Rebooting 60, let's go on a rampage with the orange cat!

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was 1963. Shi Huai'an was already twelve years old. She grew taller and taller like a bamboo shoot after a spring rain, and her body slender like a willow branch, blossoming into a graceful young woman.

One morning, sunlight filtered through the dappled leaves, casting patches of light and shadow on the ground. With her adoptive mother seriously ill, Shi Huai'an began to thoughtfully share the household chores, allowing her adoptive mother to rest and recover with less stress. She would get up early to prepare breakfast for the family, brew medicine, and then rush off to school.

Meanwhile, Xiuzhi's condition worsened. Her face was ashen, her lips slightly purple, and her breathing became rapid. Every morning, Shi Huai'an would feed her medicine and then sit by her bedside, chatting with her to try and cheer her up. But today, Xiuzhi suddenly coughed violently, even coughing up blood.

Seeing this, Shi Huai'an felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She quickly used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Xiuzhi's mouth, her eyes filled with heartache and worry.

Wang Xiuzhi forced a smile and reassured Shi Huai'an that she was fine. However, Shi Huai'an knew in his heart that Xiuzhi's condition had reached a very dangerous stage.

Shi Renmei also sighed deeply, her face full of worry.

At this time, Jingzhou responded to the Party Central Committee's advocacy of cremation as a funeral method, and the city became increasingly strict in its enforcement, requiring that the deceased not be buried but cremated. However, the rural areas had not implemented this policy and burial was still the norm.

Xiuzhi was too ill to go to work. She said to Shi Renmei in fear, "Old man, I'm really scared. Just thinking about being burned alive is so painful. I'm really scared. I want to die in the countryside and be buried in the Shi family ancestral grave. I don't want to die as a lonely ghost and be bullied by other ghosts."

Tears streamed down her face, but how could a person feel pain after being burned alive? There was no way to console her…

Shi Renmei had no choice but to send Xiuzhi to the countryside to recuperate, and Huai'an temporarily suspended his studies to go to the countryside to take care of his mother.

The family took a two-hour bus ride. The road was bumpy and dusty, and the bus was very bumpy. Xiuzhi was prone to motion sickness and vomited all the way.

After getting off the car, Shi Renmei helped Xiuzhi onto a tractor to go to Shijia Village, while Huai'an helped carry the luggage.

The tractor kept shaking all the way, but thankfully the air was fresh, and Xiuzhi finally stopped vomiting, leaning weakly against the back of the vehicle.

After getting off the tractor, Shi Renmei paid the fare of three cents and thanked the driver. Shi Renmei had written to the village a week in advance, and his younger brother Shi Renli, along with his wife Wu Yue'e, son Shi Yaozu, and daughter Shi Xiaoyan, came to pick them up.

Shi Renmei's family settled down in two rooms in the old house left by her parents.

Wu Yue'e cooked dinner. There wasn't much good food in the countryside: sweet potato and wild vegetable pancakes, multigrain porridge, and she specially stir-fried wild vegetables with eggs. Rural areas were poor; stir-fried eggs were only for entertaining guests, and the eggs from the chickens were mainly used to exchange for oil and salt. At this time, the area had just experienced three years of natural disasters, and the living standards of the people were generally low.

In the countryside, women and children are not allowed to sit at the table, but this wasn't a big deal at the time, and Wu Yue'e invited everyone to eat.

Xiuzhi, feeling weak, went into the room to lie down first, while Shi Renmei chatted with her younger brother's family. Later, the relatives from the family also arrived, and they sat together, chatting and making a lively scene.

Shi Huai'an rarely returned to his hometown and wasn't very familiar with his relatives there, so he went back to his room and went to bed early.

The next day, Shi Renmei helped tidy up the house. He needed to go back to the city to work and earn money, otherwise his family would have no source of income, let alone medical treatment. He left some living expenses for his sister-in-law, asked his brother's family to take care of his wife and children, then said goodbye to his relatives and friends and boarded the bus back to the city.

