Chapter 2

Xiangyang Brigade belongs to Huojiazhuang Commune.

Located in the northeast of the motherland, the winter is cold and long. By late December, the ground is covered with snow.

At this time of year in previous years, most villagers stayed indoors, but this year was a little different.

Huo Xiao, the most promising man in the village, had died more than three months ago, but before his body was even cold, his new wife, a college student, abandoned her family and ran away.

Or run away with the money.

How shocking!

How rare!

The topic was as hot as any other festival.

Look, the Huo family has been busy these days.

Of course, most people mean well.

For example, Huo Xiao's third uncle's aunt Zhang Meihua has been worried about Huo Xiao's mother, her eldest sister-in-law Hu Xiu, ever since her nephew's wife ran away. She has almost taken root in her sister-in-law's house.

"Meihua, you go back. I'm much better now." After the people who had come to watch the fun left, Hu Xiu half-leaned on the kang bed and checked on her grandchildren, whose faces were rosy as they slept. After making sure that they had not wet the kang, she persuaded her sister-in-law in a weak voice to go back as well.

Zhang Meihua was tall and strong, with an honest look on her face. She was sitting cross-legged at the end of the kang, with a dustpan filled with chestnuts beside her, peeling the husks expertly.

Hearing this, he glanced at his sister-in-law who looked much older, and said gloomily, "We will still be doing the same work when we go back. It doesn't matter where we are."

Ever since the news of her nephew's death came back, the eldest sister-in-law fell ill and was ill for two or three months. After she finally recovered, her daughter-in-law got into trouble again. The person who was so beautiful before now has white hair and has become as thin as a stick.

She was not good at speaking and couldn't say nice things, but she was afraid that her sister-in-law would be upset, so she could only keep a closer eye on her.

Besides, since she is here, those gossipers will be a little cautious because her husband is a team accountant.

Hu Xiu had lived with her sister-in-law for decades, so she knew exactly what she was worried about. She could only persuade her, "I still have to raise Miaomiao and Guoguo, so I won't let it get to the point of disappointment."

Yes, Zhang Meihua stretched her head and took a curious look at the white, tender and chubby dragon and phoenix fetus. Just as she was about to say something, the thick wooden door creaked and was pushed open.

Then came the slightly shrill voice of the second sister-in-law, Chen Guilan: "Sister-in-law, the old secretary is here to see you."

Compared to the third sister-in-law Zhang Meihua, who is strong and dull, the second sister-in-law, Sheng, who is in the middle, is thin but strong-willed.

Just then, the pretty face appeared in front of the two of them, and she started talking: "Sister-in-law, I'm not saying anything bad about you, you're just too soft-hearted. Why should we save face for the girl from the Lu family? People in the village say that she must have run away, otherwise how could she be missing so much money and clothes? If you ask me, why would you look for a daughter-in-law like her? Let her elope or remarry, the most important thing is to ask the Lu family to return the money. Oh, and pay her compensation!"

She also wanted to say that if her sister-in-law really didn't think much of the money, she could give it to their family. Unlike her sister-in-law's only child, she, Chen Guilan, had six children and their life was very tight.

But looking at the skinny and pale appearance of his sister-in-law, and the old secretary who followed behind her, he just curled his lips, took out a handful of melon seeds from his pocket, sat down on the kang and started to eat them.

Hu Xiu ignored the second sister-in-law who was making a fuss, and looked at the weather-beaten old secretary who was wearing a Lei Feng hat and a thick jacket with patches on top of patches. She sat up straighter and greeted him, "Why are you here? Come and sit down. Meihua, go make a cup of tea for the old secretary to warm him up."

Zhang Meihua: "Hey! I'll go right away."

The old secretary put the cloth bag in his hand on the table, brushed off the snowflakes on his body, and sat down on a bench not far from the kang bed. Hearing this, he waved his hands and said, "No need for that fancy stuff, plain water will do."

Hu Xiu didn't listen and let Meihua go on. She also told her to make Guilan a cup of sugar water. Then she looked at the old secretary and said, "I'm really fine. I can go out tomorrow. But you, the snow outside is thick and the road is slippery. If something happens to you..."

"Ahem...what can be good or bad? I'm fine...ahem...it's you, it's good that you can think positively. Life is hard, but life has to go on, right? Besides, you have to plan for your two grandchildren..." The old secretary was old and always talked a lot. He muttered for a long time, lit a tobacco pot, took two sips, and then pointed to the small bag on the table as if he remembered something, and continued: "I brought you a few pounds of food, not much, it's fine food, it can replenish your body..."

