July was the season of abundance for the sea. The reefs were covered in oysters, which were troublesome to harvest and easily cut the hands—wearing flip-flops made it a disaster.
Shen Mingsong went back to the crude shack and found a smaller pair of rubber boots for her. They still didn't fit well, but she could manage.
Song Erya was small but shamelessly bold. She climbed every rung she was given, carrying the bucket and following after him.
Shen Mingsong held a pair of tongs. Before she even noticed, he had already clamped a crab and tossed it into the bucket.
Song Erya's role was to carry the bucket.
Eventually, they reached a stretch of muddy sand where stranded fish and shrimp were visible to the naked eye. At last, Song Erya became useful, quickly scooping them into the bucket, too busy even to wipe the sweat from her face.
When Tao Dongdong came over and saw this, she burst out laughing. "Why do you look like Ah Huang?"
Ah Huang was a dog.
Only then did Song Erya realize she was covered head to toe in mud, practically crawling along the ground—a complete puppy-like mess. She was having too much fun to care and even dug up several clusters of baby octopus, nearly filling her small bucket.
Tao Dongdong was surprised. "You caught all of these?"
Song Erya turned her back and rinsed the sand off with seawater. "Of course!"
She didn't look at Shen Mingsong.
Tao Dongdong praised her, saying this would surely sell for a decent amount, though the praise was exaggerated. Still, for children, earning one or two yuan was already a substantial sum.
They returned to the shack and rinsed the mud from their pant legs. Even Song Erya's collar was dirty—she had to clean up before Song Fang got home from work.
As kind as Song Fang usually was, once she lost her temper, she could beat her until her backside was bruised black and blue.
Shen Mingsong had a pedal-powered tricycle, which he used to transport the seafood to the docks.
Song Erya wanted to help push from behind. He glanced back, then—without warning—sped up and pedaled away.
Song Erya: "?"
Tao Dongdong grabbed her. "Don't chase him. The docks are crowded and chaotic. You could get lost."
The two decided to head home.
Halfway there, Shen Luhua and his group appeared out of nowhere like ghosts. "Tao Dongdong!"
He was Shen Xiaonian's older brother, blocking their path with several others. Looking closer, Song Erya even spotted Song Guoliang among them.
Shen Luhua was over 1.7 meters tall, already built like an adult. His expression was vicious. "You're the one who bullied my little brother, right?"
They were boys at the height of rebellious aggression. Gathered together, nothing good ever came of it. They already ruled the children in this area.
Seeing the situation, Tao Dongdong couldn't help tightening her grip on Song Erya's hand, though she kept her voice tough. "I didn't bully him!"
It had been Shen Xiaonian who struck first.
"Still talking back." Shen Luhua waved his fist to intimidate them. "You even cursed our family."
Song Erya wouldn't let Tao Dongdong stand in front of her alone. She squeezed between them. "I'm the one who fought Shen Xiaonian."
Even if she'd been beaten one-sidedly.
Shen Luhua glanced at her, then turned to snarl at Shen Xiaonian. "You're telling me the one who beat you was this short little runt?"
Short little runt?
Song Erya felt a pang in her chest. She was small for her age, but did they have to insult her like that?
Shen Xiaonian didn't dare meet his brother's eyes and muttered weakly, "I'm only ten. She's four years older than me."
That made it worse—Shen Xiaonian was younger than her?
She frowned. "What do you want? To beat me up?"
If they were going to do it, they should hurry up and stop insulting her.
Compared to Tao Dongdong, Song Erya was calmer. With an oddly healthy mindset, she even thought that if she got beaten, maybe she could get some compensation for medical fees.
Shen Luhua looked down at her. The kid was surprisingly brave, filthy all over with mud. The only thing worth targeting was her face. Driven by base instincts, he reached out and pinched her cheek hard.
"Song Guoliang, your sister's got more guts than you," he said to Song Guoliang in the crowd.
Song Guoliang stood stiffly, hands pressed to his pant legs, rubbing them nervously. He stayed silent. It had taken him great effort to worm his way into this circle as a follower, and he didn't want to offend anyone over Song Erya.
Besides, the little brat had been disobedient lately. His elder sister had stopped washing his clothes. He told Song Erya to do it, but she refused too. He was running out of clean clothes.
He said nothing as his sister was bullied.
Shen Luhua's gaze turned scornful. To ignore your own sister? A fat deadweight like him still wanted to join their ranks?
Shen Luhua released her. He only intended to warn them verbally, to establish his dominance in the area.
"You two—"
Before he could finish, an octopus suddenly flew through the air. With a wet smack, it hit him square in the face, foul-smelling liquid splattering everywhere.
"Which bastard did that?!" Shen Luhua screamed, spinning around in fury. "Shen Mingsong!!!"
Shen Mingsong had returned. He sat astride his tricycle, one foot on the ground, eyes narrowed, sharp phoenix eyes lifted, his expression dangerous as he cursed at them, "Cowards."
It was disgraceful for grown boys to bully young girls, and being caught in the act by Shen Mingsong made Shen Luhua lose face. The humiliation only fueled his anger.
"This had nothing to do with you," he said. But now it did. Wiping the slime from his face, he sneered, "Let's talk."
Shen Mingsong jumped off the tricycle. As he passed Song Erya, he said in a low voice, "This doesn't concern you two anymore. Go home."
~
They all surged toward the small grove, finding a secluded spot to settle things.
Shen Luhua had four people on his side. Shen Mingsong went alone.
