The town was seven or eight kilometers from Nianzishan Village; under normal circumstances, the mule-drawn cart would take about an hour and a half.
But the weather today was poor; it was dark and the roads were slippery, so the big black horse and the big red mule were clearly moving much slower than usual.
Although they encountered no wolves, tigers, or other dangers along the way,
By the time Li Yi and Liu Darei arrived in town, it was nearly 11:00 p.m.
The health clinic was located at the westernmost end of town, a row of relatively tall, single-story buildings. It was the only place in Hongqi Commune where one could receive medical treatment or IV drips; the rest were all “barefoot doctors.”
Even at night, it was easy to find; after all, the health clinic was the only place in the entire town still lit up at this late hour.
Pulling the cart into the courtyard, Li Yi immediately recognized the black donkey tied to a large tree as the team’s animal.
Clearly, Xiaogouwa and the others must be inside.
Li Yi handed the mule cart over to Liu Darei and, wading through snow half a foot deep, ran into the clinic.
The clinic door was open, and there was no one on duty, so Li Yi walked right in.
Since the clinic wasn’t very large, as soon as he entered, Li Yi spotted several teenagers at the end of the hallway—and to his surprise, they were indeed Xiaogouwa and the others!
Without hesitation, Li Yi walked straight over to them!
Late at night, the sound of heavy footsteps in the hallway startled Xiaogouwa, Dayong, and the others.
But since Li Yi was wearing Li Shankui’s sheepskin coat, a dogskin hat on his head, and a scarf wrapped around his face and neck, it was impossible to tell who was who.
So Xiaogouwa and the others didn’t recognize him as Li Yi until he called out “Xiaogouwa” by name.
Seeing that it was Li Yi, Xiao Gouwa and the others froze in shock!
After a long moment, Xiaogouwa choked out, “Brother Yi, my mother is gone!”
Although he had already had a premonition, when he actually heard the news, Li Yi still found it hard to believe.
It took him a while to snap out of it before he asked, “When did this happen?”
“Around ten o’clock!”
“Did the doctor confirm it?” Li Yi asked in a low voice.
“Yes!” Xiaogouwa said, wiping away his tears.
Meanwhile, Er Gouzi, standing nearby, burst into loud sobs; being so young, he simply couldn’t accept the reality of his mother’s passing.
Li Yi took a deep breath, patted Xiaogouwa on the shoulder, then turned to Ergouzi and said, “Stop crying. Let’s take Aunt San home!”
Xiaogouwa wiped his tears and asked, “Brother Yi, how did you get here?”
Just as Li Yi was about to answer, he saw Liu Darei walk in from outside, carrying a rifle on his back!
“It’s Uncle Lei. We came together!”
When Liu Darei arrived and saw the children crying, he knew something was wrong.
Just as he was about to ask what had happened, Li Yi cut in, “Uncle Lei, Aunt San is gone. I remember there’s a coffin shop in town—hurry over there with the horse-drawn cart and get a coffin!”
As he spoke, Li Yi pulled a few 100-yuan bills from his pocket and handed them to Liu Darei.
Liu Darei wanted to comfort the little boy, but in the end he said nothing; he took the money and turned to leave.
Then Li Yi asked again, “Where’s your mom?”
Xiaogouwa pointed to a room nearby and said, “She’s right in there.”
“Carry your mother on your back, and let’s go home!”
But Xiaogouwa looked at Li Yi and said, “Brother Yi, lend me some money. I want to pay off the medical bills at the clinic. The director has been so kind to us…”
Li Yi didn’t say much; he simply pulled out a stack of cash, didn’t even count it, and shoved it all into Xiaogouwa’s hands.
“Brother Yi, that’s too much—I don’t need this much!”
“Take it. You’ll need it later for your mom’s funeral.”
“Okay, I’ll pay you back once I earn some money!”
With that, Little Dog walked briskly toward a room on the right side of the hallway and knocked on the door.
