Chapter 9 Go back. Well, where are the people?
Liu Daniu's wife was more familiar with people than Yan Xue, and she almost immediately asked in surprise, "Sister-in-law Guo?"
She took a few quick steps, and Yan Xue and Liu Chuncai hurried to catch up. The closer they got, the more they heard her completely suppressed crying and cursing, "You guys are crazy about money. There's only so much time, and you have to rush! You have to rush! You want money more than your life, why don't you just shoot yourself? Why are you ruining our Chang'an..."
It was obvious that he knew the whole story. When Qi Fang notified people yesterday, he did not say much about the fact that Li Shuwu made the mistake because he was in a hurry to finish felling the trees and start his side job.
The woman grappling with the old lady from the Guo family was much younger, in her thirties. She was probably cooking at home, her hands still stained with cornmeal, but she was unwavering in her fighting. "Old woman, are you sick? Whose family are you going to mourn for?"
"Who are you calling mourning?" Aunt Guo clearly couldn't stand the word "mourning" and pulled the other person's hair hard. "If your Li Shuwu hadn't wanted to go to the mountain to do something, would he have hit our Chang'an?"
"That's because your son doesn't know how to dodge. Why didn't you see Shuwu hitting anyone else?"
The two refused to give in to each other. Seeing that Aunt Guo was old and was about to lose the upper hand, Liu Daniu's wife hurriedly pushed the curtain behind her.
Liu Chuncai was young after all, and was startled by the scene, unable to react for a moment. Fortunately, Yan Xue was quick and immediately took it to her.
As long as someone answers the phone, Liu Daniu’s wife didn’t care about anything else and quickly stepped forward to pull the person.
There was a lot of noise here, and soon several families nearby came out. Seeing what was happening, they pulled and persuaded the two people, and finally separated them.
Li Shuwu's wife's hair was a mess, and her face was scratched twice. She was so angry that she spat on the ground, "I think your son asked for it. He deserves to be smashed to death!"
These words were so harsh that Aunt Guo's face immediately turned from red to white and she began to tremble all over.
Liu Daniu's wife hurried to pat her back and said, "You should be more polite. This is dangerous work in the mountains. Who knows what might happen one day."
Others also talked about Li Shuwu's wife, and someone pushed her back. She must have been afraid, and she cursed but was still pushed away.
Everyone then gathered around to see what was happening to Aunt Guo and asked what was going on. It was obvious that they didn't know the whole story.
Liu Daniu's wife knew something, but since Auntie Guo was crying so hard, anything she said now might irritate her. "Mrs. Gu's lips don't look good. I'll send her back first."
At this moment, Liu Chuncai had come back to her senses. Seeing her mother looking at her, she hurried over and supported Aunt Guo on the other side.
Seeing that they were full of people and had just come out in a hurry and didn't wear enough clothes, most of them went back. Only a young wife who was passing by followed them. Yan Xue heard Liu Daniu's wife call her Yue'e.
The courtyard was the same as yesterday, but compared to last night's initial encounter, the Guo family's home seemed to be shrouded in a dark cloud, feeling exceptionally oppressive. Even the chubby little child from last night sensed something was amiss. Seeing Aunt Guo return, he timidly called out "Grandma," but then hesitated to approach as there were so many people around.
"Where is Tiedan's mother?" Liu Daniu's wife asked as she and others helped Aunt Guo in.
The child was quite familiar with her and said in a milky voice, "Mom went to the hospital and hasn't come back yet."
Apparently, something had happened. Auntie Guo had returned home first, leaving Guo Changping and his wife alone in the hospital. Liu Daniu's wife wanted to ask about Guo Changan's condition, but was afraid she might find out some bad news.
Aunt Guo couldn't help but hold her hand, "Chang'an, he's become disabled... He's only 22 this year, only 22..."
Although Guo Changan survived, his entire right shoulder and arm were shattered, and his leg bones were also broken by the immense force. Even if he could still walk, he probably wouldn't be able to use his right hand. This was undoubtedly a huge blow to a young man, especially since he had just gotten engaged to his partner of six months and was waiting for the New Year holiday to hold the wedding.
