Bai Shibao knocked on the door and brought in a pile of firewood: "Dad said that my sister, cough, and brother-in-law are sick and the house needs to be kept warm, so I came to add some firewood."
Bai Shibao couldn't face his brother-in-law, who was older than him and had a notorious reputation, with the same composure as Bai Shihai.
Shen Heng ignored him, and Bai Jiaojiao said, "Thank you, Third Brother. It's warm in our room."
On the second day after she came to stay at her parents' house, she asked Bai Shihai to carry over the firewood from her house. Before Shen Heng left, he chopped up a woodshed, afraid that Bai Jiaojiao would freeze while he was away.
After having lunch, Bai Shiqing tidied up the house and prepared to go out.
Seeing Bai Shiqing putting on her cotton-padded coat, Li Shuxian asked, "Are you going back to your parents' home again? Didn't you find Shen Heng?"
Good heavens! The brigade finally got two days off, who wouldn't stay home and hibernate?
He wanted to spend these two days cuddling with his wife on the warm kang (heated brick bed), but instead, she's been running to her parents' house every day. Is his wife even married into the family?
“I’m going to check if my brother-in-law has woken up yet. You didn’t see the look on his face when Chen Laosan carried him back.”
"Let me go take a look with you."
Li Shuxian sighed.
After all, he and Shen Heng were brothers-in-law. Everyone in the village said that Bai Shiqing and this girl who grew up in the city didn't get along, but to him, the two of them seemed to be as close as if they were one person.
Li Shuxian told Li Shiqing, and then went to the Bai family with Bai Shiqing.
Upon entering, I saw Bai Shibao squatting in front of the kang (a heated brick bed) tending to it, while Chen Heng was leaning against the wall on the kang, looking much better.
"What exactly happened?" Bai Shiqing breathed a sigh of relief and then became curious.
Li Shuxian also perked up his ears, and Bai Jiaojiao told them the whole story.
"Those beasts! Luckily, my brother-in-law jumped down on his own. If these people had tied him up, we would have been finished." Bai Shiqing was still terrified when she thought about it.
Li Shuxian was shocked when he heard the truth.
"Don't tell us that Heng-ge has woken up yet. Brother-in-law, don't tell Uncle Qing when you get back either. As the village chief, he can't show favoritism, so you have to keep it a secret for us for now."
Bai Shibao added, "When I went out to shovel snow this morning, I saw a new layer of footprints on the snow. It looked like they had stepped on it several times in front of our house. It's obvious that someone couldn't sit still and came to eavesdrop."
Yesterday, just before dawn, it snowed again. The footprints were clearly left by some people who, feeling guilty, came to check on the situation after Shen Heng was carried back.
"Did you hear that? My sister told you everything without keeping it from you. You dare to talk nonsense and see what happens." Bai Shiqing gave Li Shuxian a deep look.
"I didn't say I was going to tell my dad!"
Li Shuxian spread his hands, feeling even more wronged than Dou E.
Shen Heng suddenly smiled, and everyone looked at him. Bai Jiaojiao saw that Shen Heng still had a smile on his face and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you two sisters for looking exactly alike."
That little temper of hers.
Whoever marries the Bai family's daughter knows.
"Tsk, stop talking nonsense." Bai Jiaojiao gently pinched Chen Heng.
Li Shuxian cast a look at Shen Heng that seemed to say, "I didn't expect you to be in the same boat."
Even the notorious gang leader of Shili Village, whom no one dared to offend, would get a beating at home. Li Shuxian suddenly realized that it was quite normal that he couldn't usually make decisions for Bai Shiqing, and he felt much more at ease.
Bai Shibao, the older brother, coughed awkwardly twice.
"Tell me, little sister, what do you plan to do? I'll help you."
Bai Shiqing was furious; in all her years, this was the first time she had encountered something like this.
The people in the fleet were all from Shili Village. They saw each other all the time and were related by blood. Yet, they managed to drive someone on the ship to jump into the sea.
Bai Jiaojiao said, "Once the captain has collected evidence of the loopholes in their testimonies, I'll go to the police. Let's keep them in suspense for now; I want to see what they'll do when they're in a hurry."
Everyone has their own version of events regarding what happened on the ship. If it goes to court, the crew members will need to tell the truth: "There are also people on the ship who didn't lay a hand on us. If they are willing to testify, I can forgive them. Dad also said that we still have to live in the village."
Bai Jiaojiao herself planned to leave with Shen Heng in two years, but the Bai family had settled down in Shili Village. Even if they were willing to move to the city with her in the future, Bai Jiaojiao was not sure how long that would take.
Bai Shiqing also agreed: "Everyone has to look out for themselves, and in that situation, even if you wanted to stop them, you wouldn't dare."
Forcing others to be brave is moral blackmail. Instead of getting angry with these people, it's better to bring them under your control.
Li Shuxian said, "Then I'll go back and have my dad put some pressure on Zhou Fukun and see how he reacts. Don't worry, I won't reveal anything about my brother-in-law waking up. I'll just say that he's had a high fever since last night and is still talking nonsense in bed."
Li Shiqing developed three blisters from this incident. Li Shuxian went back and embellished the story, describing Shen Heng's miserable state. Li Shiqing was probably furious with Zhou Fukun in his heart.
Bai Shiqing gave him an approving look: "Just do it this way, let's see if Zhou Fukun will do something desperate."
"My older brother and I will stay at home and guard the place. If anyone comes, we'll just take a shovel and cut it off."
Bai Shibao spent three years with his master, but didn't learn much and his temper only worsened.
Li Shuxian looked around and sighed inwardly, wondering what kind of family this was.
The villagers also said that Bai Jiaojiao marrying Shen Heng was like a lamb entering a tiger's den.
Now it seems that the couple were born to be a family, and for him to become the Bai family's son-in-law was like a lamb entering a tiger's den.
His father even said that the Bai family, his in-laws, were quite good!
Li Shuxian was taught by Li Shiqing from a young age to be upright, to do good deeds, and to abide by the rules.
Among this group of unreliable people, Li Shuxian felt out of place, but also strangely excited.
No sooner had Bai Shiqing left than Wang Fushun arrived.
The heavy snow started falling the night before last, and Wang Fushun was stuck in traffic all day and couldn't go out. He didn't come to pick up the meat floss cakes last night. When he saw that the weather had cleared up a bit, Wang Fushun prepared to go to town. He thought he would stop by Shili Village to explain and apologize to Bai Jiaojiao, and also pick up the cakes from yesterday.
If you can't sell them, just take them home and eat them yourself. The worst thing you can do in business is break a contract.
Wang Fushun knew where Bai Jiaojiao's family lived, and when he saw that Bai Jiaojiao wasn't home, he rode his bicycle to Bai's house to look for her.
When he arrived, he was terrified to see Shen Hengzi lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) barely alive: "Heng-ge is back! What happened?"
Bai Jiaojiao then recounted the events of the previous day to Wang Fushun: "After you left with the meat floss cakes the night before last, it started snowing, and the boats from our village came back in the middle of the night..."
Even if Wang Fushun arrived on time, it wouldn't have mattered; Bai Jiaojiao was practically half-dead all day yesterday.
Upon hearing this, Wang Fushun slapped his thigh in anger: "Brother Heng is so lucky! Who would dare to pin such bad luck on you? Brother Heng, should I find two people to teach him a lesson?"
When Shen Heng and Wang Fushun were teenagers, they weren't as well-behaved as they are now.
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