Jiang Yilu didn't know how long he had been squatting in the bushes until his feet were numb and he lost all feeling. Then the two men separated, one walking out of the village and the other walking into the village.
He pinched his calf until the tingling and numbness disappeared, then he followed the figure in front of him into the village.
*****
"Girl, why did you come back so late today? There are so many things going on at home."
As soon as Dani entered the house, she heard her grandmother's barrage of accusations. Then she remembered that she had been delayed on the road for too long and it was past the time to make lunch. She stood at the door at a loss, holding a booklet tightly in her hand, feeling uneasy.
The people in the room had already started eating. Because there were more people, two tables were set up in the main room. One table was for the elders and men, and the other table was for Gu Dongmei and her children.
"That's enough. Dani is tired from running back and forth every day. She's only delayed for one day today. Don't scold her now that the meal is ready." Jiang Cheng saw that his old friend was there too, so he gently kicked Old Lady Miao under the table with his foot, hinting her to stop and not make a fool of herself.
Old Man Jiang had already spoken, what else could Old Lady Miao do? She snorted to express her dissatisfaction.
"It takes two hours to go back and forth from school to home. From now on, you should do the same as Erni and Sanni and bring some dry food to eat at school. Your family doesn't need you to do these things."
Jiang Dahai looked at his parents' faces, then looked at Uncle Ruan and Uncle Bai beside him, and said what he had been wanting to say all these days. In fact, the Jiang family really does not need the work that Jiang Dani runs back and forth every day. Old Mrs. Miao stays at home alone, so she still has time to make lunch.
"dad--"
"What nonsense are you talking about? A girl should be diligent, otherwise who would be willing to marry her? Do you want to ruin your daughter?" Before Jiang Dani could reply, Old Lady Miao got angry.
"Now that all the girls in the family have been sent to school, who will do the housework? Look around the village, which family has sent all their daughters to school? Is there any other family except ours?" Old Mrs. Miao stopped eating and put the bowl in her hand on the table. It was obvious that she had been holding a grudge for a long time.
Ruan Yuanjiang and Bai Fangqiu felt a little embarrassed. After all, this was the Jiang family's family affair. It was not convenient for them to intervene even if they had different opinions. However, they were very dissatisfied with Old Lady Miao's narrow-minded view.
"Brother Ruan, our countryside is different from your Haicheng. You can raise your daughters to be ladies from wealthy families, but we can't. You said that the girls in the village can't do anything. How can they find a husband in the future? You still think that I, as a grandmother, am cruel, but how can I not be cruel? You see, everyone in the surrounding area knows that the girls in our Jiang family are hardworking and capable. In a few years, I'm afraid that the people who come to see us will be able to break down the gate of our Jiang family."
Old Mrs. Miao didn't think that there was anything wrong with her behavior. After all, the life of a country girl is worthless. Not everyone can be as lucky as Dazhen, who found a partner in the city and became a formal worker. Most people study for a few years, return to the village, and continue to be a peasant woman.
What Old Lady Miao said seemed to make some sense, but in fact it was pure nonsense. After all, Jiang Dani and the others were not unwilling to work. Didn't they get up so early every day to cut grass for pigs in the mountains and cook pig food with the women in the village? They did no less work than others. Jiang Dahai just didn't want his daughter to run back and forth every afternoon. If they did less work, the villagers would not label the Jiang sisters as lazy.
This logic can be understood with a little thought, but who is Jiang Dahai? He is the most filial son of Old Lady Miao. When he saw his mother looking so sad, the courage he had finally mustered was shattered in an instant.
Gu Dongmei, who was sitting at another table, saw her husband retreat in a few moves, glanced at her angry mother-in-law, suppressed the urge in her heart, lowered her head, and dared not speak.
Ruan Yuanjiang sighed in his heart. These girls had such a miserable fate to have such a father. Jiang Dahai was sincere and a good person. This alone made him wonder how to evaluate him.
"Grandma, I'm back."