Everyone was silent for a moment, making Auntie Guo's hoarse and sorrowful cries seem even more tragic.
Yan Xue felt a little uncomfortable, but in the face of the cruel reality, no amount of comfort seemed powerless.
She turned around and went to the outer room to wring out a warm towel for Aunt Guo.
Feeling the warmth in her hand, Aunt Guo was a little stunned, but she still subconsciously took it and wiped it.
Yan Xue said nothing and poured her a glass of warm water.
Anger, crying, and complaining can all vent one's inner emotions. Now comforted by the warmth, although Aunt Guo's tears have not stopped yet, at least her whole body is not shaking.
The others then hugged her and whispered to her that being alive was better than anything else, and she might be able to recover well in the future.
Yan Xue was from outside after all and wasn't familiar with them. She didn't interrupt and just took the opportunity to ask Tiedan, "It's almost time for dinner. Are you hungry?"
Auntie Guo then remembered her grandson. Seeing that Liu Daniu's wife and Yue'e were going to the outer room to help her cook, she struggled to get up and said, "Let me do it. You have a whole family waiting to eat."
Although something happened to her youngest son, she still had her eldest grandson waiting for her to take care of. No matter how sad she felt, she had to cheer herself up and not cause trouble for her eldest son and his wife.
Seeing that she had managed to hold on for a while, everyone stayed at Guo's house for a while before saying goodbye and leaving.
Before leaving, Yue'e glanced at Yan Xue. Liu Daniu's wife was more familiar with Yan Xue and was more direct. "Xiao Yan, you are smart. You know how to mention Tiedan."
Yan Xue just smiled faintly and said nothing.
She wasn't clever, she just had experienced the same thing in her past life. It was because of her that her father was able to muster up the courage to support the family.
The most painful thing about something like this isn't even the moment, but the endless inconvenience and hopelessness that follows.
It’s good that the forest farm is willing to take responsibility, but the most worrying thing is that I won’t get any compensation.
Because China's economy started late, it took a long time to catch up and improve people's living standards, so accessibility had been somewhat neglected. Even before Yan Xue's time travel, travel and employment for people with disabilities were difficult, let alone in 1969, when even reform and opening up still had to wait for another decade.
During the logging season, the forestry workers all lived in the mountains, so the news did not spread so quickly. However, after the quarrel between Aunt Guo and Li Shuwu's wife, the news spread.
Some people sympathized with the Guo family, but more people criticized Li Shuwu's family.
The responsibility originally lay with them. It would have been fine if they had felt guilty and come to apologize, but they didn't feel they were wrong at all and their words were so harsh.
Even the waiter at the forest farm guesthouse couldn't help but grumble to Yan Xue once when she saw her: "They're always scrambling money home, but I don't see them saving any money. They spend all day eating and drinking. They only buy two pairs of leather shoes, but why would anyone wear leather shoes here? They have to borrow money at the end of the month."
Another day passed before Liu Chuncai excitedly ran to Yan Xue and said, "I've already told my grandfather that we're going to blow up pine cones tomorrow."
Not only did he bring good news, he also brought a pair of cotton hoodies, a pair of thick felt socks, and a pair of leg bindings, all of which were lent to Yan Xue by Liu Daniu's wife.
The snow is thick on the mountain, so I wear felt socks under my cotton ula and tie leg wraps over my cotton trousers to prevent them from being soaked through by the snow and freezing me to the bone. The hike up the mountain is long, and leg wraps can also promote blood circulation and prevent calf swelling.
The next morning, Yan Xue got herself ready and rushed to the agreed meeting place. Liu Chuncai and Old Man Liu were already there.
Mr. Liu was in his early sixties, not very tall and thin. He wore a bearskin hat and carried a long hunting rifle on his back.
Hearing Liu Chuncai calling "Sister Yan Xue", he turned his head, revealing a large, hideous scar on his left cheek, coupled with his old and sharp eyes, and a fierce aura came towards him.
