Ma Jiahua's family was originally quite well-off. He had two older brothers and a younger sister, all of whom had attended high school. However, just before he went to the countryside, Ma Jiahua's father had an accident at the factory, and his arm got caught in a machine.
Although he was rushed to the hospital, his arm could not be saved. He eventually underwent surgery to remove the necrotic arm, leaving him with only one arm.
Because it was a work injury, the factory paid a large sum of money, but the money was used to help his two older brothers get married, leaving nothing for Ma Jiahua. They couldn't even afford to buy him a job. Ma Jiahua had no choice but to sign up to go to the countryside.
Because Ma Jiahua's father lost an arm, it was impossible for him to return to his original job. He could only do other work. After discussing it with the factory, they realized that he couldn't do anything else anyway, so they gave him the job of a gatekeeper.
He could earn forty or fifty yuan a month at the factory, but the gatekeeper only got eighteen yuan a month. That was only because the factory was taking care of him; otherwise, he wouldn't even get eighteen yuan.
Ma Jiahua's mother originally stayed at home, but because of this, she also went to the factory's logistics department to clean the factory buildings, but her salary was only eighteen yuan.
The two of them combined don't have as much money as before. They also have a younger sister who is still in high school and will soon be sent to the countryside. The family needs to find a way to save money for her to buy a job, so they can't subsidize Ma Jiahua anymore.
Unable to provide financial assistance, Ma Jiahua was starving and on the verge of starvation.
Originally, Ma Jiahua had no intention of stealing. He was afraid of being caught and reported to the commune, which would implicate his family. However, when Miao Feifei and Lü Zhaodi stole things, Qin Xiaoxiao only beat them up and then didn't pursue the matter further. This made Ma Jiahua think that Qin Xiaoxiao was actually quite easy to talk to and not so heartless.
Once this impression was planted, it quickly took root in his heart, until he was so hungry that he could no longer bear it, and then he set his sights on Qin Xiaoxiao.
Ma Jiahua didn't intend to take more from Qin Xiaoxiao; he only wanted some food and didn't touch anything else.
He thought he had only taken a little bit, just a pound or two of cornmeal, and that Qin Xiaoxiao would eat it every day and wouldn't notice. But who would have thought that Qin Xiaoxiao never ate cornmeal at all and that it was just for decoration in the kitchen cabinet?
Once you've been there once, you'll be there again. This time, Ma Jiahua went hungry for two days and had no other choice but to go to Qin Xiaoxiao's place to get some food again.
But to his utter surprise, Qin Xiaoxiao had set a trap before leaving home. The moment he pushed open the door, a dagger plunged into his thigh, causing him to scream in pain and fall to the ground.
Ma Jiahua reacted incredibly quickly. He knew that his shout would definitely attract attention. Ignoring the pain, he quickly locked Qin Xiaoxiao's door and then, taking advantage of the moment when the educated youths ran away, climbed over the wall and left the educated youth compound. He leaned against the back wall and shouted for help.
Separated by only a wall, the educated youth couldn't figure out exactly where Ma Jiahua was injured. It was dark, and no one noticed whether there was blood on the ground. In this way, Ma Jiahua escaped a terrible injury.
While others were unaware, Liu Meijuan and the Su sisters guessed exactly what had happened.
But they had no evidence. Even if there was blood on the ground, they could say it wasn't human blood, or that it wasn't his blood, so they couldn't do anything about it.
So the matter was left at that for the time being. Although Su Jiajie and Liu Meijuan had their doubts, they didn't say anything and planned to tell Qin Xiaoxiao when she returned.
Ma Jiahua was also a ruthless person. Before the educated youth could walk around from the front yard to the back wall, he casually picked up a thick branch from the ground and stuck it into the wound on his leg. When they arrived at the medical point, the doctor didn't notice it, just did some simple treatment, prescribed some medicine, and sent them back.
Because he felt guilty and because his wound had become infected due to lack of treatment, Ma Jiahua developed a high fever the next day. Su Zhiyuan, who was staying in the village, took him to the hospital after receiving the news. He stayed in the hospital for three days and spent more than 20 yuan before returning home.
Ma Jiahua had no money on him, so Su Zhiyuan paid for it.
Ma Jiahua has been resting at the educated youth settlement for the past two days and hasn't left his room. Qin Ye heard about it from Qin Erzhu today.
Qin Xiaoxiao sighed after hearing this.
Ma Jiahua was quite pitiful. He went to the countryside to support his family and father, but he didn't have a penny to his name. After he finished the grain he borrowed from the village, he had no money to buy more and could only go hungry.
Thinking about borrowing grain, Qin Xiaoxiao looked up at Qin Ye and asked, "Brother, if he asks the village for grain, will the village lend it to him?"
Qin Ye had no idea and turned to look at Qin Feng.
Qin Feng took a puff of his cigarette. "The village should still have a lot of grain left after the distribution. If he wants to borrow some, that's certainly possible."
Ma Jiahua was hardworking and not as fussy as some other educated youth. The work points he earned were enough for him to eat until he was 80% full. Even if he borrowed grain, he wouldn't starve to death after paying it back next year.
Qin Xiaoxiao's lips twitched after hearing this.
"Didn't he ever think of borrowing grain from the village? If he had known he could borrow grain, do you think he would have regretted it?"
After hearing this, Old Mrs. Qin and the others twitched their lips, especially Qin Ye, whose face was contorted from the twitching.
Qin Feng stubbed out his cigarette. "He'll definitely regret it. He could have lent it but didn't, and he'll be hurt because of it. He'll also be tormented by his conscience. This incident will probably leave a shadow in his heart, and he might never be able to get over it for the rest of his life."
Well, the grain was supposed to be distributed after the autumn harvest. I thought every household had some stored grain, so I wasn't in a hurry. But I didn't expect this to happen. Since this has happened, let's distribute the grain tomorrow.
The sooner the better. I'll distribute them after next year's autumn harvest. As for whether they need to be frugal or whether there will be enough to eat next year, that's none of my business.
After saying that, Qin Feng stood up and walked out. When he reached the door, he turned back to Qin Xiaoxiao and asked, "Xiaoxiao, what do you want to do with Ma Jiahua? Just let it go? Or should we report it to the police?"
Qin Xiaoxiao sighed, "Forget it, he's already been punished. He's so badly injured, I don't know when he'll recover."
Moreover, he still owes Grandpa Su more than twenty yuan, and he hasn't been paying it back much. If I pursue this further, he might not be able to survive.
"Forgive others when you can; it's an act of kindness."
It's understandable that Ma Jiahua stole things, but she can't let it go unpunished. She'll talk to him about it later. If he apologizes and corrects his behavior, she won't bring it up again. But if he does it again, then she won't be so lenient.
Seeing that Qin Xiaoxiao had made up her mind, Qin Feng said no more.
He also felt that Ma Jiahua's matter was difficult to handle. If he really handed someone over and sent him to jail, his life would be ruined. He should find an opportunity to talk to him privately.
Qin Feng and Qin Xiaoxiao had the same idea. Qin Xiaoxiao didn't know that after the matter of the horse stealing was resolved, Qin Xiaoxiao felt completely relaxed. She asked Qin Ye to visit the Su sisters and tell them that she was back and that they should not mention the theft again. Then she stayed at the Qin family home to recuperate.
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