Three days later.
In the afternoon, inside a private school hall in Huang Family Village by the iron mine.
"I'm leaving, Juan Juan!"
A girl with twin braids and a cloth shoulder bag waved to her friend sitting in the school hall.
Song Yunjuan smiled at her from her seat.
"Go home quickly. If you're late, your parents will scold you again."
"Got it!"
The girl skipped away beneath the setting sun, gradually running farther and farther until she vanished from sight.
Only after her friend had completely disappeared did Song Yunjuan withdraw her gaze. She looked around the empty school hall. Everyone else had left; she was the only one remaining.
"I should go home too." Song Yunjuan carefully put away the brush, ink, and scrap paper on her desk, packed them into the little shoulder bag she had brought, then stood up, dusted off her bottom, and walked out of the classroom.
Huang Family Village beneath the setting sun seemed especially dim and silent.
Several women who had been chatting by the wall hurried away the moment they saw Song Yunjuan emerge, as though they were unwilling to spare her even one more glance.
In the distance, several seven- or eight-year-old boys had been playing in the mud with snot running from their noses. When they saw Song Yunjuan come out, they immediately fled in fright.
"Run! Little Disaster Star is out!"
"This way!"
Song Yunjuan did not take it to heart. She lowered her head, adjusted her little shoulder bag, and headed toward home.
Huang Family Village was not far from her home, only a few li away. But for a little girl of only ten, that stretch of road still felt terribly long.
In truth, her family had been well-off a few years ago. Her father,