“Are you sure the person I saw was Teacher Rong? Maybe it was just someone who looked like what I described,” Jiang Yiliu said, pretending to be skeptical.
“No way,” Sanni shot back without hesitation. “He’s the only one at our school with a coat like that—his family sent it from Haicheng. If you saw him near our school, then it was Teacher Rong.”
She was annoyed that her younger brother questioned her judgment, but cheered up again when Jiang Yiliu handed her another piece of candy.
It wasn’t that Jiang Yiliu was stingy—he was just afraid Sanni would ruin her teeth. Dentists were hard to come by in times like these.
Now that he had pieced things together, Jiang Yiliu was almost certain the man he saw was the same Teacher Rong Sanni was talking about. He didn’t mean to belittle his big sister, but based on Sanni’s description, a well-liked, good-looking, highly educated man like that falling for a teenage country girl like his sister? It just didn’t add up.
What worried him the most now was the possibility that Big Sister was being tricked. Years later, when the zhiqing returned to the city, the women they left behind never ended up with a good outcome.
When Jiang Dani and their younger sister came inside after finishing chores, the first thing they saw was their little brother sitting there with a frown on his face, while Sanni looked as pleased as a mouse with a chunk of cheese.
“Sanni, did you steal something from your brother again? You’re not a kid anymore—stop being so greedy,” Jiang Dani scolded when she saw the candy in her younger sister’s hand, assuming that’s why her brother looked so upset.
“No, it’s from Uncle. He bought some for all of us. So what if Sanni eats a little? Big Sis, Second Sis, you guys should have some too. Just make sure to eat it quickly, and I’ll hide the rest before Grandma sees,” Jiang Yiliu explained, rushing to defend his sister.
Jiang Dani didn’t press further. Their little brother had always been generous with his sisters—he’d never make a fuss over some candy.
“At least you know how to be thoughtful,” Jiang Erni said with a small smile, pinching his cheek.
Ever since their little brother was born, she and Big Sis still had to do all the same hard work, but now they could go to school, eat their fill, and the house didn’t feel so suffocating anymore. Jiang Erni knew all of this had changed because of him. Even now, she couldn’t help but thank the heavens for sending Xiaobao to their family.
As she ate her candy, she thought about the other girls in the village who had younger brothers. None of their brothers were like Xiaobao—always thinking of his sisters and never keeping the good stuff for himself. Most boys were just happy not to snatch food from their sisters. In her eyes, it was only right that their grandparents favored Xiaobao. Even if it occasionally made her uncomfortable, her resentment wasn’t aimed at Xiaobao—it was at the sexism of the times.
“Big Sis, is that Teacher Rong from your class really that amazing? I heard Sanni talking about him earlier. Do you think he’ll teach my class when I start school?” Jiang Yiliu asked casually, watching his sister’s expression carefully.
“Teacher Rong?” Jiang Dani’s expression was completely normal. “He’s a great Chinese teacher and a warm person. If he ends up teaching your class, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
No blushing, no panic—Jiang Yiliu was a bit puzzled. That wasn’t how a girl would look when talking about someone she liked. Had he been wrong? Or maybe mistaken the person?
Jiang Yiliu decided he’d keep an eye on his big sister over the next few days. If needed, he could secretly follow them to school. After all, kids in the village were raised pretty freely. And if anything went wrong, he could always hide in the space.
One way or another, he had to get to the bottom of this.
“Doctor Bai! Doctor Bai! Come quickly—someone’s dying!” A loud, panicked male voice rang out in the middle of the night, waking everyone in the Jiang household.
Jiang Yiliu had been sleeping lightly with too much on his mind and immediately woke up, blinking groggily as he looked out the window.
A few people stood outside holding kerosene lamps. Their shadows flickered in the dim light, and the window was fogged up so he couldn’t see clearly, but the voice sounded familiar. Still half-asleep, Jiang Yiliu shook his head to wake himself up.
“What’s going on—” came a heavy footstep and the voice of Jiang Old Man from outside the room.
Jiang Yiliu knew the adults were probably all up by now. He didn’t know what had happened, but if someone came this late calling for Grandpa Bai, it had to be serious.
“Yiliu-ge…” Ruanruan mumbled sleepily, seeing him get up and start getting dressed. She asked softly.
“Go back to sleep. I’m just going to take a look.” Jiang Yiliu tucked her in and put on his coat before heading out.
His sisters, all deep sleepers, were still snoring away, clearly undisturbed.
By the time Jiang Yiliu came into the main room, the kerosene lamp had been lit. His parents, grandparents, and the three people staying at their house were all there.
“What are you doing up? It’s freezing outside,” Jiang Dahai scolded, trying to usher him back to bed.
