CRACKLE.
The wedding candle on the table burned, its flame swaying gently. The faint sound startled the young woman sitting dazed on the kang bed.
In the candlelight, the young woman was as beautiful as a fairy, with delicate features and a pair of clear, dark doe eyes. But right now, her brow was furrowed and her lips were pressed together, making her look rather uneasy.
Xue Yue was married.
Tonight was supposed to be her wedding night, but Xue Yue couldn't bring herself to be happy. Her older brother was still in the hospital. Although his surgery was over, he hadn't woken up yet.
It was October, and the crops in the fields had already been harvested.
During this time, the village's male laborers had been called by the production brigade leader to dig an irrigation ditch, and her brother was among them.
Yesterday afternoon, her brother was hit on the head by a rock. He lost a lot of blood and was rushed to the hospital.
When Xue Yue found out, she ran to the hospital in a panic. Her brother had already been taken into the operating room. A nurse informed her that they needed to call in a specialist for the surgery, and the cost would be over four hundred yuan.
The production brigade leader and a few other villagers were also at the hospital; they were the ones who had brought her brother over. Their clothes were all stained with blood to some degree, hinting at just how bad her brother's situation was.
Xue Yue's legs felt weak as she leaned against the wall, staring intently at the operating room doors.
The production brigade leader walked over and sighed. "Girl Yue, what's done is done. On my authority, the village will give you 20 yuan as some compensation. The village doesn't have any more than that. You should hurry home and scrape together the money now."
'Over four hundred yuan... If the surgery is successful, with the subsequent IV drips and recovery, it'll cost 500 at the very least.'
Right now, every family was just barely scraping by, not quite starving. It would be nearly impossible to come up with that much money.
But not saving him wasn't an option. Xue Xingzhou was only 23 and wasn't even married yet. Plus, since he was injured while digging the ditch for the village, the village bore a certain amount of responsibility.
Xue Yue knew this was no time to be weak. Her brother needed life-saving money.
"Production Brigade Leader, please help me watch my brother at the hospital. I'll go back and raise the money."
The production brigade leader looked at the teary-eyed yet exceptionally determined young girl before him, sighed, and nodded.
"Go on. I'll keep an eye on things here. Don't you worry."
Xue Yue left the hospital and hurried home. The whole way, she muttered to herself, "Save my brother, save my brother."
On her way back to the village, she ran into her father, Xue Changlin, and her stepmother, Liu Hongxing, who were heading to the hospital on an ox-cart.
Xue Changlin saw Xue Yue and quickly asked, "Yue'er, how's your brother? I heard from Zhuzi that he was hit on the head by a rock that rolled down the hillside."
At this, Xue Yue's tears started streaming down her face, and her voice was choked with sobs.
"Dad, Big Brother... Big Brother needs surgery. The fee is over four hundred yuan. Can you lend me the money? When he gets better, Big Brother and I will pay you back."
Xue Changlin's face darkened. His brow furrowed as he asked in a heavy voice, "That much money? Is it that serious?"
"Yes, he needs surgery," Xue Yue nodded.
Liu Hongxing, who was at his side, glanced at Xue Changlin, then slapped her thigh loudly and exclaimed, "Yue'er, where would the family get that kind of money? Forget four hundred, we don't even have 40 yuan! There are so many mouths to feed at home. Money doesn't just grow on trees! You don't run the household, so you don't know how expensive everything is."
Xue Yue didn't look at Liu Hongxing, nor did she have any hope for her help. She just stared intently at Xue Changlin.
"Dad, I'm begging you, please save Big Brother. He lost so much blood. I promise I'll pay you back double for this money."
Xue Changlin looked at Xue Yue, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something.
Seeing this, Liu Hongxing quickly cut in, "Yue'er, it's not that we're being heartless, but the family really has no money. Your little brother is about to start school too, and we still don't know where we're going to get his tuition fees from."
