80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 315 - 312: The Person I’ve Wronged the Most

The large Lin family sat at two tables. On the tables were a large bowl of rabbit with Sichuan peppercorns, a large bowl of stewed pheasant, and some freshly smoked sausages.

The glossy red sausages were cut into thin slices and arranged on a plate. They were numbing, spicy, and delicious, with a satisfying chewiness—perfect for pairing with drinks.

After the meal, Lin Guoliang’s and Lin Guodong’s families went home to rest.

After putting Little Douzi to bed, Wu Shufen came out and said to Lin Guozhu, "Mom thinks the girl your aunt introduced you to seems quite nice. Will you go and meet her?"

Lin Guozhu hung his head and thought for a moment before looking up at his parents. "I had a girlfriend in the army," he said. "Before I was demobilized, she wanted me to relocate to Shanghai. I didn’t want to stay there, and she didn’t want to come here, so we broke up."

Wu Shufen looked at her son with heartache. If it were up to her, she wouldn’t have agreed to her son settling down in the woman’s hometown, either.

Lin Changyou patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I’ll have your mother decline the offer for now," he said. "Once you start your job and get settled in at your work unit, we can talk about starting a family."

Lin Guozhu nodded. "Just give me some time. I’ll think about finding a girlfriend."

Lin Changyou nodded, pleased. "Alright. You’ve been running around the mountains all afternoon. Go wash up and get some sleep."

Lin Guozhu said, "Dad, Mom, I’m going back to East Market for work tomorrow."

"Go on, then. Work is important." Lin Changyou stood up and walked toward the kitchen.

At the crack of dawn, a still groggy Lin Changyou heard someone shouting outside. "Second Aunt, help! Second Aunt, open the door! Help!"

"Who is it?" Lin Changyou grabbed a flashlight and hurried to open the courtyard gate. He saw Zhou Shitou and Zhou Dashan standing at the entrance, along with several commune members holding torches and carrying a stretcher.

Their hair, eyebrows, and beards were white with frost, and their clothes were caked in yellow mud.

Zhou Dashan looked at him anxiously. "Changyou, Shufang’s stomach started hurting yesterday. She took some medicine, but it didn’t help, and she fainted from the pain yesterday afternoon. We took her to the commune clinic, but the doctor said they couldn’t treat her and told us to take her to East Market."

Lin Changyou said hurriedly, "I’ll get Guoliang to take her across the river by boat first, then we’ll find a vehicle to get her to East Market." With that, he ran off toward Lin Guoliang’s house.

Wu Shufen and Lin Guozhu had also put on their coats and come outside. When Wu Shufen saw the unconscious Wu Shufang on the stretcher—nothing but skin and bones, with a sallow, waxy complexion—tears immediately streamed down her face. "Sister, what’s happened to you?"

Seeing that she wasn’t moving, Wu Shufen looked up at Zhou Shitou and asked through her sobs, "Has your mom been unconscious ever since she fainted?"

Zhou Shitou stepped forward. "Second Aunt, she did wake up. Once, in the middle of the night. Mom said her stomach was hurting a few days ago, but she refused to see a doctor."

"Yesterday afternoon, she was fine one moment and then just collapsed. We rushed her to the commune clinic, and the doctor said she has a tumor in her stomach. They can’t operate, so they told us to take her to East Market. Thankfully, our fellow villagers helped us, so we were able to travel through the night to get here."

Wu Shufen looked at Wu Shufang with pity. "A tumor... No wonder her complexion is so awful."

Lin Guozhu helped Wu Shufen to her feet and said gently, "Mom, look at the villagers. Their hair and clothes are damp with frost. You should make them something hot to eat and find them a place to sleep."

Wu Shufen wiped her tears and said to the villagers holding the torches, "Thank you all so much for your help. Please, come inside, wash up, and have something hot to eat and warm yourselves."

An older man smiled humbly. "You’re too kind, Ma’am. We’re in the same brigade as Dashan, and we’re kinsmen. It’s only right that we help."

Lin Guozhu stepped forward. "Uncles, please go inside and rest. We’ll take my aunt across the river."

