“Why should kids worry about so much?” Ning Shu said as she pushed the bicycle with one hand and patted Er Bao’s head with the other.

Seeing Lin Guodong holding the food box, she asked, “What’s for dinner today?”

“There’s no meat, just cabbage, potatoes, and cucumbers. That’s what we got,” Er Bao answered quickly.

Ning Shu casually replied, “Eating vegetables for dinner is fine.”

As they were talking, they quickly reached the front of their home.

Before entering her own yard, Aunt Yang thanked Ning Shu, “Ning Shu, thank you for today. I won’t say much more, but I’ll remember your kindness.”

Ning Shu responded, “Aunt Yang, don’t mention it. We’re neighbors, and you’re like family to me. Don’t be so polite.”

Aunt Yang said, “Alright, I won’t be polite then.”

She appreciated Ning Shu’s help and kept it in mind.

They exchanged a few words, and Aunt Yang went inside, while Ning Shu returned to her own home.

Ning Shu only mentioned the matter to Lin Guodong later that night, when they were going to bed.

She didn’t bring it up at dinner because she worried that if the three children overheard, they might accidentally reveal the information.

Aunt Yang didn’t want anyone in the family quarters to know, as it might diminish Zhao Huan’s advantage if others also learned how to use the abacus.

Lin Guodong, though not interested in others’ family matters, was somewhat impressed by Aunt Yang’s careful consideration.

He respected her for having a broader perspective than many others of her age.

With the establishment of the supply and marketing cooperative, recruitment for staff had concluded.

Except for the management positions assigned by higher-ups, the basic staff were all recruited from the family quarters.

This was a significant opportunity for the families.

Zhao Huan had been attending a secret training course for several days, known only to the Lin family and the Yang family next door.

However, recently, the news about the cooperative was overshadowed by another event.

Lieutenant Xu returned with a task, and Xu Duomei went to the rooftop of the clinic and threatened to commit suicide.

Early that morning, the three children, after having breakfast and heading to school, noticed a crowd around the clinic.

Out of curiosity and with time to spare before class, they went over and saw Xu Duomei standing on the rooftop of the clinic.

The three children stared in shock.

Erbao asked innocently, “Big Brother, what’s Xu Duomei doing up there?”

Yibao shook his head, “I don’t know either.”

At that moment, a woman nearby said, “Oh, little kids, she’s threatening to commit suicide. She says she wants to jump from the top of the building.”

What?

The three kids’ eyes widened.

Erbao, looking at the three-story medical building, asked blankly, “Auntie, does it hurt to jump down? Will your legs break?”

The woman laughed at his question, “If you fall and die, who cares about the pain?”

Erbao, still puzzled, asked, “But if you don’t die from the fall, will it hurt?”

The woman was at a loss for words.

Wasn’t that obvious?

Of course, it would hurt if you didn’t die.

Meanwhile, Ning Shu, carrying a sack and a hoe to the back mountain to dig for bamboo shoots and pick wild vegetables, saw a group of women running, with some saying, “They say someone is trying to commit suicide on the roof of the medical building. Let’s go check it out.”

What?

Someone trying to commit suicide on the roof of the medical building?

Ning Shu was stunned.

Although suicides were not uncommon in news reports from the future, this was her first time seeing it in person.

She was curious about who in the family quarters was trying to commit suicide.

Without a second thought, Ning Shu ran towards the medical building, fearing she might miss seeing what happened if she was too slow.

Before she reached the medical building, she spotted three familiar figures in the crowd from a distance.

Were these her three kids?

However, her attention quickly shifted to Xu Duomei on the roof of the medical building.

The eight or nine-year-old girl was standing on the roof, looking down at the crowd below.

She hadn’t said anything, but she had drawn everyone’s attention.

Ning Shu swallowed hard and hurried to her kids, “Yibao, Erbao, Sanbao…”

Hearing their mother’s voice, the three kids turned around.

“Mom?”

“Mom, why are you here?”

“Mom, Xu Duomei is going to jump off the building.”

The three kids spoke in unison.

Ning Shu quickly said, “This is an adult matter. You should go back to school and attend your classes.”

Erbao replied, “Mom, it’s not class time yet.”

“If any classmates or teachers come looking for you, what will you do? Be good and go back to the classroom,” Ning Shu said sternly.

She didn’t want the kids to witness this situation.

Even though they had already seen it, she wanted to send them away to prevent them from witnessing anything too gruesome.

Ning Shu’s authority had been established since the kids were young, so they always obeyed when she spoke seriously. However…

Yibao was worried, “Mom, do you think Xu Duomei will… jump?”

Erbao was also attentively listening to his mother’s answer.

“Go back to the classroom first. I’ll keep an eye on the situation here, and everyone will try to help Xu Duomei. I’ll let you know if there’s any news,” Ning Shu reassured them.

Since Xu Duomei was a classmate of the three kids, they were concerned.

Ning Shu didn’t want them to worry, so she made them a promise.

