Sun Jiefang had a fever all night, his forehead was terribly hot, and he was mumbling "mother" incoherently. Sun Danniu hugged her knees, huddled in the corner of the kang, buried her head in her knees, and dared not lift it up.
I'm sorry, Jiefang, I'm sorry, brother.
Sun Danniu hesitated and struggled. Sometimes she thought of her younger brother as a child who clung to her and refused to let go. Sometimes she thought of him as a grown-up who began to boss her around by relying on his family's doting.
Forget it, Sun Danniu thought. Actually, her brother wasn't that annoying. He... he was just young, but... but if Mom was really shot, where would they be sent? Sun Danniu didn't want to be homeless.
Sun Danniu stayed awake until morning. When the roosters crowed, the wavering balance in her heart finally tilted in one direction.
She wanted to stay and didn't want to be dragged down.
Sun Danniu got up and started cleaning the yard and feeding the chickens as usual. She then went to work in her private plot. When she came back, she cooked porridge and heated up some pancakes for herself. People going to work outside started to leave one after another, and the scene was very lively, which seemed to have dispelled the gloom in her heart.
If she ignored the puddle of water on the old dining table, Sun Danniu felt that she should still be very calm.
That night, Sun Jiefang's recurring high fever worsened again. His eyes rolled up uncontrollably and he even stared unconsciously. Sun Danniu was a little scared and always felt that her brother was looking at her.
Sun Jiefang felt very uncomfortable. He hadn't eaten a single bite of food or drank a single sip of water in two days since the night he was poisoned. His muscles kept twitching, his heartbeat and breathing kept accelerating, and his vision was blurry. In the haze, he saw his sister reaching out to touch his forehead, "Sister..."
Sun Danniu suddenly pulled her hand back and said, "Don't call her. It's useless to call her. Just wait a little longer. You should be able to go see Doctor Yu tomorrow morning."
Suddenly thinking of something, Sun Danniu quickly got up and ran to the yard, drew a basin of cold water from the water tank, and poured it over her head.
I have been with my younger brother day and night for two days. He cannot be the only one with a fever, otherwise it will arouse other people's suspicion.
......
The next morning, Yu Shihui was still asleep when he heard someone knocking on the door.
"Kid, what's wrong? What happened?" Yu Shihui supported Sun Danniu who was falling towards him. When he touched her, her whole body was as hot as a piece of charcoal. "You have a fever. Come into the house and I'll take a look at you."
Sun Danniu held herself up, "Grandpa, go see my brother, he... he seems to be dying..."
When Yu Shihui arrived, Sun Jiefang was already dead. He sighed, "It was discovered too late. It's too late."
It looked like she had been having a fever for a long time. There is always a process from fever to convulsion and finally death. Yu Shihui wanted to ask Sun Danniu why she came to see him so late, but when he saw her red face and weak eyes, he couldn't bear to blame her.
When Sun Jiefang was carried out, Fu Tianming also came back with Li Ying and Chengcai. There were people surrounding the gate of their yard, which made them feel a little nervous again. What happened?
"Tianming, you are back. Come and take a look. The poor child has been burned to death." The villagers are all simple people. They feel bad when they see such a young child die.
"Who... who died?" Fu Tianming and Li Ying were still wondering when they saw the crowd automatically make way for them. Sun Jiefang was lying on a wooden board with a pale face. His small body looked extremely pitiful, while Sun Danniu was crying beside him and almost fainted.
Sun Jiefang was dead? Fu Tianming was puzzled. How could he die after only being away for two days? What had happened?
"Dad!" Sun Danniu stumbled into Fu Tianming's arms when she saw him. She felt him stiffen for a moment, but she didn't take it to heart. Instead, she hugged him tighter. "Dad, it's all my fault! I didn't notice my brother had a fever. If I had discovered it earlier, he might not have died!"
"Don't blame yourself too much, kid. You even have a fever. It's fate!"
"Yeah, you're a child too, I understand why I can't take care of you."
Sun Danniu cried even more sadly, and this time she was not lying at all.
Fu Tianming had never been so close to Sun Danniu before, and felt a little awkward. He pulled her away and said, "Don't cry, it's fate. Jiefang is unlucky, it's not your fault."
Fu Baoer stood not far away, a little horrified. How could Sun Jiefang die? Was this related to Sun Danniu? She couldn't believe he hadn't noticed his brother had a fever in two days.
Sun Danniu felt a real gaze falling on her. She raised her head and saw Fu Baoer looking at her seriously.
It's you again, Sun Danniu pretended to wipe her tears and avoided Fu Baoer's sight.
"It's better if he's dead!" Li Ying suddenly said, "His mother poisoned us, and now her son is dead. She deserves it! It's pure karma!"
As Li Ying told the story, everyone finally understood what had happened in the past few days. For a moment, public opinion shifted from sympathy for Sun Jiefang to condemnation of Zhou Xueyan.
"Alas, with such a mother, the two children will never be able to hold their heads up in the future. It would be better for her to die. But what about this girl?" Someone pointed at Sun Danniu and asked.
Sun Danniu's heart tightened.
Li Ying is very proud now. Zhou Xueyan's story is probably true. She will definitely be shot. Of the two children she left behind, one died and the other was sent away. It has nothing to do with them anyway.
"Just send her away. She's not from our village, so why should she stay here? Who will support her? I don't care anyway." Li Ying looked at Sun Danniu with disdain. She didn't even want her own daughter, so why would she want someone else's? What a joke.
No one could say anything for a moment. After all, who has the spare money to raise an extra child?
"Auntie! Please, please, please let me stay!" Sun Danniu knelt down suddenly, hugged Li Ying's legs and burst into tears. "I have no one at home. The people in the village are not good. They will definitely sell me off when I go back. Please don't drive me away. I can do any kind of work, and I don't eat much. If you let me stay, I will serve you like a slave. Please, Auntie, please!"
Sun Danniu let go of Li Ying's legs, knelt down and moved to the opposite side of her, and started to bang her head. After a while, her forehead was bleeding, which made the crowd watching feel very sorry.
"Li Ying, why don't you stay here? You're a grown-up girl, and you're really capable of doing any work. It's just a way to make a living."
"Yeah, if you send her back, won't that mean the child will die? Just think of it as doing good deeds for your son!"
Everyone was talking at once, some advised them to stay, while others said it was unnecessary, as they were not their own children and would be a burden if they stayed.
In the end, it was Chen Zhifang who made the final decision. He decided to let Sun Danniu stay first and wait until Zhou Xueyan's case was decided before considering whether to let her go.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
