Huzi’s Mother shouted outside the door for a long time, her voice growing hoarse, but the two broken wooden doors of the Lin family remained tightly shut, with not a sound coming from inside.
Ding Yuxiang pressed Lin Yuanyuan down on the kang, covering her mouth, not daring to make a sound. Only when the footsteps outside faded away did Lin Yuanyuan break free from her mother’s grip, her face pale: “Mom, what do we do? What if Dad finds out…”
“Keep quiet.” Ding Yuxiang glared at her, her voice lowered to a whisper. “No one saw anything, so just deny it. Don’t say a word when your dad comes back—if you do, don’t even think about getting new clothes again.”
Lin Yuanyuan quickly nodded.
Only then did Ding Yuxiang let out a sigh of relief, slumping onto the kang, but her ears remained pricked, listening for any movement outside.
She knew the situation well. Lin Guozhu had gone to the fields early in the morning, the eldest son’s family had gone to their in-laws’ place yesterday, and the grandparents and the younger sister-in-law had gone to town to visit the younger brother-in-law who was studying. They wouldn’t be back for at least three to five days. Only the three of them were left at home—and the two younger ones weren’t even of the Lin surname.
Even if they shouted themselves hoarse, no one would stand up for them.
Huzi’s Mother shouted for half a day, but there was no response from inside. Furious, she stomped her feet: “What a sin! They’re just watching the child die with their own eyes!”
Lin Yulong leaned against the base of the wall, his whole body aching and numb. Hearing this, he just shook his head, his voice as faint as a thread about to snap: “Forget it, Aunt Ding… she won’t come out.”
Huzi’s Mother looked down at him—a child of just a few years old, his face bruised purple and green, dried blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth, but his eyes fixed stubbornly in the direction of the woodshed. Her heart ached, and she bent down to pick him up: “Come on, let’s check on your sister first.”
The woodshed was at the very back of the courtyard, next to the pigpen. As soon as the door was pushed open, a musty, rotten smell hit them. Inside was pitch black, with only a palm-sized window letting in a faint, yellowish light. In the corner were piles of rotten firewood, and on the ground lay a layer of straw matting. Lin Qianqian was lying on top of it, her face and neck covered in blood that had already dried to a dark red.
Huzi’s Mother picked her up and placed her in the middle of the straw matting. Lin Qianqian’s head hung limply, her face as pale as paper.
Lin Yulong fell to his knees with a thud, his forehead pressed against the dirt floor: “Aunt Ding, I beg you, please find a doctor for my sister… She lost so much blood, I’m afraid, I’m afraid she…”
He couldn’t go on, his shoulders trembling violently.
“You child, you’re covered in injuries yourself, get up quickly!” Huzi’s Mother tried to pull him up.
Lin Yulong refused to rise, his head still pressed to the ground, his voice muffled: “Auntie, please… I have no money, you lend it to me first, I’ll definitely pay you back, I’ll work for your family, I’ll do anything…”
Huzi’s Mother’s nose stung, and she yanked him up: “What kind of talk is that! Do you think I’m the kind of person who would stand by and watch someone die?”
She turned and shouted outside: “Huzi! Go get the barefoot doctor, quick!”
Ding Xiaohu had been waiting outside all along. Hearing this, he took off running.
Lin Yulong sat beside his sister, clutching her hand. That hand was icy cold, with traces of green vegetable juice still stuck under her fingernails. He pressed that hand against his own face, trying to warm it up.
“Sis, wake up…” he whispered, “Wake up, I won’t fight anymore, I’ll listen…”
Huzi’s Mother stood nearby watching, wiping the corners of her eyes with her sleeve.
Not long after, Ding Xiaohu came running in, dragging the barefoot doctor behind him.
The doctor’s surname was Zhou, around fifty years old, carrying a worn-out medicine box, panting heavily from running. As soon as he entered and saw Lin Qianqian’s condition, his face changed: “What, what happened here?”
“Don’t ask, just take a look quickly!” Huzi’s Mother urged him.