Chapter 19: Man-eating Winter

Lu Sui turned to the side, and Liu Mei stood on the edge of the field without knowing when, "Brother Sui..."

"What's wrong with you?" Lu Sui said as he pulled Liang Jingxuan up. Liang Jingxuan hid behind him and hugged his waist. "Husband... I'm afraid..." Liu Mei's sister Liu Li scolded him before, and he remembered the two sisters.

"Don't be afraid..." Lu Sui looked at Liu Mei warily.

"Brother Sui... I came here to thank you. I don't plan to stay in the village anymore. I found a clerical job in the county. The salary is not high, but it can support myself. I will leave in two days."

Liu Mei went back that day and seriously considered Lu Sui's words. After graduation, she returned to Yunwu Village and stayed there in a daze for five months.

Before Lu Sui came back, she had been following her parents' arrangements for blind dates. The powerful and influential ones looked down on her, and she also looked down on those who were poor and incompetent. This went on until Lu Sui returned from the army, but he still looked down on her.

"Don't thank me, you should thank yourself. I just made a suggestion. It's your choice whether to do it or not." Lu Sui's tone was cold, but his eyes were burning. Liu Mei shyly tucked her hair behind her ears, "But I still have to thank you..."

Liang Jingxuan tilted his head to look at her and whispered, "Hypocritical..."

Lu Sui covered his mouth and said to Liu Mei in a distant tone, "I haven't finished my work yet. Let's talk next time." "Okay..." Liu Mei looked around and saw many people in the field looking at them.

As soon as Liu Mei left, Liang Jingxuan grabbed Lu Sui's hand and bit it. "Hiss!" His teeth were very small, and his bite was like that of a kitten. It hurt. "Are you fucking crazy?"

Liang Jingxuan clenched his fists, "You're a pig! Didn't you say I was a pig?!"

Lu Sui, "..."

Liang Jingxuan went home angrily. Song Huizi asked him what happened but he didn't say anything. The army couldn't pry open his mouth even with White Rabbit candy. He only took two bites of his favorite braised pork with his chopsticks. After dinner, he followed Song Huizi to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

Lu Sui went to the bathroom to take a shower. Lu Jun came out and rolled a dry cigarette. "Would you like one?"

Lu Sui wiped his hair and said, "No need." He glanced at the kitchen and saw Liang Jingxuan squatting in front of the stove, poking the ground. Her clothes were too short, revealing half of her waist.

Lu Jun struck a match and lit a cigarette. "We have harvested the corn and rice. What are your plans for the future?" Lu Sui looked away awkwardly. "Tear down the old house and build a new one. Build a two-story building like the ones in the city."

Lu Jun rolled the cigarette with his chapped fingers, "Do you have money? I don't have any money..."

Lu Sui hated himself for having such unreasonable expectations of him, "Yes! I wouldn't want it even if you gave it to me!"

Lu Jun took a deep breath and said, "Even if you want me, I don't have any money... Others build houses to marry wives, but you build a house..."

The two of them looked at Liang Jingxuan in the kitchen without any intention, "Forget it, I helped you marry..."

Lu Sui retracted his cold gaze and said, "I don't care what you think. I will marry a woman in the future. As for him, I will support him for the rest of his life."

Lu Jun was neither excited nor furious. He said softly, "You don't have to support him. Just support your own wife. Your aunt and I can still support him." Lu Sui was a little stunned. Lu Jun continued, "Even if we are buried halfway up to our necks in the earth, we will take care of the rest and leave you no burden."

Lu Sui clenched his fists with some resentment, "Then why did you tell others that she was the wife you married for me? And why are you and Second Aunt so nice to him?" For a while, Lu Sui almost suspected that Liang Jingxuan was the child of Lu Jun and another woman outside, but they didn't look alike, so this ridiculous idea was shattered.

"I told you on the first day you came back, it was for the gift money, but I didn't touch a penny of this gift money, it's all with your aunt, Xuanbao, it's because... that child also has a mole on the tip of his nose..." Lu Jun's voice was very tense, and the lingering white smoke made his eyes red.

Lu Sui's brain seemed to be hit hard and he fell into a daze. Then his fingers began to tremble violently. He held the brother who died before he was born. There was indeed a mole on his nose. They said it was a stillbirth. Song Huizi took a look at it and before she could hold him, she was...

"You have no right to mention him... because these are all punishment for you! Retribution..." Not long after his father was buried, the Army stole all the gift money and gambled it away. His grandmother was so angry that she fell ill and lay in bed for two days. She vomited blood and died. When she was found, she was frozen stiff.

Song Huizi was already more than 9 months old. On the second day of the wake, a thief broke into the house. During the struggle, Song Huizi was pushed heavily onto the coffin. Lu Sui was only 7 years old. He didn't know what to do? He just cried...

Song Huizi leaned against the coffin while holding her belly, and weakly told him to go find someone. It was the middle of the night, and it was snowing heavily. He knocked on the door of every house and kowtowed to every house. Only Yu Zeying opened the door, but it was too late. When he arrived, Song Huizi had already given birth to the child under the coffin. The child did not cry or scream, but was dead...

