“Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law, Third Brother, Pingping, good morning!”
After greeting everyone, Hehua plopped down in her seat and smiled happily at her family.
Her father, Shen Tiechui. Her mother, Meng Chunxing.
Her eldest brother, Shen Jianguo, and eldest sister-in-law, Lu Shufen, along with her little nephew, Shen Pingzhou.
Her second sister-in-law, Xia Xiaohe, and her third brother, Shen Jiandang.
Aside from her second brother, Shen Jianjun, everyone was home. They were all alive and full of energy.
It felt wonderful.
Shen Tiechui adored his eldest daughter.
He especially loved her baby face.
He placed a small dish of shredded pickled vegetables mixed with chili oil in front of her and cracked a boiled egg into her bowl.
“All right, stop staring. We’re all family. What’s there to look at? You see us every day and still don’t get tired of it?”
Hehua shifted her gaze from the rest of the family and looked only at her father.
“I’ll never get tired of looking. You’re all the people closest to my heart.”
She even covered her chest dramatically.
Everyone laughed at her, even her two-year-old nephew giggled foolishly.
Her eldest sister-in-law set a bowl full of porridge in front of her.
Shen Tiechui gestured for her to eat.
“Hurry up before it gets cold. Are you planning to go to the commune today, or are you just wandering around the village?”
Their family didn’t need the few work points their daughter could earn. Shen Tiechui always let her do whatever she wanted. But he still wanted to know her plans for the day. If he didn’t know where she was, he couldn’t relax.
Hehua had just graduated from high school. She didn’t have a job yet and wasn’t working in the fields either. Every day she simply wandered around the village.
Thinking about what Niuniu had told her that morning, Hehua remembered something from the original story.
Back then, because their family had been dealing with what happened to her third brother, they had only heard about it in passing and hadn’t paid much attention.
Even without Niuniu’s influence, she wouldn’t stand by and watch it happen.
After making up her mind, she answered,
“I’ll stay in the village.”
Shen Tiechui nodded.
“Good. It’s safer here.”
What worried him most was her wandering off to the commune.
He had heard that human traffickers had recently appeared in the neighboring commune. If the police failed to catch them or if any escaped, they might come toward Hongqi Commune.
His daughter was pretty and had finished high school. If she were alone and became a target…
That would be disastrous.
“I heard there are child traffickers causing trouble in the neighboring commune lately. If you don’t have to go out, then don’t.”
Hehua already knew about that incident.
None of the traffickers escaped, though she had heard that one police officer was seriously injured, fortunately not fatally.
As she peeled the egg, she nodded.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I know what I’m doing.”
When she finished peeling it, she split the egg in half.
She picked out the yolk with her chopsticks and placed it into her father’s bowl of porridge.
She divided the egg white into two pieces—one for herself and the other for her mother, who had just sat down.
Right now, only she and her little nephew got eggs at home.
Meng Chunxing smiled warmly, though she said,
“Eat it yourself. Why are you giving it to me? I don’t even like eggs.”
She picked up the egg white with her chopsticks, intending to give it back.
Holding her bowl of porridge, Hehua quickly leaned away.
“Don’t give it back. It’s already in your bowl. Besides, I think it’s dirty now.”
Meng Chunxing laughed in exasperation.
She knew her daughter simply wanted her to eat it, and her heart warmed, but she still teased her.
“Hey! I haven’t even started eating yet. It’s perfectly clean. I gave birth to you, and now you’re saying I’m dirty?”
Hehua grinned.
“I still think you are.”
Shen Jiandang rolled his eyes.
“Mom, if you don’t want it, I’ll eat it.”
He pushed his bowl toward her.
Meng Chunxing glared at him.
“My daughter gave this to me. If you want someone to give you eggs, go have your own little daughter.”
Shen Jiandang: “…”
Was she urging him to get married?
She was, wasn’t she?
He’d only just gotten a girlfriend last night.
Seeing his expression, Meng Chunxing couldn’t bear to look at him anymore and happily ate the egg white her daughter had given her.
Little Pingping looked at his aunt, then at the egg in his own bowl.