Jiang Yilu, who had been eavesdropping outside for a while, hurriedly stood up. The small man appeared in the yard holding two large bags.
"Why did you come back at this time? How come your uncle is nowhere to be seen? Did he let you walk back by yourself?"
As soon as her grandson came back, Grandma Miao no longer had the heart to discipline her granddaughter. She walked out of the house, took the two bags from his hands, looked outside, and when she didn't see Gu Xia Shi, she said with some dissatisfaction.
"What's wrong with your clothes? Did you fall down just now? How did your knee get broken?" When Old Mrs. Miao saw that he was covered in dirt and had a big hole on his knee, she howled as if the sky had fallen. She wished she could take off his pants right now to see if he was hurt.
"It's okay, I'm fine." Jiang Yilu's face flushed as he stopped Old Lady Miao from pulling down his pants. With so many eyes watching him, he still had to save his dignity.
"You little bastard, you're still shy even though you're an adult. I was the one who changed your diaper ring when you were a child." Seeing that he was agile and didn't look like he was hurt, Old Lady Miao breathed a sigh of relief, patted his butt, and scolded him with a smile.
"Xiaobao, where is your uncle?" As soon as Gu Dongmei got off work, she heard from her mother-in-law that her second brother had taken her son away. At first, she wanted to wait for her second brother to send him back so that she could talk about the situation at home, but she didn't expect that Gu Xiashi didn't even show up.
"My uncle sent me to the door and left." Jiang Yilu didn't tell the truth. His eyes swept across his eldest sister's face secretly. Seeing her calm expression, the doubts in his heart became even greater.
"Really? You don't even have lunch before going back." One less person would save some food. When Old Mrs. Miao heard this, a smile appeared on her face, and she had an even better impression of the polite Gu Xiashi.
"Eat, eat, what are you standing at the door for?" When old man Jiang heard that his grandson was fine, his frown relaxed, patted the table, and told everyone to eat quickly. Jiang Dani, who was standing at the door at a loss, also breathed a sigh of relief, sat next to Gu Dongmei, picked up a steamed bun and started eating.
"Grandma, this is the meat buns that my uncle bought. We'll steam them in the evening and share them with everyone. This is the snack that my uncle bought for you. I'll take it back to the house first."
Jiang Yilu took one of the packages from Old Lady Miao and ran back into the house.
"Hey, wait, what is that? Grandma will hide it for you. There are mice in your room, be careful that they may take it away." Grandma Miao was not worried about the mice, she was worried about Jiang Dani and the others.
Her grandson is a foolish one. He wants to share the good things with the maids. But she is not foolish. The girls will marry into other families sooner or later. Why should they eat so well? If they become picky eaters, people will gossip about them.
Jiang Yilu knew Old Lady Miao's temper and that's why he was unwilling to give the things to her. Once the bag of candies was in Old Lady Miao's hands, the most likely scenario was that she would pick out one or two every day and watch him eat them. The rest would be gone, and the older sisters probably wouldn't even get to eat the candy crumbs.
When Old Lady Miao followed into the house, Jiang Yilu had already hidden the things. Old Lady Miao roughly turned over the mattress on the kang, but found nothing.
"Where did you hide the things, kid? Grandma loves you the most, how could she steal your things?" Old Mrs. Miao coaxed her little grandson like a wolf grandmother.
Jiang Yiliu turned his head and covered his stomach: "Grandma, I'm hungry."
"I'm hungry. Why don't you eat one of the buns you have? Are you feeling uncomfortable? The porridge is still hot outside. Grandma will serve it to you right away."
It was so uncomfortable to be hungry, but the candy was not going away anyway, so Old Mrs. Miao decided to search the house carefully after dinner. She didn't believe that she wouldn't be able to find it.
Unfortunately, Candy was staying in Jiang Yiliu’s space at this time, so Old Lady Miao was destined to return empty-handed.
Jiang Yilu came out of the house, and while Old Lady Miao went to the kitchen to get porridge, he winked at the women's table. Now the four girls knew that he had hidden the things. They covered their mouths and laughed secretly. Their brother had hidden the things, and now they, the sisters, would have something to eat again in the evening.
