Just as the man was about to knock the woman unconscious and then deal with her slowly, someone had already silently approached.

The wooden stick whistled through the air and struck the man hard on the back of the head.

The man's head was instantly covered in blood from the blow, but he was still not dizzy and wanted to turn around to see who had attacked him.

But as soon as he turned his head, Xu Errui swung his stick again. This time, the man didn't even have time to say a word before he collapsed to the side with a thud.

The woman was being choked until she saw stars when she suddenly felt her neck being released. Before she could see what had happened, she saw the man who had been pressing down on her fall to the ground with blood gushing from his head.

Two men suddenly appeared in her blurry vision, startling her, but having experienced so much, this fright was only a brief moment of shock.

"Thank you... thank you both..." Her throat hurt, and her voice became increasingly hoarse.

Before she could finish speaking, the boy exclaimed in a trembling voice, "It really is Sister Chunfeng!"

"sister in law!"

The woman looked up abruptly, startled, and tried to control her voice: "Are you Xiaoman?"

She had been away from Xujia Village for two years; Xiaoman was only thirteen years old at the time.

Now, the skinny little child has grown taller and stronger.

Xiaoman nodded vigorously: "It's me, sister-in-law!"

Xu Errui recognized the woman earlier and asked in surprise, "Sister Chunfeng, what brings you here?"

"I... how come you're here too?" Chunfeng felt speechless, wondering why Xiaoman had also appeared outside the village.

Xiaoman pointed to the mountain: "We're on the mountain!"

Chunfeng's eyes were filled with hope: "You...your brother..." She dared not ask any more questions.

Xiaoman nodded: "My brother is doing well!"

A smile instantly bloomed on Chunfeng's dark and thin face, with even a hint of blush and shyness.

But this was not the time to speak. The man who had been knocked down was still convulsing, as if he was about to wake up.

Xiaoman said, "Sister-in-law, come with us quickly, don't go back to the village!"

Chunfeng didn't move. She looked at Xiaoman and Xu Errui and said, "You two go outside and wait. My pants got torn, so I need to clean them up!"

Xiaoman and Xu Errui then realized what was happening.

Chunfeng's sister-in-law was bullied, and they only saw that her clothes were torn. Now, when she reminded them, they quickly climbed out of the ditch and waited outside.

Xu Errui, who had just struck someone in a moment of panic, was still trembling when he came out of the ditch and hurriedly asked, "Xiaoman, what should we do with that person?"

Xu Errui and Xiaoman have buried dead people and even used excrement to detoxify corpses; they are no longer the innocent children they once were in the village.

However, hitting someone in a moment of panic is one thing, but killing someone who is unconscious and not moving is another.

But if we don't silence them, and they find out that people live on the mountain, we'll definitely be in trouble.

Xiaoman touched the machete at her waist, her face tense and her teeth clenched: That man bullied my sister-in-law, he must die!

He had noticed that someone had set up a shack in his old house a while ago, but he never imagined it would be his sister-in-law coming home.

Fortunately, Aunt Jiang came last night and said that my sister-in-law was in danger. She said that if something really happened to my sister-in-law, I would regret it to death.

No matter what, that man must die!

Just as Xiaoman made up her mind, a short, painful scream suddenly rang out from the ditch.

The two people outside were startled and quickly climbed into the ditch.

There was no longer an unconscious man in front of them, only a corpse with a hole in its head.

Chunfeng put down the stone still covered in brain matter and glared at the man: "This man is the leader of those laborers. If he wakes up, it will be troublesome."

The military had recruited some refugees to work, and this man was the leader of the refugees. He also had a few friends. If he woke up and saw Xiaoman and Errui clearly, he would cause trouble for everyone in the future.

Xiao Man looked at Chun Feng with horrified eyes: "Sister-in-law, you used to be afraid to even kill a chicken."

Chunfeng revealed a hint of bitterness: "Because your brother was there back then!"

Xiaoman remained silent. When her eldest brother was still healthy, he was the pillar of strength, and everyone else hid behind him, knowing nothing and caring about nothing.

She couldn't stay there any longer. Chunfeng decided not to return to the village. In any case, besides a straw mat, there was only a broken earthenware pot in that shack, and all her belongings were with her.

Chunfeng found her cloth bag that had been thrown into the ditch.

The man's body must not be left behind.

