Chapter 20 It’s great to be alive

Shen Weiguo, who was already chatting with He Jiadong, frowned, then his face turned black, and finally he looked at He Wanqing with anger.

 Seeing her ingratiating expression, he gritted his teeth: “You’ve got a brain for nothing.” He glared at her with disappointment, then started to replan her plan. In the end, seeing that she only knew how to nod and didn’t respond, he directly pulled He Jiadong aside and whispered in his ear. Shen Weiguo felt it was a waste of time to talk to her, it was better to talk to his old partner.

Thinking about the bad things they had done together since they were young, a gleam of gold flashed in Shen Weiguo’s eyes. The Xu family, huh? Just wait! They dared to bully his sister, he wouldn’t let them get away with it. He Jiadong, who had already had this intention, looked at his cousin after he finished speaking, seeing that she heard him but didn’t say anything, he knew she agreed. Thinking about this, he and He Jiamin and the others started discussing with the Shen brothers.

 The aunt and sister-in-law, who were squeezed aside by the others, chatted as they walked, completely ignoring what the brothers were saying. The first night back, walking home from the red soil road with her cousins and older cousins, He Wanqing’s lonely heart for many years found a place to rest. The moon hanging above, as if sensing her happiness, chased away the clouds around her, emitting the brightest light, illuminating the late spring country road clearly.

Even the flashlights in the hands of He Jiadong and the others didn’t need to be turned on, they could see far away, just like in the daytime. The siblings chatted a lot, said a lot, and only ended the discussion when they finally sent her home. Back home, she greeted Grandma He and the others, and told them about her phone call to the county. Finally, she told them about her mother and Little Aunt, and then she was asked to go back to rest after Grandma He arranged for her to eat a big bowl of egg noodles. Saying goodbye to the people who cared about her, He Wanqing returned to her own house alone.

She didn’t go back to her room to rest as she had promised Grandma He and the others, but instead, she moved a bamboo chair out to the yard and admired the moon in the sky. It was mid-May 1968 in Xia Country, recently everyone was busy finishing the spring planting in the fields, and everyone went to bed early. Listening to the snoring from the neighbor’s house next door, she naturally relaxed her body, leaned back on the bamboo chair, letting the chair sway back and forth, but she didn’t feel the neighbor’s snoring was noisy at all.

It had been so many years, she could finally lie down and admire the moon. She reached out and hugged the moon, then asked Big Yellow, who had been by her side since she came back, to go back to his kennel to sleep, before getting up and going back to her room.

Taking the hot water Grandma, He had prepared for her, she went into the washroom that her grandfather and uncles had built for her to wash up. She hurried back to her room in the sound of Aunt He’s coughing, so as not to worry the elders. Back in her room, she didn’t go into her space to admire it as she had been longing to do, but instead, she reached out and touched her long-lost home. As she touched it bit by bit, tears welled up in her eyes again, and her long eyelashes stuck to her eyelids from the tears. Whether it was because she had finally touched something she missed, or because she had returned to the home she had been longing for, He Wanqing’s tears never stopped.

After she had touched every nook and cranny of her home, she choked back her sobs and blew out the candle before returning to her room. Closing the door, she looked at the desk that her mother had cleaned and tidied up, she had already stopped crying, but she cried again. She cried for the grievances of her previous life, she cried for the passing of her mother and the others, and she cried even more for her own blindness, until finally, she cried herself to sleep on the desk. The first day back, it passed by in a hurry. He Wanqing, who had originally planned to go into her space, didn’t go in because of her final outburst of tears. Her previous idea of secretly seeking revenge on He Cao was also put on hold, and when she woke up, the sun was shining on her desk.

 He Wanqing, who was woken up by the dazzling light, rubbed her swollen and sore eyes, and just as she was about to move her body, she realized that she was completely numb. A heart-wrenching feeling stabbed at every nerve, and after a lot of rubbing, finally her numb legs felt something. While rubbing her legs, her sore and stiff arms had already recovered to normal. She got up from the chair, moved her legs and feet, then looked at the five-person kang that she hadn’t slept on for many years, and in three steps she sat down on it.

