“Auntie, I haven’t eaten for three days. I want to go home, I want to live.” She choked with emotion with every sentence she spoke. But she was afraid that no one would take her in. She had saved the lives of so many people, but in the end, she did not know who could save her.
“It’s all right, it’s all right.” Changsheng’s mother hurriedly touched Yan Huan’s hair, like how she would treat her own children and said, “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be fine at Auntie’s place here. We’ll let you eat what we have in our home. You won’t starve.”
“Well, have a good night’s sleep after you have your dinner. Everything will be alright once you wake up.” Changsheng felt really sorry for Yan Huan, who had not eaten for three days. She might really starve to death if she had not stopped her.
Changsheng’s mother brought out the bowl just when Changsheng also came back.
“Changsheng, you come over here. Mom has something to say to you.” Changsheng’s mother hurriedly called his son.
Changsheng went over. He did not know what his mother wanted to talk to him about.
“Ah, Changsheng…..” Changsheng’s mother took hold of Changsheng’s arm and asked. “Did you ever talk to the girl about letting her live in our house ah?”
“About that…” Changsheng touched the back of his head and replied, “Mom, I haven’t mentioned it yet.”
“Didn’t I ask you to speak to her the last time?” Changsheng’s mother really wanted to give Changsheng a slap. How had he not handled the matter? He was already so old and yet he did not know how to pass on a single of the message?
“It was not that I felt embarrassed.” Changsheng blushed which was rare. He actually did not know what happened. When he talked with the other girls in the village, he also had nothing to be nervous about. But as soon as he saw Yan Huan, he would become nervous. He was so nervous that he could not speak. Even if he had spoken, he also did not make much sense. In the end, the matter that he was supposed to bring up, he had not spoken up about it until now.
“This child of mine…..” Changsheng’s mother really did not know whether to scold her son, or to scold that immoral thing. He actually stole the other person’s only food. Did it not imply that he deliberately wanted that person to die?
“Mom, what’s going on? Did something happen?”
At this moment, Changsheng realized that it was as if his mother had something to say that she had not said yet.
“What else could be the matter?” Changsheng’s mother rolled her eyes at her son. Then she pointed to the empty room and said again, “I brought her back.”
“What do you mean? You brought her back?” Changsheng did not believe it and asked again, “What’s going on? Why did you bring her back?”
“Lower your voice.” Changsheng’s mother pulled her son over and pulled him aside.
“When I went out, I just happened to run into her, so I brought her home. It’s a good thing I brought her back. Did you know that the girl has not eaten for three days? If no one really cared, this would be literally letting her starve to death.”
“Three days without food? How is that possible?” Changsheng did not believe it. It was not possible. He said, “I had sent her rice and the people in the village also gave her some rice, enough for her to eat till spring comes.”
“What’s impossible about that?” Changsheng’s mother said. She felt really angry inside as she added, “I don’t know which son of a bitch did these inhumane things. She already had so little and yet that person stole her rice. It might have been fine if that person stole from other families. How can that person steal from her? She is without family and no one to take care of her. Plus, she was also an outsider. She was counting on the rice to survive. All of a sudden, her rice was stolen and completely gone. Was this to let her die like this?”
“How could the rice be stolen?” Changsheng also could not believe it. He said, “What was the point of stealing the rice? Who did it?”
“Ah, from the way I see it, it must be Jin Gen who did it.” Changsheng’s mother thought about it for a long while and could only think of Jin Gen. The people in the village had lived together for almost a lifetime. Everyone knew everyone’s character. No matter how the people in the village were, they could not have done such an inhumane thing as to drive someone to her death. Only Jin Gen was someone capable of doing such a thing.
“I guess he was the one who did it, too.”
The moment Changsheng mentioned Jin Gen’s name, he felt anger rise in him. Was it not deliberately making someone die? After he finished speaking, he wanted to go outside.
“What are you going to do?” Changsheng’s mother stopped her son in a hurry.
“I want to look for him for some answers.” Changsheng could not hold down the anger in him after he heard that Jin Gen had taken all life-saving rice away from Yan Huan and made her go hungry for three days. If she had not happened to run into his mother just in time, perhaps she might have really starved to death soon after.
“You go looking for him and he will admit it?” Changsheng’s mother grabbed hold of her son tightly. She was afraid that he would be impulsive and ran over to Jin Gen’s place. What kind of person was Jin Gen? He was the village’s scum. There was no sense in reasoning with him.
Changsheng also calmed down once he heard the words and said, “Mom, don’t tell me that we have to put up with him committing those outrageous acts?” Changsheng was still unwilling to let these things go. How could that kind of person get away with committing wrong and then repeatedly hurt other people once again?
“Sigh…” Changsheng’s mother sighed and said, “It’s not that we don’t avenge it. It’s just that the time is not ripe yet. All right.” She patted Changsheng on the shoulders and said, “You should also go wash your face. I left food for you in the stove room. Eat first. Anyway, the child is now in our house. She is going to be fine. She was just starving.”
Changsheng still felt somewhat uncomfortable inside. But it was no use no matter how uncomfortable he was. What Changsheng’s mother said was right. He could not go look for Jin Gen. It was useless even if he did look for him. Jin Gen was not likely to admit it.
It might cause the incident to be known by everyone at that time which would not be good for them.
Jin Gen was an incorrigible scoundrel. Indeed, they could not punish him but there were many people who could punish him in the world.
Changsheng was just getting ready to go to the stove room but he also glanced toward that room. He had already packed up all the things inside, which made the room livable. In a short while, he would go get some firewood and heat up the brick bed. In that way, it would be more comfortable while sleeping.
He had just picked up the bowl. He had not yet eaten a mouthful when he put the bowl down and went first to fire up the heated bed.
In fact, Yan Huan did not fall asleep. She had heard the conversation between Changsheng and his mother just now.
Truthfully, the guess by the mother and son was also similar to her guess that Jin Gen had taken all her rice. Indeed, the time was not ripe yet. She did not have the ability to take revenge for herself. She, Yan Huan, would remember this grievance. She would avenge her own grievance and did not need to wait for other people to do it for her.
He robbed her of one rice grain, she would let him suffer a kick. Then counting the number of rice grains, even if it meant beating him to death, it was not enough to make up for the suffering of being hungry that she had to endure for three days.
She put her hands inside the quilt and suddenly, the pair of eyes which had always been clear, finally held a hint of smile within. Perhaps this was the first time she smiled since she came here.
