"Later, when we got home, Dad left me there and went out alone. I don't know where he went. I lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) until this morning. Dad came back with a pot of wine, reeking of alcohol. When my brother saw him come back, he confronted him about what happened to me."
When my father heard that he wouldn't let me marry that short, fat man, he immediately flew into a rage. He started hitting my brother with a thick piece of wood from the yard. I heard the commotion from the kang (a heated brick bed).
I got up immediately and went to the yard. My father had already beaten my brother so badly that he was lying on the ground, unable to get up. My brother's back and buttocks were covered in blood and bruises. I helped my brother lie down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then my father disappeared again.
Xiaoyue, suppressing her anger, asked Li Qianqian, "Are you feeling better now?"
"It's almost healed."
Xiaoyue grabbed Li Qianqian's arm and pulled her sleeves down to her upper arms. The two rafters were a deep purplish-red, with blood clots on them. She said with heartache, "What kind of father is this!"
Li Qianqian's eyes were empty, her face devoid of joy or sorrow: "I knew he would do this to me. He beat my mother to death when I was five years old. I was raised by my brother."
She pointed to the mushrooms in front of her: "Whenever there was a little money in the family, my father would gamble and drink until there was nothing left in the family and he disappeared. If I don't get up, my brother and I will starve."
Xiaoyue glanced at the sky; it was almost noon. She took off her money pouch, pulled out her only 262 copper coins, put two into the pouch, and stuffed the rest into Li Qianqian's hand: "Here, take these with you. Go get a doctor for your brother and get him some medicine."
I have a medicine pot at home. You can choose to take the pot and brew medicine for your brother, or you can leave the medicine at my house, brew it there, and then bring it to your brother to drink.
Seeing that Li Qianqian's eyes were brimming with tears, Xiaoyue smiled, picked up her basket, and the two of them went down the mountain together.
The two finished cleaning their own laundry, but Xiaoyue encountered a problem.
Xiaoyue actually wanted to chop firewood. She slung a bundle of firewood on her back, put the clean cloth in the basket in front of her chest, and went home.
Now that's a problem, since the basket is full of mushrooms, it can't hold laundry. Xiaoyue has to fold the cloth neatly piece by piece and place it on a clean stone. Then she gathers the clothes and puts them on top of the cloth, unties the rope, and tidies everything up.
Li Qianqian could tell at a glance that Xiaoyue was in a predicament, so she quickly offered her wooden basin: "If you don't mind, you can use the wooden basin. I can carry these three pieces of clothing back by hand."
Xiaoyue glanced at the clothes and fabrics on the stone, then nodded. She put the washed items into a wooden basin, picked it up—it was quite heavy—and went home with Li Qianqian.
Back home, he placed the cloth, including Lu Xiaomei's clothes and Xiaodouding's clothes, on the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room before returning to his own room. After putting the clothes down, he noticed tear stains on his shoulder.
Xiaoyue changed out of her newly washed clothes and saw a blue pillow on the kang (a heated brick bed). She touched it, but didn't know what the pillow stuffing was, so she put it down again.
When they arrived at the kitchen, they found that the food was ready, but they didn't see Lu Xiaomei and Xiaodouding.
He went to the front yard to check, and even took back the clothes of Yun Xingfei and the other two. When he entered the house, he found Yun Ba still lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), but with two pillows propping him up.
Upon seeing the pillow, Xiaoyue then focused her attention on Yun San, noticing that he also had one. Xiaoyue remained silent, thinking to herself that it was undoubtedly made by her third sister-in-law.
After placing the clothes on the kang (a heated brick bed), Xiaoyue looked at Yun Xingfei, who was sitting in the corner of the kang, and noticed that he seemed to be in a bad mood, with a gloomy expression on his face. She asked Yun Ba, "What's wrong with your young master?"
Yun Ba also glanced at Yun Xingfei, who was sulking, and said, "Who knows? She's probably dreaming about a fox spirit. Look at the dark circles under her eyes; that's probably what happened."
Yun Xingfei lifted his eyelids slightly at Yun Ba, ignoring him.
Xiaoyue smiled awkwardly, walked to where Yun San was lying, touched the temperature of his head with the back of her hand, and said reassuredly, "The fever has gone down, very good, very good."
Yun San glanced at Xiao Yue disdainfully, then turned his face away from her on the kang (heated brick bed). To be honest, Yun San was the one who was most seriously injured. Xiao Yue wanted to buy meat for everyone.
But alas, she was short of money and really couldn't come up with any. Her food supplies were almost gone, so Xiaoyue didn't have the mind to worry about these things. Xiaoyue wanted to make money.
Seeing that Yun San was ignoring her, Xiao Yue suddenly remembered that Yun Ba's clothes had a big hole, so she picked out Yun Ba's clothes again and said, "I'll ask Third Sister-in-law to mend your clothes."
Just then, Yun Xingfei saw Xiaoyue about to leave, and dejectedly sidled up to her, whispering, "What's your relationship with Liang Qi? Why are you two so close?"
Xiaoyue looked at Yun Xingfei with a puzzled expression, "He's just like you guys, a friend."
Seeing that Yun Xingfei's expression suddenly brightened, Xiaoyue also became lively. She untied a purse from her waist and said, "Go to Xingfei Textile Shop and find the shopkeeper. He can take us away. Otherwise, it's not good for us to stay here all the time."
Xiaoyue listened and thought, "It's not a big deal. It sounds just like what Liang Qi said." She couldn't help but laugh and said, "Do you think they didn't ambush you in places you can go? Just stay put and wait until you're almost recovered."
You must come up with a suitable plan before you leave. Don't contact your maternal grandparents' family; it could bring them misfortune.
"Then have I brought you misfortune as well?"
Xiaoyue smiled and replied, "They wouldn't expect me, and I have no connection with you, so I'm safe."
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