The Woman by the Road

One autumn evening, a young scholar named Wang was walking home from a friend's residence when he came upon a young woman walking alone by the roadside. She was weeping softly, her figure slender and graceful.

"Why do you walk alone so late?" Wang asked, pausing.

The woman raised her head. Her eyes were dark and luminous. "My parents sold me to a wealthy household," she said. "The beatings were unbearable, so I ran away." She gestured toward the abandoned temple behind them. "I have nowhere to go."

Wang, a bachelor of means, was struck by her beauty and her plight. "You may shelter in my humble home," he offered. "I have a spare room."

She hesitated, then bowed her head. "I am grateful beyond words."