"Brother Wenhai, talk to your family. Let's rent a house and get married. I didn't bring up marriage before because even if we got married, we'd have no place to live—we don't even know when we'll be able to return to the city. Now that we have this great opportunity, we can settle down here, get married, and have kids. Otherwise, if we go back to the city when we're older, it won't be easy to find a spouse, right?"
"What do you mean? You know my situation. My younger siblings are still in school, and my parents are still trying to arrange my return to the city. How could I have the heart to ask them for money to get married? If you want to get married, fine—your family can pay to fix up the house. Once my parents manage to bring me back to the city, you can come with me. You'd actually be getting the better deal, if you think about it."
What a joke. She actually expected his family to pay for the renovations? Did she even think she deserved it? Dark-skinned and short—he’d only ever paid her any attention because she helped with his work and spent money on him. Why else would he be interested in a woman like her?
"Brother Wenhai, you asked the brigade leader today, too. Fixing up this house will cost about two hundred yuan, and that's not even counting the rent. How could my family possibly come up with that much money? How about this—each of us asks our families for some help, and we work together for our little home. Doesn't that make sense?"
Fan Wenhai shook off Hu Guizhen's hand in disgust:
"My parents don't have money for me. Whatever they have is saved to buy me a job. Since that's the case, Hu Guizhen, don't bother me anymore. Let's break up."
Xiao Mandong and her sister had just turned the corner when they overheard Fan Wenhai and Hu Guizhen's conversation. She never expected Fan Wenhai to be so shameless. He wanted to get married, but expected the woman's family to pay for the house repairs while putting up nothing himself. What did Hu Guizhen even see in him?
"Break up? Fan Wenhai, I've given myself to you. Now you want to break up? What am I supposed to do?"
How disgusting. Xiao Mandong couldn't bear to listen anymore. She pulled her sister away. Xiao Manxue had been upset ever since she heard those people on the oxcart speaking ill of her sister, so she hadn't paid any attention to the couple's argument.
Dong Huimin saw Xiao Mandong and her sister coming back and quickly went to meet them:
"Mandong, you have new neighbors. Four male educated youths signed up with the brigade leader today. They're renting three rooms together."
Xiao Mandong smiled in response:
"That's a good idea. Four people living together is definitely better than a dozen crammed in one place."
She thought it was nice to have some male educated youths nearby. At least the village loafers wouldn't be so bold and reckless. She couldn't be by her sister's side every moment—she still had to go to the back mountain to check on her family. Of course, her sister didn't know that her family had been sent to the cowshed behind the mountain. Even Xiao Mandong herself had only learned about it in her previous life, after her family had been rehabilitated.
She had no intention of telling her sister either. If she wanted to go to the back mountain, she'd have to go at night. She had the space—if danger arose, she could hide in it. It would be too dangerous for her sister to follow. She didn't plan on telling anyone about the space, not even her own sister. Though they were blood related and she would always treat her well, she didn't want to test human nature.
With a loud bang, Hu Guizhen kicked the door open and stormed into the room, shooting a vicious glare at Xiao Mandong. It was all that woman's fault—why had she started this mess with renting houses and fixing them up? If she hadn't taken the lead, none of this trouble would have happened.
Xiao Mandong had no idea why Hu Guizhen was glaring at her. The woman seemed completely unhinged.
Looking at the expressions around her, Xiao Mandong finally understood the saying: "It's not scarcity but inequality that causes discontent." Yesterday, some of the educated youths had chatted with her; today, those same people were not only giving her strange looks but whispering about her on the side.
Dong Huimin told her that the brigade leader had already brought back the timber and mud bricks for her house repairs that morning. Xiao Mandong didn't want to see their faces, so she decided to check on the stone house instead. She also needed to find a village carpenter to buy a kang table and a bathtub.
"Huimin, Manxue and I have already eaten in town. Don't prepare lunch or dinner for us. We're going to check on the stone house. Is there a carpenter in the village?"
"Yes, there is. There's a childless, elderly man at the east end of the village. The village looks after him, and he makes small things to sell to educated youths and locals. Just ask around—everyone calls him Uncle Changgui. You two should go see him—he's very skilled. Come back early; a few days ago, a bear came down from the mountain. It's dangerous."
After thanking Dong Huimin, Xiao Mandong put on her backpack and took her sister toward the stone house.
On the way, they ran into several villagers running toward the east end of the village. Curious, Xiao Mandong dragged her sister along to see what was happening.
Xiao Manxue was surprised her sister liked a good spectacle. In the past, Xiao Manxue had always been ostracized, so she avoided crowded places whenever possible.
In the distance, they could see a crowd gathered in a circle.
"I don't know what's gotten into Mancang. His son hasn't been home for years, and now that he's back, all he does is hit and curse. What kind of father is that?"
"I heard it was about the match he introduced for his second son. The young man didn't like her and refused outright. Zhou Mantun lost his temper on the spot and beat the young man. Granny Zhou couldn't stand seeing her grandson hurt, so she threw herself in front of the stick. The stick hit her leg."
"The young man is being unreasonable too. He's 22 years old—his father is only anxious about his marriage. But this was still too harsh. The old lady's leg is probably broken."
The villagers were all gossiping. Even though Xiao Mandong hadn't pushed her way to the front, she had heard enough.
Just then, a young man rushed into the crowd:
"Second Brother, the barefoot doctor has been at his son's house for two days. The tractor went to town and hasn't come back, and the oxcart isn't here either. What do we do? Should we borrow a handcart to take her to the hospital?"
Through the gap in the crowd, Xiao Mandong saw that soldier who had returned with them earlier. He was kneeling on the ground, blood dripping from his forehead. Several people were gathered around him, all wearing grim expressions.
Lying in his arms was an old woman, her face twisted in pain, her pants leg soaked in blood.
Xiao Mandong squeezed through the crowd and looked closely. Her pupils shrank sharply. It was Granny Zhou. In her previous life, after her family was rehabilitated and her grandfather brought everyone to move her grandmother's grave, he had specifically come to thank Granny Zhou. Apparently, when Xiao Mandong's grandmother had died with no one to care for her, Granny Zhou had happened upon her on the mountain as she was about to be buried in a simple straw mat. Granny Zhou had given up the thin coffin she had prepared for herself.
Xiao Mandong clearly remembered seeing Granny Zhou back then with a limp. So this was when her leg had broken—broken by her own son.
Just then, someone brought a handcart. If they really traveled for hours to the hospital by cart, the bumpy ride would almost certainly cost Granny Zhou her leg.
Before her family was sent to the countryside, her father had repeatedly warned her not to reveal her medical skills, afraid it would bring trouble.
But in her past life, this old woman had risked everything to give her grandmother a coffin. She was their family's benefactor. Hearing Granny Zhou's moans of pain, Xiao Mandong couldn't stand by and do nothing.
The men were about to lift the old woman onto the handcart.
"Wait."
All eyes turned to Xiao Mandong. Xiao Manxue tried to pull her sister back. Traditional Chinese medicine was under heavy suppression at the time, and besides, her sister didn’t even have a barefoot doctor’s license. She didn’t want her to wade into this murky water, fearing it might bring unnecessary trouble.