After Shi Renmei left, her younger brother's family was busy working to earn work points, so they naturally couldn't take care of Xiuzhi.

In rural areas, each person is allocated only 600 catties of grain per year. Unless the village has a surplus after a year's harvest, there will be other grains distributed, but even then, the amount allocated to each household and each person is not much.

After Shi Renmei left, the aunt was no longer so polite, even though Shi Renmei had promised to give her 8 yuan and food coupons every month.

But she was frugal, and every day she would only bring a bowl of thin porridge and wild vegetables with her meals, which were not very oily.

Normal people are getting thin and pale from all the food, and patients aren't getting any nutrition at all. The only good thing about the countryside is that the air is fresh.

When Wang Xiuzhi was feeling a little better, she would give Huai'an money to buy eggs and meat from the supply and marketing cooperative to supplement his nutrition. Her aunt would inevitably smash things and break pots when she saw this, as if she were heartbroken that Huai'an had used her money.

Xiuzhi simply and politely said, "I'm sick right now, and Huai'an is still so young. You've all been through so much trouble lately. You're busy with farm work and housework, so I don't want to trouble you any further. From now on, Huai'an and I will cook for ourselves, and you won't need to bring us meals anymore..."

Although her sister-in-law looked hesitant, she vaguely agreed. Anyway, her brother-in-law sent her a lot of money every month, and they didn't have to do any work, so she was more than happy and didn't want to take care of this sickly man.

Wang Xiuzhi and her sister-in-law's family have separated. Huai'an has to do laundry and cook every day, but she doesn't feel tired. She just hopes that her mother can get better soon.

When the water tank was empty, Huaifa had to fetch water from the well. Her petite body seemed to be weighed down by a thousand pounds, and her shoulders ached from the pressure. She could only slowly carry the water bucket by bucket, like a snail.

Sometimes, adults passing by couldn't bear to see it and kindly helped carry it back and pour it into the water vat. But this made the aunt secretly curse her behind her back, calling her a little vixen who was trying to seduce others to gain sympathy when her mother was sick. Such gossip spread like wildfire throughout the village.

Sometimes when Shi Huai'an had free time, his aunt would say sarcastic things, "We don't support idlers here. If the girls in the village become lazy, they won't be able to get married, and they won't be liked by their future husbands' families."

Wu Yue'e would then throw out a large basket and tell Huai'an to go with his cousins ​​to gather pig feed or help with chores.

Xiaoyan looked down on her cousin Shi Huai'an from the bottom of her heart. Before, she couldn't stand seeing Huai'an living such a comfortable life, always feeling that fate was too unfair. Why was it that even though they were both from the Shi family, Huai'an could study in the city while she had to be stuck in the countryside gathering pig feed? But now that Huai'an's mother was sick, and Huai'an's housework was incredibly heavy, Xiaoyan felt much better. She realized that fate wasn't so unfair after all; it was just that the time wasn't right. As the old saying goes, fortune's wheel turns, and that was certainly true. Shi Yaozu was four years older than Huai'an, a 16-year-old boy, just at the age when his heart was beginning to stir with love. Plus, the adults had always jokingly suggested he marry Huai'an, but he'd taken it to heart. So, he always secretly helped Huai'an. If she couldn't lift heavy things, he'd quickly lend a hand; when Xiaoyan took the opportunity to make things difficult for Huai'an, he'd stop her; if any of the village children bullied Huai'an, he'd immediately run over and chase them away…

This made Xiaoyan feel like she was being gnawed at by a million ants. She felt that her brother was not on her side and was siding with outsiders, which made her very uncomfortable. She often said sarcastic things to her mother, like sour vinegar. Shi Yaozu ignored them and continued to do things his own way.

Wu Yue'e felt that her son was too soft-hearted, like Liu Shan, who was incapable of being helped. She thought he would be unable to control his wife in the future, so she would have to give him some pointers. Therefore, she often harassed Huai'an.

