Chapter 22
◎Two Strange Things Happened in One Day◎
Yuhuai Village Primary School let out for the holidays ten days before the Spring Festival. In previous years, there would be a final exam at the end of the semester, but ever since the school started the half-day labor, half-day teaching system, the final exam was canceled.
The last week before the winter break was a military training activity. The commune arranged for all the students to go to Hongqi Primary School to participate in the military training. It was a round trip of more than twenty kilometers on foot, and everyone had to wear dark gray clothes. They were also given weapons. Tangtang received a red-tasseled spear, and her third brother, Su Juesheng, received a small saber.
After a week of activities, not to mention the children, even the school teachers were exhausted.
After the military training activity, the teacher gathered them together, went over some winter break precautions, and then announced the holiday.
After the holiday started, besides the three meals a day, Tangtang and the other children would run to the river every day. The surface of the Xichuan River was frozen solid, and the fish in the water were also frozen. If you chiseled a hole in the ice, many small, finger-sized fish would swim over to get oxygen. This was the best time for them to catch fish. If they were lucky, they could even catch a very large carp!
Tangtang and Su Juesheng wandered by the river for a whole morning and then planned to go home for lunch.
After the family was divided, Yu Juanfang had changed the two meals a day from before the division to three meals a day. Considering that the children were all growing, they could only grow up if they ate their fill. If she had to go to work and couldn’t come back for lunch, she would prepare the meal in the morning and cover it with an inverted bowl, so they could heat it up and eat when they came back at noon.
Before they reached home, a smell of something burning wafted into their noses. Tangtang sniffed carefully and saw thick smoke billowing in the distance. A closer look revealed that a house at the foot of the mountain had caught fire at some point. The fire was not small. “Oh no, someone’s house is on fire!”
By the time Tangtang and her brother arrived, a circle of people had already gathered in front of the burning thatched cottage. A woman with a disheveled face was kneeling on the ground, wailing, “Mom, Mom is still in the fire and hasn’t been rescued!”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” Hearing the woman’s words, the man roared, the veins on his neck bulging. But the fire was too big. Seeing that the roof beams were about to burn through and collapse, he didn’t dare to go in to save her and could only stomp his feet fiercely.
Before Tangtang’s mind could react, she untied the bamboo basket on her back and ran towards the fire.
“Tangtang!”
It was too late for Su Juesheng to pull her back. He could only watch as Tangtang rushed into the fire.
Thick smoke choked her nasal passages. Tangtang coughed twice. Seeing a bucket of water nearby, she quickly took off her clothes, soaked them, and then covered her mouth and nose after they were wet.
A wave of heat hit her face, making her cheeks ache. Tangtang squinted and searched the fire scene. Sure enough, she saw an old woman who had fallen next to a table.
She struggled to squat down and forcefully supported the old woman. A crackling sound came from above her head, and sparks fell like rain. Then, a burning wooden board fell from above. Fortunately, Tangtang was quick-witted and dodged to the side.
But with this dodge, her strength gave out, and the weak old woman fell to the ground again.
Tangtang could only go back to help the old woman up, straightening her body little by little and carrying most of the old woman’s weight on her shoulders.
“Child, don’t worry about me. You should run!” the old woman said with a sob, her voice trembling and anxious.
“Grandma, don’t talk. I’ll definitely get you out!” Tangtang’s face was pale with pain, but she forced out these words through gritted teeth.
Just before the fire became even more rampant, Tangtang stumbled out of the fire, supporting the old woman.
The old grandmother’s family had already given up hope. They didn’t expect this little girl to actually rescue the old woman. People came one after another with buckets of water to put out the fire. The old woman’s family helped them to the side.
The woman who had been crying earlier remembered something else. “The money, the money is still in the drawer and wasn’t brought out!”
The man almost ground his back teeth to pieces. “Shut up!”
Su Juesheng rushed forward to check on Tangtang’s condition. Although he was usually mischievous, at this moment, he acted very much like an older brother. “Tangtang, how are you? Are you injured anywhere? Are you burned anywhere? How could you rush into such a big fire by yourself?!”
“Cough, cough…” Tangtang wiped her dusty face, which was covered in soot. Hearing his words, she checked her hands and feet, felt all over her body, stood up, and walked around a couple of times, puzzled. “Strange.”
Su Juesheng frowned nervously. “What’s strange?”
“It’s strange. In such a big fire, it seems that besides a few strands of my hair being singed, I’m completely fine.” Tangtang said seriously, but the thought of the fire just now was still shocking.
“You’re too impulsive! You don’t take yourself seriously! You make people worry so much!”
“You’re done for, Su Xintang!” Su Juesheng even called her by her full name. “I’m going to tell Dad and Mom about this and let them teach you a good lesson!”
Su Juesheng didn’t speak to Tangtang for the entire afternoon.
“Third Brother, Third Brother, Brother Juesheng, Brother Juesheng! I’m begging you. I’ll give you all my candy and pocket money. Please don’t tell our dad and don’t tell our mom. I’m begging you, okay…” Tangtang pulled his arm, her expression pitiful and pleading.
