Chapter 188: Taking a Car
Luo Dahua simply pulled her younger daughter aside, warning her not to embarrass them, because the four adults in the carriage had already turned their faces away, pretending to have seen nor heard nothing.
Usually, everyone was on good terms, doing laundry together in the yard, chatting about family affairs, and even on the way there, they had been talking and laughing, as close as anything. But now, with self-interest at stake, the attitude towards a companion with two children had turned to indifference.
Yang Peimin glanced at Luo Dahua, who was silent, and the Red Army wife, who seemed about to speak but stopped, and sighed to herself. They were embarrassed to say anything because they had children with them, but deep down they were hoping to get their kids on the carriage, to spare them the fatigue.
They had not planned to bring the children on such a long journey, but the children were too young to be left at home unwatched and they couldn’t set their minds at ease.
For adults, the journey of more than ten miles might not seem much, which could be covered in less than three hours at a brisk pace; but with two children, one three years old and the other two, and their mother carrying dozens of pounds, they had to carry both the children and the goods, not knowing if they would arrive by dark. She checked her watch; it was just past 2 PM.
Yang Peimin walked up to Brother Li, who was leading the ox, and asked if he could come back to give them a ride later.
Brother Li, who appeared to be in his thirties and looked like he was taking his family to town for errands, had an honest face. When Yang Peimin asked him politely and earnestly, he scratched the back of his head, seeming embarrassed, and said, "I—I’m called Li Dashu. This ox cart belongs to the collective. My child today suffered from severe diarrhea until he was completely drained of energy and spiritless. The whole family was terrified, and we called the village doctor, but he couldn’t do anything, so my wife and I hastily borrowed the ox cart to rush to the town’s health clinic. This is my wife; the doctor has already seen him, and the child’s diarrhea has stopped. The doctor said it was due to drinking unclean water and advised us to be more careful... We’re now in a hurry to return the ox cart to the collective. These two ladies are also from our village, they came to the Cooperative Society to shop, and we just gave them a lift on the way. This—this young lady, I—I don’t know if the collective would allow another loan."
The honest big brother spilled all the details about his situation.