Shi Huai'an was completely unaware of this, like a lost lamb who had been inexplicably targeted by the mother and her two children, utterly unaware of their ulterior motives and what they were plotting.

This caused a flood of rumors in the village, and the older women would often tease Wu Yue'e, saying, "The Shi family, hurry up and finalize their marriage, lest you regret it when you return to the city..."

Wu Yue'e curled her lips and said smugly, "No rush, it's just a matter of breaking through the thin veil, she's definitely not going to run away! Besides, I still need to see how she behaves. If she's lazy and good-for-nothing, we wouldn't dare take her... Our Yaozu has no trouble finding a wife..."

Then the women burst into laughter. Sometimes, when Wang Xiuzhi was sunbathing in the yard, dozing off with her eyes half-closed, she would hear these gossips and feel heartbroken, but she couldn't retaliate.

As the saying goes, "When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head." Huai'an knew she hadn't been with her family long and was unfamiliar with the ways of the family, so she often had to rely on her aunt and uncle or ask for help with many things. She also couldn't afford to offend them. Her mother simply told her to be obedient, not to argue with others, and to always be patient and forgiving. Therefore, although Huai'an disapproved of her aunt's behavior, she didn't argue with her. She did her best to do what she could, and for things she couldn't do, she didn't speak up. She simply excused herself by saying she had to take care of her mother, leaving her aunt and uncle with nothing to say…

The villagers saw this and, knowing Wu Yue'e's sharp and mean nature, naturally sympathized with the plight of Wang Xiuzhi and her daughter...

In the blink of an eye, it was the Lunar New Year of 1964. Shi Renmei returned to her hometown to celebrate the Spring Festival, bringing gifts for her younger brother's family. The family enjoyed a harmonious reunion dinner together.

Shi Renmei had told Huai'an that her family had received a letter from her friend in the army, but she forgot to pack it before it arrived. She said Huai'an could check it when he returned home. Huai'an didn't care much and didn't remember any classmates or friends joining the army. Right now, nothing was more important than his mother's health. He could only talk about the friendships between those children when he returned to the city.

In the countryside, everyone is struggling financially, and there's not much good food to eat. Having eight dishes—a mix of meat and vegetables—for the New Year is practically impossible. A bowl of rice noodles with taro and steamed pork belly is considered a top-notch delicacy! Some families will stew a large pot of white radish with pork bones; of course, it's mostly white radish with very little meat to be found, but even that's enough to make the whole family happy for the New Year.

Some families, to make a grand entrance, will stew a pot of chicken soup, but it's not cooked until tender, especially the two chicken legs, which are just blanched in the pot and then taken out. So, when guests come over, a bowl of fragrant chicken is served, but the adults won't touch it; instead, they'll politely eat other dishes with rice.

If a greedy child ignored the adults' warnings and couldn't resist grabbing a fragrant chicken leg and stuffing it into their wide-open mouth, the result was predictable: they'd bite down and break their teeth trying to chew the solid chicken leg, only to draw blood. This would be disastrous; they'd surely get a beating from their parents, be scolded for being disobedient, ruin the New Year's atmosphere, and leave the host feeling incredibly embarrassed. There was no way around it; we were just too poor back then!

Those two big chicken legs with teeth marks on them will be busy from the New Year's Eve reunion dinner until the Lantern Festival dinner on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, before they can be considered to have completed their mission. Then they will be divided up by the family members with shining eyes!

Shi Renmei said goodbye to his sick wife and daughter on the third day of the Lunar New Year and rushed back to the city to work. He had been taking shifts with his colleagues during his holiday. The service industry is the most demanding, and while others are on holiday to reunite with their families, they are busy. His colleagues knew that Xiuzhi was not well and felt sorry for him. They spent the Lunar New Year in the city and swapped their holidays with him, which was a kind gesture.

By April, Xiuzhi was barely clinging to life. No doctor was called in the countryside, and she just stayed there.

