As Lin Ruxia passed by the farmhouse, she went in to take a look. She discovered that not only was the outside overgrown with grass, but the inside was the same. A two-meter-high wall surrounded the property, and several plots inside were already covered in weeds. Fruit trees grew all around, though Lin Ruxia had no idea what kinds they were. Even though she had eaten many kinds of fruit before, she couldn’t recognize the trees themselves.
In front of the house stood a round stone table with matching stone stools, and bamboo encircled the entire place. Everything looked peaceful and idyllic. The house itself was relatively tall, and once inside, she realized it actually had two floors.
The interior resembled an ancient inn. All the rooms on the second floor were tightly shut. From the entrance, the central area looked very spacious—aside from four rooms and a kitchen, there was nothing else. The open space in the middle was over a hundred square meters. On the right were a kitchen and a storage room, while on the left were three rooms, each about a hundred square meters in size.
Directly opposite the entrance was another room. When she went in, she found a fallen Buddha statue, its face completely unrecognizable. There were no tables or chairs—only a few broken wooden planks.
Lin Ruxia went upstairs. There were two staircases, one on each side, both appearing sturdy. The entire house was filthy, so she walked carefully.
Upstairs, she found eleven rooms, three of which had balconies facing the back hill. Below was a courtyard and a back gate. If one hadn’t entered those three rooms and stepped onto the balconies, it would’ve been hard to notice the back entrance. She hadn’t even realized earlier that there was a door at the back—it was actually set into the wall.
Lin Ruxia decided that in the afternoon, she would go to the production team leader’s house to buy this property. The area was large, and the wind direction was good—if she cooked, the smell would drift toward the garbage pit. She especially liked the bamboo grove in front.
After finishing her inspection, she headed back to the Song family. But just as she reached the road, she saw two elderly women each carrying a blood-covered child. Behind them followed two more children, crying nonstop and not wearing any clothes, clutching the clothes she had thrown away earlier.
“What happened?” Lin Ruxia immediately thought of the broken glass and stones in the garbage pit. Could it be what I’m thinking?
She followed them to the village doctor’s house. After all, if something happened to the children, she might end up being blamed.
“Doctor! Doctor! Come quickly, look at my son—save him!” one of the women shouted before even entering. “My poor son!”
The doctor hurried out. “What happened? Why is he covered in blood?”
“They fell into the garbage pit at the end of the village!” the woman cried, her eyes full of tears.
“Why would they go there? I’ve long suggested that the pit should be filled in—it’s full of broken glass. The shards in their bodies need to be removed. I don’t have that level of skill—you’ll have to take them to the town hospital. I can only stop the bleeding!” As he spoke, he began searching for medicine.
After finding it, he sprinkled medicinal powder all over the children. Before long, the bleeding stopped.
“Go quickly and find the team leader to arrange a tractor to take them to the hospital,” the doctor said seriously. “The bleeding has stopped for now, but if the glass remains inside, it will cause infection and inflammation. We don’t even know if any vital areas are injured.”
“What are we supposed to do? We don’t have money—this will ruin us!” another woman cried out.
“I don’t know who threw old clothes into that place. Our children went there for those clothes, and when they tried to come back up, they slipped and fell in!” she said, pointing at the clothes in a broken basin.
“That’s right! Let’s find that person—we must make her compensate us!” the other woman said angrily.
Lin Ruxia, listening from the side, felt speechless. “Your children went into the garbage pit themselves. Why should someone else pay for their actions? You knew it was dangerous—why let them go there?”
“Exactly! Our village has repeatedly warned that children shouldn’t go there—it’s dangerous!” the doctor added.
“Who are you? Are those old clothes yours?” one of the women asked, looking at Lin Ruxia.
“Yes, I threw them away earlier. I came over when I saw you holding them. Who knew you’d be so shameless and try to pin the blame on me?” Lin Ruxia shrugged.
“Well, you came at the right time. You must compensate us!” the woman said rudely upon realizing she was the owner of the clothes.
“Why should I? I didn’t push them in, nor did I tell them to go there!” Lin Ruxia retorted.
“What are you arguing about? How are Gou Sheng and Tie Dan?” The production team leader hurried over upon hearing about the accident.