Hearing this, Hu Xiu couldn't sit still any longer and quickly interrupted: "No, you should take it back quickly. I really don't need any food."

This was not said in a polite way. Although Hu Xiu left early, leaving only one male behind, his parents-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law all helped him.

In addition, she had many brothers on her mother's side, and she herself was a capable person, so she lived a good life in her early years, not to mention the allowance sent back by her son after he joined the army.

The old secretary glared and said, "This is not my personal opinion. It is something that everyone agrees on. We call it caring for the families of martyrs, and the organization also encourages it. It's just that for the little boy... what a pity." At the end, the old man, who always had a loud voice, rubbed his cigarette holder and stammered.

Hearing this, Hu Xiu, who had already cried dry, blinked. Even though her son had been dead for more than three months, she still felt very sad.

Seeing this, Chen Guilan, who was happily drinking sugar water, hurriedly changed the subject: "Old Secretary, why are you bringing this up? In my opinion, we should gather some men and take over the gang to find the Lu family. Her daughter took so much money and ran away. We can't just let it go like this."

Hearing this, Hu Xiu didn't care about the pain and patted his sister-in-law: "My in-laws are good people. They came today and returned part of the money. They said they would collect the rest later. Besides, we don't know what's going on with Tingting yet. Don't talk nonsense and ruin her reputation."

What she didn't say was that she didn't want it in the first place. No matter what, it was a shame for their family to have such an outstanding daughter-in-law become a widow after she got married.

But the mother-in-law left the money and ran away.

Then he thought of the other person's eyes being swollen from crying and several big blisters on his mouth. It was obvious that he had been having a very hard time in the past few days. Even if Hu Xiu really had any resentment, he let it out.

Especially that pile of money, which contained both large round-offs and Mao Zedong notes, neatly arranged, both new and old. It was obvious that they had been put together with great difficulty.

It was precisely because of the character of the Lu family that Hu Xiu suspected that there might be some other accident behind the disappearance of his daughter-in-law.

Children raised by such a sensible family should also be sensible.

Chen Guilan didn't expect that the Lu family would really be willing to pay back the money. She smacked her lips and said, "This is rare. Could it be that good bamboo shoots have bad consequences?"

The old secretary was also curious and was about to ask a few more questions when he heard someone outside the house shouting, "Is anyone in the house?"

The voice sounded unfamiliar, and after a few people looked at each other, Zhang Meihua, who was sitting on the kang peeling chestnuts, went out to open the door.

Shao Ting, when he came back, he was followed by a middle-aged woman in a military coat.

The old secretary recognized the man and stood up in confusion: "Secretary Wang? Why are you here?"

"As for me, I have good news!" The person who came was Wang Chunling, the secretary of Huojiazhuang Commune.

Wang Chunling naturally knew Huo Xiao, the most promising military officer in the commune.

Especially after the other party's sacrifice, she paid more attention to the martyr's family.

Therefore, Wang Chunling had a deep understanding of the matter of Huo Xiao's wife running away with the money.

As soon as things took a turn, she rushed over in person. As soon as her butt touched the stool, she couldn't wait to say, "Miss Ruting called!"

"What?!"

One stone caused a thousand waves, which directly stunned several people.

After a long while, Hu Xiuhong, who was the fastest to react, moved to the edge of the kang with great effort, not caring about her dizzy head, and asked anxiously: "I know that Tingting is not a bad kid. Secretary Wang, please tell me quickly, where is Tingting? Is there any problem?"

Wang Chunling did not beat around the bush and directly recounted the reasons that Comrade Ruting had given her during the phone call. At the end, she said with emotion: "...I just wanted to confirm whether the story of Huo Xiao's sacrifice was true. Comrade Ruting also said that even if it was true, we were husband and wife after all, and we had to bring Huo Xiao's remains home. She left secretly because she was worried that you would not agree with her joining the army. And because she left in a hurry, she forgot to leave a message. So, she thought you were worried, so she called you as soon as she arrived in Shanghai."

After hearing the whole story, everyone's faces were filled with joy and emotion, except for Chen Guilan. She felt that things were not that simple, so she stopped eating melon seeds and questioned in her eyes, "If you're going, why did you take all the money away with you?"

