Chapter 2: Yinyin

The Gu family and the Xie family lived at opposite ends of the village, so by the time Gu Dashan and Yang Xiuzhen heard the news and rushed over, it was already too late.

Gu Dashan hurried to the scene, and, seeing what had happened, didn’t hesitate for a moment—he plunged headfirst into the river. Though he was short and wiry, his strength was considerable. With one arm, he held his granddaughter, while his other encircled his daughter’s neck, and he swam back toward the shore.

As soon as they reached land, a tattered bedsheet was thrown over them. Yang Xiuzhen deftly tied the ends together, shrouding Gu Zhuo’s body tightly, leaving only her head exposed. It was the hottest time of year, and her daughter was wearing only a thin single-layer garment. Once soaked, it hardly covered anything at all. In this backward little mountain village, if the men saw her, they’d surely fantasize about it behind her back, and the gossiping women would certainly have plenty to say.

Ever since the rumors started about her daughter entering the water, Yang Xiuzhen had anticipated this, and had grabbed the old bedsheet she’d meant to mend. It proved useful indeed.

Her daughter had just lost her husband. Though she had a little girl, she was barely into her twenties—she would have to remarry eventually, and her reputation mustn’t be ruined.

Gu Zhuo knelt by the riverbank, gasping for breath, her face flushed, but she didn’t care about herself. She rushed to her daughter Yinyin’s side and pressed on her belly, giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Everyone in the area knew that after rescuing a drowning person, you had to press on their stomachs, but mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was beyond their understanding. Such an intimate act—mouth to mouth—made the conservative villagers blush. Fortunately, it was only the two women, mother and daughter, so nobody said anything.

No one knew how long it took, but at last, with a sputter, Yinyin coughed up a mouthful of water and, with a fit of harsh coughing, opened her eyes and began to wail.

“Mommy!” The little bundle of flesh threw herself into her mother’s arms.

Gu Zhuo clung to her daughter tightly, her whole body shaking. She was cold, yes, but more than that, she was overwhelmed.

Her Yinyin, her precious daughter—she had finally found her!

Gu Zhuo was weeping with joy.

“Enough, let’s get home and change out of these wet clothes,” someone urged.

“Yes, Qixiu, hurry and go home,” another added.

“Sister Chen, remember to boil some ginger soup for the pair of them.”

“Is Qixiu still running a fever? Take her home, wrap her in a quilt and let her sweat it out.”

Seeing the danger had passed, the crowd began to urge them to leave.

At that moment, Gu Zhuo’s head was already clouded with dizziness, but her upbringing compelled her to look up and thank everyone—she knew, even in the midst of her frantic search, that these people had been worried too.

But as she raised her head, her eyes fell upon a face both familiar and strange. Familiar, because she had seen it countless times; strange, because it was so young.

In an instant, distant memories stirred in her mind—

“Sister-in-law, Yinyin’s been snatched by traffickers!” A young man in a green homespun shirt ran up to her, sweat streaming down his forehead, his face filled with agitation and guilt. “It’s my fault. I clearly heard Yinyin’s voice by the reed riverbank, but when I searched and couldn’t find her, I thought I’d just imagined it.”

At the time, Gu Zhuo was burning with fever. Hearing this, she nearly leapt up, grabbing his hand. “What happened? Tell me clearly!”

From that moment, she began to exhaust every means to find her daughter.

Everyone told her to give up the search for Yinyin, and Xie Chong was among them.

She searched for fifty years. He tried to dissuade her for fifty years.

But from beginning to end, he never told her the truth.

Never, not once!

Thinking of this, it was as though a drop of oil was cast onto the flames of her heart, and they flared up all at once.

Smack—

Gu Zhuo dealt Xie Chong a heavy slap across the face.

Xie Chong stared at her in shock and guilt, clutching his cheek. “Sister-in-law…”

Guilt?

Gu Zhuo narrowed her eyes.

Chen Xinwan, stunned and distressed, burst out angrily, “Gu Qixiu, are you mad? What kind of sister-in-law hits her own brother-in-law?”

She rushed forward to strike Gu Zhuo, but Xie Ning quickly held her back. “Mother, calm down. Sister-in-law must be delirious from her illness.”

Gu Zhuo was always known for her gentle temper. To suddenly turn violent—and against her own brother-in-law—left everyone around them shaken.

But most people, like Xie Ning, assumed she was muddled by fever.

Only Old Madam Liu narrowed her eyes slightly and said, “Chongzi, you didn’t get that slap for nothing. If you hadn’t coaxed Yinyin to the riverbank to catch minnows, she wouldn’t have fallen in. If not for the ancestors sending a warning to Qixiu in a dream, Yinyin would have been lost today.”

They had just discussed it among themselves: if not for that ancestral dream, Qixiu never would have known Yinyin was drowning.

“That’s right, I saw it too. Yinyin wanted Ah Chong to play with her, but he got impatient and coaxed her to the river to catch fish.”

“I heard it as well. I thought he’d stayed with her. Who would have thought—a child barely two years old, and her uncle left her to play by the river alone.”

“What did Chongzi do after luring Yinyin to the river?”

“He went to Captain Gu’s house to listen to the radio. I saw him myself, chatting and laughing with Weiguo.”

“He’s far too careless. If anything had happened to Yinyin, how could Qixiu have borne it?”

Other villagers began to chime in, most in a mild tone, though a few of rougher disposition let loose with direct scolding.

“Xie Chong, you’ve let your learning go to your head. Yinyin is so little, and you let her go to the river alone!”

“And you, Sister Chen. Linzi’s just passed, and Yinyin is his only blood. For his sake, if nothing else, you should have watched the child properly.”

“That’s right. Don’t start favoring sons over daughters again. Remember, if not for Linzi and Qixiu, your family would have nothing but wind to eat.”

“Exactly. You always shirk the heavy work, can’t earn as many work points as the half-grown children, and your household chores are always in disarray. Chongzi and Ning are both in school—the family relies entirely on Qixiu and her husband.”

“If anything had happened to Yinyin today, Linzi would haunt you from the grave!”

“Mother and son both heartless—Linzi’s barely cold in his grave and you’re already neglecting Qixiu and her daughter!”

Chen Xinwan and Xie Chong turned pale and flushed by turns under the scolding. Xie Ning, too, blushed deeply, though hers was the shame of guilt.

Gu Zhuo’s mind worked sluggishly, but after a moment she understood what they meant.

It was Xie Chong who had lured Yinyin to the river?

Her gaze first went blank, then cleared, then filled with fury, bitter mockery, and hatred.

So that was it.

That was it!

No wonder Xie Chong had lied that Yinyin was abducted by traffickers—no wonder he never revealed the truth.

Because if the truth came out, there would be no excuse for the fact that he had caused Yinyin’s death.

After all, there were so many witnesses.