Chapter 67 The Tragedy of Zhuangzi
Song Chunxue bought an acre of wasteland for five taels of silver.
In the presence of Zhou Xiang's neighbors and relatives, he signed and sealed the land deed.
After that, she bought a shovel that had been prepared and a large pig's trotter, which she and Sanwa each took half of.
The donkey had eaten its fill by the unfamiliar yet exciting roadside and was full of energy on the way back. There were many downhill sections on the return trip, and it ran quite fast.
Jiang Hongying held Xiujuan in her arms, and in her hand she held some candied fruit she had bought on the street, which she shared with everyone.
Seeing that Sanwa was still gnawing on a pig's trotter, even after he had gnawed all the tendons and bones off, he was still gnawing on it.
The fourth brother couldn't stand it anymore. "Why are you chewing it so clean? Hurry up and throw it away. Even a dog wouldn't chew it as cleanly as you."
Sanwa took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth and fingers. "There's still some tendon here, don't waste it."
He only eats this a few times a year, except for Chinese New Year, so of course he has to finish it all.
Song Chunxue didn't say anything, and dozed off with her back to her two sons.
The fourth brother, driving the donkey cart, didn't dare to be distracted. Seeing that his mother was only holding a shovel, he knew she couldn't possibly have come all the way to the county for something like that.
But his mother only took the three children with her, clearly intending to keep it a secret from him.
He felt resentful, but didn't know how to express it.
Oh well, it won't matter to him anyway.
An hour later, they returned to Li Family Village.
However, just as the donkey cart rounded the bend and the wall of their own courtyard came into view, they heard sobbing and wailing, along with noisy conversations and sighs from the place where the Li family was gathered below.
"What's going on? Did someone's elder pass away?" the fourth brother asked, puzzled. "Even if an elder passed away, there shouldn't be this much chaos. Could something have happened to someone?"
Sanwa noticed a large crowd gathered there. "Let's go take a look. If someone has passed away, we should go and help."
For any major or minor event in the village, every household needs someone to help out; in the past, it was always Sanwa who did it.
Now that the fourth brother is at home, it's too late to herd the sheep anyway, so let's give them some hay to eat first, and we can let them graze tomorrow. It wouldn't hurt for the two of them to go and take a look together.
When they reached the uphill section, they all got off the cart and followed the donkey cart up the slope for several dozen meters. To their right, near the large apricot tree, there was a zigzag path leading to the open space in front of the threshing ground, where their yard and thatched hut were located.
Chen Fengzheng carried a basin of dirty water out of the thatched hut, glanced at them as they poured the water on the ground below, and then went back into the thatched hut as if he hadn't seen them.
They got off the cart, and the cries from the ground grew clearer.
Song Chunxue looked at the fourth brother and said, "Go and ask what happened. If someone really died, a man from the family needs to go. You are all grown up, anyone can go."
If the eldest brother goes, the third brother and the fourth brother don't need to go.
The fourth brother handed the rope tethering the donkey to the third brother, reluctantly went to the entrance of the thatched kiln, lifted the curtain and peeked inside.
Only Chen Feng was there.
Where is my older brother?
Chen Feng kneaded dough at the cutting board without looking up and said, "They went to the outhouse. Where did you all go today? The yard was locked and no one was there. You didn't even care about the sheep?"
"I went to the county," the fourth brother said, unconcerned about Chen Feng's attitude. "What's going on down there? Who's crying so hard? Has someone died?"
Chen Feng put down the bowl in her hand and sighed.
"Sigh, you know Uncle Li, right? This morning his son and daughter-in-law had a huge fight. The daughter-in-law jumped into the water cellar, and the father-in-law used a rope to try and save her. He was almost back up with her in his arms when he bit the rope, still holding her in his arms..."
She paused here, her face filled with sorrow.
"The entrance to the water cellar was very narrow. When we were almost up, his stupid son was up there. He got nervous while pulling the rope and stepped into the air, landing on his father's head. His father was already exhausted, and the two of them fell down again. His father broke a lot of his teeth. It was a terrible tragedy."
"..."
The fourth brother and the others standing outside the thatched kiln heard it all, and remained silent for a long time.
I heard intermittent sobs again, so mournful.
The sounds were mixed with the comforting words of neighbors from the village and the shouts of people moving the body.
Although it was too late to save the person, the body still had to be retrieved from the cellar and buried.
Song Chunxue took a deep breath; it seemed that the family hadn't escaped this trouble after all.
She knew the whole story, though it was complicated and no one else could change it.
So many years have passed that she can no longer remember which day it was.
If she had known it would be today, she should have gone to check on him. At least when that stupid son was saving people, she could have pushed him aside; perhaps then there would have been a chance for survival.
If it weren't for Li Dazui's cousin, Li Tang, not having an affair with his sister-in-law, his wife wouldn't have jumped into the cellar in a fit of anger not long after giving birth.
She's probably still in her postpartum period. The water in the cellar is very cold; she'll suffer pain in the afterlife.
Why bother? To commit suicide for a man who cheats on you, ruining all the good deeds you've accumulated over several lifetimes.
Suicide is an evil deed, a sin committed against oneself, which condemns one's soul to hell for hundreds of years without reincarnation.
"Fourth brother, let's go take a look together. We need someone to help out." Third brother was a little afraid to go alone and wanted to bring Fourth brother along for courage.
"I'm not going, you..."
“Both of you should go. Your older brother can’t go, and Sanwa has never seen anything like this before. If you two brothers go together, you can help each other out and be quick when people need help.”
Just as the fourth brother was about to refuse, Song Chunxue rejected him.
The fourth brother went into the house to change his clothes without saying a word, and the third brother also went to his room to change his clothes, putting the three bundles of candy he had bought into the box and locking it up.
He would bring Mulan some next time she visits her aunt's house.
He was carrying something very important in his arms.
He found a safer place for the land deed, tucked it into a book, and placed it between the beams on the roof, so that even if someone took his trunk, it wouldn't matter.
Afterwards, the two brothers went to the house of the family where the accident happened, one after the other.
Jiang Hongying held the child in her arms. Xiujuan was already asleep. She put the child on the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat blankly by the head of the kang.
She was still in a daze after hearing what had just happened.
Those were two lives lost. Their child would not only lose his mother, but also his grandfather.
I heard a while ago that they had a son. A boy and a girl would be perfect. I never expected that such a thing would happen so soon. It's shocking to hear from others, let alone the family members who are still alive.
The sun was about to set, and Song Chunxue was going to feed the livestock and poultry at home. After changing her clothes, she saw Hongying staring blankly.
"What's wrong? Are you scared?" Song Chunxue took out two candies from her bosom. "Don't think about it. You're pregnant and can't handle being scared. Go to the kitchen and scrape two potatoes. We'll make jiaotuan (a type of porridge) tonight."
Jiang Hongying nodded, but couldn't help asking, "How could Li Tang be so stupid? He was almost saved, and then he kicked them while they were down. It was his fault to begin with, and now both of them are dead because of him... "
Song Chunxue understood that Hongying knew about that man's affair with his cousin's wife, which was why she was so angry.
Li Tang is a few years older than Hong Ying; they used to play together when they were little.
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