Zhou Dashan also urged the villagers to go inside with Wu Shufen, while he and the others would take Wu Shufang across the river to East Market.

The villagers agreed and followed Wu Shufen into the courtyard.

Once inside the courtyard, Zhou Dashan wiped his tears and said to Wu Shufen, "Shufen, I have to ask you for one more thing."

From his expression, Wu Shufen had a good idea of what was coming. She replied readily, "Go on, brother-in-law. Just say it."

Zhou Dashan pulled out the dozen or so yuan he had left. "With Little Lan’s help, our family earned a little money," he explained. "After paying off our debts, we had over thirty yuan left."

"The trip to the commune clinic cost over twenty yuan, so this is all that’s left. I’m begging you, please lend me some money so we can save your sister. We’ll pay back every penny we borrow, I swear it."

Wu Shufen nodded without a moment’s hesitation. "Brother-in-law, I’ll have Guozhu get the money right now. If it’s not enough, Little Lan has some more."

Zhou Dashan bowed to her gratefully. "Thank you, Shufen. Without your family, mine would have perished long ago."

Wu Shufen looked at him and said, "Brother-in-law, during the years of the Great Famine, if it weren’t for the ginger, taro, and sweet potatoes you brought us, my sisters and I would have likely starved to death long ago."

Hearing this, Zhou Dashan’s eyes grew red once more. Wu Shufen wiped away a tear and sent Lin Guozhu to his room to get the money.

Lin Guozhu returned from his room with the money just as Lin Changyou arrived with the two brothers, Lin Guoliang and Lin Guodong.

The group hurriedly carried Wu Shufang toward the riverbank.

In the dead of winter, the river was a vast expanse of white mist. The cold wind whipped through the bushes on the bank, making them RUSTLE loudly.

The Lin family’s small boat was tied up behind a large boulder. Lin Guoliang went behind it, untied the mooring rope, and pulled the boat to the bank. Then, Lin Guozhu and Lin Guodong carried Wu Shufang aboard.

The small boat could only carry a few people. The pre-dawn fog was thick, and Lin Guoliang worried that an accident might happen if it was overloaded.

He said to Lin Changyou, "Dad, you and Guodong head back. I’ll pole the boat across, then go to the Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Station to find Old Wei and ask for his help."

The station had a four-wheeled tractor that could go quite fast if you pushed it.

Lin Changyou nodded. "It’s dark," he said to Lin Guoliang. "Be careful poling across the river."

Lin Guodong got off the boat, picked up a pole, and helped push the boat away from the bank.

The Lin brothers handed their flashlights to Zhou Shitou and his father, then picked up their poles and began steering the boat toward the middle of the river.

It was dark and the fog was dense. The flashlight beams only cut through the gloom for about a meter ahead. Fortunately, the Lin brothers had grown up playing by the river, poling boats and casting nets, so they were extremely familiar with this stretch of water and managed to reach the other side safely, despite the tense journey.

Zhou Dashan and his son carried Wu Shufang ashore. After Lin Guoliang tied up the boat, he and his brother helped carry the stretcher, and they all hurried onward, quickly reaching the Dashiqiao Commune’s Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Station.

Lin Guoliang ran into the station’s residential courtyard and emerged a moment later with a sharp-looking man in his forties.

Without even exchanging greetings, the two of them ran toward the station warehouse. A few minutes later, Old Wei drove a tractor out.

They hurriedly lifted Wu Shufang into the tractor’s trailer. Spewing black smoke, the tractor chugged, TUT-TUT-TUT, as it set off toward East Market.

Zhou Dashan watched his unconscious wife, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. ’She’s the one I’ve wronged the most in this life,’ he thought.

’Ever since I brought her to the mountains through a marriage exchange, she has suffered endlessly with me, yet she bore every hardship without a single complaint.’

’Just when things were finally starting to look up, before she could even enjoy a couple of peaceful days, she had fallen ill...’

「By dawn,」 the tractor had reached the entrance of the hospital in East Market. The men jumped out, lifted Wu Shufang down, and ran for the emergency room.

A doctor triaged her and immediately had Wu Shufang admitted to a ward, while a slip was written out for them to go and pay the fees.