"Dad, he's your son!" Xue Yue's eyes were red as she stared fixedly at Xue Changlin.
"That's so much money..."
The corners of Xue Changlin's mouth trembled. He turned to glance at Liu Hongxing, but after she shot him a fierce glare, he lowered his eyes and fell silent.
Liu Hongxing said coldly, "Your father has more than one son. Besides, your big brother got hit on the head and lost so much blood. Even if we spend the money, there's no telling if he can be saved. We could end up losing both the person and the money."
"Shut up! Who the hell do you think you are? Just squawking away over here," Xue Yue screamed, her eyes bloodshot as she glared furiously at Liu Hongxing.
Liu Hongxing was taken aback by the hatred in her eyes, but then she seemed to think of something and tugged on Xue Changlin's arm.
"Are you dead?! Just listen to what your daughter is saying! Does she have any respect for her elders at all?"
Xue Changlin frowned. "Yue'er..."
"Are you giving me the money or not?" Xue Yue asked bluntly.
"No money," Liu Hongxing answered hastily, her hand still twisting Xue Changlin's arm tightly.
Xue Yue looked at her silent father.
After a long moment, she lowered her head and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
Her mother had died of illness when she was ten, leaving behind Xue Yue and her brother, Xue Xingzhou, who was five years older.
Her father, Xue Changlin, was an honest and dutiful man. When Xue Yue was 12, he remarried his current wife, Liu Hongxing. A year later, they had a son, Xue Xingjun, who was now five years old.
People say that when a stepmother arrives, the father becomes a stepfather too. She didn't know about other families, but Xue Changlin was certainly not much different from a stepfather to them.
To put it nicely, he was honest and dutiful. To put it bluntly, he was dull-witted and spineless, incapable of making his own decisions.
Her stepmother, Liu Hongxing, called all the shots at home. Fortunately, Xue Yue and her brother weren't that young anymore. The two siblings took care of each other, relying on one another to get by. Even so, she and her brother often went hungry.
Xue Yue didn't believe Liu Hongxing when she said the family had no money. Even if they didn't have four hundred, they had to have two or three hundred.
For years, her brother and father had almost always earned full work points. Even Xue Yue herself earned 7 or 8 work points every day. Not to mention previous years, but just this year, the grain had recently been distributed. The Xue family had received a lot of grain and over ninety yuan in cash.
But now Liu Hongxing was claiming they had no money, and her father didn't even dare to say a word.
'In the end, it was all a foolish hope!'
Xue Yue wiped away her tears, her voice firm and resolute.
"Xue Changlin, you won't even save your own son's life. What kind of father are you? You said you have more than one son. Well, from now on, you only have that one son."
Xue Yue didn't even call him "Dad" anymore, using his full name instead.
After speaking, she ran quickly towards home, Liu Hongxing's curses echoing behind her.
Xue Yue paid her no mind.
'If asking nicely won't work, then I'll take it myself.'
Xue Yue ran all the way home. The Xue family had four rooms in total: her brother and she each had a small room, while Xue Changlin and Liu Hongxing lived in the large main room with Xue Xingjun. The last room was the kitchen.
Xue Yue grabbed the wood-chopping axe from the courtyard and walked towards the main house.
With one swing of the axe, Xue Yue broke the lock on the main house door.
Xue Yue kicked the door open and went inside. She scanned the room: there was bedding on the kang bed, and at the head of the bed sat a locked cabinet.
Xue Yue swung the axe down but didn't break it open. With another swing, the lock split and fell onto the kang bed.
Xue Yue put down the axe, opened the cabinet, and began to rummage through it.
Sure enough, under the clothes, she found a handkerchief with money wrapped inside. She opened it and counted: one hundred sixty-seven yuan and fifty cents.
Xue Yue frowned, thinking it was impossible that this was all the money the family had. She searched again but found nothing else.
She looked around the room but couldn't find any other hiding places for money.
There was no time. Xue Yue grabbed the money and ran out.