Su Qiaoqiao glanced at Wang Youhe, who was rushing over, lowered her voice, and said quickly, "Grandpa, I want to go back to Haicheng! I can't stand this awful place for even a minute longer!"
Su Qiushi gave a bitter smile: "Qiaoqiao, you might... not be able to come back anytime soon. Grandpa has something to tell you—Grandpa is leaving for Heilongjiang Province in a few days to find you!"
"You...you've been demoted?!" Su Qiaoqiao felt like the sky was falling, and her hand holding the microphone began to tremble.
"It's not being sent down to the countryside, it's voluntary for them to follow you and settle down in the countryside."
Su Qiushi explained, “I volunteered, so it doesn’t count as being sent down to the countryside. Besides, I still have personal freedom. Qiaoqiao, Grandpa knows it’s tough in the countryside, so hang in there a little longer. But Grandpa will be coming to be with you soon! Don’t be afraid, wait for Grandpa, okay?”
What Su Qiushi didn't say was that Su Qiaoqiao's father, his son, had already committed suicide out of fear of punishment.
Su Qiaoqiao was still in shock when she finally murmured, "So, where are you staying now that you're here?"
"Qiaoqiao, I was just about to tell you about this!"
Su Qiushi pretended to be happy and said,
When you left, didn't your family give you four thousand yuan?
If you take out seven or eight hundred yuan, you can build a small courtyard in the village with three or four rooms.
Ideally, we could dig another well.
You should ask the brigade leader to help you with this. Give the brigade leader a lot of the cigarettes, alcohol, and chocolates that your grandfather brought you!
Tell him to pay more attention, okay?
"Grandpa...I..."
Su Qiaoqiao didn't dare to say that she had lost all her money and only had one hundred yuan left. She answered vaguely, "Grandpa, why don't you wait until you come and take care of things? I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it!"
"This... is fine too!"
Su Qiushi thought for a moment. His granddaughter had never left her family's protection and seemed incapable of handling such a big task. So he slowed down his speech, "My train is on July 7th, and I should arrive in Tieshi on the 10th! Qiaoqiao, I'm bringing a lot of things. Please hire an oxcart from the village to pick me up. Remember the time?"
"I've got it, number 10."
Su Qiaoqiao nodded, then changed the subject, pouting as she complained, "Grandpa, the Zhong Misu you sent to take care of me is not nice to me at all!"
"who?"
Su Qiushi asked suspiciously, "I didn't send anyone to take care of you?"
"ah?"
Su Qiaoqiao was stunned. "But he said himself that you sent him to take care of me!"
In fact, Zhong Misu never said such a thing. It was Su Qiaoqiao who automatically projected too much onto him and did not believe Zhong Misu's rebuttals and explanations at all, concluding that he was a sycophant with ulterior motives.
Now that her grandfather has denied it, Su Qiaoqiao immediately remembered this.
Zhong Misu wasn't sent by Grandpa after all?!
Then he...
Su Qiaoqiao gasped – had she gone a bit too far before?!
Seeing that Su Qiaoqiao remained silent, Su Qiushi became anxious: "Qiaoqiao, what did this guy surnamed Zhong do to you?!"
What did Zhong Misu do to her?
He took care of her and protected her along the way.
He defended her in front of a group of educated youth, spent money and effort for her, and was willing to offend everyone.
Finally, she pushed him down the low cliff, where he broke his leg.
Su Qiaoqiao murmured, "I didn't do anything... Grandpa, how are Mom and Dad?"
"Sigh!" Su Qiushi sighed, "Your father... is still under house arrest, and your mother... she... she has completely severed ties with us!"
"What did you say?! That's impossible!" Su Qiaoqiao felt like the sky was falling. "Mom can't possibly abandon me..."
She was raised by her grandfather and only returned to her parents' side when she was twelve years old.
But she also had deep feelings for her mother.
"Qiaoqiao, listen to Grandpa—your mother did the right thing. This way, at least she can save herself. Qiaoqiao, don't be sad. Sometimes, you have to learn to be flexible. Okay, the others are waiting to call. Remember, bring the oxcart to the train station to pick me up early on July 10th!"
The call was disconnected, leaving a busy tone.
Su Qiaoqiao stood there dumbfounded.
Wang Youhe lingered outside the door, clearly wanting to give her some private space.
She wiped away her tears and went out the door: "Thank you, Aunt Wang, I've finished my call."
"That's perfect!" Wang Youhe turned around. "Come on, let's go get the sickle!"
After saying that, he grabbed her sleeve and strode away.
Su Qiaoqiao was pulled along so hard that she stumbled all the way, and before she even had time to be sad, a heavy sickle was shoved into her hand.
At this moment, the work bell had already rung.
Su Qiaoqiao was held by the wrist by Wang Youhe and dragged all the way to the field.
Dingjiatun, as an experimental field village directly under the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang Province, mainly grows high-quality rice for breeding, and also intercrops small amounts of corn, sorghum and millet.
At this time, the rice was ripe.
The rice paddies are golden, and a gentle breeze carries the fragrance of rice, creating a vibrant scene.
Su Qiaoqiao didn't notice any of this; her attention was entirely focused on the incredibly heavy sickle in her hand.
The blade gleamed coldly.
Wang Youhe said that he knew she was not strong, so he specially picked out the sharpest one for her.
"Feet apart, yes!"
Wang Youhe instructed her, "The blade should be facing the rice, that's right!"
Su Qiaoqiao mechanically followed the instructions, only to feel a tightness in her chest whenever she exerted force.
It's getting increasingly stifling.
"You need to keep your eyes peeled. The cut must be exactly one bundle high! That way it won't fall apart and it'll be easy to tie! Use this force, come on, try it!" Wang Youhe taught very seriously.
Su Qiaoqiao tried it, but the sickle was too heavy. The moment she exerted force, a wave of dizziness hit her, and the dull pain in her chest intensified tenfold.
Her entire center of gravity involuntarily shifted forward with the swinging motion.
"Ah!" She screamed as she fell to the ground.
The sickle struck her own calf, and red liquid gushed out instantly.
Like Zhong Misu, it's her left leg.
"Are you crazy?" Wang Youhe preemptively reprimanded her. "Why are you using so much force?! You should use a more skillful approach!"
"ah!!!"
Su Qiaoqiao fell to the ground and started howling at the top of her lungs.
The sickle was still cutting into the shinbone; Wang Youhe tried to remove it but couldn't.
Su Qiaoqiao was in so much pain that she was about to lose her mind.
The villagers from all around gathered around.
"Stop scolding the girl, let's quickly figure out a way to remove the knife!"
"Exactly, looks like he's badly injured!"
"Don't move, little educated youth!"
Two middle-aged women held her down, ignoring her screams.
Wang Youhe pulled several times before he finally managed to remove the sickle from her leg bone.
As soon as the sickle was pulled out, red liquid gushed out of her legs.
"This won't do! We have to go find Doctor Su!" The villagers all looked at Wang Youhe.
No one wanted to delay their own work by helping Su Qiaoqiao find a doctor.
In the end, Wang Youhe sighed and went to the brigade headquarters, turned on the loudspeaker, and told Su Ruyi to quickly take the first aid kit to the field.
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