaoxiao are classmates. They can look out for each other from now on.”
A flicker of surprise crossed Dong Xiaohong’s face, followed by a hint of panic. “What a coincidence?”
“Isn’t it?” Grandma Su said cheerfully.
Dong Xiaohong forced out two awkward laughs. “What a small world. We’ll go in first.”
Then she reached out and touched Jin Qishan’s arm. The boy flinched violently.
Dong Xiaohong seemed pleased with his reaction. She smiled softly as she unlocked the door. “Silly boy, don’t forget your key next time. Come on, get inside.”
Jin Qishan lowered his head, gripping his backpack straps tightly, and stepped inside without a word.
Grandma Su frowned again. “When your mom talks to you, you should answer. Don’t stand there like someone owes you money!”
Dong Xiaohong quickly interjected, smiling apologetically. “It’s fine, really. I don’t mind.”
As soon as the door closed behind them, she slapped Jin Qishan hard across the face.
Then, grabbing his arm, she hissed, “What were you talking about with the people next door?”
The boy clenched his teeth in pain. “Nothing.”
Dong Xiaohong twisted his arm sharply. “If I ever find out you’ve been talking, you’re dead. You’re in the same class as Su Xiaoxiao?”
He nodded. “Mm.”
“Do you talk to her?”
“No.”
“Do you want to talk to her?”
“No.”
Satisfied, Dong Xiaohong smiled. “Good. Keep it that way. I’ll know everything you do. Now go make dinner.”
Jin Qishan set his bag down, washed his hands, and started cooking.
Dong Xiaohong leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching him work.
He busied himself for a long while, stir-frying shredded potatoes, cooking a cauliflower, and making a tomato egg soup.
After a few bites, she scowled. “Too salty.” Then, furious, she upended the entire plate of potatoes over his head.
Jin Qishan knew what was coming next and shrank back in fear.
“Come here. Don’t make me start counting,” she said coldly, crooking her finger.
“Counting” was his worst nightmare. For a long time, just hearing “one, two, three” made him tremble uncontrollably.
He didn’t dare resist. He took two hesitant steps forward. He had tried fighting back before, but that only ever made the beatings worse.
During the school term, she held back a little, rarely hitting his face. But during the winter and summer breaks, he was doomed, there were times he’d been bedridden for over a month.
“Is this food even edible? Huh? You trying to kill me with salt?” Dong Xiaohong’s voice rose with every word as she dug her fingers into his arm and thigh. “Because of a worthless brat like you, I can’t even have kids of my own! You might as well just die, die like that damned mother of yours!”
Jin Qishan clenched his fists and bit down hard. She could curse at him all she wanted, but not at his mother. Never at his mother. One day, he swore, he would return every bit of this pain to that vile woman, twice over.
After another round of slaps and insults, Dong Xiaohong finally vented her rage.
When she was done eating, she dumped the leftover dishes and soup into the trash, then pointed to the scraps scattered on the floor. “When you’re done eating, clean this up. I’ll come check later.”
Once she left, Jin Qishan wiped the floor clean with a rag. Then he scooped a bowl of rice, poured in some cold water, stirred it, and quietly ate it all.
After finishing his meal, he started washing the dishes. As he washed, his mind wandered to his grandmother in the countryside.
Back then, no one had ever hit him, scolded him, or made him do chores.
He would sit on a little stool beside her as she washed the dishes in the tiny kitchen, legs swinging, just watching.
At the thought of her, his eyes stung, and tears spilled before he could stop them.
Sniffling, he reminded himself that his father would be coming home in a few days.
Dong Xiaohong had promised that if he behaved well while his father was around, she’d let him visit his grandmother for the weekend.
“What’s taking you so long to wash a few dishes?”
He jumped, Dong Xiaohong had appeared in the kitchen without a sound.
Seeing that he was nearly finished, she said, “When you’re done, take a shower.”
The word shower made his stomach twist with dread.
Dong Xiaohong didn’t always need to hit him to make him suffer.
In summer, she made him shower with scalding water; in winter, with ice-cold.
Never enough to burn or freeze him, but always enough to make him hurt.
And she would always watch him as he bathed, eyes cold and sinister, sometimes pouring water over his head without warning, sometimes yanking at him in disgust.
The only small mercy was that in summer, she only made him bathe once every two or three days; in winter, once a week.
As expected, Dong Xiaohong dragged a chair to the bathroom doorway and sat down, watching him like a guard.
Jin Qishan froze, hands hovering at his waist, unable to undress.
He was older now. He knew what shame was.
This humiliation, this violation, was worse than any beating.
“What’s taking so long? Can’t even undress properly!” she snapped, slipping off her slipper and hurling it at his head.
He flinched at the sting but didn’t make a sound, jaw locked tight.
His stubborn silence only angered her more. He was like a mule, she thought, stiff-necked and infuriating.
Because the bathroom faced the stairs, she lowered her voice, hissing, “What, are you dead? Can’t take off your clothes, can’t speak, waiting for me to bathe you myself?”
Then she yanked him hard by the arm.
The sharp pain made him arch his back, legs pressed together, tears trembling in his eyes.
Fuming, she turned on the shower, blasting him with hot water until his skin flushed red.
Seeing his body redden, her anger ebbed a little. She threw the showerhead at his chest and barked, “Wash yourself.”
When she finally left, Jin Qishan picked up the showerhead and rinsed himself quickly.
He knew that submission meant fewer beatings, less pain.
But still, he just couldn’t make himself bow his head.