Ruan Ruan had only been here for a few days, and she also knew the level of guerrilla warfare that Jiang Yilu and Grandma Miao had, so she laughed along.
Jiang Yilu was sitting at the men's table. He could see what was going on at the women's table by just turning slightly. Jiang Dani was sitting just across from him. While drinking the porridge that his grandmother had just served him, he was carefully observing his elder sister.
She was fourteen years old, and had not yet fully grown. Her sparse yellow hair was tied into two braids and hung down in front of her chest. She had an oval face, narrow single eyelids, a round nose, and rosy and plump lips. It was only her slightly yellow skin that made her face look less attractive. She was wearing a dark gray cotton jacket today, which made her look even more gray. Her chest was flat, and she looked a little bloated, probably because she was wearing too many clothes.
Jiang Dani noticed that her brother was looking at her and smiled at Jiang Yilu, her smile gentle and with a hint of childishness.
Jiang Yilu slurped the porridge in his bowl gloomily. His elder sister was so young, how could she start looking for a partner now?
In fact, people in the village get married very early. They start looking for a partner at the age of 15 or 16, and many get married at the age of 17 or 18. It has almost become the norm to get the marriage certificate first and then get the marriage certificate when they reach the age.
Divorce is not popular these days. As long as there is a wedding banquet, you are considered a family in everyone's eyes.
After Jiang Yilu was reborn, he never thought of letting his sisters get married so early. Times were changing so fast, and he wanted his sisters to go out and see the world. He didn't want them to be tied to this small mountain village for the rest of their lives.
Therefore, Jiang Yilu was very unacceptable to Jiang Dani finding a partner so early.
Jiang Yilu had no idea who the man was, how old he was, or where he lived. He was worried that his naive elder sister was being deceived. She was still too young and might not be able to understand her current feelings at all.
This is not the future, when you can fall in love freely. If a girl has a boyfriend, people in several nearby villages will know about it, and it will be difficult for her to continue the next relationship.
Free love, equality between men and women, these slogans can be seen almost everywhere, but it is too difficult to actually implement them. In a small place like theirs, every child gets married with the help of their parents. There are people who have free love, but they are very rare. And if you have free love once, no one will say anything to you. But if you do it two or three times, the backbone of the whole family will be broken by the gossip.
It’s not that Jiang Yilu’s ideas are feudal, but in this era, it’s too difficult to be the one who challenges the rules. Jiang Dani is too soft-hearted and will definitely not be the one who succeeds in the challenge.
Jiang Yiluo kept digging the porridge in the bowl. Nothing could be concluded yet. When the second sisters came back in the evening, he would have to whisper in their ears. It would be too conspicuous to ask the eldest sister directly. What if he alerted the enemy? The second sisters had been staying with the eldest sister all the time, so they would probably know something about this matter.
******
"Third sister, my uncle and I passed by your school today and saw a man wearing a gray woolen coat, glasses, and a slicked-back hair. He looked just like the man in the photo. Who is that man?"
At night, Jiang Yilu and his third sister lay on the kang together. His eldest and second sisters were helping outside. His fourth sister and Ruan Ruan were taken to the kitchen by Gu Dongmei to take a bath. They were the only two left in the room.
Jiang Sanni is already nine years old this year, and she is still as greedy as she was when she was a child. She is shouting for a candy in her mouth, holding a piece of fruit leather in her hand, and thinking about who her brother is talking about.
If the second sister was more clever, she might have become suspicious now. The road to the county town does not pass through Hongqi Village at all. How could Jiang Yilu meet someone from their school?
Sanni was a little naive, which was why Jiang Yilu avoided them and only asked the third sister.
"I know who you're talking about." Sanni happily took a bite of the fruit leather on her hand and said incoherently, "You're talking about the Chinese teacher in my elder sister's class, right? The girls in our school like him so much. He's handsome and teaches well. I wonder how many people envy my elder sister's class for having Teacher Rong come to teach."
