The sound of firecrackers suddenly exploded in front of the village in the early morning. Wang Xiaohong's heart skipped a beat, and then sank, thinking something had happened to her brother, Wang Jieshi.
She scrambled to run to the front of the village, only to find out when she got there that it wasn't her brother, but Wang Chouni who had hanged herself.
The tightly wound string in her heart loosened a bit, but looking at the heavy snow swirling in the sky, her heart was still in her throat.
It hadn't snowed early yesterday morning when Wang Jieshi went to see the doctor. They agreed he would be back after a night, so he should be back today.
But the snow was so heavy, and the road was slippery, so it must be difficult to walk. Wang Jieshi's legs were already inconvenient, what if something happened?
What worried her even more was, where exactly did the Wang Haichao brothers take Wang Jieshi?
Those two were always lazy and gluttonous, yet this time they eagerly pulled Wang Jieshi on a handcart to see the doctor. They definitely didn't have good intentions.
Maybe they were after that thirty-something yuan!
In an era where a single penny could stump a hero, thirty yuan was not a small sum, and some people would do anything for money.
The more Wang Xiaohong thought about it, the more afraid she became. Seeing Liu Cuilan also in the crowd watching the commotion, she squeezed up to her and asked where Wang Haichao and the others had taken Wang Jieshi to see the Chinese medicine doctor.
Liu Cuilan was always straightforward and didn't hide anything, "They went to the East Mountain."
The East Mountain was over twenty miles away from Wangjiazhai. It was fine on a good day, but very difficult to travel on rainy or snowy days.
But as his own mother, Liu Cuilan didn't seem to worry at all about Wang Jieshi's life or death.
Wang Xiaohong was both angry and anxious, "My brother was pulled by Wang Haichao and the others to see a doctor. What good intentions could they have? There's definitely something fishy going on! Come with me to the East Mountain to find them!"
Liu Cuilan frowned and glared at her, "What crazy fit are you having, girl? With such heavy snow, and the road being slippery and far, how can we go find them?"
"It's exactly because of the heavy snow that we have to go! He's your own son, how can you not worry at all?"
"How am I not worrying? If it weren't for me, your Uncle Haichao wouldn't have pulled him to see the doctor!"
Liu Cuilan couldn't be bothered to argue with her and followed the crowd looking north to watch the burial.
How could Wang Xiaohong have the mood to watch the commotion? Braving the oncoming wind and snow, she ran desperately east along the main road.
The snow fell heavier and heavier, quickly getting into her padded jacket collar, front, sleeves, and pant legs.
She ran until she was panting heavily, the inside of her padded jacket soaked with sweat. When she ran near the northern slope of Qingshan Street, she vaguely saw two people, and upon looking closely, it was actually the Wang Haichao brothers.
The two stood on the slope, rubbing their hands with a worried look. She didn't see the handcart, nor did she see her brother Wang Jieshi.
Wang Xiaohong rushed over like a madwoman, her voice cracking as she shouted, "Where's my brother? Where did you take my brother?"
Seeing Wang Xiaohong covered in snow, the faces of the Wang Haichao brothers instantly turned whiter than the snow, their eyes dodging as they glanced toward the deep ditch by the slope.
"The road... the road was too slippery, the handcart flipped..." Wang Haibao stuttered, his voice trembling.
Wang Xiaohong followed his gaze into the ditch, and suddenly the world spun around her.
The handcart had flipped on its side at the bottom of the ditch, and her brother Wang Jieshi was pinned tightly underneath it, motionless.
She yelled hysterically at the Wang Haichao brothers, "What are you still standing there for? Go down and get my brother up!"
The Wang Haichao brothers were already lazy and cowardly. The ditch was deep and steep, and filled with thick snow. How would they dare go down?
Wang Haichao rubbed his hands, stamping his feet in anxiety, "I'll watch here, you two go back and get people first! Find a few more strong men!"
Wang Xiaohong didn't have time to argue with him and bolted back toward the village.
Wang Haibao followed slowly behind. She glared back at him anxiously, wishing she could kick him, "Can you run faster? Hurry back and tell my mother to find a few more people!"
Stumbling and crawling all the way back to Wangjiazhai, when Wang Xiaohong rushed into the courtyard, her throat was dry and painful, and her chest felt suffocated.
Thinking of Wang Jieshi, whose life or death was unknown in the ditch, the moment she saw Chuntao, she burst into tears before finishing her sentence.
"Sister-in-law... my brother... he... fell into the ditch..."
