Chapter 3

I don't know how much time passed before I heard arguing outside the door.

"Lily's father, you can't keep beating her! You'll kill the child." This was Lily's mother's voice.

An angry man's voice: "Don't try to stop me. She was lucky I didn't kill her yesterday."

"She wants to go to town so badly? Today I'll break her other leg too! If she's so capable, let her crawl there!"

The two people arguing outside were clearly the little girl's parents.

I hadn't expected that the person who broke the little girl's leg was actually her father.

Anger rose in my heart.

This father, taking advantage of being an adult man, actually beat an underage little girl this way.

The door burst open with a bang.

A man appeared in the doorway.

He was of medium build, holding a wooden stick, his face full of violence.

Behind the man stood Lily's mother.

Her thin wrists tightly gripped one end of the stick in the man's hand, trying to stop him.

The man slapped her face. A crisp smack rang out, and Lily's mother stumbled, nearly falling.

Even so, her hands still desperately gripped the stick, refusing to let go.

Because Lily's mother was holding the stick, the man couldn't move freely.

Seeing that one slap hadn't made Lily's mother let go, he grew impatient and kicked her in the stomach.

Alarmed, I quickly grabbed the cornbread bun beside me and threw it at his head and face.

The bun was quite hard. It hit the man's face with a dull thud and broke apart, falling to the ground.

Cornmeal crumbs got in his eyes.

He reached up to rub his eyes, and Lily's mother snatched the stick away.

"You damn girl, how dare you throw things at me! I see you still haven't given up on going to town to study!"

The man no longer paid attention to Lily's mother. He roared and charged at me.

Lily's mother quickly abandoned the stick and wrapped her arms around the man's waist, pulling him back while crying out: "Lily, quickly apologize to your father! Say you won't go to school anymore!"

I suddenly understood. This little girl, Lily—she wanted to go to town to study, but her father wouldn't let her, so she was beaten.