She rolled around on the kang twice, then pulled the blanket full of the smell of sunshine to her nose and sniffed it hard, until a voice came from outside the door, and she got up again. ‘It’s real, she’s really back, it wasn’t a dream yesterday, it’s real, she, He Wanqing, is back alive!’ She stood on the ground and took a deep breath: “I, He Wanqing, am alive.” “Big aunt, Great-Grandma asked me to tell you that you don’t have to go to the field today if you have something to do, she asked my mom to record your work points for you.” As she was about to say again that she was alive and not dead, her nephew’s voice came again. “I’m coming, Little Yuan.”

She clenched her fist and cheered herself up: “Come on, He Wanqing.” She quickly walked to the door, “creak”, the slightly old wooden door opened, and she quickly walked to the entrance of the main room and opened the door to the main room before smiling at her nephew: “Little Yuan, good morning.” “Big aunt, good morning, your breakfast is in the pot, Grandma said that if you go to the field, you should eat breakfast first.” He reached out and pinched his nephew’s cheek: “I know, you and Little Jun go play.” She didn’t immediately go to Uncle He’s house next door to eat breakfast, but walked towards the well to fetch water and wash up.

“Big aunt, I’m not going to play today, Dad told me to stay with you.” He Wanqing, who was holding a towel, looked at her nephew, seeing him nod seriously, she twitched her lips. Forget it, she wouldn’t waste her eldest cousin’s kindness. “I know, but I’m just going to record work points in the field today, I’m not going anywhere, if you’re bored and want to go play, you can.” “No, no, no, Big aunt, I’m not going anywhere today.”

He was a man, since he promised to watch over his big aunt, he had to watch over her, he couldn’t let Great-Grandma and Grandma worry and cry again like yesterday. After thinking this through, He Yuan wrinkled his little face, rolled his eyes at his unreliable big aunt, and then ran home with his little legs. Less than a minute later, he ran back with a bowl and chopsticks: “Big aunt, eat breakfast.” Luckily, he remembered what his father said, otherwise, his big aunt would have slipped away again. Looking at the person who was already walking towards the door, He Yuan thought tiredly. She had just hung the towel on the bamboo pole, and she wasn’t hungry yet, she was going to take a walk in the field first, but before she could leave, she was discovered by her nephew.

She glanced at the bowl and chopsticks in his hand, and resignedly took them: “Little Yuan, Big aunt isn’t hungry now, why don’t you eat it?” One poached egg and a bowl of noodles, it would be a waste to eat it if she wasn’t hungry.

Shen Weiguo, who was already chatting with He Jiadong, frowned, then his face turned black, and finally he looked at He Wanqing with anger. Seeing her ingratiating expression, he gritted his teeth: “You’ve got a brain for nothing.” He glared at her with disappointment, then started to replan her plan. In the end, seeing that she only knew how to nod and didn’t respond, he directly pulled He Jiadong aside and whispered in his ear.

Shen Weiguo felt it was a waste of time to talk to her, it was better to talk to his old partner. Thinking about the bad things they had done together since they were young, a gleam of gold flashed in Shen Weiguo’s eyes. The Xu family, huh? Just wait! They dared to bully his sister, he wouldn’t let them get away with it. He Jiadong, who had already had this intention, looked at his cousin after he finished speaking, seeing that she heard him but didn’t say anything, he knew she agreed.

Thinking about this, he and He Jiamin and the others started discussing with the Shen brothers. The aunt and sister-in-law, who were squeezed aside by the others, chatted as they walked, completely ignoring what the brothers were saying.

The first night back, walking home from the red soil road with her cousins and older cousins, He Wanqing’s lonely heart for many years found a place to rest. The moon hanging above, as if sensing her happiness, chased away the clouds around her, emitting the brightest light, illuminating the late spring country road clearly. Even the flashlights in the hands of He Jiadong and the others didn’t need to be turned on, they could see far away, just like in the daytime. The siblings chatted a lot, said a lot, and only ended the discussion when they finally sent her home.

Back home, she greeted Grandma He and the others, and told them about her phone call to the county. Finally, she told them about her mother and Little Aunt, and then she was asked to go back to rest after Grandma He arranged for her to eat a big bowl of egg noodles. Saying goodbye to the people who cared about her, He Wanqing returned to her own house alone. She didn’t go back to her room to rest as she had promised Grandma He and the others, but instead, she moved a bamboo chair out to the yard and admired the moon in the sky.

