Chapter 30 The Eighth Child Carried Out of the Fire
As the moonlight cast dark red rust spots on the iron box, the third sister's fingernails happened to dig into the cracks in the wooden box.
She heard the sound of a wild cat jumping over the haystack outside the door, and the silver bracelet on her wrist jingling against the iron box - the sound reminded her of the time when she was caught stealing a gold lock from the opera troupe by the troupe owner twenty years ago, and the chain was also this crisp.
"Is the bastard of the Xue family worthy of hiding the medal?"
She bit her back teeth and pulled out the yellowed letter from the box. The ink-stained "pension"
The three words looked like three twisted spiders in the moonlight.
The light and shadow leaking through the air vent suddenly shook. She hurriedly stuffed the letter into her slanted-collared shirt, but the copper lock on the iron box fell to the ground with a click.
Before the morning mist dissipated, the old locust tree in the threshing ground was already surrounded by people.
The third sister clutched the half-broken copper lock and cried bitterly: "The memory my man left me back then has now become stolen goods!"
She deliberately placed her balsam-colored nails on the signature area of the letter, where the faded red seal of the village committee was stamped. "Xue Han stole the pension, but he still had enough money to buy maltose for the children!"
Xu Yao saw Xue Han's fingers wrapped in gauze through the crowd, and the morning dew was sliding down his army green trouser legs.
As the village chief tapped his pipe and coughed, Xue Han bent over to pick up the candy wrapper that had rolled to his feet. The gold foil cast a dazzling spot of light under the morning sun, which was reflected on the three-inch old scar on the side of his neck.
"Xue Han, tell me." The village chief picked up the copper lock with his pipe. "The third girl said that the iron box left by her husband was found in the firewood room of the five-guarantee households last night."
Xue Han's Adam's apple slid twice under the old scar, and Xu Yao suddenly discovered that the second button of his shirt was in the wrong place.
When he was about to speak, his third sister suddenly threw herself on the stone mill in the threshing ground and cried, "Brother Zhiqiang got sick because he tried to save you, and you're just thinking about his money!"
Xu Yao felt the sharp edges of the medal hurting her palms.
Xue Han lowered his eyes and untied the gauze wrapped around his hand, revealing a cross-shaped wound on his palm made by a carving knife: "The copper lock was asked to be repaired by the old carpenter last month."
Blood drops rolled down the palm lines onto the bluestone slabs. "The lock of your iron box should be made of 7-cent copper nails."
The third sister's fingernails stained with flower juice dug into the letter paper fiercely, and an old sneer suddenly burst out amid the crisp tearing sound.
The old carpenter squeezed out of the crowd with a jujube wood crutch. The end of the crutch had a half-string of copper nails jingling in the morning breeze. "The third girl knocked on my door in the middle of the night last night and insisted on asking for seven copper nails, saying she wanted to repair the chicken coop."
As the crowd was buzzing, Xu Yao caught a glimpse of half a red rope sticking out from under Xue Han's misplaced button.
She suddenly remembered the night of her rebirth. When this man helped her pick up the marriage report torn up by Sun Zhiqiang in the heavy rain, he also had the same red rope dangling around his collarbone - at that time she thought it was an object to ward off evil spirits.
"Since you're repairing the chicken coop," Xue Han suddenly unbuttoned the second button, and the copper key hanging on the red rope fell into his palm, "Why don't you make a key for me, Third Sister?"
The moment he pressed the key into the copper lock, a locust tree petal suddenly floated out of the iron box and landed on the spark of the village chief's pipe, burning a charred yellow hole.
The third sister's silver bracelet hit the millstone, sparks flew out, and she staggered to grab the burning letter, but Xu Yao hooked the edge of her military medal on the button of her slanted-collar shirt.
With a "sizzling" sound of tearing cloth, three envelopes with the red seal of the village committee fell from her arms - all of them were pension application forms from different years.
"So here's the venomous snake that's been collecting double pensions all these years!"
The old man herding sheep suddenly spat, "On the seventh day of last month, I saw with my own eyes this woman using a copper nail to pry open the bolt of the five-guarantee household's door!"
There was a piece of gold foil hanging from the end of his sheep whip. "What do you mean by stealing? I'm afraid it's just the thief crying 'Catch the thief!'"
When Xue Han bent down to pick up the letter, Xu Yao saw the old wound on the back of his neck. The scabbed scar looked like a plum blossom that was about to bloom in the morning light.
When his fingers touched the claim form for 1972, Xu Yao suddenly grabbed his injured wrist - the amount of pension that year was exactly the number engraved on the back of the medal.
