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

The two sisters busied themselves in the kitchen. Su Xiaoyin kneaded the dough, mixing in dried shrimp, chopped scallions, and diced green peppers to form a paste. She poured oil into a pan, heated it, and then scooped the paste into the pan, spreading it into small round pancakes, frying them until golden brown and crispy on both sides. The savory aroma of dried shrimp and the fresh fragrance of scallions mingled together, filling the entire yard.

Chen Xiaohe washed his hands, moved a small stool to the kitchen doorway, and swallowed hard, watching the shrimp cakes sizzling in the pan. Suddenly remembering something, he lowered his voice and said, "Sister-in-law, Xiaoqing, do you know what? When I came back just now, I saw someone fall into the river."

Su Xiaoyin, who was flipping a pancake, paused upon hearing this: "Fell into the river? Who did it? Were they rescued?"

Chen Xiaohe said, "She was rescued. I originally wanted to rescue her, but when I saw that she was a woman, I didn't jump in. These days, there are many people who do good deeds but end up doing bad things. What if I rescued her and she turned around and accused me of groping her? I wouldn't be able to explain myself no matter how hard I tried. So I stayed on the shore and called for help."

While chopping scallions, Su Xiaoqing asked, "Who saved them?"

Chen Xiaohe chuckled and said, "Guess what? It's that silly boy from the village entrance! Although he's not very bright, he has a kind heart. He jumped in as soon as he heard the shouts and pulled the person out in no time."

Su Xiaoyin was taken aback: "Idiot? Doesn't he not know how to swim?"

Chen Xiaohe said, "He choked on several mouthfuls of water, but he still managed to pull the person out. Do you know who fell into the water? It was Er Laizi's wife!"

Su Xiaoqing stopped wielding the knife and looked up: "Er Laizi's wife? How did she fall into the river?"

Chen Xiaohe lowered his voice and recounted what had happened. It turned out that when he returned, he ran into Li Hu at the village entrance; the two were standing by the river talking. Li Hu was driving an oxcart back from the county town, carrying clothes and food for Li An. After exchanging a few words, they suddenly heard a splash in the river, and someone cried for help.

Chen Xiaohe looked into the river and saw a woman struggling in the water. He was about to jump in when Li Hu stopped him and whispered, "Xiaohe, don't rush. Look who that is."

Chen Xiaohe looked closely and recognized her as Er Laizi's wife. He hesitated for a moment, not daring to go down. At this moment, Er Shazi ran over from the side and jumped into the river without saying a word.

Li Hu called for help from the shore, and Brother De happened to be passing by and rushed over to help. The group quickly pulled Er Laizi's wife ashore. She was alright, but she had swallowed some water and was coughing.

But what happened next was something no one expected. Erlaizi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, pointed at Li Hu and started cursing, saying that Li Hu had pushed his wife into the river and demanding compensation from Li Hu, or he would take the cow away.

Li Hu was so angry his face turned pale, but he was tongue-tied and couldn't utter a word. Chen Xiaohe wouldn't stand for it and immediately retorted to Er Laizi, "Which eye of yours saw Uncle Li Hu push someone? I was standing next to Uncle Li Hu the whole time, and he didn't even move! Whether your wife fell down on her own or someone instructed her to fall, you know the answer in your heart!"

Er Laizi was rendered speechless by the retort, but still tried to play the rogue. De Ge spoke up at this moment, his voice low but firm: "Er Laizi, do you think everyone in the village is blind? When your wife fell into the river, Li Hu was still several meters away from the bank. If you don't believe me, let's go to the village head and have him judge. Are you trying to extort money from us with this fuss?"

Erlaizi's face changed, and he grabbed his wife, trying to leave. Dege stopped him, saying, "This can't be left like this. Your wife fell into the river on her own, and Ershazi rescued her. Instead of thanking him, you're blaming him. I need to discuss this with the village elders; we need to come up with a plan. We can't let our village's atmosphere get ruined."

Erlaizi slunk away, giving Li Hu a glare as he left.

After listening, Su Xiaoyin scooped out the fried shrimp cakes, wiped her hands, shook her head, and said, "What was Erlaizi thinking? Sending his own wife to extort money, especially from Uncle Li Hu. Uncle Li Hu can't possibly go into the river to save someone; he's only just recovered and still walks unsteadily. How could he go into the river? Isn't that obvious?"

Su Xiaoqing also said, "That's right. Er Laizi is blinded by greed. Uncle Li Hu only has two people in his family, and his child has always been in school. The family is so well-off, someone must be up to no good. If they can't extort money today, who knows what kind of trouble they'll come up with tomorrow."

Chen Xiaohe nodded: "Brother De said that he has been gathering the village elders these past few days to discuss and set some rules. From now on, if any family does such a despicable thing again, the village will not give them a good look. Our village has always had a good atmosphere over the years, and we can't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch."

Su Xiaoyin sighed, "Uncle Li Hu is really unlucky. He barely escaped with his life and now he has to be wary of people like this. I hope Brother De can handle this matter well and teach Er Laizi a lesson."

Chen Xiaohe stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Sister-in-law, are the pancakes ready? I'm hungry."

Su Xiaoyin said with a smile, "Alright, alright, go call your older brother and get ready to eat."

Chen Dashan came out of the carpentry workshop, washed his hands, and sat down at the table. The family sat together, eating golden shrimp cakes and drinking milky white crucian carp soup. The children ate with gusto, their mouths glistening with oil. Afu held up a cake and said, "Mom, these cakes are delicious! Make them again tomorrow!"

Su Xiaoqing smiled and wiped his mouth: "Okay, I'll make it again tomorrow."

Mr. Chen took a sip of fish soup and said slowly, "Xiaohe did the right thing today. You have to be careful before you try to save someone. It's not that we shouldn't save them, it's that we can't cause trouble. Brother De will handle Li Hu's matter, we don't need to worry about it. We just need to live our own lives well."

Chen Dashan nodded: "Dad is right. Now that our family is doing well, there are bound to be envious people. We should be more careful when we're out and about in the future."

----

That night, the children were all asleep. The oil lamp was dimmed, its yellowish light casting a soft glow over the kang (a heated brick bed), while the chirping of insects outside the window grew increasingly intense. Chen Dashan lay on the kang, his hands behind his head, staring blankly at the roof beam. Su Xiaoyin turned to her side, pulled the blanket up a little, and said softly, "Dashan, you have to be more careful when you go out in the future. It's good to help people, but don't let them try to extort you. Thinking about what happened with Erlaizi today still makes me shudder. If Xiaohe hadn't been there, and Uncle Li Hu hadn't been far away, who knows what Erlaizi would have done if he'd gotten into trouble."

Chen Dashan reached out and pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. His voice was deep and steady: "Don't worry, Xiaoyin, I'll be more careful in the future. If someone falls into the water, I'll check first whether it's a man or a woman. If it's a man, I can save him, but there needs to be a witness; if it's a woman, I'll call for help. I won't jump in myself. For you, for the children, for this family, I'll think twice before I act."

Su Xiaoyin leaned against him, listening to his strong heartbeat, and felt a little more at ease. She hummed in agreement and said nothing more. The two lay there quietly, the chirping of insects outside the window gradually subsided, and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, casting a soft glow on the ground.

After three or four days, Brother De and several elderly people in the village finally came to a conclusion.