The Republic of China: I, Xiangzi, a Hero in a Chaotic Era

The Eight Great Hutongs…those places…the thoughts Father had before he died…now, these wolves have done it for Father…

A tremendous fear gripped her instantly, almost suffocating her.

She stumbled back a step, her back slamming heavily against the cold earthen wall with a dull thud.

Xiao Fuzi stared intently at Ma Wu's hypocritical and cruel face, her lips moving but unable to utter a sound, only tears streaming down her face.

Wang Xiu'e, lying on the kang (heated brick bed), let out a mournful wail that was so shrill it was almost inhuman:

"No—! My Fuzi—! You damned beasts—! I'll fight you to the death—!"

She suddenly found a burst of strength and lunged off the kang (a heated brick bed). Her emaciated body, like a broken fallen leaf, hurtled straight towards Sun the Bald, who was closest to her. Her withered fingers curled as she tried to scratch his face.

"You old codger!"

Sun the Bald was startled and instinctively shoved him hard.

Wang Xiue was already extremely weak, and she couldn't withstand the push. Her body was like a kite with a broken string. She staggered back a few steps and hit the hard edge of the earthen bed with a "thud".

She didn't even utter a sound before her body slid softly to the ground, her eyes wide open, staring straight at the low, dilapidated roof. Only her chest was still rising and falling very weakly, and a trace of dark red blood foam spilled from the corner of her mouth.

"mother--!"

Xiao Fuzi was heartbroken and let out a desperate cry. She rushed over and hugged her mother's cold body tightly.

Her mother's head slumped limply in her arms, her staring eyes vacant as if silently accusing this cannibalistic world.

"unlucky!"

Ma Wu frowned and glanced with disgust at Wang Xiu'e, who had fainted on the ground, and Xiao Fuzi, who was crying her heart out while hugging her mother, as if they were a pile of troublesome garbage.

He kicked the broken earthenware pot at his feet, making a harsh sound.

"What are you doing, wailing and howling at a funeral?!"

Qian Huozui shouted impatiently, took a step forward, and made a move to pull Xiao Fuzi away.

"Don't try to scam me! That old hag fell down herself!"

Zhao Magan then took the opportunity to start searching the house.

He yanked open the lid of the rice jar in the corner, which was mostly empty, and found only a thin layer of ash inside.

Zhao Magan kicked open the rice jar while cursing, then rummaged through the pile of tattered quilts on the kang (a heated brick bed), shaking out a few patched and worn-out clothes, which contained nothing but lice.

He was still not giving up, so he bent down and felt around for the opening in the kang (heated brick bed).

"Alright, you skinny guy, stop flipping around. Even the mice will cry if they come."

Ma Wu spoke coldly, his gaze returning to Xiao Fuzi.

Little Fuzi clung tightly to her mother, like a desperate little beast, curling up with all her might as if trying to shrink herself into a crack in the wall, leaving only her eyes, brimming with tears and filled with immense fear and hatred, staring intently at them.

That look made even a reckless man like Ma Wu feel a slight, inexplicable pause in his heart.

But he quickly suppressed this strange feeling and put on that fake smile that mixed threat and "reasoning" again.

"Little Fuzi, you saw it too."

Ma Wu's voice slowed down, carrying a cruel quality like a cat catching a mouse.

"Your mother is like this; I'm afraid she won't last more than a few days. You two really don't have a single penny left."

He paused, then took another step closer, his enormous shadow completely enveloping Xiao Fuzi:

"We brothers are reasonable people. Forcing you to your deaths won't do us any good."

"The method I just mentioned is a way to survive. We'll send you to a good family, have you sign a ten- or eight-year indenture, and you'll get twenty-five silver dollars in return. That'll settle things. Your mother might even be able to use that money to get some medicine and keep her alive. If you insist on enduring it..."

Ma Wu's voice suddenly turned cold, his gaze piercing like an ice pick:

"Then don't blame us for being ruthless. Paying back debts is a matter of course. With this IOU in black and white with our fingerprints, even if we take it to the highest heaven, we'll still be in the right!"

"When the time comes, not only will you, you little brat, be forfeited, but this dilapidated house will also have to pay off our debts! Who cares whether your mother lives or dies!"

The blatant threat, like a cold iron chain, wrapped around Xiao Fuzi's neck, tightening more and more.

Holding her mother's cold body, she felt her heart sinking little by little, sinking into an endless, dark, icy abyss.

Her father's fists, her mother's sobs, the cold morgue of the police station, and now these four hideous, greedy faces before her, ready to devour her alive...

Countless broken and desperate images flashed and spun wildly in her mind.

What should she do?

What could she do? Her mother was already in this state; if they didn't have money for medicine, she might really… She didn't dare to think about it. If she didn't agree, would they really tear down this only dilapidated shack and leave them to die in the freezing cold?

Agree... sign a contract... sell her to that ruthless, bloodthirsty place... what's the difference between that and her father wanting to sell her to the Eight Great Hutongs?

Immense fear and despair, like an icy tide, completely overwhelmed Xiao Fuzi.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out; only tears flowed silently, mingling with the dark red stains from her mother's lips, dripping onto the cold, dirty ground.

Seeing her completely break down, Ma Wu knew that the time was almost right.

He gave Sun the Bald a wink.

Sun the Bald understood, took out a small piece of dry, hard cornbread and half a piece of dark, pickled vegetable from his pocket, and casually threw them at Xiao Fuzi's feet with a dull thud.

"Little Fuzi, don't think we're heartless. In this world, who has it easy?"

Sun the Bald sighed insincerely.

"Take this food and give it to your mother to tide her over. We brothers aren't heartless; we'll give you three days."

He held up three short, stubby fingers and waved them in front of Xiao Fuzi's eyes:

"Three days. Either we gather twenty-five silver dollars, and we'll leave immediately, tear up the IOU on the spot, and we'll be even. Or..."

He dragged out his words, his gaze like a viper's tongue licking Xiao Fuzi's pale face.

"Come with us and sign the indenture."

"Once the resettlement allowance is in hand, the debt will be settled. Whether your mother lives or dies is up to fate."

After Ma Wu and the others finished speaking, they left, and the room became as silent as a tomb.

Xiao Fuzi slumped on the cold ground, her mother's body in her arms extremely weak, the dark red at the corner of her mouth stinging her eyes.

Half a cornbread that Sun the Bald had thrown out of the broken clay pot in the corner rolled to the ground, covered in dust.

Her empty gaze swept over the ransacked room. The rice jar was empty, the tattered bedding on the kang (a heated brick bed) was scattered, and the black handprints left by Zhao Magan as he groped around in the kang hole were clearly visible.

Despair, like cold vines, coiled tightly around her heart, suffocating her until she could barely breathe.

Three days. Twenty-five silver dollars. Or sign a contract of servitude. Whichever path you choose, the end is a dark abyss.