Wang Xiaohong took care of all the household chores.
Zhou Zhijun handled all the farm work, not letting Chun Tao worry about it, telling her to just rest well at home.
But she couldn’t rest at all. Lying in bed, her mind was full of the tasks in the fields.
How big had the watermelons grown? Had anyone damaged them?
The rapeseed was almost ripe, and the sweet potato vines needed to be turned...
Only her left wrist was too weak to use; her right hand was perfectly fine.
After coming back and resting for a few days, her legs no longer felt so weak, and she wanted to go to the fields to see what she could do, even if just a little.
She picked up a basket, planning to head to the melon patch to pull weeds and bring the tender grass back to feed the sow.
Just as she stepped out of the yard, she saw her grandmother approaching, an old cloth bag slung over her shoulder, stuffed so full it looked heavy.
“Grandma!” Chun Tao called out, tears instantly welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her hand, suppressing the bitterness in her heart.
She set down the basket and walked toward her. “Grandma, why did you come?”
Seeing her, Grandma Shen quickened her pace.
It had been months since they last met, and her granddaughter looked even thinner—so fragile she seemed as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
Grandma Shen’s eyes reddened, and tears almost spilled out. She dabbed them with her sleeve.
“Tao, how are you? I came to see you!” she said, her gaze falling on Chun Tao’s left wrist.
Gently, she lifted Chun Tao’s arm, her heart aching at the sight of the scar on her wrist.
“Tao, you were hurt so badly. I only heard about it yesterday, so I set out early this morning to come here...”
Yesterday, Wang Chunxiao had gone to Nangang to sell eggs and happened to run into Grandma Shen, telling her about Chun Tao’s ordeal.
“…Great-Aunt, I heard that Chun Tao ran into a thief, and because she held onto her money and wouldn’t let go, the thief stabbed her. Someone as gentle as her—how did she find the courage? If it were me, I’d have saved my life first and just given him the money…”
After hearing the news, Grandma Shen wanted to come right away, but it was already late morning, and by the time she reached Wang Family Village, it would be past noon.
One couldn’t visit relatives or the sick in the late afternoon—it was considered unlucky.
So she bought some things and went home. Then, at the crack of dawn today, she set out, gnawing on a dry cornbread as she walked.
Chun Tao didn’t want to worry her and forced a smile. “It’s fine now, all healed!” She reached out to take the cloth bag from her grandmother’s shoulder.
“I’ll carry it myself! I came in a hurry and didn’t bring anything good—just bought a few things on the street!” Grandma Shen said, dodging her hand.
“Grandma, you didn’t need to bring anything!”
Once inside the main room, Chun Tao pulled a stool over for her grandmother. “Grandma, sit down and rest. Let me make you some tea!”
Grandma Shen quickly stopped her. “Don’t fuss, I’m not thirsty. If I am, I’ll make it myself!”
Chun Tao sat down on a stool close to her.
“Tao, I only found out yesterday when I went to town for salt and ran into the wife of the neighbor Zhang family. They said you were hurt badly and spent half a month in the county hospital…
We live so far apart; if something happens, we can’t help much… I heard it was the second son of the Zhou family next door who took care of you in the hospital.
And all the work at home – your foster parents and their second son have been helping out…
Oh, as your grandmother, I feel so ashamed…” Grandma Shen’s voice choked, and tears fell.
Chun Tao pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her grandmother’s tears, her own nose stinging and eyes brimming with tears.
She couldn’t understand why, though she had never fought for anything or taken anything from anyone, wanting only to live in peace, she always ran into such troubles.
The debts of kindness from before were already suffocating her, and this incident had added a mountain more.
Since childhood, she had hated owing others. If someone showed her even a little kindness, she always wanted to repay it tenfold, a hundredfold.
If someone gave her a sesame seed, she felt she should give back a watermelon.
But now, she owed Zhou Zhijun, she owed Zhou Zhiguo and his wife, and she owed the villagers.
The thought weighed heavily on her heart. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to repay them—it was that she felt she could never repay them in a lifetime.
The money Zhou Dana had brought, Zhou Zhijun had kept for her, not spending a single cent, and had given it all back to her when she returned.
Chun Tao thought, she appreciated the villagers’ kindness, but she couldn’t accept the money. So she had Zhou Xiaowei return it all.
