The Tomboy's Past (2)

For the young Zhong Lichun, those days were sheer hell. She wasn't even eleven yet, still a child who needed her parents' care. But in this place, those wicked people didn't see them as human at all. One small mistake and they'd be beaten severely. So, every day was torture for Zhong Lichun.

Fortunately, some of the older children took care of the younger ones like Zhong Lichun. Life wasn't entirely unbearable, and gradually, Zhong Lichun became numb. She no longer held any hope for the future, only wishing she could survive until the next day.

Time passed day by day. One afternoon, Zhong Lichun was walking towards the storeroom, carrying a box of bullets with her slender arms. However, the box was far too heavy. How could a child not yet eleven carry it quickly?

Not only was she slow, but due to her unstable center of gravity, Zhong Lichun fell. The ammunition box hit the ground, scattering bullets everywhere. A strong man passing by saw Zhong Lichun spill the bullets and immediately became enraged. Without a word, he started beating and kicking her.

After the beating, Zhong Lichun was locked in a dark little room. This was the punishment room for children who made mistakes. Misbehaving children were locked here for a day, during which no food or water was provided.

Zhong Lichun sat curled up in a corner, hugging her knees. The places where she'd been hit ached, but for some reason, being locked in this dark room made Zhong Lichun feel much more at ease. Although there was no food or water, at least she wouldn't have to continue the strenuous work, nor would she be beaten. Young Zhong Lichun even felt it was quite good to be locked up here.

Just as Zhong Lichun was contemplating whether she should make mistakes more often to hide in here and avoid work, screams suddenly erupted from outside. The screams were piercingly shrill, sending a shiver down Zhong Lichun's spine.

The room had no windows, but due to disrepair, there were some cracks in the walls. Curiosity drove Zhong Lichun to peek through a crack. Although the visibility wasn't great, she could still see the general situation outside.

Outside, two men were beating someone. And the person being beaten was Zhong Lichun's mother. Her mother's face was covered in blood, her body covered in bruises and wounds. Although she cried out and pleaded with them, the two men beating her showed no signs of stopping. They even laughed while hitting her.

Watching her mother being abused through the crack, Zhong Lichun's small fists gradually clenched. To stop herself from crying, she bit her lip. She bit so hard that her lip started to bleed. In that moment, a thought suddenly struck Zhong Lichun: she wanted revenge on these bad people who had bullied her and her mother.

From that day on, Zhong Lichun changed. She became taciturn, no longer crying or making a fuss like other children. She would silently complete any task assigned to her, and even if she was beaten, she wouldn't utter a sound. Perhaps Zhong Lichun's silence made those who enjoyed bullying them lose interest. Gradually, Zhong Lichun was beaten less and less often, and people rarely paid attention to her.

This was exactly the effect Zhong Lichun wanted. Her greatest desire was for no one to notice her, because only then could she carry out her plan.

During the previous period, Zhong Lichun didn't just lower her presence. She also took the opportunity to deliver food to the boy scouts and befriended a simple, honest boy. She pestered him until he agreed to teach her how to use weapons and shoot. Children are simple-minded. Even though these boys would eventually be trained into war machines, they were still children. So, the boy didn't refuse and began secretly teaching Zhong Lichun how to use basic weapons.

Two months later, Zhong Lichun, having learned how to use basic weapons, was finally ready to begin her counterattack. At this time, her eleventh birthday was less than three days away.

Because she had the job of maintaining weapons, Zhong Lichun always had access to them. No one would have expected a ten-year-old girl to do anything daring, so no one was on guard. While moving weapons, Zhong Lichun secretly took a few items: two grenades, a pistol, and a pack of TNT. Of course, Zhong Lichun was very careful when doing these things, taking only one item at a time and hiding it in her clothes, so she wasn't discovered.

The night before her eleventh birthday, Zhong Lichun made her move. Taking advantage of the deep night when everyone was asleep, she quietly left the room with the weapons she had stolen. Having lived there for so long, Zhong Lichun was very familiar with the terrain. Her target was the dilapidated shack where her mother lived.

Although young, Zhong Lichun was not foolish. There were hundreds of people here, and the weapons and ammunition she had were far from enough to fight them. So, her goal had long since shifted from getting revenge on these bastards to taking her mother away.

She crept to her mother's room and listened for any sounds inside. Crying could be heard from the room; it was clearly her mother weeping.

Confirming that no one else was in the room besides her mother, Zhong Lichun pushed the door open a crack and slipped inside. The night was quiet. Although Zhong Lichun was careful, the hinges of the dilapidated door were already rusty. As she opened it, a creaking sound, "gege~", echoed.

Hearing the door, Zhong Lichun's mother looked up. Her face showed a flicker of surprise when she saw her child entering, but this surprise was quickly replaced by fear. Then, she whispered, "Child, why are you here? If those people see you, they'll kill you!"

"Mom! As long as we're here, we'll die sooner or later. Let's escape together!" Zhong Lichun said, coming to her mother's side. Her dirty, tender little face held a determination that was completely out of sync with her age.

"Escape? Where can we escape to? Most of this area is under their control. We can't escape. If we're caught, we'll all be executed," her mother said, shaking her head.

"If we don't try, how will we know it's impossible? Are we really going to be tortured to death by them here?" Zhong Lichun said in a tone that was far too mature for her age.

"Try? Try with what? They have guns!" Zhong Lichun's mother retorted bitterly.

"I do too!" Zhong Lichun suddenly smiled at her mother's question, then pulled a pistol out from her clothes and waved it in front of her mother as if showing off.

Seeing the gun in Zhong Lichun's hand, her mother's expression grew even more distressed. "You... you stole their gun? Are you crazy?"

"We need weapons to fight back! Mom, we have weapons now. Can we leave here?" Zhong Lichun, after all, was just a child. In her mind, having a weapon meant they could leave. How could she possibly imagine that it wouldn't be that simple?