After Su Qing returned home, she sat on a stool at the entrance of the main room waiting for a long time. Having drunk the Spirit Spring Water, her hearing and vision had become exceptionally sharp. While running earlier, she had clearly heard Qu Laidi and Qu Xiang making bold declarations before going to gather reinforcements.
Unfortunately, no matter how long she waited, no one showed up. After what felt like an eternity, Sanbao and the other children returned, all covered in dirt and stark naked. The shorts they had just put on that morning were now completely used to wrap things.
“Great-grandma, my brothers, little uncle, and I caught lots of crabs. There are still plenty in the creek. We’ll go back with buckets later to catch more for feeding the pigs.”
“Huh? What things?”
Su Qing stood up and trotted over to take a look. The shorts were filled to the brim with crabs of all sizes.
The crabs this season were indeed quite plump. Once her craving kicked in, she couldn’t suppress it. Making a pot of crabs for dinner paired with beer would be absolutely delightful.
“Go on, Great-grandma will go with you. Oh, and call your Aunt Juxiang to join us.” After saying this, Su Qing turned to fetch wooden buckets, then suddenly remembered there was supposed to be a fight.
“Little rascals, did you see your Great-aunt on your way back?”
Dabao stared blankly, not understanding what she meant. Tiezhu beside him pursed his lips, glanced up at her, and mustered great courage before speaking.
“Do you mean Da Niu’s mother? She… she gathered many people, didn’t know where they were going. Halfway there… halfway there they turned back, seemed like they got scared.”
Su Qing narrowed her eyes. Given the longstanding feud between her original self and Qu Laidi, if they had caught an opportunity, wouldn’t they have torn into each other like fighting dogs? How could they have suddenly turned back?
“Granny, we heard you were arguing with someone, then ran away halfway through?”
Su Qing: “…”
This darn Dabao, why did he have to speak so bluntly? How embarrassing!!!
“Never mind that, hurry up and go catch crabs. I’ll make you something delicious tonight.”
The children’s eyes lit up. They dumped the crabs into an enamel basin, threw their shorts on the ground, grabbed wooden buckets and ran outside. Tiezhu ran a few steps then turned back.
“Granny, Da Niu’s mother got scared off, must be because my dad is going to report for duty in town.”
Only then did Su Qing connect the dots. That Wang Haiyang was going to report to the town’s security team wasn’t a secret – anyone who paid slight attention to their family affairs knew about it. Previously, when people gossiped about Wang Haiyang bringing Zhou Chunxia back, they hadn’t spoken favorably, naturally treating this matter as a rumor.
Of course, there were sensible people too. Su Qing guessed it was probably Da Niu who stopped Qu Laidi from making trouble. That child was like a good bamboo shoot growing among bad bamboo – honest, diligent, and sweet-tongued. The only problem was he had many sisters, and his mother was a fierce old woman. At twenty-five, he still hadn’t found a wife.
Naturally, this was an even bigger reason for Qu Laidi to resent Su Qing. If you talked about poisonous hearts, she and Su Qing were equally matched. Why did Su Qing’s sons and grandsons marry one after another, while she had only one son who still couldn’t find a wife at his age? It was infuriating!
She locked the courtyard gate and followed behind the little kids. Both Juxiang and Zhiying came over. With the old and the young going to catch crabs in the creek, they were worried something might happen.
Su Qing noticed the creek here not only had crabs but also eels, and quite a few children were playing around.
“Granny, you just watch from the riverbank. We’ll do the catching.”
“Deal!”
Dabao, Erbao, and Tiezhu also followed into the water, but with Su Qing present, she made them stand by the shore. Sanbao, only five years old, was as excited as a monkey. Had it not been for the several bottles of Spirit Spring Water she drank daily during this period, they surely wouldn’t have been able to hold onto the little rascal.
Juxiang and Zhiying, each holding a wooden bucket and a worn-out basket respectively, soon caught quite a few crabs and eels.
This was free meat—as long as it was prepared properly, the flavor would be absolutely superb.
Just as she was mentally planning how to direct everyone to prepare dinner, a “gurgle” sound was heard, followed by children’s screams and cries that pierced the sky.
Juxiang and Zhiying were also startled. Before they could react, they saw their sixty-year-old grandmother dart over and, with a “splash,” jump into the river.
The two girls were so frightened they turned into screaming chickens, scrambling ashore with their wooden buckets and worn-out baskets.
“Ah!!! Grandma, Grandma, wait for me, I’m coming down! Oh heavens, why did you jump into the river, old lady!”
“Wuwuwu, Grandma, if something happens to you, we won’t be able to live either, wuwuwu….”
Dabao, Erbao, Sanbao, and Tiezhu, the four children, were also scared out of their wits. It took them a long while to start crying and shouting. Just then, Defu, who had gone to cut pigweed, happened to pass by. Upon asking, he learned that Grandma had jumped into the river.
He threw off the pigweed from his back and ran toward the fields.
“Dad, Dad, it’s terrible! Grandma jumped into the river, wuwuwu, Dad! Grandma just darted and jumped into the river!”
He ran wildly, shouting frantically. Every villager who heard him widened their eyes in shock.
“Heavens, what great grievance did Old Wang’s old lady suffer to jump into the river at such an age?”
“I heard their third son and his wife proposed dividing the family. Old Wang’s wife was so angry she nearly fainted. Most likely, she couldn’t take it and threw herself into the river.”
“Tsk, she died easily enough, leaving her sons and daughters-in-law to be gossiped about.”
……..
The Wang family members working in the fields were so terrified by Defu’s shouts that they nearly cut their calves with their weeding sickles. Wang Yongqiang had given apples, Shaobing, and a handful of candies to Zhao Su’e the night before, coaxing the girl into holding his hand for quite a while.
He felt increasingly that his mother was wise and cared for him deeply. To appear fair, she had even deliberately set up a reward system. His desire to go out and fool around was once again extinguished, and he had returned to work.
Suddenly hearing Defu say his mother had thrown herself into the river, he jumped three feet high in fright. Turning to Wang Weidong, who was still dazed, he kicked him.
“Damn Wang Weidong! Mom was so angry with you she jumped into the river! If Mom’s gone, I swear I’ll kill you!”
Led by him, the other Wang family members also glared at Wang Weidong with hatred, quickly dropping their tools and rushing toward the village stream. Wang Weidong’s legs trembled so much that, if not for his two sons supporting him, he would have collapsed on the spot.
Wang Zhenhua and Wang Guoqing, looking at their father’s state, were filled with thoughts of “It’s over, it’s all over.”
Not only the Wang family, but almost all the Commune Members of the Hongxing Production Team who heard that Su Qing had jumped into the river rushed over. Even Qu Laidi and Qu Xiang, who had been hiding in their homes out of fear, were stirred.
The two happened to run into each other as they left their houses.
“Elder Sister, Old Wang’s wife jumping into the river can’t be blamed on us, right?”
“That can’t be. We were the ones who got beaten up, how could it be blamed on us? If we hadn’t known her seventh son was in the town’s security team, would we have let her off so easily today?”
Qu Xiang was still somewhat frightened, her voice trembling as she said, “But… but what if, big sister? Old Lady Wang has many sons, and the seventh is in the security team. After all, we did speak ill of her son. What if she can’t get over it? What if she leaves some final words?”
“Heavens, how can this be blamed on us? That old hag, even at the end she has to disgust me one last time. Sob… Come on, little sister, let’s go take a look. We can’t let anyone throw this pile of stinking dog dung in our faces.”