Tang You hadn’t walked far when a middle-aged woman emerged from the back of the shop, muttering to herself, “What did I eat for lunch? My stomach’s been upset ever since…”

Zhou Qinyao was wiping off his shoe when he noticed her and greeted her warmly, “Aunt Xian.”

The small shop was owned by this “Aunt Xian,” who had just stepped away briefly to use the restroom. In the old neighborhood of Huai Tree Alley, it was common for shopkeepers to leave their stores unattended for a short while since everyone knew each other. She didn’t expect an outsider to come in and make a purchase while she was gone.

Seeing the money on the counter and the bottles of soy sauce, Aunt Xian asked, “Qinyao, did you buy soy sauce?”

Zhou Qinyao was about to respond when he noticed a commotion among the children playing in the distance. His expression changed slightly, and he quickly replied, “A girl I didn’t know bought ten bottles of soy sauce but left five of them here. You can hold onto them for now.”

After saying this, he immediately headed towards the source of the commotion.

In the open area, a boy of about thirteen or fourteen was pointing at another boy of similar age, shouting, “Song Xiaoyang, your toy plane hit my neck! How could you be so clumsy? Do you even know how to play?”

The boy being scolded held a remote control in his hands, his face flushed with embarrassment. He anxiously scratched his head, but when he saw Zhou Qinyao approaching, he hurriedly ran up to him, trying to explain, “Brother Yao, I didn’t mean to do it.”

Several other children nearby started to chime in, complaining, “Brother Yao, Song Xiaoyang’s plane hit me earlier too.”

“It even bumped into my leg!”

“Alright,” Zhou Qinyao said calmly as he pulled the frightened Song Xiaoyang closer, reassuring him in a low voice, “It’s okay, don’t be scared.”

Then, he scolded the other kids, “First, you complained that Xiaoyang was too noisy, and now that he’s playing quietly, why do you still have so many complaints?”

His voice was firm, and the chattering children quickly fell silent.

They all knew that Song Xiaoyang was born with a mental disability. Though he was about their age, his behavior and thinking were on par with a five- or six-year-old.

As quickly as the argument arose, it dissipated. Zhou Qinyao had Song Xiaoyang apologize, and in no time, the group of children ran off to play something else.

Feeling dejected, Song Xiaoyang hung his head and murmured, “Brother Yao, I’m really dumb.”

Zhou Qinyao bent down and gently tapped his head with patience. “Xiaoyang isn’t dumb. In fact, your brother here doesn’t even know how to fly a remote-controlled plane.”

“Really?” The boy’s face brightened with a smile.

“Really,” Zhou Qinyao responded, his expression softening. “Come on, let’s go back and eat.”

Zhou Qinyao lived in a courtyard house in Huai Tree Alley. Xiaoyang’s grandmother owned the place. After her husband passed away, and with her daughter working in another city, she was left alone to care for her grandson. The large courtyard was lonely and quiet until Zhou Qinyao rented one of the rooms two years ago, bringing some life back to the place.

Meanwhile, Tang You ran back home with five bottles of soy sauce.

Aunt Rong, noticing something was off about her, wiped her hands on her apron and came over to inspect her closely. “Miss, are you alright?”

She then looked in astonishment at the bottles of soy sauce Tang You was carrying. “Why did you buy so many?”

Tang You, feeling flustered, replied absentmindedly, “The supermarket was having a sale.”

She put the bottles down and ran upstairs. “Call me when it’s time to eat.”

Aunt Rong was left speechless.

Back in her room, Tang You lay on her bed for what felt like an eternity, yet her heart was still racing.

This was the first time in her life she had encountered something so dirty and disgusting, and yet all she had done in response was push that lecherous man and step on his foot.

It wasn’t satisfying at all…

Why couldn’t she say a single word? Why did her mind go blank every time she was about to argue?

She should have jumped up and pointed at his nose, scolding him loudly enough for everyone around to hear, to warn them.

But she was so useless—all she managed to do was step on his foot.

Tang You irritably turned over in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, regretting how poorly she had handled the situation earlier. Her reaction had been weak and ineffective, letting that creep off too easily.

This feeling of frustration lingered well into the afternoon. Tang You listlessly forced herself to practice the piano, but the incident from earlier kept replaying in her mind, refusing to fade away.

She had read many cases online about women being sexually harassed. Many girls, out of fear or embarrassment, chose to stay silent, which only encouraged these shameless individuals to become even more brazen.

Suddenly, Tang You realized that she couldn’t and shouldn’t just let this matter go.

She didn’t want to be the kind of person who remained silent and enabled such behavior.

She recalled seeing many girls around thirteen or fourteen years old in that alley earlier—girls in the prime of their youth. If that pervert was lurking in such a seemingly innocent neighborhood, who knew how many more innocent young girls might fall victim to him?

The more Tang You thought about it, the angrier she became, and her playing became increasingly erratic.

She put down her bow, seriously contemplating what she could do.

But she was small, couldn’t fight, and couldn’t argue. The alley was old, with no surveillance cameras or anything like that. If she reported it to the police, she had no evidence—just her word, which wouldn’t be enough.

What could she do?