Chapitre 7: Bai Dadan’s Rage
Éditeur: Henyee Translations
Bai Xue took out a handful of rice from the interspatial supermarket while Bai Rushan and Bai Ruchuan went to get firewood. It was just about four ounces worth. She did not dare to take out too much because Chaoyang Commune did not grow rice. Only corn, sorghum rice, and yellow millet were readily available. Also, there was not much wheat around here either.
In an era when people could not eat their fill, everyone wanted to take more food. They did not care about the texture of their grain. Their only concern was its cost. They preferred to exchange work credits for coarse grain so that they could have more food in their stomachs since it was cheaper.
Bai Xue placed the rice in the cupboard and took out two eggs. There was still some grain that her father had brought back from Old Madam Bai earlier. They were all coarse grains and corn stubble, but it was enough for her four younger siblings. She took out two eggs for Wang Cuihua to nourish her body and rice for the newborn babies. She cooked 3 to 4 ounces of rice to make a few servings of rice soup for the babies. The rice could also help to give Wang Cuihua some nourishment.
As soon as she was done, her two younger brothers came in with firewood, followed by Uncle Quanzi living in the east of the compound.
"Xue, I borrowed an ox cart. Hurry up and send your father to the town's hospital!" An Quanzi panted as he spoke. It was obvious that he had run all the way here.
"My father is on the bed. Uncle Quanzi, come in quickly!" Bai Xue did not dare to delay and quickly let him into the house.
"Why did everyone leave?" An Quanzi saw that there was no one else in the room and was a little worried that he could not carry Bai Daliang alone.
"It's alright, Uncle Quanzi, we can manage!" Bai Rushan followed him in and immediately climbed onto the brick platform bed to carry his father.
"That's right, Uncle. The three of us can carry him! Let's go!" Bai Xue also went forward. An Quanzi did not say anything else and quickly turned Bai Daliang over carefully. He tried his best not to touch his wounds and carried him up. He still had some strength. Although they hardly had enough to eat, he did not need the help of the three children to carry him out.
Bai Xue quickly carried the blanket out and laid it on the ox cart so that Bai Daliang would not freeze to death on the way to town.
After settling her father in on the ox cart, she returned to the room and explained everything to her younger siblings.
"Don't worry, Big Sis. I'll make rice soup for the babies! I will be sure to add white sugar! You can count on me. Just bring Dad to the hospital!" Bai Rushan patted his chest confidently.
"Big Sis, hurry up and go! We'll take care of things here!" Bai Ruyun placed her sleeping baby sister on the brick platform bed after she was done feeding the sugar water. "I'll take care of Mom too!"
"Alright! You guys have to be more alert! If Grandma, Third Uncle, and Third Aunt come over, don't open the door!" Bai Xue was still worried and said before walking out.
In her previous life, how could a 13-year-old child cook and take care of a newborn baby?
However, children in this era matured early. There was a saying that children from poor families took charge early.
An Quanzi pulled the ox cart and Bai Xue followed beside it. The two of them walked towards town. On the way, they encountered villagers from the Fifth Battalion of the Chaoyang Commune from time to time and people would stop to ask about her father.
In just an hour, the news spread throughout the entire village.
"Xue, sit on the cart and help support your father!" An Quanzi said as he pulled the ox cart.
"Uncle Quanzi, the ox can walk faster with one less person's weight. I'll support Dad next to the ox cart!" In fact, Bai Xue was too cold to sit on the ox cart, so it would help for her to walk.
She looked at her old cotton clothes and pants which were not warm at all, as well as the gray cotton shoes which were not much thicker than a single layer of shoes' lining.
She really wanted to take out the down jacket and cotton snow shoes from the interspatial supermarket space to wear!
"You're such a sensible child! If you're tired, go up and sit down! It's freezing cold here. How can a young lady like you stand the cold and hunger?" The breath An Quanzi exhaled frosted his eyebrows.
Bai Xue thought that it was a good thing that she found an opportunity to eat bread and drink milk. Otherwise, she would really be cold and hungry.
Although the original owner of this body was born and raised in this era, Bai Xue was not brought up in this harsh environment!
"Xue! Quanzi!" Just as the ox-cart was about to leave the village, Bai Dajiang caught up from behind, panting from running.
