Chuntao walked slowly towards the rope, as if she were possessed.
Just as she was about to bend down and pick up the rope on the ground, a sharp squeal from a sow suddenly came from the pigpen.
It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, and she suddenly woke up with a shiver.
The sow jumped up and down, sticking its head out of the adobe wall and grunting towards the door of the main room.
She had fed it early in the morning, and it was almost noon now. It must be hungry!
Chuntao's legs felt like lead. She dragged herself to the woodshed, scooped two ladles of wheat chaff into the pig trough, and poured a bucket of pot-washing water in.
There was only half a sack of wheat left at home, and the bran from the last milling had been fed a long time ago. This kind of pig food had no nutrition at all.
Chuntao had no choice but to take a few steamed sweet potatoes from the kitchen, mash them, and mix them in.
This sow had always had a good appetite, but today it only raised its head to look at her, grunting and refusing to eat.
It barked at her for a while, then went to push the wall, scraping its two front paws hard and jumping up suddenly. Its cry was different from usual, and it was extremely irritable.
It was so cold, could it be sick? Chuntao's heart leaped into her throat. She was still counting on this sow to give birth to piglets so she could sell them and buy a cow!
Chuntao ran to the kitchen, brought some dry wheat straw, and spread it in the pigpen, hoping to make the sow warmer. But the sow didn't appreciate it at all. It pushed the wheat straw hard and kept tearing it with its mouth.
Its cries grew louder and louder, sharp and piercing. This little sow had been raised for almost ten months, and it had always been fine before. It had never been like this. What on earth was wrong with it?
Chuntao could only brace herself and go to Aunt Zhou for advice. Aunt Zhou and Old Man Zhou were warming themselves by the fire in the cow shed on the east side, and Zhou Zhijun was nowhere to be seen.
"Tao'er, come sit down and warm yourself!" Aunt Zhou quickly got up and pulled over a small stool when she saw her.
"Godmother, my sow keeps squealing and won't eat. Is she sick?" She glanced at Old Man Zhou and then turned to Aunt Zhou.
"Your sow is almost a year old, isn't she? Is she in heat?" Aunt Zhou had raised sows before, and this was the first thing that came to her mind.
Chuntao's heart skipped a beat. She had never raised a sow before, so how could she know about these things? "I don't know! It's never been like this before!"
"Old man, go take a look!" Aunt Zhou said to Old Man Zhou.
"Okay, you two stay here and warm yourselves, I'll go take a look!"
Chuntao wanted to follow him back, but Aunt Zhou held her hand tightly. "Look how cold your hands are. Sit down and warm them up!"
Saying that, Aunt Zhou ran into the inner room and scooped out a bowl of peanuts with an enamel bowl. "Your eldest sister brought these for me. Have a taste!"
Qingshan Commune was a hilly area with heavy clay soil, so few people grew peanuts. Peanuts were considered a rarity at that time.
Aunt Zhou's second daughter, Zhou Zhiduo, married into the neighboring commune. They had sandy soil and grew peanuts every year. Every year, she would bring half a sack of dried peanuts to Aunt Zhou.
Chuntao didn't see Zhou Zhijun, and she was afraid it would be awkward if he suddenly returned. She pinched a peanut and stood up. "Godmother, I'm going to see how the pig is!"
Aunt Zhou quickly grabbed two large handfuls of peanuts from the bowl and stuffed them into her padded jacket pocket.
Before she even went out, Old Man Zhou returned. "The sow is in heat. It's a bit early today. Tomorrow is more suitable for mating!"
She had been looking forward to it for so long, and finally, the sow was in heat. This matter was like a charcoal fire in winter, instantly dispelling the chill in her heart, and the corners of Chuntao's mouth couldn't help but curl up.
"I'll go to Han Village to find Uncle Han, and ask him to come over tomorrow!"
Only Old Man Han in Han Village, one of the four villages around Wangjiazhai, raised breeding pigs, as well as breeding donkeys, breeding cows, breeding horses, and so on. He was very busy every day. Chuntao thought of going early to tell him so as not to delay him coming tomorrow.
At that time, when animals in the countryside were mated, it was usually men who went to look for them, and it was very embarrassing for women to go.
Especially a young and beautiful woman like Chuntao, it was even more inappropriate. But the man in her family was useless, so she could only brace herself and go.
