Seeing the water surface bubbling “gurgle, gurgle,” Su Qing knew the child couldn’t wait any longer. Her health had improved significantly recently—though not comparable to youths in their twenties or thirties, her physical condition wasn’t much different from someone in their forties.
She dove headfirst into the river. The water was still somewhat cold. Underwater, she used her Space to pull the child inside first. When she entered herself, she noticed the child was terrified, eyes tightly shut, limbs flailing wildly.
She emerged immediately after entering, swam a few strokes toward the bank, then released the child. Supporting the child’s head, she swam to shore. Juxiang, who had jumped in after her, was nearly scared out of her wits when she reached them.
While searching underwater moments earlier, Juxiang had seen her grandmother and the child suddenly vanish and reappear, filling her with terror. She’d heard elders say people had drowned in this river before—now she was convinced the waters were haunted.
After bringing the child ashore, Su Qing began pressing firmly on his chest.
After several compressions, the drowned child vomited large amounts of dirty water. She turned the child’s head toward her, and while using her body as cover after he finished vomiting, she poured a mouthful of Spirit Spring Water into his mouth.
The Wang family members and Hongxing Village Commune Members rushing over saw from a distance that Wang Old Lady had brought someone to shore and was performing chest compressions.
“Mom, mom, what’s wrong with you? Sob, why would you do this? Whatever anger you have, take it out on Third Brother! Don’t do anything foolish! How could you bear to leave your most beloved son—me?”
“Mom, are you alright? This son is unfilial! Your son is useless! You haven’t enjoyed a single day of happiness, yet you suffer like this! Mom, your son has failed you, failed my late father too!”
Wang Yongqiang and Wang Baoguo rushed over and crowded around Su Qing, wailing and crying so loudly it made her head throb.
Wang Jianjun arrived gasping for breath. Seeing Zhiying still standing frozen nearby, he slapped her hard on the back.
“Stupid girl! What are you standing there for? You just watched your grandmother jump into the river?”
“No, Dad! It’s Aunt Lujuan’s son Chengcai who fell in! Second Sister and I hadn’t even processed what happened when Grandma jumped in to save him! Sob, I was scared too, Dad!”
Wang Zhiying felt terribly wronged. She reacted slowly—only after Juxiang jumped in did she realize why her grandmother had entered the river.
“Enough! Stop shouting! Why are you hitting the child? I jumped in myself! Zhiying and Juxiang are still young—if something happened to them in the river, Maizi and Xiulan would die from grief! I’m old, and I knew how to swim when I was young. My old life for a child’s life—it’s well worth it!”
Su Qing’s words were so heroic that the arriving Hongxing Production Team Commune Members all showed expressions of respect. Though some suspected Wang Old Lady was putting on a show, the child had genuinely been rescued—that couldn’t be faked.
Lujuan was a widow whose husband died shortly after she married into the Sun family, leaving her with a posthumous son named Chengcai. The child was very sensible—he’d come to the river to catch crabs today specifically to help his mother.
Being still young, he now regained his senses and began crying loudly, tears and snot covering his face.
In the crowd behind, Lujuan, who had heard the commotion and understood the situation, pushed through the people, trembling as she hugged her son. Overwhelmed with fear, she lifted her hand and gave Chengcai a hard spanking on his bottom.
“You wretched child! If anything happened to you, how could your mother go on living? Wuwuwu, my Chengcai, wuwuwu…”
Dabao, Tiezhu, and the other children, along with Defu who had run back, all gathered around Su Qing, chattering as they asked how she was and if she was alright. Beside them, a deeply worried Wang Haiyang quickly took off his shirt and draped it over Su Qing’s shoulders.
“Mom, you mustn’t do this again. You’re getting on in years—if anything happened to you, how could we brothers ever face our father?”
Whether they could face their father or not, Su Qing didn’t know. With her sharp tongue, she teased Wang Haiyang playfully.
“So, Haiyang, you’re a good soldier in the army, and your mom isn’t a coward either, huh?”
Wang Haiyang’s eyes reddened, nearly bursting into tears like his older and younger brothers. The villagers listening to the mother and son’s exchange were full of admiration.
After crying with her child, Lujuan turned and, with a “thump,” knelt before Su Qing with Chengcai.
“Auntie, thank you. You saved Chengcai’s life—you saved both our lives. Wuwuwu, I kowtow to you. Chengcai, from now on, Grandma Wang is your real grandmother. When you grow up, you must take good care of her, understand?”
“Hey, hello, Grandma. I kowtow to you, Grandma.”
Su Qing: “…”
Stop calling me that—can’t you see her three treasures and her nominal grandson Fu Tiezhu are about to shoot flames from their eyes?
The news of Su Qing saving Sun Chengcai spread as if it had grown wings, with several versions circulating in the brigade.
Some said, “Sixty-year-old granny uses iron arms to save child,” others claimed, “Fleet-footed granny outsmarts river ditch water ghost with child in tow,” and there was even one about “Fifty-something granny, enlightened by the river god, bravely rescues young boy.”
After returning home, Su Qing was questioned by the whole family. The brigade leader and party secretary even came by with gifts to express their condolences, subtly trying to find out how the old lady maintained her health.
At her age, having such physical strength was no ordinary feat.
She modestly replied that it was nothing special—just having many mischievous children at home and swinging a tree branch around repeatedly naturally built up her stamina.
The brigade leader and party secretary were deeply impressed, feeling they had found the secret to longevity for their own elderly parents.
The old woman from the Sun family came by with Lujuan and Chengcai, bringing a basket with twenty eggs, a handful of dried vegetables, and two jin of white flour.
Their family was poor, but Su Qing, at her advanced age, had saved the child’s life—even if it meant scraping together their last resources, they had to express their gratitude properly.
In the end, Su Qing only accepted ten eggs and insisted they take the rest back. She was stubborn and decisive, and her sharp, upturned eyes were quite intimidating.
The three members of the Sun family didn’t argue further but made a mental note to visit often in the future, even if it was just to help with chores.
Juxiang and Zhiying had caught some eels and crabs from the river but didn’t know how to prepare them, so they kept them alive in a large wooden basin. For the first time, the whole family focused on the two sisters, asking each of them for details about the old lady’s rescue.
They felt deeply ashamed—young as they were, they hadn’t been as quick as the old woman during the rescue. That evening, the sisters made a hot noodle soup and even used their share of the eggs to poach them in the noodle bowls.
From Tiezhu’s account, Wang Haiyang learned about the incident that had occurred that afternoon—how the villagers had been gossiping about him and Chunxia, how his mother had argued alone with his aunt and the others, and how she had nearly been struck.
A shadow of darkness flickered in his eyes. After exchanging a brief greeting with Zhou Chunxia, he turned and disappeared into the night.
Having eaten her fill, Su Qing was about to rest in the villa within her Space when she suddenly heard a “ding, ding, ding” sound. Her eyes snapped open—that delightful chime was the sound of the Happiness Town Shop being unlocked.