Farm Girl's Manor

The waters of the Xiaoqing River were deep and shallow, with the deepest parts capable of submerging a bamboo pole ten Zhang long, while the shallows barely covered the ankles. In winter, the water level dropped, and the slow-moving river froze easily, especially with the extremely low temperatures of recent days. The ice that formed the day before couldn’t melt the next day. After a few days of accumulation, the entire riverbed was solidly frozen, making it appear to be a great place for ice skating.

However, the deeper areas didn’t freeze solid, and if one carelessly slid there, the ice could break and it would be easy to fall in. At that time, even those who could swim would be trapped under the ice, unable to climb out.

Therefore, every winter, no matter how thick the ice on the Xiaoqing River was, adults strictly forbade children from playing on the river, fearing that they might succumb to temptation and fall into an ice hole.

The loud shouts of Mo Zhen and Yun Zhao reminded many children who were tempted, making them suddenly recall the adults’ words. One by one, their voices died down as they dared not speak of going to the Xiaoqing River to skate.

Seeing this, Wang Cai felt a surge of resentment and couldn’t help but mock, "Look at you lot, a bunch of pussies without balls! I’m this heavy and I skate on the Xiaoqing River every day without falling in. You little brats hardly weigh anything, do you really think you could break the ice more easily than me?"

Several of the older kids had already been filled with longing to skate on the Xiaoqing River. They also felt that they were now men and shouldn’t be timid in their actions. If it weren’t for the repeated strict orders at home, and the fear of getting caught and beaten for sneaking out to play, they would have gone skating long ago.

Provoked by Wang Cai’s taunt, they immediately got angry and retorted, "You’re the pussy! Your whole family are pussies! Who says we’re afraid?"

Wang Cai pointed at those kids and sneered, "If you dare, why don’t you go with me?"

Unable to bear his pointing, several kids felt even more humiliated, and one with a flushed face jumped out and said, "Let’s go, who’s afraid of who!"

Wang Cai wasn’t satisfied, continuing to goad them, "Just going is useless, you have to get on the ice and skate, or else you’re just a bunch of nutless wimps!"

"If skating is what it takes, then skate we will! Anyone who doesn’t skate is a mama’s boy, a wimp!" The kids were completely infuriated and immediately agreed to it.