1983, Northeast China

Is Chapter 11 about burying my father?

The child's cry of "Nai!" brought tears to Aunt Zhao's eyes again.

She rushed to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and was about to reach out to hug him when Chen Shi stopped her.

Aunt Zhao's hand froze in mid-air as she stared at him expectantly. "He's already calling for help."

"Call someone to let them know you're not delirious from the fever. You're still warm."

As he spoke, he reached out and gently rubbed the child's tiger's mouth, the base of his wrist, and then stroked down the child's chest a few times.

The child whimpered, as if he was uncomfortable.

Chen Shi changed his pressure, "Your stomach is so bloated, don't feed you anything sweet or sticky. You have a fever and indigestion."

Before long, the child was covered in sweat, mumbled something unintelligible, and opened his eyes a crack.

Aunt Zhao called out excitedly, "Xiao Hu, Xiao Hu, can you hear Grandma?"

Zhao Xiaohu mumbled an "Mmm".

The adults in the room all breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Shi rubbed his sore wrists. "Uncle Zhao, Auntie, now that the child can recognize people, it's not a big problem. You'll have to work a little harder tonight. Check his forehead every now and then, and change his clothes if they get wet."

Aunt Zhao nodded repeatedly, "I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you."

After she finished speaking, she remembered something, turned around and went to rummage through the cabinet. "Shizi, wait here, your aunt will get you two eggs. Take them back and give them to Xiulan to help her recover."

"No need, Auntie, no need."

"Why not? Your sister just gave birth, and then that thing happened in the house. It's time for her to have something good to eat."

Chen Shi draped the handkerchief back over the edge of the basin. "Let's leave the eggs for the child. He had a fever tonight and is still weak when he woke up. If he can eat tomorrow, we'll steam some soft egg custard for him."

"Alright, Shizi told you to keep it, so keep it. I'll figure out what to do with his sister tomorrow. Shizi, come out with me for a bit."

The two went to the outer room.

Zhao Defa pulled the curtain down, then took out the red cloth strip and half a piece of cardboard from his pocket.

The cardboard wasn't large, and the edges were charred, making the writing very blurry.

Zhao Defa turned the kerosene lamp up a bit, and the two of them huddled together to study it.

It wasn't a complete sheet of paper; it looked like half a page torn from some notebook.

A few lines of text were written crookedly on it.

The deposit is 50.

Knife Six.

Girl.

Timber road.

The signature, Han Changgui, is complete.

The others were burned beyond recognition.

Chen Shi's face was ashen; others might not know, but he knew all too well.

Han Changgui really sold Ya Ya and accepted the deposit.

The character "刀六" should be half of the character "初" in "初六".

He stared at those words for a long time before finally squeezing out through gritted teeth, "Beast."

Fifty dollars is not a small amount of money these days.

It's enough for Han Changgui to drink for a long time, and enough for him to go out and gamble a few times.

That's Yaya.

A child who is only five or six years old, who doesn't even dare to loudly say that the meat soup is delicious after taking a sip.

Zhao Defa clearly guessed what was going on. "Han Changgui sold Yaya out?"

Chen Shi remained silent.

The sixth day of the lunar new year—today is the third day of the twelfth lunar month. There are really only a few days left until the sixth day. I almost let Han Changgui have a good life. Chen Shi thought through gritted teeth.

"If this is true, Han Changgui's death was not unjust," Zhao Defa said.

"He wasn't wronged in the first place." Chen Shi said this as if he wanted to grab a wood-chopping knife and give Han Changgui a good whack.

"Keep the things with you. On the surface, try to find out who Han Changgui saw before he died, but don't mention Ya Ya."

Zhao Defa nodded. "I understand."

"And then there's Tian Guizhi," Chen Shi continued. "She kept staring at what Han Changgui had on him, not necessarily for money."

"If she really gets involved, I won't let her off the hook."

"Uncle Zhao, don't do anything to her yet. She'll only reveal her true colors when she panics."

"Why reveal it?"

Chen Shi looked towards the door.

The timber road connects the forest farm and also to the outside world.

The footprints at the Three Pines also lead north into the woods.

Chen went through everything in his mind.

Zhao Defa is already overwhelmed by the land redistribution and old disputes, so anything else might not be good for him.

He only said, "If Tian Guizhi knew who Han Changgui went to see, she would be more anxious than we are."

Zhao Defa pondered for a moment, then nodded. "I'll find someone who keeps quiet to inquire around the timber yard. You should go back first today; Xiulan is waiting for you."

Chen Shi was thinking about his family and didn't stand on ceremony.

"Okay, I'll go back first." He buttoned up his hat, then went into the inner room to greet Aunt Zhao, "Auntie, something's come up with for the child, could you send someone to call me again?"

Aunt Zhao hurriedly said, "It's already dark, we can't keep bothering you. You should go back now. Thank you so much for today."

"Auntie, don't say that." Chen Shi glanced at Zhao Defa. "Uncle Zhao also covered for my sister quite a bit today."

Zhao Defa waved his hand, not letting him finish speaking.

"Don't stand on ceremony with me." He fastened his pipe. "Tomorrow morning, I'll have Dahai and the others go to the cemetery to take a look. The frozen soil is hard; dig if you can, and if you can't, burn some firewood to warm it up first. I've also asked around about the funeral supplies."

