Chapter 35: Don’t Want Night to Bring More Dreams

The captain didn’t want to dwell on things unnecessarily. Everyone knew what kind of person Gao Suhua was, and whether they could get their hands on that ten kilograms of cornmeal by the end of the night was still uncertain.

Gao Suhua was already in a terrible mood, and now she saw her husband coming in with the captain and the accountant from the village.

Feeling uneasy, she quickly said, “The captain and Accountant Sun are here. Please come in and have a seat.”

Accountant Sun replied, “No need to sit. We haven’t eaten yet. We came to pick up that ten kilograms of cornmeal. It’s better to get things done before it gets completely dark.”

Gao Suhua looked troubled and said, “Could we do with less? It’s not a good time now, and no household is well-off. Xiaomei knows her mistake now. Can we just let go of this grain?”

The captain knew that Gao Suhua was not easy to deal with, so he had called the accountant over to quickly resolve the matter. If he, as the captain, said something and didn’t follow through, it would affect his authority in the future.

Zhao Pulin understood why the captain and Accountant Sun had come over now. His face turned red with embarrassment as he shouted, “Hurry up and go fetch it! Don’t make it more embarrassing.”

Seeing Zhao Pulin truly angry this time, Gao Suhua reluctantly walked into the house.

When she came out again, she carried a small cloth bag and said, “This bag can’t possibly hold it all.”

Accountant Sun took it, weighed it, and remarked, “This isn’t even ten kilograms. Are you trying to fool us?”

Zhao Pulin glared fiercely at Gao Suhua, snatched the bag, and stormed back into the house. Gao Suhua followed behind, calling out, “Dear…”

The captain and Accountant Sun left Zhao’s house with the goods and headed towards the Lin family at the eastern end of the village. It was said that the Lin couple were also in a pitiable situation.

When they were young, they worked in a factory in the provincial capital. Their two daughters also married locally. Their only son, who had joined a group of classmates in a big protest the year before they returned to Qingshan Village, never came back.

The couple spent all their savings but couldn’t find him. Later, because their leave was too long, their jobs were taken over by others. They lost their source of income and didn’t want to disturb their two daughters’ lives.

They could only instruct their two daughters to telegraph them immediately if there was news about their son. Afterward, they packed up and returned to Qingshan Village. In between, the two daughters did not come back home a few times.

These days, life is tough. It was heard that the daughters’ families had many children, and money was tight. Therefore, not being able to come back to see their parents was understandable.

Six months ago, Old Lin fell down from the slope and injured his back, unable to do heavy work. His wife, since their son went missing, cried daily and her health deteriorated. So, their days were truly difficult.

They didn’t have much savings to begin with. Occasionally, they had to support their two daughters. After Old Lin fell and stayed in the commune’s clinic for over ten days, he not only spent the few dozen yuan he had saved but also owed money to the brigade.

It was said that only their second daughter came back briefly during that time and left hurriedly after a few days. They didn’t manage to settle the accounts hanging in the brigade. The villagers didn’t interact much with the elderly couple from the Lin family.

Originally outsiders in Qingshan Village from generations past, the Lin couple now found themselves even more isolated and without support. A few days ago, when Luo Qiao passed by the Lin family’s yard on her way to work, she overheard from the village aunties’ gossip about the Lin family’s situation.

Perhaps because they were considered outsiders in Qingshan Village, Luo Qiao felt sympathy for them. She had originally planned to find an opportunity to help them out, and now the opportunity had presented itself.

Though ten kilograms of grain wasn’t much, it would still provide the elderly couple with several meals.