Chapter 186: Life And Death
“Gone.”
“Gone? What… does that mean?”
Jiang Dahai glanced at the girl in front of him, with fair skin and big eyes, a small nose and small mouth, and a pair of cute dimples at the tightly pursed lips.
She was a girl as beautiful as that woman in his memory.
More than ten years ago, when the new country had just been established not long, trading and buying were still allowed freely, and no one in the village cared about the few thin fields allocated; each household pushed their small fishing boats out to sea to risk their lives for money.
Jiang Fumin was famously skilled at fishing, bold due to his expertise, and he frequented even the treacherous reefs that no one dared to go to.
It was also because of this that he was able to cast a fishing net and timely save those two.
The two of them were about the same age and had a close relationship; upon learning that he hadn’t caught fish but instead brought back a big one and a small one, they were very curious and came to visit, also asking about the details, so he was one of the few who knew the general story.
That woman was badly injured but had protected the child very well; except for her face being scratched and ruining her looks, the child miraculously hadn’t suffered much harm.
“At that time, Brother Fumin also found a doctor to come and treat her, but there was no way; she was injured too severely and couldn’t be saved.”
At that time, Jiang Fumin hesitated for a long time, but thinking that his wife at home was already gone, with elders above and children below, for their sake, he still chose not to report a case.
From the clothes she wore, the jewelry she had on, and the place she appeared, Jiang Fumin knew deeply that he had likely gotten involved in a serious matter that could cost lives.
After burying the woman, he lived in fear and trepidation for a month, and when no one came looking, he finally relaxed a bit, naturally even less likely to go seeking trouble himself.
“Little Copper Coin was about the same age as Brother Fumin’s youngest son, and similarly a little kid who had lost his mom, so he gritted his teeth and adopted him.”
“Little Copper Coin?”
So Mom was really gone, but her younger brother was still alive, right?
Clutching her chest tightly, Su Ning’s vision had long blurred and she couldn’t see anything clearly, yet she still stubbornly held her head up, staring straight at him.
“He had a big life and was saved, but after the wound on his face healed, it still left a scar.”
He pointed a finger at his own left forehead, and Jiang Dahai tapped the position from his memory with his fingertip, “Right here, a scar about the size of a copper coin, but it has faded a lot with age.”
“He, where is Little Copper Coin now?”
Thinking of the brother he had grown up with, Jiang Dahai let out a long sigh.
Those years life was bitterly hard, almost deadly; for the rations of the elders and children at home, Jiang Fumin had to risk his life going out to sea time and again, but that one time he wasn’t lucky enough to return safely and was buried in the sea.
Hua Luo Shenzi, who received the news, couldn’t catch her breath and followed soon after.
Without the pillar of the family and without the elders involved, only a nest of little ones remained.
The oldest, Jiang Xiaojun, had just turned ten, Jiang Xiaoman was eight, and the two youngest were just around two, not even able to walk steadily.
Every household in the village was struggling; although the few children were pitiful, who could provide rations for four little mouths long-term to raise them?
From one house in the east to another in the west, they could only barely survive with aid from kind-hearted families in the village.
Those years there was a great natural disaster; Jiang Xiaojun watched as the villagers struggled to feed themselves and had no choice but to take his younger siblings out to beg for a living.
Fortunately, no matter how hard, they had all gotten through it now; Jiang Xiaojun and Jiang Xiaoman had grown up into adults, and days were looking more and more proper.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to Xiaojun’s house.”
“Thank you, Brigade Leader!” “Thank you, Brigade Leader!”
Su Ning raised her hand to wipe her tears, and together with Zhang Ze, they voiced their thanks in unison.
“That child Xiaojun is stubborn and sticks to principles; because of his dad’s sake, his grandma’s only instruction before dying was not to go near the sea again, so not only himself, he also forbade his younger siblings from going to the seaside.”
Actually, Hua Luo Shenzi was just worried that her grandsons would repeat the mistake and risk their lives at sea; as long as they didn’t go out to sea, catching seafood at the beach was fine, which could not only provide extra food for the family but also loosen up the finances a bit.
He had tried persuading him nicely, hey, that rascal just wouldn’t listen! So stubborn!
It really made one both angry and helpless.
Shaking his head, Jiang Dahai walked ahead with hands behind his back leading the way, secretly thinking to himself: looking at these two siblings, not only saved their lives but also raised Little Copper Coin; Xiaojun’s family should get good fortune for their good deeds, right?