"Mr. Rong, my sister's Chinese teacher, is he from Hongqi Village?" Jiang Yilu asked with pretended curiosity, but his palms were clenched even tighter. Teacher-student love, this is not a good reputation. If you are not careful, you will cause a big disaster.
"Teacher Rong is an educated youth from Haicheng. He now lives in the educated youth house in Hongqi Village. However, because he is well-educated, everyone lets him teach in the school." These things can be known if you ask around. Sanni knows everything about it and tells him everything she knows.
"Are you sure that the person I saw was Teacher Rong? Maybe it was just another person who was similar to what I described." Jiang Yilu said with some disbelief.
"Impossible." Jiang Sanni retorted directly, "Teacher Rong is the only one in our school who has a woolen coat, and it was sent by his family from Haicheng. If you saw it near our school, it must be Teacher Rong."
She was very dissatisfied with her brother's suspicious look towards her, until Jiang Yilu handed her another candy, then she smiled happily.
It’s not that Jiang Yilu is stingy, but he is afraid that his third sister will damage her teeth, and it’s hard to find a dentist at this time.
At this point, it is basically certain that the man is the Teacher Rong mentioned by the third sister. Jiang Yilu is not belittling his eldest sister, but according to the third sister's description, how could such a likable and well-off man be interested in a teenage country girl? It doesn't make sense no matter how you think about it.
What he is most worried about now is that his eldest sister was deceived by that man. More than ten years later, when the educated youth returned to the city, those partners who were abandoned did not have a good ending.
When Jiang Dani and her sister came in after finishing their work, they saw the youngest brother's frowning face and the third sister's happy look like a little mouse.
"Sanni, did you steal your brother's things? You are so greedy even though you are an adult." When Jiang Dani saw the candy in her third sister's hand, she thought her brother was angry and scolded him quickly.
"No, these were bought by my uncle for us. What's wrong with Third Sister having some? Big Sister and Second Sister, you can eat some too. After you're done, I'll hide them so that grandma won't find out." Jiang Yilu couldn't bear to let Third Sister get scolded, so he hurried to explain for her.
Jiang Dani was just talking. I have always been generous to my sisters, so how could I be reluctant to give them some candies?
"You are a sensible boy." Jiang Erni pinched her brother's face with a smile on her face.
Since her younger brother was born, she and her elder sister still have to do the same work, but now they can go to school, have enough food to eat, and the family is no longer as depressed as before. Jiang Erni knows that all this is brought by her younger brother. Until now, she can't help but thank God for sending Xiaobao to their home.
Jiang Erni ate candy and thought about the little sisters in the same village who had brothers. Whose brother was as considerate as Xiaobao, who never forgot all the good things for them. Other boys were lucky enough not to snatch things from their sisters. In Jiang Erni's opinion, it was right for her grandparents to be partial to such a well-behaved brother. Although she felt a little uncomfortable sometimes, it was not directed at Xiaobao, but at the gender discrimination of this era.
"Big sister, is Mr. Rong in your class very good? I just heard from my third sister. Do you think it will be his turn to teach our class when I go to school?"
Jiang Yilu asked casually, his eyes fixed on his eldest sister's expression.
"Teacher Rong." Jiang Dani's expression was very normal. "He teaches Chinese very well and is very enthusiastic. If you go to school in the future, it would be nice to have him teach you Chinese."
Jiang Yiliu was a little puzzled. He didn't look shy or panic. This didn't look like the expression of a little girl talking about her lover. Did he make a mistake? Or did he get the wrong person?
Jiang Yilu decided to observe his elder sister's situation more during the near future. If things didn't work out, he would secretly follow them to school. The children in the village were all free-range anyway, so if things didn't work out, he could still hide in space.
In short, he must get to the bottom of this matter.
******
"Doctor Bai, Doctor Bai, go and save him." It was the middle of the night and everyone was asleep when suddenly a rough and anxious male voice was heard, shouting outside the Jiang family's yard.
