Zhou Shuhua could no longer bear it. She suddenly broke free from Political Commissar Lei's hand, her eyes bloodshot, and lunged towards the floor below the kang (a heated brick bed):
"No! I...I'll go find those two beasts! I'll tear them apart! I'll skin them alive!"
Political Commissar Lei quickly hugged her tightly: "Shuhua! Shuhua, calm down!"
His voice was urgent and deep.
"How do you settle accounts? Beat them up? Scold them? Nominally, they are your adoptive parents! If you try to settle accounts with them, how will you do it? If things get heated and you start fighting, you won't be able to settle the accounts properly, and in the end, you'll be the one who gets hurt!"
Lei Yuhua also offered words of comfort from the side.
"Yes, Mom, you don't even need to calculate the consequences for people like that; they deserve their retribution! Look at that couple now! Their son and daughter-in-law are both in jail! They'll starve for the rest of their lives! That's karma!"
Upon hearing Political Commissar Lei mention "nominal adoptive parents," Zhou Shuhua's anger flared up instantly, her eyes widened, and blood vessels bulged out.
"Reputation?! What reputation! Qiqi has suffered for over a decade! I'm her aunt! Her parents are gone, I'm her only blood relative! Just stand by and watch your niece be humiliated like this, and don't say a word? I, Zhou Shuhua, might as well just kill myself!"
She struggled to fall off the kang (a heated brick bed), but her limbs wouldn't obey her commands; they were as limp as noodles.
I had just propped myself up halfway when my vision went black, I saw stars, my chest tightened and I couldn't breathe, and I swayed and was about to fall down again.
"mom!"
"Shuhua!"
Lei Yuhua and Political Commissar Lei were terrified. One grabbed the waist and the other held the shoulder, frantically trying to push him back.
But Zhou Shuhua's stubbornness kicked in, and like a fish out of water, she struggled desperately, muttering incoherent curses like "beast" and "skinner."
They were determined to rush out and seek revenge.
The two were sweating profusely and couldn't hold him down.
Just then.
Zhou Qiqi, who had been silent by the window, spoke with a chilling tone. She still didn't look at Zhou Shuhua, but her words were like a bucket of ice water, splashed onto her:
"Revenge? Fine, how do you plan to do it? In your current state, you can't even crawl over there. Are you planning to roll all the way to the neighbor's gate, pass out, and scare those two to death?"
Without even lifting her eyelids, she brushed the dust off the corner of her clothes and stood up.
"I'm hungry. I'll eat first. Whatever I want to do, I'll wait until I'm full and have some rest tomorrow."
After saying that, she didn't even look at Zhou Shuhua, who was frozen on the kang (a heated brick bed), and turned to Village Chief Xu:
"Uncle Fugui, can we have a hot meal here? We've been busy all day and haven't eaten yet."
Village Chief Xu was wringing his hands in worry when he heard this, and he nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes, yes! Of course! It's already prepared! Your Aunt Jinhua is very efficient; she figured you must be hungry, so she went to the kitchen to get things ready! Cabbage stew with potatoes, and a ring of multigrain pancakes—plenty to eat! It'll be served right away!"
Aunt Zhang, who had been watching Zhou Qiqi with heartache, also chimed in:
"Oh, Qiqi, why go to the village chief's house! Come to Auntie's! Auntie will make you an egg pancake! I'll put lots and lots of scallions on it! It'll be so delicious it'll make your tongue tingle! Qiqi, you've gotten so beautiful in just a few months, I've missed you so much!"
As she spoke, she reached out to take Zhou Qiqi's hand.
Several other villagers also gathered around, chattering amongst themselves:
"Come to my house! I caught some small fish there this morning!"
"Qiqi, try your aunt's salted duck eggs, they're oozing oil!"
The room, which had been tense and filled with grief and indignation just moments before, was instantly dispelled by the steaming aroma of cooking.
The villagers crowded around Zhou Qiqi as she walked out, each of them muttering to themselves.
In their eyes, no matter how glamorous she is dressed, she is still that lovable Qiqi girl.
A group of people rushed out the door, and Shen Huaichuan followed. Only Zhou Shuhua's family of three remained in the house, which instantly became quiet and deserted, with only the soft crackling of the kerosene lamp wick.
Zhou Shuhua remained in a half-supported position, frozen on the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes fixed on the empty doorway, her lips trembling. After a long while, she murmured as if in a dream:
"Just... just now, Qiqi... spoke to me? She... she spoke to me?"
Political Commissar Lei breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his brow, carefully helped her lie down again, and his voice became a little lighter:
"Yes, I did talk to you. Although what I said wasn't very nice, think about it carefully. I told you to eat and to rest. The little girl still cares about you."
Zhou Shuhua suddenly grabbed Political Commissar Lei's hand, her nails digging into his flesh, crying and laughing at the same time, her face covered in tears and snot:
"She spoke! She spoke to me! She acknowledged me! She cares about me! Lao Lei! Did you hear that?!"
Lei Yuhua also came over, smiling with red eyes:
"Mom, Qiqi is just stubborn! But she's actually kind and gentle at heart! We're family, even if we're broken, we're still connected by blood!"
"Yes! Yes! We're family!"
Zhou Shuhua wiped her face haphazardly, struggling to sit up.
"Yuhua! Quick! Bring the food! I'll eat! I need to get better quickly! I can't... I can't be a burden to the child anymore... If something happens to me, she'll really have no one left to rely on!"
Lei Yuhua readily agreed: "Okay! I'll go right away!"
She jogged out of the house.
A moment later, Lei Yuhua brought in an old kang table with several large, coarse porcelain bowls on it.
Golden cornbread, glistening pickled cabbage and glass noodles, and plenty of shiny slices of cured meat inside—it smells delicious.
People in the village rarely eat meat, so this bit of cured meat is a precious thing that is only brought out during the New Year.
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