When Su Luo and Li Niu arrived at Changping Village, the courtyard at the village entrance had already begun to be demolished, and the old tiles were being moved down one after another.
"Su Luo, you're back." Chen Ping'an greeted Su Luo when he saw her.
"Yes, Uncle, you've all worked hard, everyone has worked hard."
“Yan Chuan’s mother, we’re not tired at all, we’re all happy.”
More than thirty burly men answered Su Luo with smiles.
Zhao Ruyun also arrived at the village entrance to wait, and upon seeing Su Luo, she hurriedly said...
"Luo Luo, we've cooked the rice and chopped the vegetables. We're just waiting for your meat to go into the pot."
It was getting late, so Su Luo asked Li Niu to help carry the rice back to the kiln, while she carried the twenty jin of meat down herself.
It's quick when several people cut together. Before Su Luo even returned, Zhao Ruyun and the others had already prepared a bowl of smashed cucumber. Although it wasn't as delicious as Su Luo's, it still tasted pretty good.
The eggplants were cut up and soaked in water to prevent them from oxidizing.
Set aside ten pounds of meat for dinner. Su Luo made the tofu first, keeping it simple, just like the soft tofu they ate last night.
I also stir-fried a big pot of eggplant with meat, and then prepared some green vegetables, which were grown by Zhao Ruyun.
At noon, the village chief led everyone over for lunch. There were five large tables, and meat and vegetables were served, something the villagers rarely saw all year round.
Upon seeing such a sumptuous meal, both of them showed expressions of surprise.
“Yan Chuan’s mother, you’re eating so well. When we used to work for others, we were lucky to get broken rice and pickled vegetables. You even have meat here.”
"Yes, we've never eaten like this during holidays or festivals, hehe..."
Su Luo told everyone to serve themselves rice, and it was cooked in a large pot.
The weather in July was still very hot, and everyone was doing physical labor, so Su Luo just wanted everyone to eat better.
“Everyone needs to eat well to have the energy to work. And this meal is all thanks to the aunties. If you want to praise someone, praise them.”
The man immediately began praising Liu Fangfang and her group, and everyone chatted and laughed, enjoying their meal.
Su Luo sat down at the women's table with Yan Chuan and Yi Huan, and ate whatever the workers ate.
Su Luo didn't have to wash the dishes and chopsticks, and the village chief was in charge of overseeing the progress of the house demolition. In the afternoons, when Su Luo had nothing to do, she would teach Yan Chuan and Yi Huan to read and write.
Du Xiuyuan hadn't come to see Su Luo for several days. As soon as he entered the village, he saw the villagers busily repairing Su Luo's old courtyard.
I wonder if Su Luo has time to teach him the art of suturing now; he's been practicing for almost half a month.
"Lady Su, let me show you the results of my practice."
Du Xiuyuan held a large piece of pork, his eyes showing nervousness, just like a student facing an exam.
"Okay! It's been so many days, sew one for me to see."
Su Luo let Du Xiuyuan come inside the fence, and Yan Chuan and Yi Huan put away their paper and pens and gave the table to Du Xiuyuan.
"Grandpa Du, come to my spot, it's cool here."
Yi Huan's words surprised Du Xiuyuan, and he became even more nervous.
"No, no, no... I can't call him Grandpa..."
Yi Huan, bewildered, tugged at Su Luo's sleeve and looked up to ask.
"Mom, if Grandpa Du isn't called Grandpa Du, then what does Huanhuan call him?"
Su Luo had never really cared about this issue. Du Xiuyuan was considered Su Luo's apprentice, so Yan Chuan and Yi Huan should be his junior brothers and sisters. If they were to call him "Grandpa," their seniority would be higher than Su Luo's.
"Huanhuan, from now on, when you and your brother see Doctor Du, you should call him Doctor Du, okay?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Yi Huan, Yan Chuan, you can just call me Doctor Du."
"Oh! We understand, Mother."
"Hello, Dr. Du!" the two children said earnestly again.
Su Luo told the two younger children to go play on the side, then turned to Du Xiuyuan and said, "Let's begin."
Du Xiuyuan hummed in agreement and took out his tools. This time, he didn't use the set Su had given him; instead, he had someone remake the surgical tools based on the set Su Luo had given him, making them much rougher.
Su Luo watched him slowly sew up the pigskin, doing each step exactly as Su Luo had taught him.
It seems that Du Xiuyuan has been studying very hard lately.
The suture needle is like a fishhook; surgical forceps pull the hook through the needle until a knot is tied, then the thread is cut.
"Lady Su, look how my training is going?"
With even stitches, Su Luo said with satisfaction, "Not bad, you have the basics, but sewing on a human body is different from sewing on pigskin."
Du Xiuyuan had also considered this question, but he had just learned it, so where could he find someone to practice with? Unless…
"Lady Su, should I find a corpse to practice on?"
Su Luo nodded.
Where are we going to find a body this month? It's so hot. Even if we find a body that someone abandoned, it will decompose eventually, unless winter comes.
Every winter in Nanning, countless people starve or freeze to death, and finding bodies was much easier back then than it is now.
"Madam Su, it's difficult to find the body now."
That is a problem. Summer is a good season for survival; even wild cats won't die.
"Have you ever seen human internal organs?" Su Luo asked.
Du Xiuyuan had seen many dead people, and he had even studied the spleen, stomach, and liver in medicine. But he had never seen real human internal organs.
"No!"
"How about this, Dr. Du, you come pick me up tomorrow night, and we'll go take a look at Luansanggang."
Upon hearing Su Luo's words, Du Xiuyuan was dumbfounded. The Chaotic Mourning Hill was shrouded in yin energy, and it was usually dark there even in broad daylight. Su Luo was telling him to go there at night.
"Are we really going to Luansanggang?"
Su Luo chuckled at Du Xiuyuan's fearful expression: "What's wrong, Doctor Du? Are you scared?"
In ancient times, people believed in ghosts and gods, and Su Luo guessed that Du Xiuyuan was resistant to it.
"Isn't Madam Su afraid?"
"As soon as a person closes their eyes, all traces vanish into thin air."
“Dr. Du, since I said I would teach you, I will teach you well. If you can’t even overcome this little difficulty, then you shouldn’t learn.”
How could that be? Du Xiuyuan has already learned half of it; there's absolutely no way he'd give up.
"Lady Su, isn't this just the Mourning Mound? It's full of dead people, I'm not afraid."
Du Xiuyuan said he wasn't afraid, but his steps were heavy.
"Okay, let's go tomorrow night."
Du Xiuyuan returned to Ji'an Hall first. He had a day and a night to prepare. He would definitely overcome his fear. It was just a dead person. He had seen plenty of dead people.
But a voice inside Du Xiuyuan told him that seeing one dead person was different from seeing hundreds or thousands of dead people; the place was like hell.
What's most terrifying is that, having lived for so many years, he has always held a certain reverence for the souls of the dead.
Su Luo was fine; she was already used to making a living among piles of dead bodies.
In the evening, the three women went to the village entrance to have dinner before returning.
Su Luo first went to the dry field to pick eggplants. Actually, there weren't many big ones left. She took out half a basket from her space and then filled the basket again.
When Fuman's waiter comes tomorrow, we can take it back.
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