Falling Pear Blossoms

In a remote village, pear trees grow in untidy rows along rutted dirt roads. A voice rings out from a shabby earthen house: “I won’t marry! If you want to get married, then go marry him yourselves!” A little girl in patched-up clothes sits on the kang, crying and shouting.

“You ungrateful brat! We feed you and give you a roof over your head! You have to marry him. I’ve already taken the bride price!” At that, the girl immediately stops crying. She stares blankly outside, climbs off the bed, walks to the doorway, and looks at the sky. She wonders: Is this really my fate?

How will a village girl rise from the ashes in the face of an unjust fate?

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.