After thinking for a moment, he copied her.
With great effort, he divided his egg into three pieces.
He held the yolk out to his father, gave one piece of egg white to his mother, and kept the other piece for himself.
Then he hesitated.
He stood up and, with great effort, handed his own piece to Xia Xiaohe.
Xia Xiaohe’s eyes sparkled.
Meng Chunxing couldn’t help praising him.
“Hahaha…”
“Our Pingping is such a good boy. So thoughtful at such a young age.”
Although the three adults were delighted, none of them ate the egg.
In the end, the whole egg still went into Pingping’s stomach.
The only person who never received even a bite of egg throughout the entire meal was Shen Jiandang.
Shen Jiandang: “…”
After breakfast, the whole family first went to the village threshing ground to listen to Wu Laidi and Li Hao’s public self-criticism before splitting up to attend to their own work.
Shen Jiandang left for work.
Shen Tiechui, Meng Chunxing, Shen Jianguo, and Lu Shufen went to the fields.
Xia Xiaohe took Pingping to gather pig feed.
Hehua went home to relax.
She spent quite a while reading a comic version of Journey to the West.
When she figured the time was about right, she closed the front gate and went out to wander the village.
She headed straight toward the large river ditch where Wu Laidi had jumped the previous night.
By this time, everyone who had gone out had already left the village.
The remaining villagers were either working in the fields or busy at home.
The fields were on one side of the village, while the river ditch was on the opposite side.
Normally, no adults came this way at this hour.
That was exactly why the tragedy had happened in her previous life.
Hehua had thought she left early enough.
But when she arrived, it had already begun.
…
At the large drainage ditch on the east side of the village…
A group of older village children were holding the head of a five- or six-year-old boy under the shallow water.
The children still wore innocent smiles on their faces.
Yet they were doing something utterly cruel.
“Drown him!”
“Beat this stinking black element to death!”
“Brother Santou, are you done yet? It’s my turn!”
“No! I’m going to dunk him a few more times. He dared to talk back.”
“You little brat! Your grandpa’s a stinking black element! Your dad’s a stinking black element! You’re a little stinking black element! Your whole family are black elements! People like you don’t deserve to live! Hahaha!”
“Drink it! Drink until you’re full! Let’s see if you dare talk back again!”
“Let’s make him drink our pee!”
“I’ll do it!”
“My turn!”
…
Hehua’s scalp tingled with horror.
These little brats…
She couldn’t take it anymore.
She shouted angrily,
“Stop! All of you!”
As she yelled, she sprinted toward them.
Hearing her voice, the children froze.
The laughter instantly disappeared from their faces.
When they turned and saw that it was Sister Hehua, they became even more frightened.
Unlike the other adults in the village, who only threatened to spank them…
Sister Hehua actually did it.
One by one, they hurried behind Santou for protection.
“Brother Santou… it’s Sister Hehua.”
Santou was scared too.
Of course he knew it was Sister Hehua.
But he was the leader.
He couldn’t show fear.
Trembling, he stepped forward.
“S-Sister Hehua…”
By then, Hehua had already reached the ditch.
Without even acknowledging Santou, she reached into the shallow water and pulled the child onto the bank.
Seeing that he was still conscious and hadn’t passed out—only too weak to move—she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness.
If she had arrived even a little later…
He probably wouldn’t have lasted.
Why had this happened so much earlier than it had in the original story?
What Hehua didn’t know was that, because last night’s incident had been handled so efficiently, work hadn’t been delayed that morning.
The children had been let out much earlier than usual.
That naturally caused everything to happen ahead of schedule.
Fortunately, Hehua had also arrived earlier.
That was why she managed to save him.
Looking at the pale-faced child in her arms, her heart ached.
Holding him close, she gently patted his back to comfort him.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t be afraid.”
The child’s voice was hoarse from choking on river water.
“Big Sister… I’m okay. I’m not scared.”
Hehua froze.
But when she remembered who he was and everything he had gone through after being sent down, she realized…
Compared to what he had already endured, today’s incident was only a minor ordeal.
Her heart hurt even more.
He was only a little child…