Before the Ruanlin Family’s bamboo strip could fall, her eyes had already reddened.
The hand of the Ruanlin Family holding the bamboo strip paused as well but, hardening her heart, she brought the bamboo stick down fiercely.
Ruan Jiaojiao instinctively closed her eyes and hunched her shoulders.
But after a long wait, she felt no pain on her hand and thought that the Ruanlin Family had not struck; when she opened her eyes, she saw another pair of hands above her own small hand.
Xiu Xi’s hands were placed just a few centimeters away from hers, catching the bamboo strip as it fell, shielding her small hand completely, leaving not a single mark on it.
"Brother Xun..." she looked at Xiu Xun with tearful eyes.
Xiu Xun looked at the Ruanlin Family.
The Ruanlin Family had actually not intended to hit Xiu Xun, after all he wasn’t her own child. Even though she treated him very well and it was okay to scold him verbally, she had never thought of hitting him the way she would her own child.
Seeing him protecting Ruan Jiaojiao now, she felt warmth in her heart.
But the words remained the same.
This incident today had crossed her bottom line, and the one who needed to be punished still had to be punished. She brushed aside Xiu Xun’s hands and struck down once more. This time, without Xiu Xun’s protection, Ruan Jiaojiao’s delicate, fair palm immediately showed several red welts.
The bamboo strip was tough and thin, burning painfully as it fell on her palm.
With the feeling of injustice in her heart coupled with the physical pain and the shock she had already experienced, Ruan Jiaojiao could not hold back. As soon as the Ruanlin Family withdrew her hand, Jiaojiao’s tears fell, streaming down incessantly.
Even without loud sobbing, her pitiful, tear-stained face elicited more sympathy than crying aloud would have.
The Ruanlin Family’s heart ached terribly, but this matter really couldn’t just end there. She had to teach them a lesson, or what would happen if they played in the water again in the future? She was terrified of water!
The Ruanlin Family couldn’t bear the pain of losing her and had to endure the heartache now.
She struck several more times, and seeing that the small palm was nearly covered with red marks, she finally tossed aside the bamboo strip without daring to look at Ruan Jiaojiao’s tear-stained face, spoke in a suppressed voice, "All of you who are standing stand, and those kneeling kneel. Do not move until it gets dark, and you are not allowed to eat tonight!"
Having said that, she returned to the inner room.
Outside, Ruan Jiaojiao cradled her small, aching, burning palm, sobbing uncontrollably, eliciting profound sympathy from her several brothers, but none dared to go against the Ruanlin Family’s wishes, only looking on with pained eyes at Ruan Jiaojiao.
Eleven people stood from four in the afternoon until six in the evening.
As the sun was about to set, the Ruanlin Family came out of the kitchen and saw Xiu Xun standing at the doorway of her house, looking around.
The Ruanlin Family approached with suspicion and upon seeing the two familiar buckets in his hand, she asked in amazement, "Xiaoxun, what is this?"
"Grandma Ruanlin, these are your buckets, left by the river. I brought them back for you," said Xiu Xun, struggling to carry two buckets full of fish inside: "I haven’t touched the fish inside; I brought them all back for you."
The weight of the fish and the buckets was more than twenty pounds. Even though farm work had built up his strength, those two buckets had still taken quite a toll on him.
He could have asked other children to help him, but due to a certain selfish desire, he did not do so and spent nearly two hours painstakingly bringing them back bit by bit.
The Ruanlin Family could tell at a glance that the buckets were not light and how hard it must have been for a child not even ten years old to carry them back; she did not know what to say.