Li Xianglu felt as if piercing pain brought her back to consciousness; it felt like her back was being jabbed with a needle, the pain nearly making her bite off her tongue. She reached her hand towards her back, only to be quickly subdued by someone. Soon, she distinctly felt someone sewing up her back with a needle and thread.
Following that was a sensation of searing heat, as if on fire, tormenting her until she felt dead or alive. Then, she smelled the scent of alcohol—the searing pain was from alcohol!
Who was this beast, daring to sprinkle alcohol on her wound... Once she regained consciousness, she would never forgive them... These were the thoughts that drifted through Li Xianglu's mind as she slipped back into unconsciousness.
It was unclear how much time had passed before Li Xianglu woke again amid a clamor—the angry berating of an elderly woman: "Are you even this child's real mother? How could you be so heartless? She's flesh of your own flesh, yet you could harm her so?!" The old woman's voice broke into sobs as she spoke.
Then, the familiar voice of Ge Sanmei was heard: "This child was also carried by me for ten months and given birth to. How could I not hurt seeing her suffer like this? In that moment, I too was desperate. This child has a sweet tooth as well, and she just went and ate the flour set aside for her second brother. Mom, you know that in the Li family, it's only the second brother who has a little bit of an education and is expected to have a rationed supply in future. That bit of flour was painstakingly saved from the food left over by the commune cadres in July. It's not meant for a mere girl to consume."
No sooner had these words been spoken than Li Jianqing's voice rose: "Mom, how can you talk nonsense like this? What noodles? I had my bowl of noodles tossed with hot oil, and I left the second brother's portion in the bowl cabinet. Then my sister and I went out together. We never went back. How could you falsely accuse my younger sister?"
Ge Sanmei was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then quickly thought of something but did not move; she simply defended herself with: "The matter hasn't been clarified, and I did not do it on purpose."
The old lady next to them snorted: "They are all your daughters. Why are you so partial? Jianhong is your favorite, and you neglect her misdeeds, letting the matter pass with just a simple 'it wasn't clear'."
Li Xianglu barely opened her eyes and saw she was lying on the kang (a traditional Chinese heated bed) in her house, and beside her a sixty-year-old woman was seated with her legs crossed. She was wearing an old slant-collared jacket made of black coarse cloth, freshly washed and clean, her silver-white hair wrapped in a black kerchief.
Seeing Li Xianglu awaken, the old woman hurriedly came over and asked, "Xiang girl, how are you? Does it still hurt?"
At that moment, Li Xianglu felt a fiery pain on her back, seemingly unbearable. Her mouth was dry as she deliriously looked at the old woman and managed to say, "Thirsty."
Nimbly, the old woman got up from the kang, walked to the other end where a window sill was situated, picked up a bowl and brought it over. She placed the bowl on the edge of the kang before helping Li Xianglu sit up, avoiding putting pressure on her back. Enduring the pain, Li Xianglu managed to sit up and the old lady brought over a bowl of dates and millet porridge.
After timidly taking a few sips, she finally dared to gulp down more. The porridge was thickly cooked, with sweet dates. The old lady then sighed and turning to Li Erfu who had entered, she said: "This is terrible. Such a good child, how can she not cherish her?"
Li Erfu took out a tobacco pipe from a corner, lit it and began smoking carefully, also overwhelmed with irritation.
His eldest daughter was married to a man from the local commune who was quite decent. She was pregnant and well-regarded by her husband's family. She had come home for the harvest, and her husband had even come up to help for a few days. But on just the second day, trouble had arisen.
Li Xianglu could only smile bitterly; it turned out her beating and injury were because Ge Sanmei, her own mother, suspected she had stolen and eaten the half bowl of black noodles left for her second brother. She realized she had been valued less than a mere bit of black noodles.
After finishing the porridge, the old lady beamed a smile and said, "Xiang girl, don't hold a grudge against your Mom. That's just the way she is. She didn't expect such an accident to happen. You're also quite lucky. Thankfully, we have a doctor in our team who was sent down here. Otherwise, with you bleeding so much, it might have been too late by the time we got you to the township."
Li Xianglu was pale, bloodless, and felt a bit better after drinking the bowl of porridge. Yet, she had no strength left in her body. The old lady quickly helped her granddaughter lie down again.
Oh, I forgot to mention, this old lady is none other than my very own Grandma, known as Wu Zhaodi, who lives with her eldest son, Li Dafu. This time her visit is probably due to issues in her younger son's household.
Li Xianglu had passed out, and by the time she woke up, it was already dark. She saw her younger brother with a pair of pitch-black eyes, staring at her.
Li Xianglu weakly smiled, then saw Li Jianqing eagerly bring over a bowl from the side. Steaming and emitting a meaty scent, it was too hot to touch.
Li Xianglu's sense of smell had been dulled due to her injuries; she couldn't even tell what was in the bowl that had Li Jianqing so excited.
After being propped up, she could see by the light of the kerosene lamp a big bowl of stewed rabbit meat, with potatoes cooked alongside it.
Li Jianqing passionately placed it on the kang table in front of his sister. Li Xianglu also played along and took a bite of the meat—there was an earthy taste to it; clearly, no seasoning had been used. This cooking style, no need to say, must be Ge Sanmei's doing. She had once eaten meat prepared by Ge Sanmei when she first arrived—it also had this distinctive earthy taste.
Li Xianglu took a bite and immediately lost her appetite. Not that she was being delicate, but her wounds were so painful, she couldn't eat. So she said in a soft voice, "Er Ge, you eat it, I can't. I just want to drink some water."
Li Jianqing hurriedly shook his head and said, "No, little sister. Doctor Qin said you've lost too much blood; you need to replenish."
Li Xianglu looked at the person before her—his face serious and determined—smiled and said, "How about this? You eat the meat, and I'll just have some soup, okay? The soup is also very nourishing." Then she looked at him with pleading eyes.
Li Jianqing, seeing his pitiful little sister, swallowed hard and said, "Alright then, I'll eat the meat, and you drink the soup."
Li Xianglu nodded quickly and said, "Alright, brother. Could you pour me a bowl of hot water first?"
Li Jianqing agilely got off the kang bed.
He soon returned with a bowl of hot water.
So, one drank hot water, the other ate the meat, and Li Xianglu kept with the routine—after a few sips of the meat broth, her task was completed, while Li Jianqing finished off a bowl of the meat and potatoes.
As soon as he left, Li Xianglu quickly took a strip of capsules from her space, swallowed two, then grabbed a bottle of glucose and started chugging it down, not stopping until she had consumed an entire bottle of glucose before slowly lying down.
It wasn't long before Li Jianqing came back in. Seeing that his sister had crawled down from the kang bed, he too crawled up and sat cross-legged beside her, whispering, "Daddy scolded elder sister, and she cried a lot. Even Grandma chided her. I didn't expect her to be so shameless—she was still scrambling to eat meat just now. I don't even want to bother with her, and she's the oldest too!"
Li Xianglu gave a faint smile, but said nothing.
Li Jianqing didn't know what else to say. He just wanted to cheer his sister up, but it was a situation that no one could easily come to terms with. He couldn't forget the scene—how their own mother had charged at his sister like a madwoman, slapping her to the ground without even asking a question. He imagined his sister must be angry too.