With Kong Laosan dead, villagers who heard that Hongguo and Aunt Liu had been present came asking for details. Changzong even had a faint, disdainful smile on his face.
But someone from the village had died—he couldn’t appear cold. Hongguo worried people might think badly of him, so she told him to stay indoors.
Aunt Liu misunderstood helpfully, telling everyone Hongguo had been frightened by the bloody scene, and Educated Youth Gu was staying home to comfort his wife.
Aunt Liu had witnessed the three bloody holes herself. She described how Kong Laosan, relying on his father-in-law’s connections, flaunted his small authority at the grain station.
“Before he married in, wasn’t he a farmer too? Why make life hard for poor folks?”
The farmer’s foolish son saw his father about to kneel in desperation and, in a fit of madness, grabbed a pitchfork and stabbed. Just like that, Kong Laosan lost his life.
“The mute girl cried without a sound, tears flowing endlessly. So pitiful.”
Aunt Liu truly pitied her—parents gone, husband newly married and suddenly dead, and now burdened with caring for elderly in-laws.
They heard Wang Daniu had fallen ill. Aunt Liu hesitated whether to visit, but Hongguo stayed bedridden, shaken. In the end, Aunt Liu decided not to meddle.
Soon after, what happened to the Kong family left the entire village stunned.
Kong Lao’er, unfamiliar with factory machinery, was caught in a machine and died gruesomely. Old Man Kong suffered a stroke and passed away. The second brother’s wife had constant nightmares in the new house, screaming for her husband not to take her with him, until she went mad and drowned in the river.
In half a month, two houses stood empty. Only Kong Laoda’s family remained intact.
Overwhelmed, Kong Laoda sent his wife and children back to her parents’ home and left for the city to find work.
Aunt Liu eventually went to the county to visit Wang Daniu. She left at dawn and returned at dusk.
“Her hair’s turned completely white,” she told Hongguo. “Her eyes are hollow. She asked why the eldest son didn’t visit her. I said he’d gone to work. She asked about the second son’s two children… What could I say? Orphans living at their uncle’s place—it won’t be easy. I just told her when the eldest earns money, he’ll look after his niece and nephew. Wang Daniu’s tears have all dried up. She can’t even cry anymore.”
Aunt Liu was soft-hearted after all. She set aside her past grudges with Wang Daniu and stayed with her for most of the day.
Jiang Hongguo couldn’t make sense of it. She had thought the mute girl was continuing to repay Kong Laosan’s kindness—but in the end, only Kong Laoda’s family remained intact.
On the day Kong Laosan died, Changzong had said the mute girl had gotten what she wanted and didn’t need pity. She wasn’t repaying kindness—she was taking revenge.
The autumn wind was cold. Hongguo pulled her collar tighter and asked, “Auntie, does the mute girl treat Wang Daniu well?”
“She does. Takes care of her food and clothes. When I went, she was wiping Wang Daniu down. The poor girl’s so haggard now, thin as a stick, but she looks after Wang Daniu like her own mother. She’s a good person.”
But Hongguo felt a chill pierce her heart. Whether it was Meng Qingdai or the mute girl—when they loved, they would give you their whole heart; when they hated, they would dig yours out in revenge.
She looked at Changzong chopping firewood in the yard for winter. A strange thought drifted through her mind—If one day I treat him badly… would he let bygones be bygones, or…
A shiver ran through her.
Just then, Gu Changzong looked up. Hongguo forced herself not to look away and gave him a sweet smile, hoping he hadn’t noticed her unease.
“Guoguo, are you cold?”
He dropped the axe and hurried inside, returning with a jacket to drape over her shoulders. Then he pulled her into his arms, pressing her closer to warm her with his body heat.
It was comfortable—very comfortable. But Hongguo couldn’t understand. She hadn’t saved his life. Why did he treat her so wholeheartedly?
She was certain he had climbed out of that collapsed pit on his own. All she had done was rush over first and throw her arms around him, crying uncontrollably.
Now Changzong was so capable—she wouldn’t even get the chance to save him if she wanted to. Feeling uneasy, she looked up at him with her bright eyes blinking.
“Gu Changzong… if one day someone else saves you, would you treat them this well too?”
He didn’t quite understand. A life-saving favor should indeed be repaid. But the person he loved at first sight was irreplaceable.