Four people died in one month, the last one on the day before New Year’s Eve. That winter, no one came to their house except stray dogs…

"It is impossible for you to atone for your lifelong sins on him, because he and I will never forgive you until we die!" Lu Jun let the burning dry cigarette burn his fingers. Every word of Lu Sui pierced into his heart like a poisonous sting, causing his internal organs to feel a burning pain as if it were on fire.

"Liang Jingxuan!" A chubby little boy ran in, and when he saw Lu Sui with a sinister look on his face, he shrank his neck, "Second Uncle, Brother Sui..."

"Erhu!" Liang Jingxuan ran out of the kitchen when he heard the voice. Erhu saw him and pulled him to the kitchen, "Second Auntie!"

"Erhu is here! Have you eaten yet?"

"I ate it! My mom told me to tell you that there's a movie showing at the entrance of the village tonight, so you should go early and grab a stool to reserve a seat." Song Huizi rubbed his head, "Okay, I got it!" She opened the cabinet and grabbed a handful of White Rabbit candy from the bag and gave it to him, "Thank you, Auntie, I'm leaving now!"

"I want to go too!" Liang Jingxuan was right behind Erhu, and Erhu was in a dilemma. "I have to do my homework. I have a lot of homework today! Our teacher said that the second grade is very important! I won't have much homework on Saturday or Sunday, so I'll play with you..."

Liang Jingxuan poked his palm, "Okay... then am I still your best friend?"

Erhu attends primary school in the town and only comes home once a week. Today is Aunt Zhang's birthday, so she took half a day off and brought him back. "What about you? Your husband is back now. Who is more important, me or your husband?"

Liang Jingxuan would not lie, "Husband..."

Erhu snorted, "You are useless. Teacher Xiaozhou said that you can't rely on men for anything. You have to rely on yourself!"

Liang Jingxuan pretended not to understand, "I don't understand, where is the pig tail you brought me!"

Erhu suddenly thought, "It's in the schoolbag. Wait, I'll get it for you. There are a lot of new spicy strips. I bought you a schoolbag! And Jinwei..."

"Okay!" The two held hands and jumped out, bumping into Lu Sui. His frowning face was frightening. Erhu hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Brother Sui, do you want to eat spicy noodles too?"

Lu Sui, "..."

"No..." His hot eyes moved to Liang Jingxuan, "Eat less!" Liang Jingxuan nodded heavily, "Okay, husband...!"

With the spicy noodles, Liang Jingxuan forgot about the hatred and the grudge, and only remembered the spicy noodles. He came back with a dirty mouth, his pockets were stuffed full, and he still had four or five bags in his hands. Lu Sui held his breath and said in disgust, "I told you to eat less, did you ignore me?"

Liang Jingxuan counted on his hands in grievance, "I ate very little! I ate, seven packets, eight packets, nine packets..."

Lu Sui, "..."

The sun was red and bloody, and the old sow was about to give birth to piglets. Song Huizi was worried, so she didn't go to the movies. Lu Jun took Liang Jingxuan there, and Lu Sui came back from Yu Zeying, but both of them hadn't come back yet.

At night, the stars were shining brightly, and Song Huizi was worried. "Xiao Sui, go and bring Xuan Bao back. I'm afraid your uncle is drinking with others again..."

Lu Sui picked up his coat and said, "Okay..." The movie theater was very spacious. The movie playing was "The Monkey King 3". When the Monkey King 3 turned into a skeleton, the children were so scared that they covered their eyes. Liang Jingxuan was so scared that he hid in Erhu's arms. Erhu was also scared and forced himself to comfort him.

"Don't be afraid, it's all fake...!" The voice was very hollow...

It was pitch black, and Lu Sui searched for a long time before he found Liang Jingxuan. He stretched out his arm, and the tragic white light just hit his hand. They were so scared that they hugged each other and cried loudly, thinking it was the hand of the White Bone Goddess...

Lu Sui, "..."

"Hubby!..." Liang Jingxuan saw that it was Lu Sui, and stood up with trembling legs, lifted up his clothes and drilled into him, "Hubby... I'm afraid...!"

Erhu hugged Lu Sui's thigh, "Brother Sui..."

Lu Sui, "..."

“I don’t want to watch it anymore!”

"No! If you want to see..." Liang Jingxuan lifted up her clothes and came out, "Erhu!" Aunt Zhang came and dragged Erhu away, "Erhu..." "Don't you want to see it anymore?" Lu Sui asked.

Liang Jingxuan bit his lip, "Look! I want to finish reading the rest and tell Erhu when I get back..."

Seeing more and more people standing up at the back, and their position at the back being blocked a long way, Liang Jingxuan became anxious and angry, "Husband...what should we do!" She suddenly pointed to the child next to her who was riding on the adult's neck.

The little deer's eyes suddenly widened, and then he turned around and poked Lu Sui's arm, "Hubby, I want to be like him..."

Lu Sui, "..."

Liang Jingxuan shook his arm crazily, "Hubby... I want it... I want it..."

Lu Sui could hardly suppress the rage burning in his chest, but in the end he didn't know who to direct the fire at, so he could only put it out and squatted down.

Liang Jingxuan rode up with tears in his eyes. Lu Sui held his legs and slowly stood up. Liang Jingxuan sat down and looked at the child next to him proudly, "I'm taller than you!"