Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

Captain Li pointed to the firewood room and said, "Inside the pass, the wounds are pretty severe."

Wang Weijun strode towards the woodshed, and the two militiamen who followed him immediately stepped forward to open the door. In the woodshed, Banggeng was curled up in the corner, his right arm twisted unnaturally, and his face was covered with dried blood. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he raised his eyelids with great effort, and his bloodshot eyes flashed with a beast-like light.

"You won't treat him when he's injured like this?" Wang Weijun turned around and glared at Captain Li. "You're responsible if someone dies?"

Captain Li rubbed his hands and explained: "We were just about to send him to the hospital when you came..."

Wang Jianjun squatted down to check Banggeng's injury. When he lightly touched his right arm, Banggeng gasped in pain and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"You didn't send him to the hospital with such an obvious broken arm?" Wang Weijun stood up and said sternly, "Captain Li, are you trying to kill someone? Family conflicts can be resolved internally, but beating someone like this is against the law!"

Tie Niu interrupted unconvincedly: "He was the first to use the knife! Why didn't he say it was illegal when he was chopping my brother?"

"Shut up!" Wang Jianwei shouted, "It's wrong for him to hit his wife, but you three brothers are right to hit one? His injury is much more serious than Tiezhu's. If we really investigate, you will all be sued!"

The yard suddenly became quiet. Captain Li's face changed, and he turned his pipe in his hand a few times: "Captain Wang, what do you think about this matter..."

Wang Weijun sighed, "After all, this is your family affair. So, I'll send someone to take Banggeng to the county hospital. His fracture can't be treated at the commune." He turned to the two militiamen and ordered, "Go get a carriage, hurry up."

Tie Niu wanted to say something, but was stopped by Captain Li's look.

Wang Weijun looked at Maya who was hiding at the door and said, "Maya, tell me the truth, why did Banggeng hit you?"

Ma Ya twisted the corner of her clothes, her voice as thin as a mosquito: "He...he thinks I think he stinks..."

"Just for this?" Wang Weijun frowned.

Tieshuan couldn't help but interrupt: "He doesn't work hard every day and takes it out on my sister!"

Wang Weijun waved his hands, "Okay, I understand. It's wrong to hit your wife with a stick, but you brothers are too harsh." He pointed to the woodshed, "If anything happens to him, someone from your Li family will have to pay with his life, do you understand?"

Captain Li nodded repeatedly: "Understood, understood."

The carriage was quickly harnessed. Two militiamen lifted Banggen onto the carriage. He gritted his teeth and said nothing the whole time. But when he was carried past the gate, his cold eyes stared at Maya, which made her shiver.

Before leaving, Wang Weijun reminded Captain Li: "Wait until Bang Geng's injury is healed, then you two can have a good talk. If something like this happens again, I will report it to the commune for handling."

The carriage creaked away, and the villagers who were watching gradually dispersed. Tie Niu punched the wall and said, "That beast got away with it!"

Captain Li smoked his pipe, brows furrowed, "Captain Wang is right. If someone dies, we can't escape." He glanced at Tiezhu's injury and thought of Banggeng's twisted arm, and suddenly felt uneasy.

In the ward of the county hospital, Bang Geng was lying on his back on the bed by the window, his right arm was covered with a thick plaster and his chest was bandaged. Maya was sitting on a stool beside the bed, carefully peeling an orange.

"Boss, have some fruit." Maya broke off a piece of orange and handed it over.

Banggeng turned his head and stared at the mottled ceiling, as if he hadn't heard anything. The orange was hanging in the air, and Maya's hands were shaking slightly.

The old man in the clinic couldn't bear to watch and coughed, "Young man, your wife has taken care of you for several days, feeding you, cleaning your body, and taking care of your excrement and urine. What a good wife, at least give her a smile."

Banggeng sneered, suddenly raised his movable left hand and knocked the orange out of Maya's hand. The orange rolled under the bed, and Maya's eyes immediately turned red.

"Get lost." Bang Geng said hoarsely, "I feel sick when I see people like you with the last name Li."

Maya bit her lip and stood up, gently placed the remaining oranges on the bedside table, and turned to walk out. When she reached the door, she heard the clinician sigh: "What a sin..."

Banggen waited until Maya's footsteps completely disappeared, then he stood up with difficulty. Every time he moved, his broken ribs felt excruciating pain. He fumbled under the pillow to get out the medical records and X-rays - these were the evidence he had taken during the doctor's rounds.

The sunlight outside the window made him squint. The county youth office was on the street opposite the hospital, and he had asked around. Banggeng gritted his teeth and slowly got off the bed, holding onto the wall with his left hand as he walked out. The nurse at the nurse station saw him and hurried over to stop him: "Hey, why are you running around?"

"Go to the bathroom." Banggeng squeezed out two words.

The nurse was skeptical, but still helped him to the toilet. Banggeng waited in the toilet for a while, and when he heard the nurse's footsteps fade away, he immediately opened the window. The toilet was on the first floor, and he endured the severe pain and climbed out of the window, almost falling to the ground when he landed.

Banggeng dragged his plastered arm and moved step by step to the Youth Office. Sweat dripped down his cheeks and soaked his hospital gown. It took him nearly half an hour to walk 500 meters.

The sign of the County Youth Office was hung at the door of a small gray brick building. Banggeng took a breath in front of the steps, suddenly raised his hand and rubbed his eyes hard until his eyes were red, then he staggered and pushed the door open.

Two staff members in the office were drinking tea and chatting. They were startled when they saw a young man with a sweaty face and a plaster cast rushing in.

"Who are you looking for, comrade?"

Banggeng knelt down with a plop, tears streaming down his face: "Leader, help me! I am a sent-down youth from Wugou Village, and I was beaten like this by the villagers... I can't live anymore!"

The older staff quickly helped him up and said, "Tell me slowly, what happened?"

Banggeng spread the medical records and X-rays on the table, and untied the hospital gown to reveal the bandage on his chest: "Look, his arm is broken, and two ribs are broken... all because of Captain Li's three sons!"

The two staff members gasped. The younger one said angrily, "This is outrageous! This is not education, this is killing people!"

"Why did I hit you?" The older one was calmer.

Banggeng had already prepared a story: "I... I married Captain Li's daughter, and his family treated me like an animal. If I worked a little slowly, they would beat me up..." He choked at the right time, "The day before yesterday, I couldn't stand it anymore and talked back, so three people beat me up like this..."

“Any witnesses?”

"Everyone in the village knows about it!" Banggeng said hurriedly, "They think I can't do farm work, and say that the educated youth from the city are useless..." He deliberately emphasized this sentence, knowing that the educated youth office would hate to hear this the most.

Sure enough, the young staff member slammed the table and said, "Old Liu, this matter must be dealt with! This is not just beating up an educated youth, this is undermining the policy of going to the countryside!"

Old Liu pondered for a moment and opened the registration book: "Jia Geng, right? You came here in 1969?" He carefully checked Bang Geng's file. "Well, you go back to the hospital to recuperate. We will contact the Wugoutun Brigade and the commune to verify the situation."

"Leader, can I...can I change to another production team?" Bang Geng asked tearfully, "They will definitely punish me even more severely if I go back..."