Chapter 79 Teasing
She choked back tears, which soaked her sister's clothes.
"Why is our life so bitter? It's as bitter as chewing ten pounds of bitter herbs. Our mouths are numb, our hearts are astringent, and even our tears are bitter!"
Cao Xiaohua hugged her younger sister, tears streaming down her face.
She gently patted her sister's back, her throat tightening, but she still forced herself not to cry out.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, she sat up abruptly, frowning, and said, "Hey, something's not right! We don't think we've heard Hei Zi bark even once today?"
Cao Xiaoli was stunned, and she also stopped sobbing, trying hard to recall: "Yes...you're right...Where's Heizi?"
Her family's outhouse was at the back door. Whenever someone went to the toilet or a stranger approached, Hei Zi would hum twice to warn them.
But she squatted in the outhouse for a long time today, and from beginning to end, she didn't hear a single sound.
The two sisters exchanged a glance, and a sense of foreboding washed over them.
"Let's go take a look!"
Cao Xiaohua grabbed her younger sister and ran hurriedly towards the back door.
Hei Zi usually only recognizes the mother and her two children. He's fierce to everyone else, baring his teeth and never letting anyone get close.
In addition, their house is located near the back of the mountain.
Few people come here usually, so the back door is never locked, just for convenience.
As soon as they opened the door, the surroundings were eerily quiet; they didn't hear the familiar barking of dogs.
At that moment, the two sisters felt their hearts sink, as if they had fallen into an ice cave.
They walked quickly to the open space outside the back door.
Hei Zi lay quietly on the ground, its four legs in the air and its eyes half-open.
"Sis! Hei Zi is dead!"
Cao Xiaoli burst into tears and staggered over to him.
She loves Kuroko the most; she's been sleeping with it since it was a puppy.
It keeps me company when I get up in the middle of the night, and it protects me when I'm scared.
In addition, she was already convinced that Zhou Wenjuan had eloped with another man.
The successive blows weighed on her heart like a mountain, and she simply couldn't bear it.
Cao Xiaohua quickly stepped forward and patted her sister's shoulder forcefully.
"Xiaoli, don't cry... We've raised it for several years, it's getting old, that's just fate."
She looked down at Heizi, her eyes moist, her voice low.
"It didn't suffer before it passed away, so it's at peace. Let's bury it later, find a clean place, and let it rest in peace."
Her heart ached terribly, as if it were being pricked by needles.
But she was the older sister, and her younger sister's only support.
At this moment, she could not collapse, much less cry out loud.
She could only bite her lip hard, straighten her back, and suppress all her sorrow deep in her heart.
Cao Xiaoli cried for a long time, her tears falling like beads from a broken string.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her sobs were intermittent, as if she were crying her heart out.
Hei Zi had been with her since she was a child, accompanying her to chop firewood on the mountain, working in the fields with her, and even baring his teeth and rushing out to protect her when she was bullied.
Now that she sees it lying motionless on the ground, how could she not be heartbroken?
Until Cao Xiaohua gently patted her back and whispered, "Don't cry, it'll get dark if we don't leave now."
She wiped her face, sniffled, nodded with a sob in her eyes, and slowly moved to Hei Zi's side.
This dog is already a member of the family, so meat is absolutely forbidden for it.
Every year during the Lunar New Year, other families slaughter pigs and sheep.
They wouldn't even sell their black cats, let alone eat them.
Moreover, the haters are usually the most protective of their master.
Even people from other villages would be barked at by it if they approached the yard.
If we eat it, wouldn't that break its heart after so many years?
My conscience wouldn't allow it.
And we have to bury it quickly, otherwise if my uncle and other uncles find out, they'll definitely skin it and put it in the stew pot.
Those people were always gluttonous and had no scruples.
When you see a fat dog fall down, who cares whether it was loyal or not?
They'll definitely drag them away, skin them, and boil them into soup, even the bones will be boiled down to make broth.
Thinking of this, the two sisters felt a chill of fear and quickly sped up their work.
They planned to carry Heizi to the back mountain before it got dark.
But when they tried to pull on Blackie's front paws, they found that its body was still a little warm.
The body temperature wasn't hot, but it certainly hadn't completely cooled down.
The two sisters were stunned, looked at each other, and their hands stopped moving.
Cao Xiaoli's fingers trembled as she checked Hei Zi's breath, but she could barely feel anything.
But when she pressed her ear against Kuroko's chest, she suddenly held her breath.
If you listen carefully, you can even hear a faint snoring sound.
The sound was extremely faint, as if it came from a very deep place.
call……
The sisters' eyes lit up immediately.
The face that had just been shrouded in grief suddenly shone with hope.
The two sisters looked at each other, their eyes filled with surprise.
Cao Xiaohua gripped her sister's arm tightly, her voice trembling.
"It...it's still breathing! Kuroko isn't dead!"
Cao Xiaoli ignored the pain and grinned, though tears still clung to her face.
Cao Xiaoli sniffled and said in a muffled voice, "Sister, is Heizi... asleep?"
Cao Xiaohua nodded vigorously, her brows furrowed tightly, but her eyes shone with an unusual brightness.
"Yes! And he's snoring!"
She bent down and brought her ear even closer.
She became more and more certain.
Hei Zi didn't die, he just fainted for some reason.
No matter how much they shouted, Hei Zi wouldn't open his eyes.
Cao Xiaohua patted its cheeks and called out, "Heizi! Wake up! Heizi!"
Cao Xiaoli also went over and shook its front legs, her voice changing with anxiety.
"Kuroko, it's me! Don't you recognize me?"
Kuroko kept its eyes tightly closed, its ears twitching occasionally, but it never opened them, and its tail didn't wag at all.
"Sis, this is strange, why can't we wake Hei Zi up all of a sudden?"
Cao Xiaoli was extremely puzzled.
She squatted on the ground, holding Hei Zi's neck with one hand and supporting its head with the other, her eyes full of confusion.
"It usually wakes up at the slightest sound, even if it's sleeping soundly, it'll get up at the sound of its food bowl. What's wrong with it today? Could it be... possessed?"
Cao Xiaohua shook her head: "I can't say for sure, maybe it's just tired? It's good that it's not dead. Let's carry it back to its nest first, and check on it again later."
Although she said that, she was also uneasy inside.
How could a dog be so tired?
I didn't see it do any heavy work yesterday either.
Could it be that he ate something?
But we usually feed them leftovers at home, maybe with a little bone broth at most, so this shouldn't have happened.
She had only ever seen her grandfather drunk before, and he wouldn't respond no matter how she called him.
That winter, Grandpa got completely drunk at a relative's house.
He lay in the kitchen and slept for a whole day and night, ignoring everyone who called him.
When I woke up later, I had vomited all over the floor and my whole body was burning up.
But I didn't give Hei Zi any alcohol yesterday!
If a dog had really drunk alcohol, it would have been foaming at the mouth long ago.
Where can you still hear snoring?
Could someone be playing a trick on it?
"Okay, then let's leave it for observation for now."
Cao Xiaohua stood up and patted the dirt off her pants.
“Let’s carry it back first, cover it with some straw, and if it wakes up in the middle of the night, it’ll be lucky; if it still doesn’t wake up, we’ll have to find someone to take a look at it tomorrow.”
The two men busied themselves carrying the dog into its kennel.
They used old cotton-padded jackets as padding underneath, afraid of hurting it.
Kuroko's body was limp and motionless, but her faint breathing never stopped.
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