Xiuzhi had not eaten or drunk anything for several days and had been in a coma for two days. The Shi family hurriedly called Shi Renmei and told him to return to his hometown as soon as possible, as they estimated that he would not survive the next few days.

Early that morning, Xiuzhi suddenly woke up and, fully conscious, nudged Huai'an, who was fast asleep beside her.

As if sensing something, Huai'an immediately woke up. Looking at his mother's sunken eyes and skinny face, he hurriedly got out of bed and said, "There's still some porridge warming on the stove. You must be hungry. I'll go get it for you."

As Huai'an spoke, he lit the kerosene lamp. The dim light shone on Xiuzhi's pale face, but her eyes shone brightly with loving eyes.

Xiuzhi said, "I'm afraid I have to leave now. I can't watch An'an get married. I'll leave my gold ring and gold earrings for you as your dowry... Remember to go back to your birth mother, go to school, don't stay in the countryside. You must take good care of yourself... Your mother will miss you so much..."

Huai'an clung to his mother and sobbed, "Mom, I don't want gold rings or gold earrings, I just want you, I don't want any other moms. Please eat something, eating will make you feel better..."

Huai'an hurriedly brought over a bowl of plain porridge, sobbing, "Mom, eat some first, it will give you strength..."

Xiuzhi shook her head weakly: "I can't eat, you eat..."

Undeterred, Huai'an persisted, asking desperately, "What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you, Mom... don't go..."

Xiuzhi sadly wiped away Huai'an's tears and said weakly, "Good Huai'an, you're such a good daughter. I want to eat shrimp soup. Go to the market, have a bowl first, and then bring me another bowl..."

Huai'an was unaware that his mother was already beyond saving. These words had exhausted all her strength. Xiuzhi simply didn't want Huai'an to see her dying state and be saddened, so she tried to send her away.

Huai'an vaguely understood the meaning of 'gone'. Many people had died in the village—young, old, starving, sick… In short, perfectly healthy people were gone and would never return.

Huai'an wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, took out a few yuan from under her pillow. This was the living allowance her father had left for them. She went to the kitchen, found an aluminum lunchbox, carried it in a net bag, and hurriedly went out the door.

It was already four in the morning. It was pitch black outside, with only a few stars twinkling in the sky. Huai'an hurriedly knocked on his uncle's door and shouted, "Uncle, Aunt, Yaozu, open the door quickly! My mother is awake and wants to eat clear soup..."

Uncle and Auntie guessed that Xiuzhi was having a final burst of energy before death. Shi Renmei wouldn't arrive until the afternoon, and since they weren't doctors and couldn't save her life, they were too tired to get up.

The aunt scolded, "What are you making such a racket, you short-lived wretch? Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated? Let's talk about it when it's light."

The uncle scolded softly, displeased, "Watch your mouth." But he turned over and went back to sleep.

The only sounds in the village were the crowing of roosters and barking of dogs. Huai'an was crying outside the house, not knowing what to do.

Shi Yaozu was 15 years old. He listened intently in the room, then quickly got out of bed, opened the door, and said, "Come on, I'll take you there."

The aunt muttered again, "What's with the enthusiasm? I don't know what got into her."

Shi Yaozu pulled Huai'an and ran quickly out of the village.

The darkness before dawn was like a thick curtain, silently covering the still-sleeping earth. The shadows of the trees swayed and danced, shrouded in the gradually fading, cold starlight, appearing eerie and sinister. Occasionally, the chirping of birds sent a chill down one's spine. This was the darkest moment in Huai'an's life; she was about to lose the most important person in her life, the one who loved her most in the world.

They traveled dozens of miles to buy wonton soup from a breakfast stall in the village market, only to find that their adoptive mother, Wang Xiuzhi, had already passed away, and there was no one by her side...

That year, Wang Xiuzhi passed away at the age of 49, and Huai'an was 13 years old.