"That's enough!"
The village chief knocked his pipe against the iron box, shaking off the layers of rust. "Third girl, give up the extra pension you received tonight!"
When his cloudy eyes turned to Xue Han, they suddenly sparkled with tears. "Your grandfather...the eighth child he carried out of the fire scene that year was my nephew."
When the morning mist dissipated, Xu Yao discovered that under Xue Han's misplaced button, there was a copper key tied with a red rope with "1972" engraved on it.
The third sister sat slumped under the roots of the locust tree, tearing up the letter paper. The fingerprints on the page of 1972 were clearly the bright red dyed by the Impatiens.
When the morning mist condensed into water droplets and fell from the tops of the locust trees, the third sister's carefully tied hair bun had already been mostly loose.
Her balsam-stained nails dug into the cracks on the millstone tightly, and the dull sound of the village chief's pipe hitting the iron box startled the sparrows in the treetops.
"Three pension claims from 1972 to 1975."
Xue Han picked up the fallen letter with his bandaged hand, the military medal reflecting cold light on his chest, "Third sister really knows how to pick the time, she specially chooses to go to the village committee when I am on a mission."
Xu Yao suddenly discovered that when he spoke, his Adam's apple would rub against the red rope on his collarbone. The copper key, warmed by his body temperature, swayed slightly with his movements, drawing fine golden lines in the morning light.
When he helped her stick the marriage certificate in the heavy rain last night, the rain also slid into her collar along the red rope.
"What Xue Han said," the third sister suddenly laughed shrilly, and the silver bracelet on her wrist hit the stone mill, sparks flew out, "If Brother Zhiqiang hadn't fallen ill because of saving you, I wouldn't have--"
"Your man was hit by a stray bullet during the suppression of bandits."
The old carpenter's jujube wood crutch suddenly poked at the third sister's feet, and the copper nails hanging on it jingled. "When Xue Han and his men found him, his intestines were hanging on the birch tree branch. What does it have to do with saving people?"
The crowd suddenly burst into laughter, and several daughters-in-law holding children spat at the third sister.
Xu Yao saw that the hem of Xue Han's shirt was trembling slightly, and the cross wound on his palm was oozing blood again, spreading dark red flowers on the 1972 claim form.
"Everyone, be quiet!"
The village chief suddenly ripped open the third sister's shirt, and three envelopes with red-headed documents fell like snowflakes. "The commune just issued a notice last month that those who falsely claim pensions will be paraded through the streets with broken shoes on their backs!"
Xu Yao felt her fingertips go numb, and the cold touch when her daughter pulled out the oxygen tube before her rebirth crept back into her spine.
When she saw the scar on the back of Xue Han's neck when he bent over - it was clearly the plum blossom mark left by the beams at the fire scene - she suddenly snatched the pipe from the village chief's hand and slammed it hard on the iron box.
"When Xue Han rescued eight children from a fire in 1972, my third sister was still stealing gold locks from the opera troupe!"
Her voice was as clear as a mountain spring, but her hand holding the military medal was shaking violently. "Everyone, please take a look at the numbers on the back of this medal!"
When the crowd gathered around, Xue Han's misplaced buttons finally broke open, and the copper key hanging on the red rope was completely exposed in the morning light.
Xu Yao caught a glimpse of the "1972" mark on the key, and suddenly remembered that on the night of her rebirth, when he was kneeling in the mud to help her put together the marriage report, the red rope around his collarbone was swinging like that.
"That's enough!" The third sister suddenly screamed and rushed over, her nails stained with flower juice went straight into Xu Yao's eyes, "You are a jinx who brought death to my parents——"
The hem of Xue Han's shirt spun out in a neat arc, and the moment Xu Yao was held in his arms, she heard the sound of fabric tearing.
The third sister's nails cut the red rope, but he caught the copper key steadily and put it into Xu Yao's palm.
"The eighth child I carried out from the fire scene that year," Xue Han's voice brushed against her ears, carrying the dampness of morning mist, "It was you, little Yaoyao, who fed me water even though you had a high fever."
Xu Yao suddenly remembered the last moments of her past life, and vaguely saw someone crying while holding an oxygen tube.
There seemed to be an old plum blossom-shaped scar on the man's wrist, flickering in the red light of the monitor.
"We'll go to the county town tomorrow." Xue Han suddenly raised his voice, and the wound on his palm rubbed against the back of her hand, "Buy some red silk fabrics to avoid unnecessary trouble."
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