The village well was right in the center of the village, not far from their house. By the time they arrived, many villagers were already lined up to fetch water.
"Mr. Dong, you're here to fetch water too."
"Yes, have you eaten?"
"I'm making it now. Oh, Little Tongtong is out helping your dad fetch water too."
"Yes, Uncle, I'm very strong."
...
Neighbors greeted each other, and Zhao Zhitong's little mouth was as if smeared with honey, calling everyone uncle and aunt, grandpa and grandma, in such a sweet and lovable manner that many neighbors couldn't help but tease her.
No matter what they said or teased, Zhao Zhitong handled it well, making the neighbors continually praise her cleverness.
The praise from others fell on Zhao Dong's ears, and his face could barely conceal the pride.
By that time, the sun was nearly setting, and the weather was cool, making it the peak time for fetching water. It would still be a while before their turn came, so Zhao Dong let Zhao Zhitong play around by herself for a bit.
Many children from the village were also chasing and playing on the street, a few kids about Zhao Zhitong's age were squatting at someone's doorstep, playing house.
Seeing Zhao Zhitong, they happily called her over: "Tongtong, Tongtong, come play house with us, we'll let you be the bride this time."
Just then, a girl's voice, somewhat proud and disdainful, rang out: "You dare to play with her? She's a little jinx who brought bad luck on her uncle and crippled her dad! Aren't you afraid?"
Zhao Zhitong looked in the direction of the voice and saw a girl about her age, wearing a pretty dress with a lovely hair ornament. Her face, clearly delicate and quiet, was filled with arrogance.
She recognized this little girl; it was none other than her third uncle's youngest daughter, Zhao Cai.
In contrast, Zhao Zhitong and the kids around her were all in drab clothes, hair tied in simple buns. Especially Zhao Zhitong, who was wild by nature, often climbing trees and being playful, looked just like a tomboy.
Many children around showed envy upon seeing Zhao Cai's nice clothes and hair ornament, and several had already run over.
"Wow, Zhao Cai, your clothes are so pretty."
"And the hair ornament is beautiful too."
...
Listening to the envious praises from the children around, Zhao Cai lifted her head proudly: "These were bought for me by my third aunt, the latest fashion from the town. Hey, don't touch my dress with your dirty hands, can you afford to dirty it?"
Saying that, she gave Zhao Zhitong a condescending glance: "If you keep playing with the little jinx, and get tainted by her bad luck, I won't be friends with you anymore!"
"Cai, we won't play with her, please stay friends with us."
"Yes, yes, we won't play with her anymore."
Of course, there were also several kids who were already good friends with Zhao Zhitong, who stood up for her.
"Don't say that, Tongtong is nice."
"Yeah, yeah, Tongtong is nice. My mom says there's no such thing as a jinx, it's just trickery by con artists."
"You really don't believe it? She really is a jinx, if you play with her, don't cry if you have bad luck."
...
The argument got heated among the children.
Zhao Zhitong just watched them without saying a word; Zhao Cai thought she was scared. Little did she know, Zhao Zhitong was sorting through memories in her mind.
Previously, Zhao Cai often bullied the original body and spread rumors among the village children that she was a jinx, causing all the kids in the village to isolate her.
When Zhao Zhitong first traveled here, Zhao Cai had left with her mother to stay in town and wasn't around. Without her interference, Zhao Zhitong's cheerful personality and generous nature quickly repaired her relationships with many village kids.
Now, with Zhao Cai back, she immediately started rallying others to isolate her again.
But the current Zhao Zhitong wasn't the original body; she wouldn't just cry and run away when bullied. She walked right up to Zhao Cai, unyielding: "Why are you calling me a jinx?"
Seeing Zhao Zhitong not crying and running away this time, but instead confronting her, Zhao Cai was momentarily stunned, then lifted her head: "You are a jinx, you brought misfortune to your uncle, and crippled your dad!"
"I spit on that!" Zhao Zhitong mimicked the imposing manner of her grandmother rebuking Mrs. Wang earlier, one hand on her small waist and the other pointing at Zhao Cai's nose, fiercely: "You're the jinx, your whole family are jinxes, and my uncle and dad were unlucky because of your family!"
This little witch, she used to be timid and let herself be bullied, but suddenly she's so talkative today. Zhao Cai was left dumbfounded by the scolding, immediately getting angry, her eyes red: "You, you..."
"What about you? Can't even speak coherently and still come to wrong me? Your big mouth, so ugly, no matter how nice you dress, you're still an ugly monster."
This time Zhao Cai was thoroughly angered, bursting into tears: "Wah wah, you wicked girl, how dare you say I'm ugly and scold me, you're the ugly monster, I'll tell Grandma, and she'll punish you..."
Hearing the threat to tattle, Zhao Zhitong wasn't fazed: "You have no reason, you can't out-talk me, so you cry and tattle, tattle-tale, big-mouthed, ugly monster, truly shameful!"
"Wah wah..."
Zhao Cai cried even louder, then covered her face and ran back home.
The kids who had just sucked up to Zhao Cai were stunned, looking at Zhao Zhitong timidly, hesitating to stay or run away.
Zhao Zhitong looked at them confidently: "You saw it, she called me a jinx first, I just talked back, and she cried."
The children who had earlier defended Zhao Zhitong immediately ran over to her side: "Yeah, we all saw it, she's unjust, she started the name-calling, she's the bad one."
Zhao Zhitong grinned, reaching into her pocket to take out some already wrapped candies: "Here, have some."
Then she glanced at the kids who had just cozied up to Zhao Cai: "You just said you wouldn't play with me anymore, so I won't be friends with you. Even though you followed Zhao Cai's lead to scold me, I'm a forgiving child; I won't hit you, just leave."
Watching Zhao Zhitong and her friends share candies, those kids started drooling, immediately regretting their choice.
At that moment, Zhao Dong came over upon hearing the commotion, asking what happened.
Zhao Zhitong recounted the earlier events, ending with: "Hmph, such a crybaby, I didn't even hit her, yet she cried because she couldn't out-talk me, truly shameful."
Zhao Dong sighed helplessly, fearing that stepmother would cause trouble tonight. He tapped Zhao Zhitong's nose affectionately: "Oh you, thinking everyone has a thick skin like you. It'll be our turn to fetch water soon, so don't run around, stay here and wait for Dad."
"Okay."
Zhao Zhitong answered obediently, but as soon as Zhao Dong turned around, she darted off on her little legs.
She quickly and familiarly ran to Butcher Zhao's house, stood by the door frame, her eyes gleaming as she looked inside.
Zhao Yue, sitting in the courtyard, was on a small stool, swaying as he read the "Thousand Character Classic," but his eyes kept sneaking glances outside. He happened to spot Zhao Zhitong imitating his swaying reading style, causing him to cover his head with the book and sneak a grin towards her.