Chapter 310: The Shocked Zhao Tiehua
They had dinner just as it got dark, and then Zhao Wendong and Lin Zhiyin returned to their home by the sea and got busy. Lin Zhiyin was feeling particularly bold; she even initiated and turned the tables on him for once. In the dead of night, they fell asleep in each other’s arms. Zhao Wendong gently brushed aside her sweat-soaked bangs. “What’s gotten into you today?”
“It’s nothing. I just want to have a baby soon… our baby.”
Lin Zhiyin lay languidly on top of Zhao Wendong, barely having the strength to speak.
“Huh? Are my in-laws pestering you about giving them a grandchild again? Help me up. I’ve still got more in me.”
“Hmph, you pervert!”
The next morning, long before dawn, Niu Yuesheng stepped through the door, bringing a gust of frigid air with him.
“Hahaha, Happy New Year, Dongzi Brothers! Happy New Year, Uncle, Auntie!”
“Happy New Year, Brother Niu. Why are you here so early?”
“We’ve got a long trip today. I came early so I wouldn’t hold you up.”
Zhao Wendong was touched. He took his hand and said, “Breakfast is ready. Come join us.”
“Heh heh, alright. I got up so early I haven’t eaten yet.”
Niu Yuesheng didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down to eat breakfast with them. Being a worldly and well-traveled man with a silver tongue, he got along wonderfully with everyone. They all liked him, and Little Tuanzi wouldn’t stop calling him “Niu Guo, Niu Guo.”
The family knew Zhao Wendong was going to pick up his second and third aunts and their families, so they had prepared a pile of old cotton quilts to keep them from freezing during the ride. Lin Zhiyin and Jin Xiuying had wanted to go too, but considering how far it was, Zhao Wendong decided to only take Zhao Wenwu. Er Gouzi, however, insisted on tagging along, so they had no choice but to bring him. He even slung a rifle over his back, as Niu Yuesheng had mentioned that the roads weren’t exactly safe.
Zhao Wenjun had also wanted to go, but since the second day of the New Year was traditionally when a wife visited her own family, and Song Xiaoyu had been eager to see her parents, Zhao Wendong used the excuse that there wasn’t enough room in the truck’s cab and sent him off to accompany her. Song Xiaoyu’s family lived in Wang Family Tomb, which wasn’t too far from Dragon King Pond.
In his past life, even under such dire circumstances, the Song Family had taken in Shitou and Yadan. Although he lost contact with them later, Zhao Wendong remembered going to look for them. The villagers had told him the Song Family couldn’t survive the famine; one day, they were just gone, their house left empty, and no one knew where they went. Even before that, they had often helped Song Xiaoyu’s family. In fact, right before his rebirth, all the grain his family had came from Song Xiaoyu’s parents.
Zhao Wendong held the Song Family in high regard. So, not only did he have Zhao Wenjun take plenty of food so Song Xiaoyu could return to her family in style, but, worried that the journey on foot would be too hard with the children, he also arranged a horse-drawn sleigh for them.
Since Lin Zhiyin and Jin Xiuying couldn’t go, they stayed home to help prepare the decorations for the wedding tomorrow. Even though everything had to be kept simple in these times, they hoped to make it as nice as possible, creating the best wedding memories they could under the circumstances.
Zhao Wendong loved how Niu Yuesheng could talk about anything and everything. The two stood with arms slung over each other’s shoulders, chatting and laughing for a good while. After reconfirming with Zhao Dashan that his third aunt’s family lived in Tanzi Village of Chengzi Commune in Yin County, the group finally set off.
By the time the truck reached the county seat, the sky was just beginning to brighten. Niu Yuesheng was used to driving long stretches without a break, so by 10 a.m., they had already reached Chengzi Commune. From there, they asked for directions until they found Tanzi Village.
As the truck pulled up to the village entrance, they were surprised to see a small group of people gathered there.
‘Hey, there are people here. Perfect. I can ask for directions to my third aunt’s house.’
Zhao Wendong was pleased. Once the truck came to a stop, he leaned his head out the window to look at the group. Every one of them was sallow and emaciated, with vacant eyes and tattered clothes.
“Excuse me, we’re looking for someone. Do you know where Zhao Tiehua’s family lives?”
The villagers’ expressions were complicated. One even shot them a furtive glare. Another pointed irritably toward a distant house, in front of which another small crowd was gathered.
“You’re here to arrest Wei the kid and you don’t even know where he lives? That’s the house right there! Sigh… Zhou the kid was forced into it, too. He had no choice. What a tragedy!”
Zhao Wendong was utterly confused, but his heart sank. ‘This doesn’t sound good.’ The family his third aunt, Zhao Tiehua, had married into was surnamed Wei.
In the distance, the door to Zhao Tiehua’s house opened. Two militiamen, rifles slung over their backs, marched a painfully thin young man of average height out of the house.
“What are you all crowding around for? Move aside!”
The man in the lead glared at the villagers blocking the doorway and barked, his expression souring.
The villagers shuffled their feet, reluctantly parting to clear a path.
“My son! My son!”
A woman burst out of the drafty, dilapidated house. She was just as frail, her hair completely white, her face gaunt and haggard.
The woman clung desperately to the young man, refusing to let go. The lead militiaman’s expression grew even darker as he looked to the side at the production team leader of Tanzi Village.
The production team leader sighed and reached out to pull the woman away. “Tiehua, you have to let go. Making a scene won’t do any good. This man is a leader from the Commune. Your own eldest son reported your boy. He has to be taken in for investigation. If you keep causing trouble, they’ll take you, too.”
This woman was none other than Zhao Wendong’s third aunt, Zhao Tiehua.
“Then take me! Take me, too! If I, Zhao Tiehua, am going to die, I’ll die with my Laishun! SOB… SOB…”
The production team leader couldn’t bear to watch.
“Can’t we show a little leniency here? Her husband, Old Wei, died in an accident at the steel mill—fell right into a blast furnace. You could say he died contributing to the country. She has five children, but they split the compensation money and not a single one will support their mother. Only this youngest son stays with her; they rely on each other to survive. The boy only made this mistake because he was starving and had no other choice.”