"Mom, there’s nothing much today. Can I lie down for a little longer?"
Mrs. Lin knew that Lin Xiang had not only been getting up early every day to sell spicy noodles but also had to take care of the house chores. Recently, she had to visit the construction site to check on the house being built, busy as a bee.
Today, she finally had a break. If she wants to rest, just let her rest.
"Sleep. There’s nothing to do even if you get up."
Mrs. Lin got out of bed and found that Fifth Aunt had already prepared breakfast.
A pot of not-so-thin sweet potato porridge, a plate of pickles, and twelve mixed buns.
"Second sister-in-law, you’re up? Wash your hands and co eat. Where’s the girl?"
"She’s still in bed. I thought there’s nothing today, so I let her sleep more."
"True, this child is indeed exhausted. Let her sleep longer. I’ll heat up her food later."
After others had breakfast, they stayed in the hall since they couldn’t go out, making either sweet potato starch noodles or potato starch noodles.
More people preferred the spicy noodles, so the potato noodles were consud less often, needing refills only after several days.
"In ten days, it will be the New Year. The business will close around the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth, right?"
"I plan to close by the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month."
Lin Xiang got up and just heard this, so she casually replied.
Mrs. Lin, Chunya, and Dong Sheng didn’t object. One more day of selling ans one more day of earnings.
"The girl is up. I’ll get your breakfast."
"Fifth Aunt, I can do it myself." Lin Xiang brought porridge from the kitchen and felt full after only one bun.
She washed her bowl, took a small stool, and sat with others, "It looks like the rain’s about to stop. I’ll go and get so at later, and we can make dumplings today?"
"Why make dumplings? Just get by with a bite."
Recently, with the Lin Family building a house, at could be seen often. Fifth Aunt felt life was already good.
Mrs. Lin said, "The girl isn’t wrong. Everyone’s been hardworking lately. We should have a good al to improve life a bit. Girl, get more at; we’ll have wheat flour dumplings today."
"Okay."
Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt couldn’t stop her, so they let Lin Xiang go for the at.
Lin Xiang took Dong Sheng along as they left.
Lin Xiang didn’t love wearing heavy and dull raincoats, so she changed to rain boots and carried an umbrella.
Dong Sheng didn’t like using an umbrella; it restricted him, so he wore a raincoat.
On the way, the siblings joked and chatted. Suddenly Dong Sheng stopped, his small hand grabbing part of Lin Xiang’s clothes, "Sister, it seems like soone’s lying by the roadside, looks like she’s hurt."
Lin Xiang moved her umbrella slightly aside to see, following Dong Sheng’s pointing, and surely saw soone lying soaked by the roadside.
Beside her was a pool of red water, looking like blood washed by rain—explaining why Dong Sheng thought she was injured.
Lin Xiang looked around briefly. The heavy rain pushed down the crops and weeds in the fields. Without the shelter of reeds, the road had only them and the unconscious person.
"Let go take a look."
"Sister, I’ll go with you."
The siblings quickly moved over, and upon arriving, Lin Xiang recognized the person.
"Smartie Huang?"
The unconscious one was indeed Huang Jiayun.
"Smartie Huang?"
Lin Xiang called again, but Huang Jiayun didn’t respond.
Her heart sank, "Dong Sheng, let’s hurry back and call for help."
The way back to the village wasn’t far, and despite the coldness of the rain pouring over them, the siblings rushed ho.
Reaching the team office, without entering, Lin Xiang shouted, "Captain, hurry and save soone!"
"Girl, what’s wrong? Who needs saving?"
"Captain, Dong Sheng and I were heading to the town when we found Smartie Huang lying on the road near the old sorghum field. She seems injured and has bled a lot, so we rushed back for help."
Realizing soone’s in trouble, the captain wasted no ti, gathered the team leaders, explained the situation briefly, and hurried to find Smartie Huang.
Lin Xiang handed her umbrella to Dong Sheng, quickly swapping his raincoat for herself.
"Dong Sheng, you head back. I’ll go check it out."
"Sister, I’ll go with you."
"Kids shouldn’t ddle. Listen, go back first."
Dong Sheng wanted to claim he wasn’t ddling, but Lin Xiang had already run off, so he had to return ho first.
At the hospital.
Lin Xiang sat on a bench outside the operating room. She watched as the "In Surgery" light suddenly went out and imdiately stood up to head towards the door.
The operating room’s door soon opened, and a healthcare worker in surgical attire loudly asked, "Who’s Huang Jiayun’s family?"
"Doctor, Huang Jiayun is a deserialized intellectual; she has no relatives here, but our Li Hua Team’s captain is present."
The captain approached, anxiously asking, "Doctor, how’s Smartie Huang doing?"
The doctor shook his head, "The patient has wounds at fatal spots and lost a lot of blood. She no longer has any life signs."
Lin Xiang stumbled.
No life signs, doesn’t that an...?
"Cannot... be saved?"
"A normal person couldn’t endure lying down in such cold rainy nights outside, let alone with such severe injuries."
Without family present, the doctor didn’t offer condolences, only advised them to prepare the aftercare soon.
As this involved a life, when Huang Jiayun’s body was taken out from surgery, the police also arrived.
Lin Xiang, as the one who found Huang Jiayun, was questioned first.
"Comrade Lin Xiang, when and where did you find the deceased?"
Lin Xiang contained her sorrow for Huang Jiayun, choking as she spoke, "Around eleven-thirty this morning, my cousin and I wanted to go to town when we saw Smartie Huang lying unconscious on the road. We imdiately went back to the team to inform the captain. Once she arrived at the hospital, she was taken to the ergency room."
"How often did you interact with Smartie Huang usually?"
Lin Xiang shook her head, "Not frequently, we’d never interacted until over half a month ago when Smartie Huang’s mother and brother visited her from their hotown. They asked for directions, so we had so contact."
"You ntioned her family visited?"
Lin Xiang disclosed everything she knew to the police.
"Her original family life wasn’t too good; her mother wanted her to return to the city earlier for a match. However, her mother and brother had left Mianyang Town ten days ago."
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