Chen Shi nodded.

This means that Han Changgui's funeral will be held tomorrow.

On the way back, Chen Shi saw Han Changgui again; he was still lying there.

Chen Shi couldn't help but sigh, "God was really kind to Han Changgui; he was blown up in an instant."

Why can't such a rotten person be made to suffer a little?

When I arrived at my sister's house, there was still a little light on inside.

When Chen Shi pushed open the door, he could still smell a faint aroma of rabbit soup.

Aunt Wang is no longer here. The pot lid in the outer room is covered, and the stove is still neatly arranged.

It looks like Aunt Wang brought some of her own firewood over, afraid it would be cold at night.

Ya Ya's voice came from inside the house, "Uncle?"

"It's me." Chen Shi lifted the curtain and went in.

On the kang (heated brick bed), Chen Xiulan remained in the same position, but her eyes were much clearer.

Xiaoman nestled beside her, sleeping soundly, her little mouth occasionally twitching.

Ya Ya sat on the kang table, holding a cloth tiger in her arms, with a small bowl on the table.

There was half a bowl of rabbit soup left in the bowl.

The oil on top had long since solidified, and the soup had gone completely cold.

When Ya Ya saw Chen Shi, she pushed the bowl forward.

"Uncle, I saved it for you," she said. "Nobody else has drunk it."

On such a cold day, a child waited by the window for half a bowl of cold soup until it got dark.

Chen Shi sat down next to her and patted her little head.

"Stubborn, he stood there motionless waiting for you, he didn't even go to the outhouse," Chen Xiulan said.

"Wait for your uncle to come back. You said you'd drink with him when he gets back."

"Yes, Uncle keeps his word." Chen Shi picked up the bowl.

Chen Xiulan quickly said, "It's cold, put it in the pot to heat it up."

"It's alright." Chen Shi took a sip.

The soup had cooled down and the fishy smell had become stronger. The earthy sweetness of the astragalus root was also particularly noticeable, but he still thought it tasted good.

Ya Ya looked at him, "Uncle, does it still smell good?"

"It smells good." Chen Shi nodded. "It smells even better than the canned food sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."

Ya Ya had never seen canned food before, but she knew it must be something good, and she immediately smiled.

Chen Xiulan looked on, and felt like crying again. Perhaps because she had cried so much today, her tears were not falling so easily.

"How are Uncle Zhao's kids?" she asked.

"You've calmed down." Chen Shi put down the bowl. "The fever hasn't gone down yet, but it's not as scary as it was before."

Chen Xiulan breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhao Defa has been busy with her family's affairs all day. If something were to happen to his child, she would feel even more guilty.

"It's good that you're alright."

Chen Shi could tell that something was on her mind, so he took the initiative to say, "Uncle Zhao said that the hole will be dug first thing tomorrow morning."

Ya Ya hugged the cloth tiger tightly. "Is it for burying my dad?"

Chen Shi looked at Ya Ya and said, "Mm."

Ya Ya lowered her head, her fingers picking at the missing eye of the cloth tiger.

Chen Shi didn't try to comfort her by saying that she wouldn't be afraid now that her father was dead.

Children have the simplest minds.

No matter how bad Han Changgui is, he's still her father.

But when Han Changgui was around, she was indeed afraid.

These two things are mixed together, and even an adult might not be able to explain it clearly, let alone a child.

"Ya Ya will stay home with your mother tomorrow and won't go anywhere."

Ya Ya nodded obediently.

Chen Xiulan looked at him, "Shizi, the funeral..."

"You don't need to worry about it," Chen Shi interrupted her. "The fact that he's alright is more important than anything else."

Chen Xiulan had heard these words several times today.

She used to feel that life was hard, but now that Han Changgui is gone, she feels both empty and a little insecurely grounded.

Chen Shi went to the outer room to tidy up the stove area, and when he returned to the room, he saw Ya Ya's little head nodding sleepily.

Chen Shi carried her to the kang (a heated brick bed), tucked her in, and said, "Go to sleep."

"Uncle is sleeping too," Ya Ya said groggily.

"Yes, Uncle is sleeping too."

The child was frightened during the day and felt sleepy quickly, but he slept restlessly, and one hand unconsciously reached towards Chen Xiulan.

Chen Xiulan took her little hand in hers and patted it gently.

Chen Shi added two pieces of firewood to the stove in the outer room, letting the fire simmer slowly.

His sister had just given birth, and he tidied up a place in the outer room where he could sleep and lay down.

But Chen Shi couldn't sleep.

Han Changgui is dead, but his sister is still alive, and Yaya and Xiaoman weren't smothered to death by that beast. This is already an incredible stroke of luck.

After a busy day, he finally had a moment to stop and confirm that he had truly been reborn.

He got the bargain, but he also ended up with a huge mess.

With his eyes closed, Chen Shi went through all sorts of things in his mind: food, drinks, daily necessities, things for adults, things for children, things related to human relationships, and all sorts of other random things.

He has to go into the mountains.

We still have to go down to the river.

Kaoshantun is poor, but it has mountains, water, and forests, so people won't starve.