Jiang Yilu was worried and slept lightly. He was awakened all of a sudden and looked out the window with sleepy eyes.
Several people were standing outside the house holding kerosene lamps. Their shadows could be vaguely seen. There was a layer of white mist on the windows, so it was hard to tell who was coming, but the voices sounded familiar. Jiang Yilu hadn't woken up completely yet, so he patted his head to wake himself up.
"What happened--" There were several heavy footsteps outside the door, and the voice of Old Man Jiang asking.
Jiang Yilu knew clearly that the adults should have gotten up by now, and he didn't know what had happened that required Grandpa Bai to rush over so late.
"Brother Yiliu--" Ruan Ruan was half asleep. When she saw Jiang Yiliu getting up and getting dressed, she asked softly.
"You continue to sleep, I'll go out and take a look." Jiang Yilu tucked the corner of the quilt for her, put on his clothes and went out. Ruan Ruan fell asleep again in a daze.
The sisters in the family were all unable to wake up even if thunder struck. At this moment, their breathing was intermittent, and they showed no sign of getting up.
Jiang Yilu put on a thick coat and walked outside. The kerosene lamp had been lit in the main room. His parents, grandparents and the three people who were staying in their house were all there and were looking at the person who had come.
"Why did you come out? It's so cold." Jiang Dahai saw his son getting up in the middle of the night. He scolded him and wanted to carry him back.
"Uncle Mo, what happened?" Jiang Yilu asked Captain Mo Dashuan curiously. Judging from his expressions and the faces of the people behind him, it seemed that something big had happened.
Mo Dashuan was in no mood to explain to a child at this moment, so he pulled Bai Fangqiu and was about to leave: "A wild boar came down the mountain and bit someone. Now there is blood all over the ground. We are waiting for you to come and save our lives."
Mo Dashuan and Bai Fangqiu explained, and then turned around to look at Old Man Jiang and Old Lady Miao, feeling a little conflicted. But the people behind him couldn't stand it anymore and said for him, "Uncle Jiang and Aunt Miao, you two should go over too. The one who was bitten is Dachuan."
"What!"
"Dachuan was bitten by a wild boar." Old Mrs. Miao was suddenly panicked. In the past few years, they had no contact with Jiang Dachuan's family and they were holding a grudge against each other. But after all, he was her son whom she had carried for ten months. How could she not be anxious when she heard that he was in trouble?
Old man Jiang's face could no longer hold back and he looked worried.
"I'll go back to the house and get my tools, and we'll set off right away." Bai Fangqiu straightened his expression, hurried back to the house, and got his medical tools. The group left in a hurry.
"Xiaobao, hurry back to the house." Jiang Dahai said to his son and hurriedly followed him.
Jiang Yilu still had some impression of the wild boar coming down the mountain.
There are many ferocious beasts in the deep mountains of Qingshan Village, but they usually stay in the mountains and do not come out, so they will not affect the lives of the villagers. The only exception is the wild boars, which often come down the mountain to steal the things planted by the villagers in the fields. Those wild boars have thick skin and are resistant to beatings, which makes the villagers very troubled.
In my previous life, during the three-year famine, several nearby villages almost stripped the bark off the trees in Qingshan Village. People were so hungry that their eyes turned green. They ate whatever they could find. Not to mention wild boars, even a tiger would chew them up skin and bones. After those years, there was no sign of wild boars in Dashan Village again. Until these years, the wild boars that had been hiding in the mountains have gradually recovered and come out again.
It was also around this time in my previous life that a group of wild boars came down the mountain and stole and ate sweet potatoes, destroying several acres of land. The village suffered heavy losses. Later, Uncle Mo went to the county to get a document and gathered a group of young and strong men to go up the mountain and kill more than a dozen wild boars. Only then did the situation improve.
Of the wild boars that were hunted, a portion was handed over to the county, and the rest were shared among the villagers. Those days were even more lively than Chinese New Year. There was meat on every household’s dinner table. Even Jiang Laidie from her previous life got a small piece of meat the size of a thumb, which was extremely rare.
