Liang Qi had seen Yang Danian when Xiaoyue was repairing her house in the summer. Back then, Yang Danian was full of vigor and exuded the strength of a grown man. Now, Yang Danian was bound with ropes, his thick cotton-padded clothes were torn by something, and cotton wadding mixed with blood was flying in the howling north wind. His hands were swollen like steamed buns, and his five fingers were clenched and swollen.

With all his fingernails pulled out, Yang Danian closed his eyes tightly, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his lips. Liang Qi stepped forward and checked his breathing; it seemed alright.

Liang Qi yelled at Xiaoyue, "Hurry up!" while frantically waving his hand.

Xiaoyue, recognizing Liang Qi's gesture, hurriedly ran over. Because of the wind, she was panting heavily after just a few steps. Xiaoyue stood at Yang Danian's feet, while Liang Qi stood at his head.

The two men, one lifting his upper body and the other his legs, easily lifted Yang Danian onto the oxcart, carried by the howling north wind.

When Li Qianqian saw the two people carrying a blood-soaked person over, she quickly opened the blanket on the cart, supported Yang Danian's waist, and put him onto the oxcart.

While Liang Qi was hesitating whether to cover Yang Danian with a blanket, he gave Yang Danian a blanket that Lu Xiaomei had prepared for him, leaving Li Qianqian and Xiaoyue still covered with thick blankets.

The oxcart sped towards the town, and after tossing the gatekeeper two copper coins, it arrived at the entrance of Tonghe Medical Clinic.

Xiaoyue hurriedly pushed open the door of the clinic and told the young shop assistant to carry Yang Danian inside.

Upon arriving at the private room of the clinic, Manager Tong rushed over: "What happened to Xiaoyue?"

As he entered, he asked the young man who was looking for him, "It's someone else, not Xiaoyue."

When Xiaoyue met Manager Tong, he was still wearing an earth-yellow robe, but it was a cotton robe. He washed his hands outside and came to Yang Danian, who was lying on the bed.

He lifted his shirt with his hand, revealing a bloody gash from a blow with a board. He turned to Xiaoyue and asked, "What happened?"

Xiaoyue told Manager Tong about the situation, and Manager Tong asked the young shop assistant to come in and help, while Xiaoyue watched the shop from outside. Liang Qi took Li Qianqian home to pick up Sister Yang.

Xiaoyue didn't go behind the counter, but just sat down on the row of stools. She felt a mix of emotions. Yun Xingfei's situation was already unbelievable enough, and now Yang Danian was just doing odd jobs, how did things turn out like this?

The young man in the middle ran out twice more to get ointment and disinfectant.

Xiaoyue was also restless. It wasn't until dusk that Liang Qi brought Yang's wife over.

Liang Qi led Yang's wife into Yang Danian's room in the backyard. When they entered, they saw that Yang Danian had taken off his clothes, and his body was covered in bruises and many wounds.

Shopkeeper Tong was treating Yang Danian's wounds and chased the two of them out. Yang's wife sat down next to Xiaoyue, biting her lower lip tightly, her face full of anger.

While tidying up the clothes she had prepared for Yang Danian at home, Xiaoyue occasionally added charcoal to a stove in the clinic, while Yang's wife simply dried the clothes by the stove.

Liang Qi also sat down next to Xiaoyue. The three of them didn't say a word. They saw that Yang's sister-in-law's face was tense and her eyes flashed with a cold light. Yes, a cold light.

Xiaoyue didn't look at the money. Suddenly, she didn't recognize Sister Yang. The gentle, generous, and kind woman who was always friendly to everyone and whose heart was only on Yang Danian was different from her.

Liang Qi went outside and put up the plywood in the clinic, then closed the two wooden doors. Xiao Yue went to the kitchen and found rice and vegetables.

Liang Qi cooked rice for five people. He added fuel to the fire for Xiao Yue, while Yang's wife stood at the door watching them cook, or perhaps observing something else through the act of cooking.

After preparing the meal, the three of them stayed in the kitchen with an oil lamp lit, since the kitchen faced Yang Danian's room.

Finally, the door opened, and the young waiter called out, "Bring in a bucket of hot water and a bucket of cold water."

Liang Qi was scooping hot water when he saw Sister Yang lift the bucket of cold water with one hand without any effort. Xiao Yue was dumbfounded, but Liang Qi didn't see it.

He scooped up another bucket of hot water, and the young waiter went to the front and took out four cloths and a basin, handing them to Sister Yang and Liang Qi.

Xiaoyue called to the kitchen helper, who came to the kitchen upon seeing her. Xiaoyue asked with concern, "How is Yang Danian?"

The young waiter glanced at Xiaoyue and asked, "What's your relationship with him?"

Xiaoyue said softly, "He's from the same village. He repaired my house before. He's a nice person."

"His leg is broken, and we don't even know if he has a back problem. The employer took his pulse, and he also has internal organ damage. It's still uncertain whether he'll survive."

Xiaoyue cried out in shock, then gave the young waiter an apologetic smile for her outburst: "I didn't expect it to be this serious. Who did this?"

The young waiter added, "Yes, it was made by Xin. How could he be so ruthless? The boss said it was almost like being tortured in prison to extract a confession."

Before long, Manager Tong and Liang Qi came out. Liang Qi even brought out two buckets of dirty water, and the young man rushed over to help.

When Manager Tong saw Xiaoyue, he said gently, "You'll have to stay here for three days. I'll also prepare some medicine for him. You can go now; the city gates will be closing soon."

He then said to Liang Qi, "Drive carefully, the road is difficult to travel in the dark."

Xiaoyue asked with concern, "What about Sister Yang?"

"She gave it to the husband who accompanied her."

...

The next day was December 26th. In the morning, Li Lei packed two male geese, two male ducks, one rooster, and three pheasants into cloth bags in the yard, preparing to go to the market to sell them.

Xiaoyue also wanted to see how Yang Danian was doing. When she went to town yesterday, she didn't even manage to buy any cloth. She also wanted to buy some cloth while she was at it. Lu Xiaomei and Li Qianqian wanted to buy glutinous rice buns with red bean paste, so Chunyue was the only adult at home, taking care of Shuiyue and Xiaodouding.

The car was full of Xiaoyue's family members. They chatted and laughed as they went to town. Xiaoyue went to Tonghe Medical Clinic first. The market was very crowded, and she and Liang Qi squeezed into the backyard.

Sister-in-law Yang saw her last night; her hair was perfectly styled. Yang Da woke up once on New Year's Eve and was shocked to find that her tongue had been cut out.

Yang's wife's face grew even colder. At this moment, Yang Danian saw Xiaoyue and Liang Qi come in, tugged at Yang's wife's hand, and gave her a forced smile.

Xiaoyue felt a lump in her throat upon seeing this scene. She turned and left the house, sighing to Liang Qi, "How much does Brother Danian like Sister-in-law Yang?"

After visiting Yang Danian, Xiaoyue greeted the shop assistant and went into Xingfei Fabrics. She selected eight bolts of fabric from the samples, priced at 421 bolts, and then went to the market where Li Lei sold chickens.

They saw Li Lei walking towards them with a smile on his face. Just as he was about to greet Xiaoyue and Liang Qi, a thin, bony man suddenly darted out from the side, snatched the bag of silver from Li Lei's hand, and ran away.

Li Lei was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening: "Dad, you stop right there."

Xiaoyue and Liang Qi exchanged glances. Xiaoyue asked, "Is he Li Lei's father?"

Liang Qi said, "Let's go, let's go after them and see."

The two carried the cloth through one alley after another, eventually arriving at Niuma Market, but Li Lei was nowhere to be seen.