On the way back to Little Pearl Village, Su Ning didn’t idle either, asking many things about her younger brother.
Suddenly knowing that she still had a blood relative in the world, she was both excited and joyful yet also uneasy.
Although she had always lived in the illusions carefully woven by Xu Zixin, it couldn’t be denied that on the surface those years she lived well, better than most.
Unlike her younger brother, who couldn’t eat his fill or wear warm clothes, living so very harshly.
Would her younger brother resent her for not coming to find him earlier…
“Here we are, this is it.”
Pointing at the thatch hut in front, Jiang Dahai pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in first, “Xiaojun, Xiaoman, are you home?”
“Yes, at home, Uncle Hai, how come you’re here? Who are they?”
Wiping her hands as she answered, out from inside the room came a young girl, with a wheat-colored face like the locals, a few freckles on the sides of her nose, not big eyes but very bright, especially sparkling when she smiled, easily making one feel fondness.
Two braids hung behind her, clothes covered in large and small patches with fine stitches, probably still quite handy.
“Where are your brothers? Not home? These two comrades are here looking for Little Copper Coin.”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoman couldn’t help but feel startled; looking for her little brother? Could it be his family had come searching?
She was young back then but already remembered; regarding her dad saving people and Little Copper Coin’s background, she knew as clearly as her big brother.
But over so many years, the four siblings had relied on each other; in their hearts, little brother was just like big brother, their own flesh and blood little brother!
Now… people had come knocking; little brother, was little brother going to leave this home?
Just thinking of this, Jiang Xiaoman couldn’t help but have her eyes turn red, holding back hard to not lose composure in front of the visitors.
“Big brother took big little brother and little little brother to pick wild bananas, not far, I, I’ll go call them!”
“Hey, go quickly then, I’ll help greet them first.”
Nodding her head, she forced a smile at the two behind him, and Jiang Xiaoman quickly ran out of the house.
“Comrade Xiao Su, don’t mind; these siblings have been close since young, it’s just reluctance.”
“I won’t, I understand.”
Without getting along or nurturing feelings, even with blood connection, strangers are just that—people related by blood.
On the contrary, relying on each other for years, even without that blood tie, can make them closest kin.
For Jiang Fumin’s life-saving grace, and Jiang Xiaojun and Jiang Xiaoman’s great kindness in raising him, she would only feel gratitude, so how could she blame them?
Even if, even if her younger brother was unwilling to go with her and wanted to continue living with the Jiang family, she wouldn’t oppose or force it just because she was his blood sister.
On the other side, the flustered and panicked Jiang Xiaoman finally found Jiang Xiaojun, who was leading the two younger brothers climbing trees to pick bananas.
“Big brother…”
As soon as she opened her mouth, she couldn’t help but choke up with a trembling voice, startling Jiang Xiaojun, who thought something had happened, into jumping straight down from the tree and rushing to her in a few steps.
“What happened, did something occur?”
“Sis, why are you crying? Who bullied you? Was it Brother Qiangzi’s family?”
“Dare to bully my sis, I’ll beat those monkey brothers to death!”
“Stop!”
Jiang Xiaotong and Jiang Xiaoyuan, about the same height, both had indignant looks on their faces, clenching their fists as if ready to thrash the little rascals from that family who bullied her.
Feeling both touched and heartbroken, Jiang Xiaoman’s tears fell even harder, yet she still shook her head to explain, “No one bullied me.”
“How is that possible!” “If no one bullied sis, why is she crying?”
“Little sister, what’s really going on?”
“It’s, it’s Little Copper’s family who came.”
“What? How could that be!” “Ah?”
Jiang Xiaojun and Jiang Xiaoyuan looked at him in shock; after so many years, someone really came?
“No matter who, I’m not going!”
Jiang Xiaotong had always known his own background because every festival, big brother would take him alone to burn paper at his birth mom’s grave.
Sometimes he had secretly fantasized if he had other relatives, and what they were like… but he never considered leaving home to seek them.
Now that someone really came, even this usually steady half-grown kid couldn’t help but start panicking.
“Let’s go home first; no matter what, figure out the situation before anything else.”
As the big brother, Jiang Xiaojun quickly came to his senses, glanced at his siblings, and made the decision, “Not certain yet, why panic? Let’s go!”