Jiang Yilu was thinking, it seems that the wild boar didn't hurt anyone when it came down the mountain in his previous life. It was the middle of the night and everyone was sleeping in the house. Who would run to the fields for no reason? It was really strange that Jiang Dachuan appeared there.
He is very satisfied with his current life and doesn't want to have anything to do with Jiang Dachuan's family because of this incident. If his grandparents were to be soft-hearted because of Jiang Dachuan's injury, that is definitely not what he wants to see.
Jiang Yilu decided to follow and see what was going on.
A group of villagers who had heard the noise gathered at the foot of the mountain. They were crowded in several layers. Jiang Yilu squeezed in because of his small size and saw Jiang Dachuan and other members of the Jiang family who were surrounded inside.
Jiang Dachuan looked very scary now, his whole body was stained with blood, his thick cotton jacket was torn apart by the wild boar, revealing the yellowed cotton wool, the most terrifying thing was the wound on his foot, a large piece of flesh was torn off, you could almost see the white bones inside, blood was oozing out uncontrollably. He was sweating all over, shivering, his eyes were dull.
When many young wives saw this scene, they turned their heads away and dared not look directly at it.
"Dachuan, you can't be in trouble. If something happens to you, what will happen to me and the child?" Fan Xiaojuan sat on the ground crying, shaking Jiang Dachuan desperately but there was no response. However, people nearby couldn't bear to watch it anymore and dragged her aside, asking her not to delay Doctor Bai from saving people.
Jiang Yilu looked around and saw traces of wild boars running across the ground. Many sweet potatoes buried in the ground had been turned out and gnawed by the wild boars. In addition to these, there was a urea bag filled with most of the sweet potatoes and a shovel thrown aside. He knew in his heart why his second uncle appeared here at night.
The villagers were not stupid, and they naturally knew what Jiang Dachuan was up to. But now that a good person had become like this, they couldn't vent their anger. They could only wait until Jiang Dachuan got better, and then they could slowly settle the score.
"Dad, Mom, please give me some money to send Dachuan to the county hospital for treatment. He is your own son, you can't just watch him die."
Fan Xiaojuan was crying with tears and snot all over her face. She knelt down in front of the two elders of the Jiang family like a mad woman and kowtowed continuously.
"Brother Bai, what do you think?" Old man Jiang ignored his daughter-in-law and asked Bai Fangqiu with a frown.
Bai Fangqiu shook his head and took out the cloth bag he had brought with him, which was full of silver needles of different lengths.
"Now I can only stop his bleeding, otherwise, he will bleed out before we get to the hospital." Bai Fangqiu didn't say anything. Even if he got to the hospital, Jiang Dachuan's leg would probably be lame. Such a large piece of muscle was bitten off by the wild boar, which would definitely affect his walking in the future.
"No, don't touch my Dachuan. Who knows why you were sent down? Maybe it's because you saw someone die. If my Dachuan fell into your hands, wouldn't he be killed by you?"
Fan Xiaojuan pushed away Bai Fangqiu who was about to give her acupuncture, and guarded against him as if she were a thief.
"You only know how to prescribe those bitter medicine dregs for the villagers. The educated youth have said that Chinese medicine is ignorant and deceptive. You are a liar."
What good thing could there be in being sent down? The villagers are stupid and worship him as a miracle doctor, but she, Fan Xiaojuan, is not stupid.
If they delay any further, the person will really be beyond saving. Bai Fangqiu signaled the Jiang family to control Fan Xiaojuan. No matter how Fan Xiaojuan cried and made a fuss, he still stepped forward and took out a silver needle to stop the bleeding for Jiang Dachuan.
He was a doctor and couldn't watch a living person die in front of him. As for what happened next, Bai Fangqiu smiled bitterly. If it weren't for his temper, he wouldn't be able to stay here now.
Jiang Yilu sighed, thinking that Grandpa Bai might be in trouble.
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