"Since you’ve figured it out, I can rest easy," Yang Ruxin nodded, relieved that although her sister was soft-hearted, she wasn’t unaware or incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. Her efforts to protect her were not in vain; the last thing she wanted was for someone to see her help as meddling.
Luckily, all her younger siblings were good kids.
"I don’t like that older cousin," Yang Rufeng suddenly said, his little face tense.
"Why not?" Yang Ruxin glanced at Erni and then patted Xiaofeng on the head, "Did he bully you?" Dani had little memory of those so-called cousins since they’d barely interacted, just meeting a few times without much engagement.
"Last time..." Xiaofeng bit his lip, looking up at Yang Ruxin with uncertainty, as if ashamed of discussing such filthy matters.
"Xiaofeng." Yang Ruxin squatted down, looking straight into Xiaofeng’s eyes, "Do you trust your big sister?"
Xiaofeng nodded.
"Then tell big sister what exactly happened?" Yang Ruxin had a hunch that the man named Tian Geng had definitely done something inappropriate, or Xiaofeng wouldn’t be acting like this.
"Last time he came to our house, he took me to the back shed and then..." A flash of fear crossed Xiaofeng’s eyes.
Yang Ruxin quickly hugged Xiaofeng close, "Don’t be scared."
"He took off his pants..." Xiaofeng buried his face in Yang Ruxin’s shoulder, "and took off mine, and wanted to touch my butt... he also made me touch his..."
The faces of Erni and the others turned red, but anger flickered in their eyes— even the most obtuse realized what the cousin must have done to Xiaofeng.
"Xiaofeng, why didn’t you tell us before?" Sanni’s voice was raised.
"I was scared..." Xiaofeng pouted, "I was afraid grandma would hit me, I was afraid mom would cry..."
"That despicable old beast." Disgust overwhelmed Yang Ruxin, no wonder Xiaofeng rarely spoke. During her few days here, his presence was always subdued; she had thought that was just his nature, but it turned out he was traumatized, "Rest assured, your big sister will avenge you."
Xiaofeng looked up, his eyes filled with confusion. His older cousin had said he’d be beaten to death if he dared to tell.
"Don’t you trust your big sister?" Yang Ruxin bent down to meet Xiaofeng’s gaze.
"No... it’s not that..." Xiaofeng shook his head vigorously, "He said... he said..."
"What else did he say?" Yang Ruxin frowned.
"He said if I dared to tell anyone, he would... he would beat me to death..." Xiaofeng’s voice trailed off to a whisper.
"How did you manage to escape then?" Yang Ruxin took a deep breath inwardly, suppressing the urge to rush to town and confront that vile man immediately.
"I bit him and then ran away..." Xiaofeng bit his lip again.
"Xiaofeng did well." Yang Ruxin smiled, thankful the child had a strong mind, "Remember from now on, if you can’t beat people like him, scream as loud as you can, and if you can’t win, bite them as hard as you can..."
"Mhm." Xiaofeng looked more relaxed.
"And you guys," Yang Ruxin stood up straight, with an unprecedented serious expression, addressing her younger siblings, "you must be careful, and never be alone with people you don’t know well or who have ulterior motives..."