With a loud bang.
The rammed earth wall was overturned by the combined efforts of the group.
Dust and smoke filled the air, and the two stood frozen in place.
It's over. My children have cut ties with me, I've lost my family, everything is over!
Building a house takes three to five days, but demolishing it only takes three to five blows.
Standing amidst the ruins, Hu Heshuo raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, the commune has given us the time to move out before next spring's planting season."
But to ensure a good harvest, we must nourish the land before it freezes.
Dissatisfied? You are welcome to report this to the commune or the police station at any time.
report?
Han Li, the captain of the commune militia, and Ruan Xianxian were sworn brothers.
The Public Security Bureau? They'll make sure the Hu family never dares to set foot in that area again.
They're stuck with this loss; they're determined to suffer in silence!
Houses collapsed one by one; not only Hu Tiezhu's house, but every Hu family living in this area collapsed.
The demolition and relocation activities are in full swing.
After the busy farming season, and with meat to eat while following the brigade leader, the villagers were full of energy.
Meanwhile, the brigade office—
Ruan Xianxian, Hu Heshuo, and Ye Guo sat facing each other.
Wrapped in a tattered cotton-padded coat filled with straw, Ye Guo sat at the table, trembling as he reached out his hand, "Could I have a cigarette?"
Ruan Xianxian stared at him for a while before slowly taking out a pack of thrifty cigarettes that cost five cents a pack.
Ye Guo took a deep drag, then coughed violently, his lungs choking and tears welling up in his eyes. This is how it is for someone who doesn't smoke.
After finishing his cigarette, Ye Guo spoke up: "From the moment I asked you for help, to when you pushed me into the hands of the brigade leader, it was all planned, wasn't it?"
Ruan Xianxian: "I'm not!"
Ye Guo then looked at Hu Heshuo: "If you say that a hoe is a farming tool in the hands of a team member, but a murder weapon in the hands of a villain, are you deliberately trying to mislead me?"
Hu Heshuo: "I didn't!"
"So," Ye Guo took a deep breath, "it may seem like I'm the one manipulating Hu Dabao, but in reality, it's all been you two pulling the strings behind the scenes, isn't it? What a masterful scheme of using someone else to do your dirty work!"
The two looked at each other, their faces different but their expressions the same: "Don't talk nonsense."
With everything settled, Ye Guo understood everything at this moment, and he was smugly convinced that his plan was flawless.
Besides Hu Bin and his wife, Hu Daya is no threat to Hu Dabao; the rest of the Hu family's wealth belongs to him.
Take the money, buy a job, and then fly away.
From the moment of inspiration to the implementation of the plan and its put into practice, he spent an entire summer on what he thought was a meticulous plan, which turned out to be just one link in someone else's elaborate scheme!
What else could Ye Guo say?
"Don't worry, I didn't say anything I shouldn't have, even when I was interrogated by the police repeatedly."
Hu Heshuo and Ruan Xianxian looked at each other, but neither of them said a word.
Ye Guo rubbed his face. "Sometimes I'm quite puzzled. Why do you keep chasing after me after just one wrong step? It feels like I owed you something in my past life."
"Well, those few years in Heilongjiang Province not only taught me lessons, but also broadened my horizons."
Ruan Xianxian thought to herself, "I must have owed her something in my past life."
Ye Guo smiled, "But I still want to thank you all for not really trying to kill me at the last moment."
Ruan Xianxian: "You brought this on yourself."
Ye Guo: ...
Too!
Hu Heshuo understood perfectly: apart from the time he stole the money, Ye Guo had never provoked her again. Whether he had the desire but not the courage, or was genuinely afraid, it didn't matter.
The reason we helped him at the crucial moment was not only because we were afraid he would talk nonsense inside and implicate the two of them, but also because he himself pulled back from the brink and saved his own life.
The phrase "you brought this on yourself" can also be interpreted as "it's all your own good fortune," although ordinary people are unlikely to live to enjoy such good fortune.
Ye Guo's gaze swept over the two men's faces, and he smiled. Although he looked disheveled, his demeanor was much more composed than before.
