Ma Shuai had a knife this time, holding it to my chin. Even if he didn't have a knife, I barely had strength to fight him. The cold had seeped into my bones.
The courtyard was empty. The darkening sky was free of clouds, the sun sinking.
"Take off your clothes!" His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. He shoved me to the dirt floor and I landed with a grunt. The snow instantly made me wet.
When I stared back at him, unmoving, Ma Shuai's face turned purple with fury. A crack resounded through the house as he struck me across the face.
"Take off your clothes!" he roared. My vision blurred as a ringing started up in my left ear.
"Stop it! Stop it, you mad dog! Take me! Take me!" The doors to the room I had come from shook as Hong shouted and banged on them, her voice breaking.
My lips pressed together as I backed away with the realisation of what he had been doing.
Ma Shuai had been coercing the girls. Out in the courtyard. For everyone to hear.
