Before Zhao Tiezhu had even finished speaking, Xiao Mandong had already jumped down from the ox cart. She waved to Bowen.
“Bowen, get down.”
Wang Yuanyuan glanced at Bowen and rolled her eyes, muttering disdainfully, “She treats that idiot better than she treats her own little brother…”
Xiao Mandong ignored her and followed Zhao Tiezhu toward the river.
Bowen hurried after them, afraid that Xiao Mandong might leave him behind.
By the river, a large crowd had already gathered. Huzi lay on the cold ground, drenched from head to toe. His lips were bluish-purple, and his face was deathly pale.
“Move aside!” Xiao Mandong pushed through the crowd and crouched down. She first checked his neck, then held her fingers beneath his nose. His breathing was extremely weak.
She hurriedly began stripping off the child’s soaking-wet padded jacket.
Although the villagers often had disagreements, at a moment like this they were willing to help. Several women worked together to pull off Huzi’s wet jacket, while a man nearby took off his own padded jacket and placed it beneath the child.
Xiao Mandong checked the boy’s mouth and nose and cleared away the clothing obstructing his airway. Pinching his nostrils shut, she gave him five rescue breaths. When she saw his chest rise slightly, she clasped her hands together and began compressing his chest.
One, two, three…
After thirty compressions, she gave him two more breaths. Then she repeated the process—compressions, breaths, and more compressions…
The onlookers were so tense that they could hardly breathe. Not a single person spoke. They simply stood there in silence, watching.
Zhao Tiezhu knelt on the ground, water still dripping from his body. His hair was crusted with ice, and his clothes had frozen stiff. His lips had turned purple from the cold, and his eyes were fixed desperately on Huzi’s face.
Just then, a woman pushed her way through the crowd and rushed over to Xiao Mandong. She shoved Xiao Mandong aside as she performed first aid.
“What the hell are you doing?” Cai Shufen’s voice was shrill and piercing. She raised her hand as if to strike Xiao Mandong. “You wicked woman! It’s freezing out here, and you stripped all my child’s clothes off! How can you be so vicious?”
The people nearby quickly moved to restrain her. Zhao Tiezhu’s entire body had gone numb from the cold, and it took him a long moment to stand. Without saying a word, he raised his stiff arm and slapped Cai Shufen hard across the face.
Blood began trickling from Cai Shufen’s nose.
He stared into her eyes as though he were looking at a dead woman.
Huang Chunxing spat toward Cai Shufen.
“Cai Shufen, she’s trying to save your son! How can you be so ungrateful?”
“Save him? In the middle of winter, you don’t take the child to the hospital—you strip him naked right here and try to save him? Are you trying to let my son die?” Cai Shufen clutched her bleeding nose, growing more and more agitated as she spoke.
“Zhao Tiezhu, is this because you think my son is a burden? Did you deliberately push him into the water? Give my child back to me! I’m taking him to the hospital. My son… my poor son! Wuwu… Zhao Tiezhu, give me back my son!”
Though people held her back, Cai Shufen kept kicking at Zhao Tiezhu.
Xiao Mandong paid her no attention and continued performing CPR on Huzi.
After nearly seven or eight minutes, sweat had begun to bead on Xiao Mandong’s forehead. Just as she pressed down again, Huzi suddenly choked.
With a loud “wah,” he coughed up a mouthful of water.
Then came the child’s ragged cough...
“He’s alive... He’s alive!” someone cried.
When he saw Huzi open his eyes, Zhao Tiezhu dropped to the ground. At last, tears streamed down his face.
“Zhao Tiezhu, hurry home with the child and get him dressed. You need to change, too. Take him to the hospital right away. We don’t know whether he inhaled water into his lungs. Keep him under observation for a couple of days, and don’t let him come down with a high fever.” With that, Xiao Mandong walked over to Cai Shufen.
Smack! She slapped her hard across the face. “You’re insane!”
She had put all her strength into it. Cai Shufen was stunned, while everyone around them felt a surge of satisfaction.
Zhao Tiezhu scooped Huzi into his arms. As he passed Cai Shufen, she finally came to her senses.
Seeing his mother, Huzi reached out to her.
“Mommy, Mommy, don’t go... I... I jumped into the river... so I could see you!”
Zhao Tiezhu was shaking all over, his teeth chattering. He hadn’t noticed what Huzi had said. Clutching the boy, he hurried home.
Cai Shufen had been about to start another argument, but Huzi’s words stopped her cold. She had told Huzi to tell Zhao Xiran that if she jumped into the river, she could find her mother. Back then, she’d wanted Zhao Xiran dead. But she’d never imagined Huzi would jump into the river to find her!
Cai Shufen felt as though something had been torn out of her. Had she almost caused her own child’s death? No... No, she hadn’t... She hadn’t...
In the crowd, a woman turned to her little grandson and said, “See that? Don’t play on the ice again. If you fall through, it could ruin your life.”
The boy looked unconvinced. “Huzi jumped in himself. He didn’t fall. Auntie Cai told him that if Xiran jumped into the river, she could find her mother...”
The moment the boy spoke, several of the adults exchanged uneasy glances.
Cai Shufen stumbled backward, shaking her head. “I... I didn’t... Don’t make things up. It wasn’t me...”
Someone muttered, “What a wicked heart. Aren’t you afraid you’ll get what’s coming to you?”
Huang Chunxing spat at Cai Shufen. “You rotten excuse for a person.”
Xiao Mandong didn’t stay to listen. She took Bowen by the hand and turned to leave.
To her surprise, the village ox cart hadn’t gone into town. It was still waiting at the village entrance. Wang Yuanyuan stood there, stamping her feet and rubbing her hands to keep warm.
Zheng Shuang was arguing with Uncle Niu.
“What’s wrong with you, old man? If that Xiao woman had died, would you still be driving your ox cart? Why should all of us have to wait for her?”
Just seeing Xiao Mandong’s face today had filled Zheng Shuang with jealousy. Her mother was beautiful too, but Zheng Shuang had taken after her grandmother. Her good looks had gone to her brother instead. Ever since she was little, everyone had told her she’d grow into her looks one day. She had always been deeply insecure about her appearance.
Uncle Niu didn’t even raise his eyes.
“I can give you your money back. You can walk into town.”
“Why should I? You shameless old lecher! Have you got your eye on her?” Zheng Shuang had barely finished speaking when a woman shoved her, sending her staggering.
“You little bitch, why’s your mouth so filthy? Every other word out of you is about screwing. What, you itching for it? If you hadn’t cursed at Dong Huimin yesterday, she wouldn’t have killed herself. That foul mouth of yours ought to get you sent to a donkey pen so the donkeys can have at you good and proper.”
The auntie’s words set everyone else roaring with laughter. Zheng Shuang’s eyes reddened. Breathing hard, she glared at the woman.
“You old hag—what, you upset because I talked about that old man?”
One hand on her hip and the other pointing at Zheng Shuang, the auntie snapped, “Of course I’m upset. He’s my husband—who else is supposed to care about him, you? Just look at you: a pointy monkey face, squinty eyes, and that big pancake of a face. In the dead of winter, flies would still shit all over your face. With your clothes on, you look like an earthenware crock; with them off, even my old man wouldn’t bother looking at you.”