Wang Chunling: "Comrade Ren Rui said that she would not touch the money at home, and she took it with her because she was afraid that Huo Xiao would need the money if something happened..."

At this point, Secretary Wang sighed again: "If you say that people are educated, they will have a positive attitude to verify everything, even if it means going to see it with their own eyes. No matter what the result is, there will always be an explanation, right?"

Of course, it is not true to say that she believed everything that Ruiting said.

But at the moment this reason was in everyone's interest, so she believed it was true and had to implement it as soon as possible.

Hu Xiu was naturally more willing to believe this reason. At this moment, she became more clear-headed: "That's right, that's right! Tingting is right to do this. The child is thoughtful."

The old secretary said, "I'm glad you're alright. I'll explain this to the villagers later. I don't want everyone to misunderstand me as a good lady."

Secretary Wang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, we have to explain it clearly. I will go to the radio station with you and shout it out through the loudspeaker later."

As he spoke, he could no longer sit still and stood up to go out.

It's no wonder she's so anxious, it's just that the impact of this incident is too bad.

Huo Xiao was a martyr and a regimental-level officer. Yet, before his body was cold, his wife abandoned their family and ran away with the money. Her behavior was almost as bad as that of the landlords.

If she doesn't settle the situation as soon as possible, once the news gets to the county's armed forces department, even she, the commune secretary, will be in trouble.

Thinking of this, Wang Chunling could no longer sit still. She tied up the scarf she had just untied and was about to leave, pulling the old secretary.

Seeing this, Hu Xiu also looked at the third sister-in-law and said, "Meihua, we have to ask Dahai to go to the next village and deliver a message to my in-laws."

Hearing this, Zhang Meihua immediately put on her shoes, put on a thick coat and went out, her voice was particularly loud: "Hey! I'll go right away."

Secretary Wang slapped his forehead and turned around: "Look at me, I just said I forgot something. Comrade Ting also asked me to notify her parents' home, and someone has already gone there."

Hu Xiu mainly wanted to bring the money to his in-laws: "It's okay. Tingting made this trip to see Xiaozi, so it's only right for us to make a trip ourselves."

Then she turned to her third brother's wife who was waiting at the door, "Meihua, ask Dahai to come to my place first. The snow is thick, and then ask Dazhu to come. The two brothers can go together!"

Zhang Meihua said without even turning her head: "I understand."

Everyone was extremely happy except Chen Guilan who still felt something was wrong. She pouted and felt that her reason was unreasonable.

But seeing how happy everyone was, he didn't even voice out the doubts that were about to come out.

My sister-in-law has finally regained some energy, but she should keep her mouth shut for the time being.

Compared to the jubilant crowd of Xiangyang Brigade.

When I got on the train to Chengdu, I was still unkempt and dirty, and my mood was not so good.

More than 1,900 kilometers, four days and three nights of hard seat travel.

It's not that we can't overcome the hardships, after all, this is the great environment.

But her luck was obviously extremely bad. Not only did she travel through time inexplicably, but even when she was riding a train, she could encounter bad things.

Look, there is a mother and son sitting opposite me, they have taken off their shoes, and I don’t know how long it has been since they washed their feet and changed their shoes.

The smell of two people's stinky feet is enough to fill the entire carriage, and it hurts your eyes.

From the moment she got on the bus, she had her whole face facing the window. She didn't dare to breathe, and she refused to turn around even when her neck was sore.

Just when she thought she had been unlucky enough, the woman opposite her suddenly shouted in a loud voice: "Hey! Big sister, step back."

His arm was pulled, and he turned around with a buzzing head to confirm that the girl was him.

The woman smiled with yellow teeth: "Big sister, please move back, my baby needs to pee."

After saying this, he reached out to open the window without caring whether anyone would react or not.

A biting cold wind blew in fiercely from the window, making the plants shiver with cold.

Just as she was about to take a few deep breaths of fresh air, a boy about fourteen or fifteen years old squeezed in beside her.

Then, as Ruiting stared in amazement, he began to unbutton his pants facing the window.

At that moment, Ruiting didn't even have time to get angry. She just instinctively fell to the side and narrowly avoided the urine that was splashed back by the wind.

However, God seemed to think that she was not miserable enough.

The woman shouted unhappily, "Hey, sister, why are you hiding? Hold on to my baby, don't let him fall!"

Although Rao Shiting prides himself on being well-mannered, at this moment, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

She wants to go home!!!