Two little girls crept along behind them.
Hiding behind a large tree, Song Erya had never seen teenagers fight before. She whispered to Tao Dongdong, "Should we call the police?"
"The police?" Tao Dongdong scratched her head. "But it takes over half an hour to walk to the shop to make a call." The fight would be over long before that—and the police wouldn't intervene in kids' fights anyway.
Song Erya shut her mouth, nearly forgetting that communication still relied on landlines back then. Mobile phones were rare luxuries.
"Shen Mingsong is really good at fighting," Tao Dongdong added. "He probably won't lose."
The boy was already tall, though not yet as imposing as he would be later.
His body was taut, arms solid and powerful from labor, muscles thin but defined, brimming with restrained aggression.
Facing Shen Mingsong's dark, oppressive stare, Shen Luhua summoned his own bravado. "I'll go easy on you since I'm the older brother. If you can't take it, just surrender. I'll stop."
Then he turned to the others. "None of you interfere."
Shen Mingsong said flatly, "What a performance."
Shen Luhua had grown up fighting and wasn't unfamiliar with brawling with his cousin. But as Shen Mingsong grew older, his height shot up like he'd been injected with hormones. Now Shen Luhua had to tilt his head slightly to look at him.
Cursing viciously, Shen Luhua clenched his fist and lunged forward.
Shen Mingsong dodged lightly, countered, caught his arm, twisted it behind his back, and smashed an elbow into Shen Luhua's back, slamming him to the ground without giving him a chance to recover.
Shen Luhua's head rang. He couldn't muster any strength and took several punches right from the start.
The difference in strength was obvious.
"Son of a—!"
One of Shen Luhua's friends couldn't hold back and launched a flying kick. Shen Mingsong pulled Shen Luhua up to block it. After being kicked away, Shen Luhua scrambled up, breaking his own rule, shouting curses as he joined in a two-on-one assault.
Shen Mingsong responded in silence. He took a few hits with muffled grunts, but focused solely on beating Shen Luhua. The three tangled together, movements too fast to follow. Shen Mingsong clearly had the upper hand.
Tao Dongdong even had the presence of mind to complain, "This isn't like the movies at all."
There were no flashy moves or elegant techniques—just brutal hand-to-hand combat, curses flying nonstop. Shen Mingsong was unnervingly silent.
To Song Erya, he looked like a mute, vicious wild dog, biting only at the most painful spots.
Punches rained down. Shen Luhua took the brunt of it, unable to understand what this bastard had been fed these past few years—he was ferocious like a bull, endless strength pouring into every blow.
Hearing his brother retch in pain, Shen Xiaonian panicked and shoved Song Guoliang. "What are you standing around for? Go help!"
Song Guoliang's face turned white. But he'd finally managed to worm his way into Shen Luhua's circle as a follower. He hadn't yet enjoyed the glory of throwing his weight around, and now was the time to prove himself...
To hell with it!
He steeled himself and joined the fight.
In the chaos, he used his massive bulk to pin Shen Mingsong to the ground, giving the other two a chance to restrain him.
Song Guoliang weighed close to two hundred pounds. Being crushed under him felt like being flattened. Just as Shen Mingsong was about to heave him off, another body piled on.
Shen Luhua grabbed Shen Mingsong by the hair, yanked his face up, and spat a bloody gob at him. "Still feeling tough? Weren't you real tough just now?"
Shen Mingsong closed his eyes briefly, veins bulging at his temples.
Shen Luhua was clearly no gentleman. Humiliated by the beating he'd taken, he was determined to reclaim his pride.
"Beg me," he jeered, spreading his legs in front of Shen Mingsong's face. "Crawl through here, and I'll let you off today."
A fierce urge to strike flared in Shen Mingsong's eyes. His hands pressed against the ground, veins standing out as rage surged through his blood, nearly throwing off the two men pinning him.
"That's despicable!" Tao Dongdong cried angrily.
After her earlier fight with Shen Xiaonian, Song Erya knew exactly how useless she was. She dug her fingers into the tree trunk—and suddenly, on a reckless impulse, rushed forward.
Without thinking, she sank her teeth into Song Guoliang's arm—the only weapon she had.
"Ahhhh! You crazy girl—I'm your brother!!!"
She bit down with all her strength. Song Guoliang howled in pain, forced to turn his attention to her. The skin broke, blood flowing. In agony, he slapped Song Erya hard across the face.
Crack!
A buzzing filled her ears like an electric current. Her vision went black. Something felt like it had snapped. A heavy metallic taste flooded her mouth.
Seizing the moment, Shen Mingsong threw the others off him. Before he could react further, he saw Song Erya collapse onto the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Everyone froze. Silence fell as they stared at the bright red liquid streaming down her chin. Song Erya slumped to the ground, her body twitching slightly.
Her skin was deathly pale. The sight of her lying there, clutching her mouth and vomiting blood, was horrifying. They all stood stunned.
She wasn't even crying. Could she be dying?
Half her face was numb with pain. She kept coughing with her hand over her mouth, saliva and blood seeping through her fingers. The next moment, she went completely still, like a corpse.
Song Guoliang trembled as he reached out to check her breathing. "N-no... no breath?"
Shen Mingsong slammed him aside and rushed to check on her.
None of them were old enough to bear the weight of a human life. Panic-stricken, they scattered in all directions. Shen Mingsong scooped her up and ran toward the hospital.
Realizing the seriousness of what had happened, Tao Dongdong turned and sprinted back to get an adult.
***
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