Su's mother stood unmoving at the edge of the crowd. She clutched her son's sleeve tightly with one hand and Mr. Su's hand with the other, listening to the onlookers' gossip.
"I heard she never used to hit people back when her older brother was still an official. How did she end up like this?"
"Hah, her parents were around to discipline her back then. She wouldn't have dared hit anyone," an auntie said snidely.
"Hah, have you guys heard? Anyway, I heard from someone that her older brother is crippled now."
"No way. Her brother's crippled, and she still dares to be so brazen, hitting people?"
"That Su Ermei has loved to fight since she was a kid, just like her brother. She was just good at sucking up to her mom, so she pretended to be a good girl to fool her parents."
"You're kidding. She's liked fighting since she was a child? This time she put someone in the hospital. If word of this gets out, what will happen to the girls in our village?"