Hearing this, the three kids agreed and quickly headed to school. “Okay, Mom, we’re going to school now.”

Once the kids were inside the school, Ning Shu felt relieved and turned her attention back to the scene.

By then, more and more people had gathered at the bottom of the medical building, including leaders like Lv Hong.

“Duomei, if you have anything on your mind, talk to Auntie. Don’t do anything rash,” Lu Hong said loudly into a megaphone.

Lu Hong wasn’t very familiar with Xu Duomei, but they had recently become acquainted due to Zhang Xiaoyue’s hospitalization.

Lu Hong had also covered some of Zhang Xiaoyue’s medical expenses, so she was seen as a good person in Xu Duomei’s eyes.

“Little girl, I’m a leader here. If you have any issues, you can tell us. We will definitely help you,” another military leader said after Lu Hong.

He wondered what could possibly push a young girl to such a desperate state.

“Make way… make way…”

A voice called from the crowd, and Ning Shu saw Lin Guodong and Deputy Commander Yang arriving, along with an unfamiliar man.

The man, looking anxious, rushed to the front and said urgently, “Duomei, if you have anything to say to your dad, please don’t scare him.”

It turned out that this man was Xu Duomei’s father, Xu Weilin.

Xu Duomei scanned the crowd one by one, finally focusing on her father, Xu Weilin: “Dad, do you really not know what I want to say? Do you know what kind of life Mom and I have at home?”

Her voice was choked with sobs and frustration. “You know, but you don’t help us.”

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, removing the tears that had flowed from her feelings of injustice and helplessness. “Dad, I haven’t tasted meat for a long time. When I told you I don’t like meat, I was lying. Because if I said I liked meat and ate it, Grandma would beat me with a broom when you weren’t around. It hurt so much.”

She continued, “She beat me and said she would beat Mom too, blaming her for not raising me properly. So every time you asked, I said I didn’t like meat.”

“Dad, I haven’t had eggs for a long time, but I remember their taste. When you were on a mission, Mom got sick and didn’t have money for treatment.

Grandma said it would be better if Mom died so she could find you a wife who could have sons.

I didn’t want Mom to die, so I borrowed two dollars from Lin Haizhi in our class to pay for her treatment.”

“When Grandma found out, she said the money was stolen and beat Mom until she fainted.

That was when I got to eat eggs.

They were brought by Aunt Yang and Lin Haizhi’s mom. I hadn’t had eggs for so long.

At that moment, I thought, if someone brings me eggs when I’m sick next time, maybe I’d like to be sick too…”

“Dad, before we joined the army, Mom, my sister, and I lived at home, eating wild vegetables every day, with endless chores and unending fields to work.

Among the whole family, we were the first to wake up and the last to go to bed.

One time, when my sister had a fever, Grandma wouldn’t give us money for treatment.

Mom took my sister and me to kneel outside the village doctor’s house for a whole night…”

The little girl’s words were disjointed and lacked logic, but they made everyone’s hearts ache.

Seeing the situation, Lin Guodong quietly left and entered the medical building without anyone noticing.

“Company Commander Lin, you’re here,” someone said.

The rescue preparations were in place, but the soldiers hadn’t moved yet, so Lin Guodong came to check.

“Why haven’t they taken action?” Lin Guodong asked.

The soldier sighed, “Company Commander, take a look for yourself.”

Lin Guodong went over and saw… he wasn’t sure how to describe it.

The little girl was indeed on the roof and seemed to be threatening to jump, but she was tied to a thick rope that was securely fastened to a column on the roof.

In other words, the little girl wasn’t really intending to jump.

Xu Duomei wasn’t really planning to jump from the building; even though she was young, she didn’t want to die.

However, after her father returned and repaid the money to the woman and Lin Haizhi, and after the issue of her mother being beaten by Grandma was just brushed aside without any further discussion from her mother, Xu Duomei felt unsettled.

She remembered what Aunt Yang had said.

In the past, when Aunt Yang was bullied in their hometown, she would use a rope and, in a crowd, go to the bully’s doorstep to pretend to hang herself.

Even if she didn’t actually hang herself, people would try to stop her, preventing her from carrying out the act.

But now, being bullied by her own grandmother, Xu Duomei couldn’t very well pretend to hang herself at her own doorstep.

If she did, everyone would see and stop her before she even got a chance, leading to another beating from her grandmother.

It wouldn’t be a convincing show.

She couldn’t hang herself at someone else’s door either, so she thought of the medical building.

If she pretended to jump from the roof, she could go up before anyone noticed and then act like she was going to jump when people arrived.

This way, it would look like a serious situation.

Lin Guodong, observing Xu Duomei on the roof, wasn’t sure what to say.

The rope she had was thick and long, clearly prepared for the act.

The thick mat placed below would ensure that even if she fell, the three-story height and the mat would prevent serious injury.

Lin Guodong decided, “Let’s wait a bit longer. Give her some time, and when the moment is right, we’ll stop her. After stopping her, we’ll remove the rope and make sure no one else sees it.”

“Understood.”