1983, Northeast China

Chapter 8 Old Sounds

Hearing this, Aunt Wang quickly went inside, saying, "Let me see, maybe they're hungry."

She walked to the door, then turned back and called out to Chen Shi, "I've cleaned up the rabbit for you, haven't I?"

"I'll do it."

"What are you doing here? Your hands are frozen like radishes." Aunt Wang kicked him. "Go inside and warm up, have some hot water. Do you think I don't know how to kill a rabbit?"

Chen Shi did not argue with her.

There's no point in arguing about these things now.

Aunt Wang carried the rabbit into the yard and called out to Ya Ya with a happy smile, "Ya Ya, there's a rabbit!"

Ya Ya exclaimed excitedly from inside the house, "There really is... a rabbit..."

The voice brightened briefly, then quickly subsided, whether from feeling the occasion was inappropriate or from being afraid of disturbing her younger brother, it was unclear.

Chen Shi felt a pang of sadness.

Even a five or six-year-old child has to control their emotions when they are happy.

Zhao Defa poked at the ashes in the earthenware pot with a stick. "Will this work?"

"I can hold on, I'm fine." It was a seemingly random sentence, but Chen Shi understood what he was asking.

The Chen family is a huge family, with one mess after another. To others, the current situation makes the Chen family seem like a bottomless pit.

For him, they were family he had thought about his whole life. No matter how bad things got, as long as they were still alive, that was enough.

"That's fine then."

Zhao Defa looked around.

Dahai and Shuanzhu carried the brazier and headed towards the brigade.

"I'll keep that red ribbon for now. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle what happens later if you keep it."

"Hmm." Chen Shi roughly knew what was written on the red ribbon—it was about Ya Ya.

Thinking of Ya Ya, Chen Shi wanted to go over and give Han Changgui two more punches.

What is that thing? It's dead and still keeps emitting disgusting filth.

"Tian Guizhi just circled around again, but didn't go into the courtyard; she just stood at the intersection looking out."

Chen Shi wasn't surprised at all. "Didn't say a word?"

"I told them to ask if Han Changgui had anything else on him," Zhao Defa sneered. "He also said that since the man is dead, his belongings shouldn't be taken by outsiders."

"Is she considered my wife?"

Zhao Defa almost choked on his words. "You've got a sharp tongue, kid. Did that detonator hit your mouth? But don't say that to her face."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid she'll make a scene. This woman has something to hide. If she really goes all out and causes trouble, Xiulan won't be able to handle it."

Chen Shi remained silent; this was the truth.

With her current health, Chen Xiulan is so frail that even if Tian Guizhi comes into the house crying and making a scene, or even just howls outside the courtyard gate, it will startle her into a cold sweat.

"Uncle Zhao, Han Changgui left from her place after the chickens were put on the shelf. He only returned to Laonangou this morning. As soon as he got back, he dragged my sister to look for some kind of treasure, saying it was left by my father. He pulled my sister and headed over there."

"What treasure?" Zhao Defa had never heard of this before. "Your dad's treasure? That's pure nonsense. He treasured his old pipe, and it's buried in his grave."

"For more than ten hours in between, he couldn't go without seeing other people. My sister kept telling him that it was dangerous over there and that he shouldn't go. The more my sister talked, the more he felt that my dad had buried a treasure."

"I know what happened." Zhao Defa looked dejected when the topic came up.

In the early years, many incidents were caused. Later, many people from higher up came and lined up. After a long time, Chen Mancang discovered another one and reported it to his superiors. They waited and waited, but no one came.

The village had no choice but to tell the villagers not to go this way.

Later, Chen Mancang discussed with him the idea of ​​building Chen Xiulan's house here.

For this reason, he even made a special mark and told Chen Xiulan the exact location.

Who knows, as the story spread, it became the rumor that Chen Mancang buried a treasure.

"Nobody's to blame. He deserved to be bombed. Tell your sister to relax; it has nothing to do with her," Zhao Defa said.

