"Xingguo, wait for me at home for a moment. I’ll go borrow an ox cart. We won’t get there fast enough on foot." The wind and snow had stopped outside, but it had snowed heavily last night, so the roads wouldn’t be easy to navigate.
Bai Xingguo originally hadn’t wanted to trouble the villagers, but seeing the two children, he nodded in agreement.
"Alright, we’ll pay them," he said, taking out a few dimes from his pocket. "Let’s not owe anyone a favor. Favors are hard to repay."
Bai Jiu didn’t take the money. "I have some." With that, she ran outside.
Xiuxiu and Zhengyang knew what their mother was doing, so the two little ones began to host their uncle. They brought out their own snacks and laid out the unfinished breakfast from earlier.
Bai Xingguo didn’t want to eat, but seeing the well-prepared, expensive food, he couldn’t bear to waste it. "Thank you, Xiuxiu, Zhengyang."
"Uncle Xingguo, is Grandpa sick?" For some reason, the two children took a strong liking to the uncle they were meeting for the first time. They weren’t shy and even struck up a conversation.
Perhaps because he had eaten and was sitting by the fire, Bai Xingguo began to warm up.
"Your grandpa is sick. It’s a disease that can’t be cured, and the hospital doesn’t have the medicine." For some reason, Bai Xingguo felt a strong urge to confide in the two children, regardless of whether they understood him or not. It was evident just how lonely he usually was.
Bai Jiu first went to Aunt Peng’s house to ask her to keep an eye on the place. She had brought back so many fish yesterday and couldn’t take them all with her, so she had to ask Aunt Peng for help. She also gave her a spare key to the house so she could come and go freely.
Afterward, she headed to the production team captain’s house. Although she understood some things about this era, she still needed to inform him before leaving the village. Furthermore, she needed to borrow the ox cart from his family.
Seeing her arrive, the captain gave Bai Jiu a rare, friendly look, thanks to yesterday’s bumper harvest.
"How many days will you be gone?" the captain asked, puffing on his leaf tobacco.
"I don’t know. Xingguo said my father is dying and told me to go back. I’m not sure how many days it will take." Bai Jiu choked back a sob when she mentioned Father Bai.
The captain understood. When Gao Zhijun first married a city wife, countless villagers had been green with envy.
"I’ll write you a letter of introduction for half a month. It’s not that far away anyway. If you need more time, you can come back and get another one." As the captain, he didn’t dare issue a letter for too long. If anything happened, he would be held responsible.
"Thank you, Captain," Bai Jiu expressed her gratitude, though she hadn’t come just for this. "Is Weimin home? I’d like to borrow the ox cart." This was her main objective.
"Weimin isn’t home. He drove the tractor out early this morning to sell the fish. The ox cart is here, though. Wait a moment, I’ll go with you." He had originally planned to go with them this morning, but he woke up with a cold. So Weimin hadn’t let him tag along and took the village scorekeeper instead.
Now that Bai Jiu was facing an emergency, he couldn’t refuse to lend the cart.
Seeing her husband getting off the heated brick bed, Mrs. Li immediately swatted his arm. "Don’t you know your own condition? Can you even go?" As much as she liked Bai Jiu, she cared more about her husband’s health.
"Bai Jiu, it’s not that I’m being heartless, but he really can’t go outside," Mrs. Li explained, not wanting Bai Jiu to overthink it. "He woke up with a slight fever this morning; he caught a chill while pulling in the fish yesterday. How about this? I’ll have Weiguo go with you. He happens to be home today."
Bai Jiu didn’t mind; as long as there was a cart, she was fine. If the ox wasn’t public property, she would have just borrowed it and driven it herself.
"Then I’ll have to trouble Weiguo." Weiguo was the captain’s eldest son. Bai Jiu rarely interacted with him on normal days, so she wasn’t very familiar with him. She knew Gao Weiguo’s wife, but they weren’t close either.
"Alright, I’ll call him for you," Mrs. Li said.
Stepping outside, Mrs. Li shouted into the courtyard, "Weiguo! Weiguo, come out for a minute!"
Because they were holed up for the winter, most of the family stayed in their own rooms, only moving around during meal times.
Gao Weiguo was playing with his youngest son when he heard his mother calling. He immediately replied, "Coming!"
Throwing on a padded cotton jacket and stepping outside, Gao Weiguo still shivered from the freezing cold.
"What’s wrong, Mother?"
"Bai Jiu needs you to drive the ox cart and drop her off," Mrs. Li said. Seeing her son come out in the dead of winter, her heart ached for him. "Put on some more clothes, go fetch the ox, and take her back to her maiden home."
However, as much as she loved her son, she cared about her husband’s health more.
"I’ll get you a quilt to wrap around yourself in a bit so you don’t freeze on the way." He was her son, after all, and she couldn’t help but fret.
"There’s no need, Mother. I’ll just put on another layer," Gao Weiguo said, not wanting to ruin a good quilt. "Besides, there’s hay in the ox cart. I’ll just bundle some up in my arms later."
"Alright, I know what to do. Go on. Pick her up at the edge of the village later."
After sending her son off, Mrs. Li went back inside.
Bai Jiu also thanked the captain and prepared to head back to pack her things.
"Thank you, Mrs. Li, Captain. I’ll head back first." It was indeed a rushed trip; she had even forgotten to prepare gifts.
"Alright, I won’t keep you. Go ahead, Weiguo will be over to pick you up shortly."
Mrs. Li was a tactful person.
Upon returning home, Bai Jiu brought her belongings out to the courtyard. Just as she was locking the door, Gao Weiguo arrived.
"Bai Jiu, get on the cart quickly!" Gao Weiguo called out upon seeing her. It was simply too freezing.
"Coming!"
Bai Xingguo scooped the two children into his arms and walked toward the ox cart first.
"Sit properly. I’ll go help your mother with the bags."
The two children were very obedient and sat on the straw. "Okay."
Naturally, Bai Jiu had thought of the same issue Mrs. Li did, but she had brought out two quilts. It was freezing outside. One quilt was for the four of them, and the other, slightly smaller one, was for Gao Weiguo.
The captain had already caught a cold; she couldn’t let his son fall sick just from giving them a ride.
This was the only bad thing about the North. It was too cold—a biting, dry cold.
"Thank you for the trouble, Weiguo," Bai Jiu expressed her gratitude after getting on the cart.
"It’s no trouble at all."
Along the way, because Gao Weiguo was present, Bai Jiu refrained from asking about many things.
After entering the city, they traveled for about another hour before finally arriving at the Bai family’s home.
Although the Bai family lived in a rather large place, this very house had made them the target of many people’s attacks and covetous eyes. Even though they had three wage-earning workers in the family, their standard of living was truly worse than that of an ordinary village household. Everyone was sallow and emaciated.
"We’re home. Xiuxiu, Zhengyang, don’t move. I’ll carry you down."
The wind had been howling the entire journey, and Bai Xingguo didn’t dare let the two children out of the quilt just yet.
Seeing this, Bai Jiu didn’t interfere.
"Weiguo, please wait a moment." She rummaged through her bag and pulled out four large white steamed buns and a packet of white sugar. "Thank you, Weiguo. Take these to eat on your way back. Even though they’re a bit cold, they’ll at least fill your stomach."
If it weren’t for the fact that her maiden family’s situation was too complicated, she would have invited him in for a cup of hot water. But she knew that even if she did offer, he likely wouldn’t accept.