Hearing Wang Xiaohong say this, Chuntao's face instantly turned pale, her small body swayed imperceptibly, and she supported Wang Xiaohong.
"Where?" Her lips trembled, and it took her a while to squeeze out the word.
"Just on the northern slope of Qingshan Street, the handcart and the person both fell into the ditch..."
Wang Xiaohong wiped her tears with her sleeve, turned around, and ran toward the next courtyard, "I'm going to ask my Uncle Zhijun for help, hurry and save my brother!"
Aunt Zhou was in the kitchen, having just scooped half a ladle of flour into a clay basin, preparing to knead dough for noodles, when she heard Wang Xiaohong's crying and quickly walked to the kitchen door.
Old Man Zhou also poked his head out from the east room. Seeing Wang Xiaohong running over, he asked, "What's wrong?"
"My brother fell into the ditch, I need Uncle Zhijun to help get my brother up..."
Aunt Zhou and her husband knew that Wang Jieshi had gone with the Wang Haichao brothers to see a doctor. Hearing Wang Xiaohong say he fell into the ditch, their hearts also skipped a beat.
At this time, Zhou Zhijun returned holding a large tree root in each hand. Wang Xiaohong didn't have time to say much, and shouted, "Uncle Zhijun, my brother fell into the ditch on the northern slope of Qingshan Street..."
Zhou Zhijun was sick to death of that bastard Wang Jieshi, but with Wang Xiaohong begging him, he couldn't refuse.
Zhou Zhijun called a few militiamen from the village and followed Wang Xiaohong running straight toward Qingshan Street.
On the other side, Wang Haibao had just run home and told Liu Cuilan about Wang Jieshi falling into the ditch.
No matter how bad Liu Cuilan was, Wang Jieshi was still her son. Hearing Wang Haibao say he fell into the ditch, her heart clenched, and she and the three Wang brothers also ran out of the village.
A total of over twenty strong men from the village went. They took ropes and, with a tremendous effort, finally pulled Wang Jieshi and the handcart up from the ditch.
Wang Jieshi was bleeding from his head and legs, and was already unconscious.
The crowd took him to the commune health clinic, but without money, the doctor refused to treat him.
Wang Jieshi had gone to the East Mountain to see a doctor, but Wang Xiaohong didn't see any medicine. She thought the money must have been taken by the Wang Haichao brothers, so she demanded it from them.
"Where is the money my brother had on him? Hurry up and take it out to save my brother!"
Wang Haichao threw his hands up and said, "The money was all spent on seeing the doctor!"
"What doctor? If he saw a doctor, why is there no medicine? You two must have wanted my brother's money and pushed him into the ditch! Hurry up and take the money out, or I'll go to the police station and report you two!"
Wang Haibao stomped his feet in anger, "Wang Xiaohong, don't make false accusations!"
Wang Haichao also said, "We kindly took him to see a doctor, and you actually say this, it's really chilling!"
At this moment, Wang Jieshi was still unconscious, so it wasn't the time to argue with them. Wang Xiaohong ran to the doctor's room and begged the doctor to save Wang Jieshi.
"Pay first, how can we use medicine without money?" the doctor said coldly.
Wang Xiaohong almost kneeled to the doctor, "I beg you, save my brother first, I'll go back and gather the money right now!"
As his own mother, Liu Cuilan naturally wanted the doctor to save him too, but she had no money, and even if she did, she wouldn't pay.
Someone said, "Since we don't have the money for medicine anyway, we might as well just take him home and let Zhao Qingjiang have a look at him!"
No matter how reluctant Wang Xiaohong was, she had no other choice but to let them haul the unconscious Wang Jieshi back home.
Meanwhile, Chuntao was in no mood to cook. She simply sat in the kitchen, staring blankly into space.
"Sister-in-law Chuntao!" Zhou Xiaowei ran back from Hanzhuang braving the snow, shouting before he even stepped into the courtyard.
Chuntao felt weak all over, her mind a tangled mess. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
"Sister-in-law Chuntao, what's wrong?"
Zhou Xiaowei stepped through the kitchen door. Seeing Chuntao's pale face, his heart immediately leaped into his throat.
Chuntao looked up at him, her hands subconsciously gripping the hem of her shirt, completely unsure of how to answer!
"Sister-in-law Chuntao, Old Man Han said he'll come over tomorrow to breed you!"
Zhou Xiaowei shouted at the top of his lungs, but he immediately realized how wrong that sounded. His face instantly flushed bright red.
He hurriedly waved his hands and stammered, "I... I didn't mean it like that! I meant to breed the pig... to breed the pig!"