"I won't let the gossip in the village get the better of me. As for who Han Changgui saw before he died, that's not something I can ask. If I ask too many questions, I'll have to report it to the commune. Once the commune comes, all the old issues and the land redistribution will be messed up."

"It's better to stir it up than to smother it."

Zhao Defa glanced at him.

Chen Shi continued, "If we don't ask now and wait for Tian Guizhi to speak first, we can't control how those words come out of her mouth."

Zhao Defa remained silent.

He understands the principles.

If we were to actually do it, too many people would be involved.

There are quite a few people watching the area around Laonangou.

How did the old detonators come about? Why weren't they cleaned up properly back then? Who knows? Who's pretending not to know? It's not something that can be explained in just a few words.

Chen Shi didn't press him. He bent down, gathered the firewood in the willow basket, and picked up two pieces of astragalus root.

Zhao Defa glanced at it and asked, "What's this?"

Astragalus membranaceus.

"Dug up from the mountain?"

"Yes, the frozen soil is hard, so we dug out two sections."

Zhao Defa nodded. "Your dad used to bring these things home too, like turf and tree roots, and he could tell you what they were used for."

After he finished speaking, he fell silent.

"You didn't go towards Laonangou when you went up the mountain, did you?" Zhao Defa suddenly asked.

"no."

"That's good. Anyway, try to avoid going that way, and avoid touching it if you can."

Chen Shi looked at Zhao Defa and sensed that he not only knew what had happened at Sankesong, but he was also afraid.

He didn't show it on his face, but nodded and said, "Understood."

Zhao Defa looked at him, as if still worried, and added, "You're not alone now, don't be like your father."

Chen Shi was about to speak again when he saw Ya Ya peeking out from under the door.

"uncle."

"Why did you come out?"

"Grandma said the rabbit needs to be skinned," Ya Ya said, her eyes sparkling. "Can we have meat soup tonight?"

"able."

Ya Ya smiled, then quickly looked back into the house, afraid that Chen Xiulan would say she was greedy.

Chen Shi patted her little head and took the two frozen hawthorns out of his pocket.

The hawthorns were frozen solid, with bird peck marks on their red skin. He picked out the good ones, but they weren't particularly attractive.

Ya Ya's eyes widened suddenly. "For me?"

"One is for you, and the other is for your mother."

Ya Ya took it, thought for a moment, and then asked, "Doesn't my little brother have one?"

"My little brother has no teeth, he can't eat."

Ya Ya was relieved. She put one of the bags into her pocket and held the other in her hand. Then she looked up at him and said, "Uncle, that aunt in the red headscarf came by."

Not only Chen Shi, but Zhao Defa also looked over. "She spoke to you?"

Ya Ya shook her head. "No, she's standing right there."

Chen Shi picked up Ya Ya, "What else did she do?"

Ya Ya thought for a moment, "She cried twice."

"Did you really cry?"

Ya Ya shook her head seriously, "No tears."

Zhao Defa snorted again.

Chen Shi then asked, "Anything else?"

Ya Ya pinched a hawthorn and whispered, "She secretly kicked my door."

"She really never stops causing trouble."

Chen Shi pulled Ya Ya into his arms.

Seeing that the two adults' expressions were not good, Ya Ya timidly asked, "Uncle, should I have said that?"

"I should say that."

"Will that auntie in the red headscarf scold me?"

"She doesn't dare."

"If she scolds me, I'll cry."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Yes, if you're unhappy, just cry. I'll be right here, and you can even hit her."

Zhao Defa, listening nearby, wanted nothing more than to hit Chen Shi with a stick. "What kind of uncle are you, teaching the child this?"

"As long as it works. Don't be like my sister."

"That's true. These days, honest kids suffer."

From inside, Aunt Wang called out, "Shizi, you two don't leave the baby outside in the cold, come in quickly! The rabbit is chopped up."