"Second Uncle…" Actually, Bai Xue did not want to say a word. The moment she opened her mouth, cold air poured into her mouth, making her feel uncomfortable.
"I went to the captain's house to trade in my work credits. Xue, I have $10! Please take it first. If it's not enough, I'll think of a way!" As he spoke, he placed the crumpled $10 bill in Bai Xue's hand.
Bai Xue looked at her second uncle. He was desperately helping her. She thought about her third uncle, who had injured her father. They were all brothers with the same parents, but their difference was poles apart!
One work credit was only worth about $0.05, so $10 was worth 200 work credits. A strong laborer could at most earn 10 work credits a day. $10 was worth 20 days of hard labor. Moreover, at the end of the year, people typically exchanged work credits for food. It was hard for people to have any leftover work credits to exchange for money!
This meant Second Uncle's family would have to go without enough food. It was unrealistic to buy food from the supplies cooperative because the supplies cooperative also needed food stamps to buy food.
"Brother Quanzi, help me send my brother to town first. I'll go back and try to get more money before meeting you at the hospital. I'm afraid that $10 isn't enough!" Bai Dajiang gave the money to Bai Xue and said to An Quanzi.
"Alright! Dajiang, go to my house and tell my family about this. There should be $2 to $3 at home!" An Quanzi agreed readily.
"Thank you!" Bai Dajiang spoke as he turned to leave.
"Second Uncle, it's fine! I can handle it myself!" Bai Xue whispered. She had plenty of supplies in the interspatial supermarket. When the time came, she would definitely have a way. It was unnecessary for her to borrow money.
She was afraid that her second aunt would be unwilling. Although they would be the ones paying back the money, she was also afraid that the couple would have conflicts.
Bai Xue was already 30 years old at heart and had a lot of things on her mind.
"What can you possibly do? Don't worry. I'll take care of it. The important thing is that your father recovers!" Bai Dajiang patted Bai Xue's back and turned to leave.
There was no peace at the Bai family's old residence either. Bai Dahe was screaming in pain. His father, Bai Dadan, held his walking stick and gave him a good beating.
"You're worse than an animal! He's your biological brother. How could you attack him? I'll beat you to death today! Cough, cough, cough…" He coughed a few times in anger.
"Old man, don't hit him! The two little brats, Rushan and Ruchuan, have already beaten him black and blue, yet you still hit him! Do you want him to die?" Old Madam Bai roared wildly.
Bai Dahe's wife, Li Guihua, stood at the side, not daring to say a word.
The three children sat on the brick bed as if nothing had happened and watched silently.
"Mom… Mom… Help! Dad is going to beat me to death!" Bai Dahe heard Old Madam Bai speaking up to help him and quickly hid behind her.
"It's all Daliang's fault! If he hadn't come to snatch our food with a kitchen knife, Dahe wouldn't have hit his brother, right?" Old Madam Bai looked at the old man carefully and said.
Old Master Bai usually did not lose his temper, but when he did, Old Madam Bai was still very afraid of him.
"Hmph! Steal our food? Do I need to say more? Hurry up and hand over all the money we have at home! Send it to the hospital!" Old Master Bai said coldly.
"Old man! How can we still have money at home? We traded work credits for $10 from the battalion and already spent everything! We have two kids in the household that have to attend school. How can we have spare money!" When the old woman heard she had to hand over the money, she immediately lost it.
"The money for the two children's studies comes from Daliang. Don't think I don't know that you went to his family to make trouble and made his children drop out of school and took the school fees! Hurry up and hand over the money. Otherwise, don't blame me for hitting you too!" Old Master Bai raised his walking stick.
"Fine, fine, fine! You can have it! This unfilial son. Not only does he want to snatch food, but now I also have to hand over my money thanks to him!" The old woman was terrified when she saw the walking stick. She muttered and went to rummage through the brick platform bed cabinet. She reluctantly took out a tattered cloth bag and poured out all the money inside.
There wasn't much money, not even $2.
Old Master Bai did not believe it, but there was nothing he could do. He had seen it with his own eyes. He had no choice but to tell Li Guihua to send the $1.85 to Bai Daliang's place.
Little did he know that Old Madam Bai had hidden the bulk of the money adding up to $10 elsewhere.
-- Cadeau
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