Chapter 311: Off to Town

The Li Family Home. West Room!

Tang Xue was listlessly holding a book, but her mind was nowhere near the pages; her eyes kept darting toward the front door.

Li Yi and Sister Na had been gone for nearly an hour—why weren’t they back yet?

She didn’t think much of it, after all, she could feel how kind Li Yi was to her.

It was just that, as newlyweds parted for the first time, Tang Xue naturally wanted to spend a little more time with him, which was why she was so distracted.

Just as Tang Xue’s thoughts were racing, the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the front door. Through the dim light outside the window, Tang Xue saw two slightly stocky figures appear in her line of sight.

Immediately, Tang Xue tossed her book onto the bedside table, jumped out of bed to put on her shoes, and went out to greet them.

But when she pushed the door open, she saw that Li Yi had already stepped inside, and to her surprise, he was holding a girl of about sixteen or seventeen in his arms.

Similarly, Sister Na was holding a young girl in her arms as well, though this one appeared even younger.

“You… weren’t you supposed to be at the educated youth commune? Where did these girls come from?” Tang Xue asked in surprise.

“These are Third Aunt’s two daughters—Little Dog’s sisters!” Li Yi explained.

“Then why did you bring them home? Where’s Little Gouwa?”

“Auntie San is sick. Xiaogouwa and the others took her to town for treatment. Only these two were left at home. I only realized something was wrong when I heard the children crying!” Li Yi explained.

Tang Xue was kind-hearted by nature, and upon hearing this, she immediately said, “Oh my, haven’t they eaten yet?”

“Daya, have you had lunch yet?”

Li Yi knew that most villagers didn’t have the habit of eating breakfast, and the two little girls certainly hadn’t had dinner, so he only needed to ask if they’d had lunch.

“No!” said Daya.

Er Ya, however, whispered, “My sister gave us some yams (potatoes)!”

“How did you eat them?”

“Raw. They were so sweet, but a little cold!” Er Ya said.

Hearing this, the three people in the main room fell silent, and Li Na and Tang Xue couldn’t help but feel a lump in their throats.

Eating raw potatoes in the dead of winter and calling them sweet—it was clear that Little Gouwa’s family situation was indeed dire.

Li Yi immediately said, “Come on, let’s go into the main room and talk!”

Carrying the two little girls into the main room, Li Yi saw that his father was already lying down, though he hadn’t taken off his clothes to sleep.

He’d been waiting specifically for Li Yi, hoping to have a word with his son.

But when he saw Li Yi carrying Daya and Erya, he was taken aback!

After briefly explaining the situation to his father, Li Yi quickly asked Li Na to cook some noodles for the two little girls.

Then, turning to his father and Tang Xue, he said, “Dad, Xue, I plan to head into town to check on things!”

Xiaogouwa and the others knew full well there were two little ones at home, yet they hadn’t returned even at this late hour—clearly, Third Aunt’s condition wasn’t good.

Considering that Xiaogouwa was only 16 this year and Erdouzi was just 11, Li Yi was genuinely worried they wouldn’t be able to handle it. dxmbang

“How are you going to go out this late? Besides, it just snowed, and the roads are treacherous!” Tang Xue said with concern.

“It’s fine. I plan to take the horse-drawn cart. As long as I bring a flashlight, it shouldn’t be a problem!” Li Yi said.

“Can’t you go tomorrow?”

Tang Xue was still worried; she really didn’t feel comfortable with Li Yi traveling at night so late.

Setting aside the condition of the road for now, you have to realize that Nanzishan Village is right next to Daqing Mountain, and at the foot of the mountain lies a vast forest teeming with all kinds of wild animals.

On days of heavy snow, these wild animals come down the mountain when they can’t find food, so traveling late at night is simply too dangerous.

Just then, Li Shankui suddenly said, “Let him go!”

He knew his son’s temperament well—once he’d made up his mind, not even eight oxen could pull him back.

Besides, while Tang Xue hadn’t realized that tonight’s events were out of the ordinary, Li Shankui, having lived this long, certainly could.

Xiaogouwa usually followed his son around; in a situation like this, he ought to go see if he can be of any help!

Li Yi thought for a moment, then said to Tang Xue, “Don’t worry. I’ll go find Uncle Lei in a bit and ask him to come with me!”

“Hmm, your Uncle Lei is the best hunter in the village. Make sure he brings his gun!” Li Shankui said.

“Alright!”

“Be careful on your way there!” Tang Xue said, still a little worried.

“Got it!”

With that, Li Yi went outside to harness the horse to the cart, while Li Shankui put on his coat and went out into the yard, first using a broom to sweep the snow off the cart.

Then he gathered a bundle of hemp twigs from the yard and loaded it onto the cart, before taking down the cotton curtains that shielded the windows from the wind and spreading them over the cart.

Seeing that Li Yi had led out only a black horse, Li Shankui said again, “Take the big red mule too—two strong animals will pull the cart better!”

“Alright!”

After harnessing the animals, Li Yi put on his father’s sheepskin coat and was just about to head out when Li Na called him back.

She pressed a steaming hot water bottle into his arms, gave him a few parting words of advice, and only then let him go.

After driving the cart out the gate, Li Yi headed straight for Dongzi’s house nearby.

Going into town late at night wasn’t exactly safe, but having Uncle Lei along would make it much safer.

When he arrived at Dongzi’s house, he saw that the lights inside were already out; clearly, the couple had already gone to bed.

That’s just how people in the countryside are—especially in winter, they turn in early, around eight or nine o’clock at night.

“Uncle Lei!”

Li Yi called out to Liu Darei while shining his flashlight back and forth at the window.

After a short while, the light inside came on, and Liu Darei’s voice came from within: “Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Xiao Yi!”

“Oh, why are you coming over so late, kid? Is something wrong?”

“Uncle Lei, I need to make a quick trip to town. Could you come with me?” Li Yi called out loudly.

“Alright, just give me a minute to get dressed!”

“Alright, Uncle Lei, make sure to bundle up—it’s a bit chilly. And grab your gun on the way out!”

“Alright!”

About ten minutes later, Liu Darei came out wearing a military overcoat, with a long gun slung over his shoulder.

Although Li Yi didn’t recognize the type of gun, he could tell it wasn’t an ordinary hunting rifle, but a real military rifle.

After getting into the car, Liu Darei said, breathing out a puff of warm air, “I heard you were back this afternoon and was just planning to swing by your place tomorrow to have a chat. I never expected you’d call me out in the middle of the night!”

“What, you want to ask about Dongzi?”

“Yeah! He’s been gone for almost a month and hasn’t even written a single letter. I’m a bit worried!”

“Everyone’s doing fine. I’ll find time in a couple of days to let you guys call them!” Li Yi said.

“That’d be great!”

Then Liu Darei asked again, “By the way, what were you doing out in town this late at night? It’s dangerous out there—you could’ve been snatched up by a wolf!”

Li Yi sighed and explained the situation at Xiaogouwa’s house to Liu Darei.

After hearing the story, Liu Darei sighed and said, “We heard things were getting serious at Old Three’s place over twenty days ago. Xiaogouwa took her to the clinic a couple of times, but it didn’t seem to help much. Looks like she really can’t hold on this time!”

“Let’s go to the clinic first to see how things are. If that doesn’t work, we’ll take her to the county hospital!”

“It’s no use!”

After that, both fell silent!

For a moment, on the rural path in the snowy night, only the creaking and rumbling of the horse-drawn cart could be heard!