The straw weaving delivered to the supply and marketing cooperative several times was of excellent quality and sold quite well. Director Liu then increased the order quantity. The weaving group needed to add more manpower to complete the work. This news caused a sensation in Qingshan Brigade. Suddenly, women wanting to join the weaving group surrounded the brigade leader and Li Yuanzhao. Finally, Li Yuanzhao suggested to the brigade leader that a competition be held. The brigade leader would supervise, and Li Yuanzhao, Wang Wenjuan, and Song Yan would lead several skilled craftswomen to judge and select the top ten. However, there were requirements for participants: first, they had to be polite and civilized, not cause trouble in the village, and be generally recognized as having good character. This additional condition excluded women who were prone to gossip, fighting, disrespectful to their parents-in-law, or who had been criticized. Widow Wang was one of them. She had secretly practiced at home for a long time, but she didn't even have the chance to participate. She was furious…
To improve everyone's enthusiasm and diligence, Song Yan suggested that wages be settled regularly. Sure enough, the newly selected women in the weaving group soon began earning eight or nine yuan each.
The village hardly sees any cash throughout the year. Many families don't even have enough work points to exchange for grain. The women in the weaving group keep bringing money home; which family wouldn't be happy?
The weaving group received another paycheck, and the entire Qingshan brigade was overjoyed. But the hatred that had been building up in Widow Wang's heart was more intense than ever before. She had even begged Li De, but ever since the cooking incident, Li De had ignored her completely.
…A small figure ran merrily along the snow-covered path. The widow recognized the figure immediately; it was the Wei family's little girl. Why did she recognize her so quickly? Because of the floral dress she was wearing. Pink fabric, dotted with tiny white flowers. She thought it was indescribably beautiful. The last time she saw the child wearing it, she had glanced at it a few more times. Her mother-in-law had scolded her, "What are you looking at? You can't afford to buy it yourself. You're such a blockhead! If you hadn't offended Song, you could have earned some pocket money." Her mother-in-law pinched her as she spoke, calling her promiscuous and unlucky. If she hadn't been a jinx, her son wouldn't have died…
Did she marry into the family willingly? Years ago, her father was ill and owed her in-laws money they couldn't repay. Her mother-in-law forced her to marry her son to pay off the debt. Her husband was short and ugly, and she dared not tell anyone. When her husband died, she felt a sense of relief. After his death, she wanted to remarry, but her mother-in-law refused, saying that if she wanted to remarry, she had to pay off the debt first. Otherwise, even if she remarried, her mother-in-law would cause trouble every day, and she wouldn't be able to live a normal life. Who could pay off the debt for her? Her family? Impossible; she couldn't earn money herself, so she could only endure living with her in-laws.
That little floral print was such an eyesore; her mother-in-law's words kept echoing in her ears. She wanted that floral dress to disappear forever. And she wanted that child to disappear forever, so that the child could never again pull out so many delicious treats from that little handbag. Because even Widow Wang herself had never worn such beautiful new clothes. She had parents, yet she was less fortunate than a child without parents. She herself seemed to have never eaten so many delicious things in her life…
Song Yan was teaching everyone how to weave a new style of handbag, but she felt inexplicably flustered and almost couldn't continue teaching. She wasn't feeling well, and everyone told her to take a break.
Song Yan sat at home for a while, but still felt uneasy.
The literacy class was on holiday today, and Wei Ping had caught a cold, lying listlessly next to his grandmother. Song Yan went to check on Wei Ping; the child was alright. Xiao Xiao was in the knitting group today; she knitted some things in her spare time to earn a few yuan.
Song Yan: "Mother, where is Wei An!"
Aunt Wei: "Didn't she go to the knitting group with you?"
She wasn't in the knitting group yet! Wei An played in the knitting group for a while before telling her she wanted to go home. These courtyards are all close together, and the children usually run around on their own. Song Yan didn't think much of it and let her go home first. "Then I'll go check on her!"
Song Yan went straight to Cheng Yousuo's house after leaving home. Wei An sometimes went to his house to play. There was no one there. Wei An sometimes went to Sun Si'er's house to play with his little girl. Song Yan hurriedly ran to Sun Si'er's house.
Sister-in-law Cheng: "The child was just playing for a little while, why is she in such a hurry?"
Aunt Cheng: "Why all the nonsense? Just go and see for yourself."
Before Sister-in-law Cheng even stepped into Sun Si's house, she bumped into Song Yan, who was coming out of his house. She was very anxious. "What's wrong with you?"
“Wei An has disappeared. She doesn’t come out often. She only goes to your two houses.” Song Yan’s heart pounded with anxiety.
“The child might have run off somewhere. No one in the village has lost a child yet. Don’t worry, I’ll go with you to look for him again.” Sister-in-law Cheng and Song Yan went to a few more houses, and the children there were all good friends with Wei An and Wei Ping in the literacy class.
The child hasn't been found, but they're saying he's lost. Sister-in-law Cheng doesn't believe it. "Let's go back and check; maybe the child has gone home."
Song Yan ran home with this hope in mind. Wei An wasn't home at all.
In the village, if anything happens, a simple call brings everyone's help. With such a serious matter as a missing child, everyone was frantic. The more than 40 women in the weaving group dropped what they were doing and rushed home. They checked their own homes and then asked their neighbors. Qingshan Brigade isn't big, and there were many people searching for the child. In less than half an hour, they had asked everyone in the village. When they all came out and met, saying the child hadn't been found, everyone panicked. This village had been around for decades, and they'd never heard of a child going missing before.
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