Xiaoman and Xu Errui already had experience handling corpses. The two of them lifted the dead body and walked along the ditch, with Chunfeng staggering behind. Soon, the three of them disappeared into the vast forest.

Two hours later, the three appeared on the top of Old Cloud Cliff.

Chunfeng walked faster and faster. She had come to her family's charcoal shed with Xu Dazhu when she first got married, so she knew this road.

As soon as the corner of the charcoal shed came into view, Chunfeng felt as if all her strength had left her. Her legs went weak, and she grabbed a tree branch and squatted on the ground, bursting into tears.

When Xujia Village was burned down, she assumed that the Xu family had all fled to escape the famine, so she waited in the ruins, thinking that even if she died, she would die in the Xu family.

Having gone through so much, I've considered all sorts of possibilities, but I never imagined that the person was right beside me.

The overwhelming joy of going from death to life brought tears streaming down her parched eyes.

Xiaoman and Xu Errui followed silently, their eyes also dry. Chunfeng's sister-in-law had already cried several times along the way, and they didn't know if their older brother and grandparents could handle it.

Just as Chunfeng stepped onto the stone embankment in front of the house, Xiaoman's grandmother came out of the house carrying a basket of green beans.

She spotted the woman who had suddenly appeared, stood frozen for a moment, and then her dim old eyes recognized her: "Chunfeng, Chunfeng, is that you?"

"Grandma!" Chunfeng knelt down with a thud, her swollen eyes brimming with tears.

Xiaoman moved her pacifier, trying to speak but unable to. Her body swayed and she couldn't stand up, and the green beans in her hand fell to the ground.

Chunfeng quickly got up and helped her up: "Grandma, sit down, don't rush!"

Grandma Xiaoman finally spoke up: "Silly girl, why are you here again!"

"Grandma, this is my home!" Chunfeng's voice was frighteningly hoarse.

Inside the house, a sudden commotion was followed by a thud.

Everyone rushed over and saw that Xu Dazhu had rolled off the kang (a heated brick bed) onto the ground and was struggling to crawl out.

“Brother Dazhu!” Chunfeng stood at the door.

She wanted to walk over, but her feet seemed glued to the ground; she wanted to cry but couldn't.

The couple had been separated for two years. They looked at each other, staring blankly into each other's eyes.

Knowing that her older brother and sister-in-law had something to say, Xiaoman picked up the overturned bean basket and helped her grandmother, who was wiping away tears, out of the shed.

He whispered to himself outside, recounting in detail how he had met his sister-in-law outside the village, but he didn't mention being bullied and killed in the ditch—something the three of them had agreed upon.

Grandma Xiaoman shook her head, crying, "What a tragedy! If I had known she was in the village, I should have brought her here!"

Inside the shed, Xu Dazhu stared intently at Chunfeng, gritting his teeth: "You're already married, you should be living a good life. What are you doing here? Did you come to see if I'm dead or not?"

Chunfeng had calmed down and went over to help him: "You promised me you would live well, how come you've become so thin?"

Xu Dazhu pushed her away and raised his hands: "Get out of here. I told you, if you come to the Xu family again, I'll beat you to death!"

Chunfeng, unlike her previous self who would cry and whine at the drop of a hat, directly stuck her head in front of him: "Hit me! Hit me! If you kill me, you can bury me next to you!"

Xu Dazhu raised his hand high but could not lower it.

His gaze fell on Chunfeng's neck, and as if stung by a wasp, he immediately asked anxiously, "Where did you get that injury on your neck? And these..."

Chunfeng then remembered what had happened down the mountain and quickly covered it up: "It's nothing, I just bumped into it by accident."

Besides the injuries on her neck, Xu Dazhu also noticed that Chunfeng's hands were covered in scars, and one of her little fingers was missing a piece...

The once shy and fair-skinned young wife looked haggard, her already thin body now resembling a sheet of paper.

His heart ached as if it were being torn apart. He raised his hand and gently stroked his wife's face, saying, "You fool! How could you be so foolish!"

I'm a useless person now. I can no longer bring you thorny bushes, pick flowers for you to wear, or hold you. You'll suffer if you stay with me..."

Chunfeng finally burst into tears, covering his mouth: "Brother Dazhu, I don't want thorns, I don't want flowers, I'm not afraid of hardship, I just want you."

Nini hid behind the quilt in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), the bamboo figurine in her hand fell to the ground, and she just stared blankly as her father and that strange aunt hugged each other, crying and laughing...