“Leader, you came just in time! She threw clothes into the garbage pit, and our children went to pick them up and fell in. You must make her compensate us!” one woman accused first.
“Is that so?” the leader asked, turning to Lin Ruxia.
“I threw away my own child’s old clothes—that’s my business. Their children chose to pick them up—that’s theirs. If someone crashes into an unattended car and gets hurt, do they blame the owner? Isn’t that just extortion?” Lin Ruxia said sarcastically.
“I don’t care! Those clothes are hers—she must pay for my son’s medical bills, nutrition costs, and my lost wages!” the woman began making a scene.
“That’s enough,” the leader said. “This isn’t her fault. However, since the clothes were the source of the incident, she should offer some compensation. Doctor, how are the children?”
“They need to go to the hospital to have the glass removed,” the doctor replied heavily.
“Then, give them five yuan each, and we’ll settle this matter,” the leader decided.
“Five yuan? That’s nowhere near enough! At least fifty!” the woman protested.
“Enough! Your child’s condition is also due to your own negligence. If you had made them proper clothes, would they have gone to the garbage pit out of envy? The village has warned countless times not to go there!”
“But—”
“Silence! Take the children to the hospital immediately. If you delay, you’ll regret it!” the leader cut her off.
“Here! Ten yuan total. Don’t come looking for me again—I’m not that capable!” Lin Ruxia snapped, unable to hold back her frustration. Damn it—just throwing out trash caused all this trouble!
She quickly left the center of the commotion.
After returning home, she began thinking about lunch. It couldn’t be too fragrant, and she couldn’t cook meat.
She decided to make sweet potato pancakes and egg noodles.
It was already around ten o’clock by the time she finished the pancakes. She wasn’t familiar with the kitchen, and even lighting the fire was difficult. Luckily, Si Bao and Wu Bao came back early—otherwise, she would’ve been laughed at.
Since they had already eaten breakfast, they weren’t too hungry, but of course, they wouldn’t pass up food. The sweet potato pancakes were soft, fragrant, and chewy—they wished they could eat several at once.
“Third sister-in-law, what’s for lunch? I saw smoke coming from your house early this morning!”
Ah—she had forgotten that villagers could tell who was cooking by chimney smoke.
“I made some sweet potato pancakes. Only two are left for Mom and Dad—the rest are gone,” she said. (In truth, there were still more than ten left, which she planned to save for Song Dabao and the others.)
“You burned a fire for so long just to make pancakes?” In the Song family, “sweet potato pancakes” meant sliced sweet potatoes stir-fried, whereas Lin Ruxia’s version involved boiling, mashing, adding eggs and flour, then frying.
“Yes. If you don’t believe me, ask Si Bao and the others.”
“Who wants to ask them?” she scoffed. “I heard Tie Dan and Gou Sheng fell into the garbage pit trying to pick up your clothes. You’re really something—of all places, you had to throw them there. You could’ve given them to me! My family could’ve used them—those were good clothes!”
“Exactly! Even if they were old and a bit worn, they could still be patched and worn again. What a waste!” Second Sister-in-law Song said, looking heartbroken.
“How are the children?” someone else asked. “That garbage pit is full of broken glass from the old educated youth site. It can’t even be burned away. The leader once suggested burying it, but most people disagreed.”
The pit, though no longer very useful, had once served as a trap. Wild boars had been lured into it and killed, and the meat shared among villagers. Since it was near the back hill, which was dangerous, people felt safer having it there. Though children were warned not to go near it, no rule prohibited dumping trash there.
The original owner of the body had memories of the pit, but not of any rule against using it—so Lin Ruxia had simply followed those memories.
“I heard it’s serious. Gou Sheng’s mother even came back to beg the team leader for money. They need surgery and a blood transfusion!” someone said.
It turned out that the doctor had accompanied them to town, and the children had started bleeding again along the way due to the glass shards. The bumpy tractor ride worsened their injuries. At the hospital, they would need a large sum of money and blood transfusions. Tie Dan’s family had enough money, but Gou Sheng’s grandmother refused to pay, forcing his mother to beg the leader.
“Ruxia,” Father Song said earnestly, “although this isn’t your fault, it started because of you. If you can help, you should. Otherwise, the villagers will gossip, and it may affect Lao San’s future.”