“Hongguo, besides you, I won’t like anyone else.”
He thought her question must have been influenced by the mute girl’s situation. Saving her life had caused Hongguo distress—but that girl’s revenge was almost complete now.
Satisfied with his answer, Hongguo leaned into him and refused to let him go back to chopping wood.
Changzong had no objections. He left the firewood as it was and carried her inside.
…
Later, Hongguo and Aunt Liu’s family delivered the public grain again and successfully sold the surplus.
The two women went on a shopping spree at the supply and marketing cooperative. Aunt Liu calculated every cent, buying only necessities. Hongguo had more room to spend—she still hadn’t touched the 280 yuan from selling wild ginseng—so she bought quite a bit, including several lengths of fabric to make winter coats for herself and Changzong.
Aunt Liu planned to visit Wang Daniu at the mute girl’s home and, gritting her teeth, bought a tin of malted milk powder—something she wouldn’t even buy for her own family.
Hongguo waited at the cooperative for Changzong. He had gone with Uncle Yang to the county high school to deliver money and grain to Uncle Yang’s son and would be back shortly.
While waiting, the mute girl arrived. Hongguo couldn’t leave, and pretending not to see her was impossible. She stiffened but didn’t avoid her.
The mute girl held out a notebook and pen, gesturing as she wrote:
Hongguo, you are the only person who made me feel what true warmth is. Thank you.
Hongguo felt ashamed. She had guarded herself so much against the mute girl—it could hardly be called kindness.
“Yunxiang,” she said gently, “there are still many things worth doing in this world. Live well.”
The mute girl smiled and wrote again:
Hongguo, I want you to hug me.
Hongguo’s heart ached. Without hesitation, she embraced her, gently patting her back, hoping that one day she would meet someone sincere—someone who would hold her and give her warmth when she needed it most.
Changzong had said he didn’t want her befriending the mute girl. But the mute girl wasn’t asking for friendship—just a warm hug. How could she refuse that?
After the mute girl left, Changzong returned. Uncle Yang stayed behind to wait for Aunt Liu, and Hongguo went home first with Changzong.
That night, in his arms, Hongguo told him about meeting the mute girl.
She heard his cold voice, teeth clenched: “She broke her word. If she dies, she deserves it.”
Hongguo quickly stroked his back. “Changzong, don’t say that. She’s pitiful. She didn’t ask for anything—just a hug. I could give her that.”
It rained for several days, trapping them indoors. Hongguo had a strange dream.
In the dream, Meng Qingdai had escaped but died at the mute girl’s house. The case remained unsolved. She dreamed that Kong Lao’er’s two brothers-in-law had tied up Kong Laosan and Meng Qingdai. After Kong Laosan fled, the brothers-in-law couldn’t force money out of Qingdai and went to discuss it with Kong Lao’er. Wang Daniu overheard.
Kong Lao’er begged his mother not to release Qingdai—she had seen their faces. If they let her go, they’d be exposed. Better to lock her away until she died.
When Gu Changzong found her, Qingdai was starving, barely alive, unable to crawl. Changzong gave her a mouthful of his blood—bright red, just like any ordinary person’s. Qingdai regained a sliver of strength and escaped, running desperately to the mute girl’s home.
The scene shifted. The mute girl sat by the bed and suddenly spoke to Wang Meihua, who lay weak and unable to rise.
“Mother, I did so much for your family. Why didn’t you save me? You threw me in the cellar knowing I would starve. I gave you everything you wanted. How could you let me die?”
Wang Daniu’s lifeless eyes snapped wide. Her mute daughter-in-law was speaking—saying impossible things. She wasn’t human!
“What are you? You killed my sons, didn’t you? You curse! I’ll kill you!”
The mute girl laughed softly. “Not just them. My father-in-law, my greedy second sister-in-law, her avaricious brothers—I killed them all in revenge. Don’t rush. You’ll join them soon. I’m human—just very lucky. If you hadn’t been so greedy, so cruel, your whole family could have lived well.”
Hongguo jolted awake. The dream felt disturbingly vivid.
Outside, Aunt Liu’s voice came through, choked with tears.
“Hongguo! Changzong! The county police called—Wang Daniu and her mute daughter-in-law are both gone.”