Grandma Shen stopped crying and took Chun Tao’s hand. “Does your wrist still hurt?
Don’t overwork yourself. If it doesn’t heal properly, it could leave long-term trouble!”
Though she said this, she knew in her heart that with all the work in the house and fields, Chun Tao couldn’t possibly rest.
“Your sister-in-law is pregnant, so we can’t count on her for the livestock or the field work.
The rapeseed is almost ripe, the wheat is turning yellow, and all that work can’t be done without me…
Wait until your brother and I finish our work at home, and then I’ll come help you for a few days…”
Chun Tao knew the situation at her mother’s house and never expected any help from them.
Still, if her brother could come, it would be better than relying on outsiders—at least he wouldn’t have any ulterior motives toward her.
“It’s okay, my wrist is almost healed. It won’t interfere with harvesting!”
Grandma Shen knew best how difficult things were for Chun Tao.
She was holding up the entire household and farm by herself, and without Zhou Zhijun and the others’ help, this family would have collapsed long ago.
This time, Grandma Shen planned to visit Aunt Zhou. It was her way of showing gratitude, acknowledging that Aunt Zhou had been kind to her granddaughter.
Life was more bitter than Chinese goldthread, but meeting good people like the Zhou family was Chun Tao’s blessing.
Aunt Zhou was Chun Tao’s foster mother. Coming to see her would also maintain ties with Zhou Zhijun, whom Chun Tao would need to rely on often in the future.
She had also heard that Zhou Zhiguo and his wife had been busy on Chun Tao’s behalf, and Grandma Shen felt indebted, so she brought gifts for them as well.
Since Zhou Zhijun had two older brothers, if she visited Zhou Zhiguo’s place but not Zhou Zhimin’s, it wouldn’t be fair. So she planned to stop by Zhou Zhimin’s too.
They were all Chun Tao’s foster brothers—she might need their help someday. A person shouldn’t be shortsighted; she had to think long-term.
After chatting for a while, Grandma Shen stood up, opened the cloth bag, and took out three bundles of brown sugar, three packs of fruit sticks, and a box of pastries.
“These are for visiting your foster mother and your two foster sisters-in-law,” she said.
Then, looking into the bag, she added, “There’s still one bundle of brown sugar and one box of fruit sticks left inside for you to eat yourself!”
Seeing all these things, Chun Tao knew her grandmother must have spent a lot of money.
Her grandmother was so old and had come all this way to see her—Chun Tao felt both guilty and sorrowful.
“Grandma, I don’t want them. Take them back and give them to my sister-in-law; she’s pregnant!”
“Silly girl, you always think of others and never of yourself!” Grandma Shen sighed.
Indeed, Chun Tao had been that way since she was little—sweet, sensible, honest-hearted, and always putting others first. But this kind of nature meant she was bound to suffer and be wronged.
Grandma Shen was visiting Aunt Zhou for Chun Tao’s sake.
Her visit to Zhou Zhiguo’s was also to repay Chun Tao’s debts of kindness. She had even prepared gifts for Zhou Zhimin’s family, showing how considerate she was.
But Chun Tao remembered what had happened last time in the melon patch, and she knew Huang Meili must still hold a grudge.
She was afraid her grandmother might hear some unpleasant words there, and felt a bit uneasy.
Chuntao took the basket from the inner room, placing the items for Aunt Zhou on top, and set off to visit her first.
Grandma Shen carried the basket, with Chuntao following behind, and the grandmother and granddaughter headed out the door.
Arriving at Aunt Zhou’s gate, they found it locked.
From the backyard, Aunt Wang saw them and came over to greet them, saying Aunt Zhou had gone to the fields.
Grandma Shen shifted the package of pastries specifically for Aunt Zhou to the bottom of the basket, preparing to go to Zhou Zhiguo and Zhou Zhimin’s homes first.
Zhiguo’s house was in the middle of the village. As they passed by Wang Qingshan’s yard, Zhou Zhaodi was leaning against an old wutong tree outside, cracking sunflower seeds.
She spotted Chuntao and Grandma Shen approaching, rolled her eyes, and spat a glob of yellow phlegm onto the ground, then kicked the old hen at her feet.
Cursing, she said, “You worthless whore, what are you wandering around for! Scram home and lay some eggs!”
