After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Sun, the shop assistant, took a breath and said, "The caravan is back, but... something happened. Li Hu is injured and is at the infirmary. You should go see him quickly!"

Chen Dashan's head buzzed. Without thinking, he quickly closed the shop and ran out with Sun, the shop assistant.

The two jogged all the way to the clinic at the east end of the county town. Chen Dashan lifted the curtain and went inside, immediately seeing Li Hu lying on the bed.

He was stunned.

Li Hu was so thin he was just skin and bones; his cheeks were sunken, his eyes were deep-set, and the veins on his arms were bulging. His clothes were torn in several places, and bandages were wrapped around the exposed areas, with traces of blood seeping out. He looked ten years older.

Chen Dashan's eyes immediately turned red.

"Uncle Li Hu..." He walked over, his voice trembling slightly.

Li Hu slowly opened his eyes and saw Chen Dashan. His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he coughed a few times first. The waiter next to him quickly handed him some water, and after taking a sip, he felt better.

"Dashan... thank you for your trouble." Li Hu's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

Chen Dashan sat down beside the bed and took his hand: "Uncle Li Hu, don't talk about this. What exactly happened?"

The doctor from the clinic came over, sighed, and explained the situation.

On their return journey, the caravan encountered bandits. They looted everything and killed several people. Li Hu and two others, seeing the danger, ran for their lives, but fell off a cliff. Luckily, they were rescued by farmers at the foot of the mountain and survived. The caravan's men went to find them, and they returned. However, due to the severity of their injuries and the lack of timely treatment, they could no longer do heavy work, and their health was much worse than before; they needed to recuperate.

After listening, Chen Dashan remained silent for a long while. He turned to the doctor and asked, "Doctor, can he move now? I want to take him back to the village to recuperate."

The doctor said, "It's possible, but we have to be careful. His injuries haven't fully healed yet, so he can't take any bumpy rides. He needs to rest well when he gets back, take his medicine on time, and avoid overexertion."

Chen Dashan nodded, thanked the doctor, and then said to Li Hu, "Uncle Li Hu, I'll take you back to the village. Don't worry about things at home, we've got you covered."

Li Hu's eyes reddened. He held Chen Dashan's hand, his lips trembling for a long time before he could only utter one sentence: "Dashan... Li An..."

Chen Dashan patted his hand: "Li An is doing well. He's staying at my house, going to school with my children, and eating and living with them. Don't worry."

Li Hu closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

Chen Dashan asked his assistant, Sun, to help lift Li Hu onto an oxcart. He spread thick straw on the cart and added a quilt to make Li Hu as comfortable as possible. He drove the cart very slowly along the way, afraid of jostling Li Hu.

By the time we reached the village entrance, it was almost dark.

Chen Dashan first drove the oxcart back to his own yard, then went to call his father and Chen Xiaohe. Both men's eyes reddened when they saw Li Hu's condition. Without a word, Chen Xiaohe ran to tidy up Li Hu's house. Chen's father helped Chen Dashan carry Li Hu into the house and settle him on the kang (heated brick bed).

"Li Hu, take good care of yourself and don't think too much," Chen's father said softly, sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). "We'll take care of things at home."

Li Hu nodded, speechless.

Chen Dashan tidied up Li Hu's kitchen, boiled a pot of water, and cooked some porridge. Chen Xiaohe brought a clean quilt from his own home and changed Li Hu's bedding.

Just as they were busy, Brother De arrived. He had received the message and ran over. When he entered and saw Li Hu's appearance, his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"Uncle Li Hu..." Brother De squatted by the kang (a heated brick bed), his voice trembling.

Li Hu forced a smile: "Brother De, I'm fine. I'm lucky to be alive."

Brother De wiped his eyes, stood up and said to Chen Dashan, "Dashan, Uncle Li Hu can't be alone, he needs someone to take care of him. We'll take turns, someone has to watch over him day and night."

Chen Dashan nodded: "Xiaohe and I have already discussed it, we'll take turns tonight."

Brother De said, "Count me in. The three of us will take turns, one day each. Uncle Li Hu, you just need to take good care of yourself and stop making excuses. Think more about Ang Lee; you need to get better quickly."

Li Hu opened his mouth as if to say something, but after looking at the expressions on the faces of the others, he ultimately didn't say anything and just nodded.

Chen's father said from the side, "Don't tell Li An yet. The child is too young; he'll worry if he finds out. Let Li Hu rest for a few days and his complexion improve before letting him come back."

Chen Dashan said, "Dad is right. Li An is living in the county town now, with Mom, and going to school, so it won't interfere with his studies. We'll let him come back when he's on vacation."

Li Hu glanced gratefully at Chen's father and said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Chen, thank you for your help."

Mr. Chen waved his hand: "Don't talk about that. Just take good care of yourself; that's more important than anything else."

That night, Chen Dashan stayed at Li Hu's house to keep him company. He heated up the porridge and fed it to Li Hu spoonful by spoonful. Li Hu could only eat a few bites before he couldn't eat anymore, and Chen Dashan didn't force him, putting the bowl aside.

"Uncle Li Hu, you go to sleep. I'll stay here. Call me if you need anything."

Li Hu closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately. His breathing was heavy, he coughed occasionally, and his brows were tightly furrowed.

Chen Dashan sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), looking at Li Hu's gaunt face, feeling an indescribable sorrow. Just a few months ago, he was perfectly fine; now he was like this. But then he thought, it was a miracle that he was alive.

Outside the window, the moon rose, casting its gentle light across the ground. The village was quiet, broken only by the occasional bark of a dog.

Chen Dashan leaned against the wall, thinking about tomorrow. The shop needed someone to watch it, the work on the mountain couldn't stop, and someone needed to take care of Li Hu's situation. Everything had to be arranged properly.

----

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Su Xiaoyin got up.

She quietly dressed, not disturbing Chen Dashan who was still fast asleep, and went straight to the kitchen. The fire in the stove had been sealed off last night; after brushing aside the ashes, a few embers remained. She added a few thin pieces of firewood, blew on them with a bellows, and the flames suddenly leaped up, gradually warming the kitchen.

Yesterday, Chen Dashan came back and said that Li Hu was badly injured and skin and bones, which made Su Xiaoyin feel uneasy. She was thinking of nourishing Li Hu, and luckily there was an old hen at home that wasn't laying eggs, which Chen Dashan had bought from the market a few days ago and was keeping in the backyard, originally intended for the children to eat when they came back for vacation. But she couldn't worry about that now.

She took a kitchen knife to the backyard, caught the fattest hen, and quickly butchered, plucked, and gutted it, cleaning it thoroughly. She put the chicken pieces into a pot, added water, ginger slices, and a few red dates, brought it to a boil over high heat, skimmed off the foam, and then simmered it over low heat. Soon, the kitchen was filled with the rich aroma of chicken soup.

Su Xiaoqing got up too, went into the kitchen, and sniffed, "Sister, it smells so good. Is it stewed for Uncle Li Hu?"

Su Xiaoyin nodded and stirred the soup in the pot with a spoon: "He's injured like that, he needs to be properly nourished. Just drinking porridge won't do."

Su Xiaoqing didn't say anything more and helped start the fire and cook.