When Yang Donghu and Zhao Fangchu arrived home, Zhu Cuilan was standing at the gate, looking out. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the two of them. "It's already dark, why are you two here so late? You two are in great danger."
There was a reason why Zhu Cuilan was afraid. A few years ago, there was a lazy scoundrel in the village who specifically picked on those who were alone. At that time, families with daughters and sons did not dare to let their children walk alone, even married women. When the door was locked at night, they would hide in the house and not come out. Even if they had to go out, they had to be accompanied by a man.
Everyone in the village hated the scoundrel so much that they reported the matter to the government several times. However, the government office was in charge of villages in the surrounding area and had no time to deal with such a small matter.
The government went there several times, but there was no fight at all. The villagers couldn't do anything about him, and in the end the matter was left unresolved. They could only try to avoid him as much as possible.
Zhao Fangchu was still young at that time, only thirteen or fourteen years old. Zhao He and Zhao Fangyu were still working in town and seldom came home. So Zhu Cuilan and Zhao Fangchu were the only ones left in the house.
One day, Zhao Fangchu went out to play alone and met a drunk gangster who was so drunk that he was about to touch a child. Fortunately, an aunt with a loud voice shouted and scared him away, and sent Zhao Fangchu back home.
After hearing this, Zhao Luochuan could no longer sit still. He waited at the door of the gangster's house until midnight. When the gangster showed up at the door, Zhao Luochuan beat him up with punches and kicks until the gangster begged for mercy and repeatedly promised that he would never do it again.
Later I found out that the gangster wanted to teach the loud-voiced aunt a lesson for meddling in other people's business that night, so he came back to get a fire starter to set fire to her yard.
The villagers could no longer tolerate it, so they tied up the gangster and sent him to the government. No one knew what the final result was, but they only knew that the gangster never returned to the village after that, and not long after, his parents also moved away.
Yang Donghu had heard Zhu Cuilan talk about this several times. It was natural for her to be afraid when her husband was not at home.
"I didn't pay attention to the time when I spoke. I won't do it again next time. Don't worry, auntie." Yang Donghu comforted her.
Zhu Cuilan wouldn't say anything to Yang Donghu, but Zhao Fangchu would definitely scold him: "You haven't learned your lesson. That last time was so horrific, and you're so heartless. Next time you want to go see An Jin, go at noon. There will be a lot of people around then. There's not a soul on the road. You two really aren't afraid."
Zhao Fangchu was used to his mother's nagging, so he just laughed it off. "I know, I know. I'll be more careful next time. Mom, come in quickly. I'm starving. What kind of food is this? Let's go, let's go, let's go."
Yang Donghu and Zhao Fangchu both tacitly did not mention the matter of Yang Chunxiao borrowing money. If they did, it would only cause Zhu Cuilan more trouble, so it would be better to pretend that it never happened.
"Donghu, I'm not blaming you. You said Dachuan is not at home. If something happened, he would be worried. The mountains are different from the village. You can lose your life if you are not careful. You also know about Dachuan's father, alas." Zhu Cuilan didn't say anything else and let Zhao Fangchu drag her and Yang Donghu into the house.
"Yes, auntie, I know."
"That's all I need to know. Come inside and have dinner. The Chinese toon we picked is still fresh, and my aunt has added a few extra eggs. Come, have a try."
Zhu Cuilan took some of the remaining half of the toon, chopped it up, mixed it with eggs, and fried it with lard until it turned golden yellow. The fragrance could be smelled outside the yard.
After running in the mountains all day, the three of them were starving. They ate a big bowl of scrambled eggs with Chinese toon and a plate of stir-fried cabbage. Zhu Cuilan also made a soup with tomatoes. They ate everything up without leaving any.
There was some leftover Chinese toon, so Zhu Cuilan blanched it and pickled it in a jar, leaving it for the man at home to eat with wine when he came back.
The daily routine in the village is simple and regular. After dinner, Yang Donghu and Zhao Fangchu lit an oil lamp in the house and counted beads. They were clams that Zhao Luochuan and Zhao Fangyu had caught in the river. The round and plump white beads were hidden in the meat.
The jewelry shops in the town put these white beads on hairpins or hat flowers as decorations, which are very popular among the rich. The price of hairpins with white beads is several times higher, and ordinary people cannot afford them.
At that time, they caught several river clams, but only one was big and round. The others were small and flat and worthless. Zhao Luochuan took the beads to the town to exchange for money, and left the remaining small ones to Zhao Fangchu to play with.
The two of them gathered together to discuss which one was pretty and which one was not, and said that they would go to the river to catch some when summer was almost over, and maybe they could get another white pearl.
As the night deepened, the two of them finally calmed down.
Yang Chunxiao was standing not far from her home, wandering around. The cold night wind made her wrap her tattered clothes tightly. She hesitated for a while, still not daring to step into the house.
The smell of food from somewhere was brought to her by the wind. Yang Chunxiao had been hungry for several days and was already starving. Her stomach kept rumbling, forcing her to muster up her courage and slowly push open the gate.
In the yard, Yang Chunxiao's mother-in-law Liu Youlian was bending over to wash the dishes from dinner, while her husband Liu Tianyou was sitting on the threshold of the main hall with a pipe in his mouth, not saying a word.
Liu Youlian kept cursing Yang Chunxiao and rubbing her hands vigorously while washing the dishes, as if this could vent her dissatisfaction.
Yang Chunxiao stood at the door, trembling, and timidly called out, "Mom."
Liu Youlian heard someone calling out, looked up and saw it was Yang Chunxiao, and the sound of his curse suddenly became louder: "You unlucky star, how dare you come back? Did you get the money back? Did you get it back?"
As he spoke, he rushed over and tore Yang Chunxiao's hair.
Yang Chunxiao was very weak because he hadn't eaten, and was knocked to the ground by Liu Youlian. He let her press on him and tear him apart, lowering his head and not daring to say a word.
Liu Youlian cursed and scratched for a long time before she calmed down a little. She got off Yang Chunxiao and spat on her fiercely.
Yang Chunxiao was beaten so hard that his vision went black. He fell to the ground and couldn't even sit up. He was afraid that Liu Youlian would be furious and beat him again. He quickly said, "Mom, I know, I know how to get the money back. My brother is studying in town and he cares about his reputation. If, if we can find them directly in town, we can definitely get the money back."
"Bah! Who the hell is your mother? She's just a piece of useless meat. Who do you think you are? You're dreaming about getting the money back from her." Liu Youlian became angrier and angrier. She raised her foot to kick her, but was stopped by Liu Tianyou who appeared out of nowhere.
Liu Tianyou was more sensible than his mother. After listening to Yang Chunxiao's story, he knew that there was still room for improvement. He looked down at Yang Chunxiao lying on the ground, his eyes full of disgust: "Do you know where to find your mother?"
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