The captain sighed, "Yes, but alas, I don't know if this illness can ever be cured."
The two men simply looked at Tang Shengkai with sympathy, offering no words of help. They had felt sorry for the family after hearing the brigade leader recount their misfortunes on the way there.
But they themselves aren't having an easy time either.
All they could guarantee was that whatever the organization gave them, they would take it exactly as it was. Beyond that, they truly had no way of knowing. Most importantly, they genuinely had no idea the man was so badly injured.
Tang Dong was boiling water in the kitchen. In the dead of winter, he had to bring some hot water for the visitors.
Just as Tang Dong was scooping water out with a bowl, Lin Cuicui hurriedly returned with Tang Bei and Tang Nan.
"Mom~"
Lin Cuicui nodded to Tang Dong, took off her scarf, and went inside.
Lin Cuicui felt a little awkward seeing the two well-dressed men inside the room.
"Captain, who are these two?"
When the captain saw her return, he pointed to the two people and said, "These two were sent by the county government to look after the third son."
After speaking, he looked at the two men. The taller man stepped forward and said, "Hello, Comrade Lin. I am a staff member of the county government. My name is Chen Qingshan, and this is Wang Jianwen."
We are here to commend Comrade Tang Shengkai for his key role in eliminating the spies.
Chen Qingshan's words stunned everyone in the room. The captain's eyes widened, and Lin Cuicui's shock was written all over her face, though she also seemed to have figured out quite a few things.
With a trembling voice, she asked, "May I ask, Comrade Chen, when did this happen?"
Lin Cuicui stared intently at Chen Qingshan. Chen Qingshan and Wang Jianwen exchanged a glance. It seemed that Comrade Tang Shengkai hadn't told his family at all.
Tang Yue was even more confused; she didn't even know what "spy" meant. However, her father was quite principled. He knew "spy" wasn't a good word.
Chen Qingshan explained solemnly, "On the ninth day of last month, a spy came to our area for some unknown purpose and killed many people in the surrounding counties and villages."
After committing murder in the neighboring town, they took a detour through the mountains to escape. They encountered a group of wild boars in the mountains, where several hunters happened to be. The hunters, mistaking them for fellow villagers, went to help. However, the spies, after driving the boars away, immediately shot and killed the hunters.
Just then, Comrade Tang Shengkai heard the noise and rushed over. When he arrived, he heard them communicating in Japanese, with their guns pointed at the hunters in the mountains. Without hesitation, he opened fire and killed the spies.
Lin Cuicui's tears were already falling. She said that no matter how she asked, the head of the household always said that a tree branch had pierced his leg. It turned out that it was the branch that had killed their child.
Wang Jianwen explained, "The county was unaware of this matter until five days ago. At the time, several other hunters were either dead or injured. Only then did a hunter's family member report the matter to the county."
The county took it very seriously and immediately sent people to the scene, but Xiao Rizi's body was already gone. Only some traces remained. The day before yesterday, we went to the hunter's house to get a detailed understanding of the situation, and that's how we found Comrade Tang Shengkai after making inquiries everywhere.
I just didn't expect Comrade Tang Shengkai to be so seriously injured.
Chen Qingshan nodded in agreement, then took out a red certificate from the cloth bag he was carrying and handed it to Lin Cuicui.
"This is the certificate issued by the county to Comrade Tang Shengkai for his courageous act of resisting the bandits. Also, here is a reward of eighty yuan."
As soon as Chen Qingshan finished speaking, several hissing sounds came from the doorway. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and the captain's face darkened.
I was so engrossed in listening to the two comrades recount the story of the third brother that I didn't even realize so many people had gathered at the entrance.
Chen Qingshan and Wang Jianwen simply nodded to the villagers, and finally said, "Let's take Comrade Tang to the county hospital for a checkup." Then they left together.
The certificate and eighty yuan in Lin Cuicui's hands felt like a thousand pounds. She held them with both hands as she saw the two comrades off.
Tang Bei, holding Tang Yue's hand, followed behind with Tang Nan and Tang Dong.
The villagers left the Tang family's courtyard ahead of time, standing in twos and threes outside the courtyard watching Chen Qingshan and Wang Jianwen leave.
Standing at the gate of the courtyard, Tang Yue suddenly felt an uncomfortable gaze. She turned her head and saw Tang Shengjun staring at the certificate in Lin Cuicui's hand with a gloomy expression.
Tang Yue narrowed her eyes slightly. It seemed that Tang Shengjun was about to cause trouble again. Her family was currently in a weak position, but she still needed to resolve the issues as soon as possible to avoid any unforeseen complications.
The brigade leader waved to the villagers, "You've all heard it, Shengkai is a hero who killed spies. Now he's seriously ill, so please lend a hand if you can."
Suddenly, a discordant voice rang out from the crowd, "Ha, we don't have eighty dollars. They have that much money, why would they even look at us!"
Tang Yue looked over and saw that the one speaking was Tang Shengli's wife, Li Yuanzi, and next to her was Tang Shengjun's wife, Zhang Erhua, who was echoing her.
Tang Dong muttered under his breath, "Hmph! When they were broke, they were afraid we'd cling to them, but now that they're rich, they're jealous. I really don't know how those two grew up."
Tang Nan quickly agreed with what his third brother said.
Tang Yue remained silent. Her gaze swept across the crowd, noting those who were expressionless and those who did not agree. She remembered even more clearly those who were in cahoots with Li Yuanzi and Zhang Erhua.
The group returned to the house, but the brigade leader hadn't left. Lin Cuicui carefully put away the certificate, turned around and looked at the brigade leader, "Brigade leader, I need to trouble you again. Could you help me find a donkey cart? I want to take Shengkai to the county hospital for a checkup."
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