Soon, an elderly doctor in his fifties or sixties emerged, still in his robe.
When he heard that Xiaogouwa wanted to settle his mother’s medical bills—and that the money was borrowed—the old man fell silent.
Li Yi understood the old man’s dilemma; he clearly knew the boy’s family situation and simply couldn’t bring himself to accept the money.
But if he didn’t accept it, he would have to cover the cost himself, so the old man hesitated.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately stepped forward and said to the old doctor, “Director, please take it. Let my third aunt pass away with a clear conscience and in peace!”
The old man sighed, then took the twenty yuan from Xiaogouwa before turning and going back inside.
After settling the medical bill, Li Yi went out to the courtyard to harness the donkey cart, while Xiaogouwa returned to the ward.
Just as Li Yi had finished harnessing the donkey cart, he saw Xiaogouwa emerge, carrying his third aunt, who was no longer breathing, with Erdouzi and Yongzi close behind.
Li Yi brushed the snow off the cart, spread some dry straw on top, and only then had Xiaogouwa place Auntie San onto it.
Shortly after, the group drove the donkey cart out of the clinic!
However, Li Yi didn’t head straight back to the village. Instead, he drove the donkey cart to a coffin shop near the commune, planning to meet up with Uncle Lei Zi and return together.
When they arrived at the coffin shop, they saw that Uncle Lei had already purchased the coffin and loaded it onto the cart.
After the two carts joined up, they set off together toward Nianzishan Village!
……..
The wind picked up along the way, and snowflakes, whipped by the gale, kept lashing against everyone’s faces, stinging like crazy!
But no one paid any attention to it; everyone’s mood at that moment was just as gloomy as the weather.
By the time they returned to the village, it was already 1:30 a.m.
The two cars pulled into Xiaogouwa’s courtyard one after the other. As soon as they stopped, Xiaogouwa rushed into the house and called out his two younger sisters’ names.
But the house was empty, and no one answered him. This terrified Xiaogouwa.
Only then did Li Yi remember that he hadn’t yet told Xiaogouwawa about sending Danya and Erya to the old family home. He immediately went inside to inform him.
Upon hearing the news, Little Gouwa finally felt at ease!
Since his two younger sisters were safe, Xiaogouwa prepared to lay his mother to rest.
Although Li Yi didn’t know much about the process, he knew he should let Daya and Erya see their mother one last time.
So he asked Xiaogouwa to carry Third Aunt back into the house first, while he rushed straight back to the old house to fetch Daya and Erya.
As soon as he arrived at the old house, before Li Yi had even stepped inside, he startled the family’s big yellow dog.
The dog’s barking alerted everyone inside, and lights quickly came on in both the east and west rooms.
Li Yi walked into the courtyard and called out to the big yellow dog.
Recognizing his voice, the big yellow dog stopped barking immediately.
Then, Li Yi knocked on the front door.
“Who’s there?”
Hearing his father’s voice, Li Yi immediately replied, “Dad, it’s me!”
Upon hearing his son’s voice, Li Shankui immediately removed the bar from the door and let Li Yi in.
As soon as he stepped inside, Li Shankui asked, “Why did you come back in the middle of the night?”
“Aunt San has passed away. I plan to take Daya and Erya back to see her one last time!” Li Yi said.
His father sighed and said, “Just take Daya with you. Erya is still too young; don’t scare her.”
“Alright!”
Just then, Third Sister came out of the west room and asked, “Xiao Yi, has Third Aunt passed away?”
“Yeah. Sis, hurry up and get Daya dressed—I need to take her back there in a minute!”
“Alright!”
While Third Sister was dressing Daya, Father quickly got dressed as well.
First, he found a few leftover firecrackers from the New Year in the main room and tucked them into his pocket.
Once Li Na had dressed Daya, Li Yi picked her up, and the two of them hurried over to Xiaogouwa’s house.