Yan Xue saw it, but acted as if she didn't see it. She smiled and walked forward to greet him. She didn't pay too much attention, nor did she try to avoid him.
The old man smiled and said, "The little girl is quite brave." He turned back to look at his granddaughter and said, "Let's go."
Liu Chuncai immediately caught up, dragging a meter-wide sled, and whispered to Yan Xue, "That was caused by a black bear licking him. Not only his face, but also half of his ear was lost. My grandfather almost died that time."
No wonder the old man is so cautious. He even brings a gun with him when he goes up the mountain to blow up pine cones to guard against wild animals.
Yan Xue stretched out her hand and pulled with her, "How much can this hold?"
"One thousand eight hundred kilograms is no problem," Liu Chuncai said, "but one person has to pull it from the front and one person has to push it from the back, otherwise it won't work."
"So good at pretending?"
"Of course, there are bigger ones, but those would require harnessing animals..."
Old Man Liu was in front, and the two children were behind. The fertile forest area of Changbai Mountain was like a mysterious scroll, slowly unfolding in front of Yan Xue.
On the other side, Qi Fang stood on the mountain forest and saw a completely different scene.
Due to limited technology, the current method adopted in China has always been joint felling, that is, all trees are cut down regardless of their species and size, and then the suitable wood is selected through inspection after felling.
On his left, dense old forest stretched endlessly along the undulating mountains, disappearing into the vast expanse of white sky and earth; on his right, it was as if a layer of skin had been peeled off, and at a glance, it was all empty snow, with only the stumps of limbs cut down for afforestation and the stumps of broken heads left.
Lushness and barrenness, antiquity and civilization, all converge on the land beneath his feet, and the former is being rapidly swallowed up by the latter.
"How long do you think it will take to cut down this mountain?" He bent down and continued his previous work.
Liu Daniu's eldest son, Liu Weiguo, was working with him to cut timber, removing the stumps and branches of trees, leaving only logs that met the standards. He assumed he was referring to this year's logging area. "It shouldn't take more than a month. We've already done most of it before the New Year, so we'll just have to finish it off afterward."
Another old tree was quickly stripped bare. Liu Weiguo stopped to take a breath. "Finally, it's time for a vacation. I've been living here for more than three months and I've almost become a wild man."
If Yan Xue were here, she would definitely recognize him as the first one to go back to the cellar to get something that day, and the one who called Qi Fang "brother" without any hesitation.
However, compared to the handsome young man in his early twenties described by Liu Chuncai, his hair and beard had not been taken care of for several months. At first glance, he really looked like a savage.
There are many people like him in the mountains. They are mainly busy and tired, and don’t have the time or the energy. It is rare to find someone like Qi Fang who shaves every day and pays attention to personal hygiene.
And they all have no time to cut their hair, so why are others so sloppy, but he is the only one who looks so good, and looks different from usual?
Liu Weiguo couldn't help but ask Qi Fang: "By the way, does your sister have a boyfriend?"
This is not the first person to ask this question, and it is not the first time Liu Weiguo has asked it.
Qi Fang lowered his eyes, looking listless, and answered casually, "No."
These few days should be enough for Yan Xue to think clearly and experience whether this place is suitable for her.
Or maybe even these few days felt too long, and she had wanted to go back a long time ago, but it was just not convenient or she didn't really want to go up the mountain to find him...
So what difference does it make whether she has a partner or not?
Qi Fang was too lazy to say more. As soon as the Little New Year holiday came, he didn't even go back to the dormitory, just like every year, and went straight to the bathhouse. After taking a shower and getting a haircut, he went back to put down his things and prepared to go talk to Yan Xue.
The forest farm is so small and there is no entertainment at all, not to mention it is so cold outside. I guess the young lady must have been tired of staying in the guesthouse.
As he was thinking, he raised his eyes casually, and saw General Tong who was loyally guarding his duty outside the door.
Well, where are the people?
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