"The brigade can't tolerate me anymore, can it? Even if they can, I can't stay here. Please, brigade leader, send my brother Ye Gen and me back to our hometown for reassignment."
Those sent back to their hometowns for reassignment were all educated youth who had committed serious offenses in their local areas. The reassignment was either to places with only two or three harvests a year or to relatively harsh environments like the Great Northwest.
Ye Guo would gladly accept anything to leave Heilongjiang Province and the two devils in front of him.
Hu Heshuo stood up and extended his hand, "Then, I wish you two brothers a safe journey and a bright future?"
"Thank you!" Ye Guo also stood up. "Then I'll go back and pack my things. I'll wait for your news."
Two days later, the Hu family's small clan land, along with their ancestral hall, was razed to the ground, and the Ye brothers, Ye Guo and Ye Gen, also embarked on their journey to another place.
Hu Heshuo asked Shen Gong'an to find the families of some of Hu Bin's fellow inmates and offer them a few chickens and ducks in exchange for feeding Hu Bin in prison, at least three meals a day.
Large, feathery snowflakes began to fall from the sky, and Heilongjiang Province officially entered its winter hibernation period.
Hu Heshuo's plan to secretly raise ducks on the mountain has been suspended. In this kind of weather, not to mention the mountain, even the factory's livestock sheds have taken comprehensive measures to keep warm.
There was a knock on the door. Snow was falling outside. Ruan Xianxian, who was lying on the heated kang eating an ice pop, rolled over and sat up.
She decorated the small house at the educated youth settlement very luxuriously, with thick cotton padding inside the door curtains, making the house extremely warm.
The commune's new courtyard was nice, but the house was too big.
When she's alone, she likes to stay in a small room, feeling safe and secure.
Two small hands parted a crack in the curtain, peering through the gap at Hu Heshuo, who was rubbing his hands and breathing on them outside. "Is something wrong?"
Hu Heshuo raised his face. Since they met, Ruan Xianxian had never seen such a pure smile on his face, as pure as the snow-covered sky.
"Do you have time tomorrow? I got a leg of lamb and would like to invite you young educated youths to my house for a hot pot meal."
"Mu Xia, Zhao Di!" Ruan Xianxian shouted at the top of her lungs, "Let's go to the brigade leader's house for hot pot tomorrow."
After saying that, he stretched out a smooth hand and slammed the door shut.
Wearing a short-sleeved vest and shorts, Ruan Xianxian lay back on the heated kang bed, thinking, "Hu Heshuo is laughing so lewdly, could it be that Hu Yang and the others have been shot?"
Okay, if we don't eat it now, the watermelon-flavored popsicles in the bowl on the kang table will melt.
The next evening, a light snow began to fall, and the snow on the ground was already up to the knees.
The three girls, bundled up like bears, stumbled towards Hu Heshuo's house.
As Ruan Xianxian walked, she admired the snow-covered village with great interest. Suddenly, she stopped and tilted her head to ask the two people a question.
"Have we forgotten something?"
Zhao Di counted, "One, two, three, one, two, three." Then she touched her mouth, "I brought them all!"
Ruan Xianxian looked up at the sky speechlessly, "Have you forgotten about Uncle Chu?"
Zhao Di: ...
Seeing that the two were about to head back to find someone, Mu Xia quickly stopped them, "Chu Li has taken over the work for the three of us at the factory. He said he won't be going tonight and told us to eat more."
“There’s still so much work to do.” Ruan Xianxian continued walking back. “You two go first, I’ll go call him. We’re meeting at the Hu family’s house.”
When she arrived with Chu Li, the ingredients were already prepared, and a large pot on the stove was bubbling with white soup.
This was Ruan Xianxian's first time visiting the Hu family. She was about to take off her shoes and warm herself up on the kang (a heated brick bed) when her gaze was suddenly drawn to an old black-and-white photograph on the kang cabinet.
She ran closer for a better look, and her pupils suddenly contracted. "Who is this?"
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