Aunt Zhou quickly stopped her. "It's snowing so heavily, let your godfather go!"
Old Man Zhou was in his seventies. Although he was still healthy, it was snowing heavily, and the road was cold and slippery. How could Chuntao have the nerve to trouble him? If he slipped and fell, it would be a big deal.
"I'll go myself!" Her legs were sore from being tossed about last night. When she stepped over the threshold, her foot slipped, and her legs felt so weak that she almost squatted on the ground.
Aunt Zhou quickly supported her. "The snow is getting heavier and heavier, and it's a ten-mile round trip. It'll be past noon by the time you get there. Wait for your Brother Zhijun to come back, and let him go!"
Just as Chuntao was about to speak, Zhou Xiaowei walked into the yard.
"Sister-in-law Chuntao!" he called out, his nose covered in sweat.
Aunt Zhou had taken Chuntao as her goddaughter, so according to seniority, Zhou Xiaowei should call her "Aunt." But he couldn't change his habit for a while, and the word "Sister-in-law" still slipped out.
Seeing him covered in snow, Aunt Zhou quickly asked, "Where did you go?"
"They went to the north field to bury someone, and I went to take a look!"
As soon as Zhou Xiaowei spoke, the expressions on the faces of the people present darkened.
A perfectly good young girl was gone just like that. It was truly heartbreaking and regrettable.
Aunt Zhou sighed. "Alas, this girl was so young. What a pity!"
"Why did she take things so hard? Aren't all the girls in our village exchanged in marriage?" Old Man Zhou took a drag of his dry tobacco and said slowly.
"I heard that she had been freely dating the son of the Tian family in the neighboring village for several years..." Zhou Xiaowei also had a look of regret on his face.
Wang Chouni had passed away at the age of eighteen, and the villagers all felt it was a pity. But in this era, everyone's life was a mess, and at most, they could only sigh.
Not long after Chuntao and Aunt Zhou returned, the Wang family's clansmen helped wrap Wang Chouni in a torn mat and pulled her to the mass grave in the north with a handcart to bury her.
Men, women, and children in the village all went to the north field to watch the excitement. At this moment, they were walking towards the village in groups of three or five, discussing as they walked.
Zhou Xiaowei turned his head and saw Chuntao standing at the door of the east room of his grandmother's house, so he came over to greet her.
Chuntao looked at the vast white snow, and the cold air that could not be dispelled wrapped around her bones.
She thought that the newly built mound of earth would soon be covered by heavy snow, as if nothing had happened.
When a person lived in the world, in the end, they could leave nothing behind. Chuntao felt bitter and astringent in her heart.
"Did you see your second uncle?" Aunt Zhou suddenly asked Zhou Xiaowei.
"My second uncle went to my house to get an iron rake just now. He said he was going to dig tree roots by the East Ditch River Dam and bring them back for a fire!"
Zhou Zhijun didn't like to join in the fun. He took a look at Old Man Wang's house, then went to Zhou Zhiguo's house to borrow an iron rake, carried it on his shoulder, and walked towards the river dam in the south.
The trees felled in the spring still hadn't had their roots dug out. He thought he'd dig some up and bring them back for Chuntao to make a fire.
"Why dig tree roots when it's snowing so heavily! Go call him back and tell him that your Aunt Chuntao's pig is in heat, and ask him to go to Han Village to find Old Man Han and ask him to come over tomorrow!"
When Zhou Xiaowei heard this, he immediately said, "I'll go tell Old Man Han!"
"Okay, tell him it's a little sow, and it's her first time in heat. Ask him to drive the boar over tomorrow morning!" Old Man Zhou added.
"Got it!" Zhou Xiaowei replied and strode out of the yard.
Zhou Xiaowei went to Han Village, and Chuntao also got up and went home.
She spotted her neighbor, Wang Chunxiao, returning from the north fields with a few other women, gossiping about Wang Chouni as they walked.
Chuntao gazed down the main road but saw no sign of Wang Xiaohong.
Just as she was beginning to worry, Wang Xiaohong came running into the courtyard, gasping for breath. Her eyes were red, as though she had been crying.
"Sister-in-law... my brother... he... he..." Unable to finish her sentence, she burst out crying.