It was mid-May 1968 in Xia Country, recently everyone was busy finishing the spring planting in the fields, and everyone went to bed early. Listening to the snoring from the neighbor’s house next door, she naturally relaxed her body, leaned back on the bamboo chair, letting the chair sway back and forth, but she didn’t feel the neighbor’s snoring was noisy at all. It had been so many years, she could finally lie down and admire the moon. She reached out and hugged the moon, then asked Big Yellow, who had been by her side since she came back, to go back to his kennel to sleep, before getting up and going back to her room.

 Taking the hot water Grandma, He had prepared for her, she went into the washroom that her grandfather and uncles had built for her to wash up. She hurried back to her room in the sound of Aunt He’s coughing, so as not to worry the elders.

Back in her room, she didn’t go into her space to admire it as she had been longing to do, but instead, she reached out and touched her long-lost home. As she touched it bit by bit, tears welled up in her eyes again, and her long eyelashes stuck to her eyelids from the tears. Whether it was because she had finally touched something she missed, or because she had returned to the home she had been longing for, He Wanqing’s tears never stopped. After she had touched every nook and cranny of her home, she choked back her sobs and blew out the candle before returning to her room. Closing the door, she looked at the desk that her mother had cleaned and tidied up, she had already stopped crying, but she cried again. She cried for the grievances of her previous life, she cried for the passing of her mother and the others, and she cried even more for her own blindness, until finally, she cried herself to sleep on the desk.

The first day back, it passed by in a hurry. He Wanqing, who had originally planned to go into her space, didn’t go in because of her final outburst of tears. Her previous idea of secretly seeking revenge on He Cao was also put on hold, and when she woke up, the sun was shining on her desk. He Wanqing, who was woken up by the dazzling light, rubbed her swollen and sore eyes, and just as she was about to move her body, she realized that she was completely numb. A heart-wrenching feeling stabbed at every nerve, and after a lot of rubbing, finally her numb legs felt something. While rubbing her legs, her sore and stiff arms had already recovered to normal. She got up from the chair, moved her legs and feet, then looked at the five-person kang that she hadn’t slept on for many years, and in three steps she sat down on it. She rolled around on the kang twice, then pulled the blanket full of the smell of sunshine to her nose and sniffed it hard, until a voice came from outside the door, and she got up again.

‘It’s real, she’s really back, it wasn’t a dream yesterday, it’s real, she, He Wanqing, is back alive!’ She stood on the ground and took a deep breath: “I, He Wanqing, am alive.”

“Big aunt, Great-Grandma asked me to tell you that you don’t have to go to the field today if you have something to do, she asked my mom to record your work points for you.” As she was about to say again that she was alive and not dead, her nephew’s voice came again.

“I’m coming, Little Yuan.” She clenched her fist and cheered herself up: “Come on, He Wanqing.” She quickly walked to the door, “creak”, the slightly old wooden door opened, and she quickly walked to the entrance of the main room and opened the door to the main room before smiling at her nephew: “Little Yuan, good morning.”

“Big aunt, good morning, your breakfast is in the pot, Grandma said that if you go to the field, you should eat breakfast first.” He reached out and pinched his nephew’s cheek: “I know, you and Little Jun go play.”

She didn’t immediately go to Uncle He’s house next door to eat breakfast, but walked towards the well to fetch water and wash up.

“Big aunt, I’m not going to play today, Dad told me to stay with you.” He Wanqing, who was holding a towel, looked at her nephew, seeing him nod seriously, she twitched her lips. Forget it, she wouldn’t waste her eldest cousin’s kindness. “I know, but I’m just going to record work points in the field today, I’m not going anywhere, if you’re bored and want to go play, you can.”

“No, no, no, Big aunt, I’m not going anywhere today.” He was a man, since he promised to watch over his big aunt, he had to watch over her, he couldn’t let Great-Grandma and Grandma worry and cry again like yesterday. After thinking this through, He Yuan wrinkled his little face, rolled his eyes at his unreliable big aunt, and then ran home with his little legs. Less than a minute later, he ran back with a bowl and chopsticks: “Big aunt, eat breakfast.” Luckily, he remembered what his father said, otherwise, his big aunt would have slipped away again. Looking at the person who was already walking towards the door, He Yuan thought tiredly.

She had just hung the towel on the bamboo pole, and she wasn’t hungry yet, she was going to take a walk in the field first, but before she could leave, she was discovered by her nephew. She glanced at the bowl and chopsticks in his hand, and resignedly took them: “Little Yuan, Big aunt isn’t hungry now, why don’t you eat it?” One poached egg and a bowl of noodles, it would be a waste to eat it if she wasn’t hungry.