“Uncle Mo, what happened?” Jiang Yiliu asked curiously, turning to the village leader, Mo Dashuan. Judging by the grim faces around him, something major had happened.
“No time to explain,” Mo Dashuan said, tugging on Doctor Bai’s arm. “A wild boar came down from the mountain and attacked someone—there’s blood everywhere. We need you to save him!”
As they rushed out, someone in the group turned to look at the Jiang elders. After a moment’s hesitation, someone behind them spoke up: “Uncle Jiang, Aunt Miao—you should come too. The one who got hurt… it’s Dachuan.”
“What?!”
“Dachuan was attacked by a wild boar,” the person repeated.
Grandma Miao instantly panicked. Though they’d been estranged from Jiang Dachuan’s family for years, that was still her son, one she carried for ten months. Hearing he was hurt made her blood run cold.
Even Jiang Old Man looked grave now.
“I’ll grab my kit. Let’s go,” Doctor Bai said seriously, hurrying inside to get his tools. The group left in a rush.
“Xiaobao, go back inside,” Jiang Dahai told his son before hurrying after the others.
Jiang Yiliu remembered this wild boar incident vaguely. The mountains around Qingshan Village were home to many wild animals, but most stayed deep in the forest and didn’t bother the villagers, except for the wild boars. They were infamous for sneaking down to steal crops, tough-skinned and hard to deal with.
Back during the famine years, people were so hungry they stripped the bark off trees. If a tiger had shown up, they probably would’ve eaten it too. After those tough years, wild boars vanished from the area until recently, when they started reappearing.
Last time, the wild boars destroyed several acres of sweet potatoes. It wasn’t until Uncle Mo got a permit from the county and rallied a group of strong young men to hunt them down that things settled. They killed over a dozen. The meat was shared, and for a while, every family had pork on the table—it felt like New Year’s. Even Jiang Laidi got a tiny piece of meat the size of a thumb.
But no one got hurt last time.
It was the middle of the night—who would be out in the fields at that hour? Why was Uncle Dachuan there? It didn’t make sense.
Jiang Yiliu didn’t want their current peaceful life to be disrupted. If Grandpa and Grandma softened because of this incident and reconnected with Dachuan’s family, it would be the last thing he wanted.
He decided to follow and see what was going on.
A crowd had gathered at the foot of the mountain. Jiang Yiliu squeezed through using his small size, making it to the front where Jiang Dachuan and the rest of the family were surrounded.
Jiang Dachuan was a horrifying sight—his entire body was drenched in blood, his heavy coat torn open by the boar, yellowed cotton stuffing spilling out. The worst was his leg: a huge chunk of flesh had been torn off, exposing the bone. Blood kept gushing out, and he trembled uncontrollably, eyes dull and lifeless.
Some of the village women turned away, unable to watch.
“Dachuan, please, you can’t die on me! What will I do with the kids?!” Fan Xiaojuan wailed, shaking her unresponsive husband. Someone finally dragged her aside so Doctor Bai could work.
Jiang Yiliu scanned the scene. The field was full of wild boar tracks, half-eaten sweet potatoes dug from underground. Off to the side was a bag of stolen red yams and a shovel. He had a pretty good idea of why his second uncle was out there.
The villagers weren’t dumb—they knew what he’d been up to. But with him now like this, they couldn’t say anything… at least not yet.
“Please… give me some money… let me take Dachuan to the county hospital,” Fan Xiaojuan cried, kneeling and begging the elderly couple. “He’s your son—how can you just stand there and watch him die?!”
Jiang Old Man ignored her and turned to Doctor Bai. “Old Bai, what do you think?”
Doctor Bai shook his head and pulled out a cloth pouch full of silver needles.
“All I can do now is stop the bleeding. If we don’t, he won’t even make it to the hospital.” He didn’t say the rest—Dachuan’s leg was probably done for. Even if he survived, he’d be crippled for life.
“No! Don’t touch my husband!” Fan Xiaojuan screamed, shoving Doctor Bai aside. “You’re just some exiled quack! Who knows why you were sent down here—maybe you’ve killed someone before! If you touch Dachuan, you’ll kill him!”
“You only give people nasty herbal junk anyway. The other zhiqing said Chinese medicine is a scam—you’re a scammer!”
She treated him like a criminal. But there wasn’t time to argue—Doctor Bai gestured for the Jiang family to restrain her. Despite her shrieking, he stepped forward and began applying the needles to stop the bleeding.
He was a doctor. He couldn’t just stand by and watch someone die.
As for what would happen after… Doctor Bai gave a bitter smile. If he hadn’t had such a temper, maybe he wouldn’t be stuck in this place to begin with.
Jiang Yiliu sighed.
Grandpa Bai was about to get dragged into trouble.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152