Su Juesheng was firm. “Impossible. It’s too dangerous! You have to be taught a lesson. What if you rush in again next time?”
Su Juesheng put on a stern face and moved her arm away.
Tangtang sighed helplessly. It seemed that a lesson was unavoidable today. She untied her messy braids and re-braided them, then picked up her basket and walked forward.
The area they were walking through used to be the old landlord’s stone mill. The old landlord had been dead for many years. A few years ago, the villagers had dug up the area in search of the gold the old landlord had buried, leaving it full of pits. After Tangtang finished braiding her hair, she found that Su Juesheng had already walked far ahead. The sky was already dark, so she ran to catch up.
“Ouch!” Tangtang fell into a pit, basket and all.
Having had a run of bad luck, Tangtang fell into the large pit and was completely disoriented. Fortunately, the soil at the bottom was soft, and there were no hard stones, so she wasn’t bruised or bumped anywhere. Just as she was about to climb out of the pit, she felt something hard under her hand.
She frowned and lifted her hand to look. A golden corner was exposed. She tried to brush away the soil on top, revealing a gold bar as thick as three fingers.
“Is this… gold?” She couldn’t help but widen her eyes.
Under the dim light at the bottom of the pit, it looked shiny and golden, and it was heavy in her hand.
Tangtang had heard from the old people in the village that although gold looked hard, it was actually soft. She brought the golden object to her mouth and bit it gently with her teeth. Her eyes immediately lit up.
It was soft!
She had found gold!
It was said that gold was the most valuable thing in the world. Such a small piece could probably buy a lot of things.
Tangtang wiped the dirt off the surface of the gold bar and carefully put it in her pocket. This pit was not shallow, and there was nothing to climb on. Just as she was worrying about how to get out, Su Juesheng, who hadn’t seen Tangtang follow him for a while, came back to look for her.
“Tangtang—Tangtang!”
“Brother Juesheng, I’m here…”
Su Juesheng didn’t expect her to have fallen into a pit. He anxiously lay on the edge of the pit and shouted inside, “Tangtang, don’t worry, I’ll pull you up right away. Don’t cry. I promise I won’t tell Dad and Mom about you saving the person.”
Su Juesheng used all his strength to pull Tangtang out of the pit.
“Are you hurt anywhere? What bad luck you’ve had. You can even fall into a pit just by walking!”
“The mud in that pit is very soft. I didn’t get hurt at all.” Tangtang shook her head. She patted the dirt off her clothes and looked at her dirty hands. “I just have to go back and change my clothes. This is the second set of clothes I’ve changed into today.”
In the morning, to save the person, she had taken off her clothes and soaked them. She had changed her clothes at noon, and now this newly changed set of clothes was covered in mud again.
She had encountered two strange things in one day.
Tangtang blinked. “Brother Juesheng, I heard what you said just now. You promised you wouldn’t tell Dad and Mom about me rushing into the fire.”
Although Su Juesheng kept his promise and didn’t tell them about Tangtang saving the person, Su Huimin and Yu Juanfang still found out about it that night.
The family of the old woman who was rescued had specially made a large bowl of brown sugar and fermented rice dumplings to thank Tangtang.
At first, Su Huimin didn’t understand what was going on. Later, after hearing the detailed account from the family, he gave Tangtang a good scolding. Su Juesheng and Su Juexiao were also stunned when they heard about it. Rushing into a fire to save someone was simply too dangerous.
“There were so many adults. Did they need a little child like you to save someone?! How much strength do you have? Do you know how dangerous it would be if you were trapped in the fire together?! You could even lose your life!”
“Dad, Mom, don’t blame Tangtang.” Su Juesheng was very manly at this moment.
“And you, Juesheng. As an older brother, not only did you not stop your sister, but you even helped her deceive us?! If it weren’t for Old Madam Yang’s family coming to explain what happened, your mother and I would still be in the dark! You two siblings, both of you are something else! Cough, cough…”
“I see that if I don’t teach you a lesson, you won’t learn your lesson!”
“Mom, use this to hit them.” Su Juesheng handed over a handy whip.
Tangtang wasn’t hit, but Su Juesheng was hit several times. Su Juesheng, who had stood up voluntarily, took most of the blame and became the scapegoat.
The brother and sister stood in front of the table, their heads bowed, being scolded, like two quails who didn’t dare to move.
“You two don’t even think about going out this month. Just stay at home and reflect on your actions!”
After Yu Juanfang’s anger subsided, she took two small bowls and divided the large bowl of brown sugar and fermented rice dumplings in two. With a clang, she slammed them in front of the two of them. “Eat! You didn’t risk your lives for nothing!”
Tangtang stirred the brown sugar and fermented rice dumplings in her bowl. She had just taken a bite when she saw the miserable-looking Su Juesheng sit down across from her.
He looked as if his life was very hard.
“Pfft—” Tangtang couldn’t help but laugh.