To please others? It's better to please yourself.

But she saw the two Chen brothers holding torches, leading a group of people to surround the Liu family's house. Liu Qing immediately sensed something was wrong and dared not move forward. Then he heard screams and saw the raging fire.

She secretly hid on the mountain, not daring to show herself.

The bandits dug deep, taking all the money they found, but Chen Dong and Chen Xia were not giving up. They knew the Liu family must have hidden money elsewhere, they just hadn't found it yet.

Holding a torch, he searched through all the dead people in the house one by one, and found that the Third Miss—Liu Qing—was missing.

The next day, the two brothers led a group of people around the Liu family's house. Finally, they found Liu Qing, who had been trapped in the snare, on the mountain.

The Chen brothers were afraid Liu Qing would find out the truth. However, a villager said he saw Liu Qing go up the mountain the previous afternoon. Only then were the two brothers relieved and took Liu Qing away.

As soon as Liu Qing came down the mountain, he saw the collapsed gate and the charred courtyard walls.

The courtyard was filled with corpses, burned beyond recognition. Father, eldest brother, sister-in-law, second brother, and nephew—six members of the family, and she was the only survivor.

Liu Qing cried his heart out.

Chen Dong and Chen Xia then decided to sell the house and land to the local villagers. They used the money to buy coffins and bury the Liu family members, and no one mentioned the remaining money again.

Afterwards, the two took Liu Qing back to the village and told others that she was Chen's child bride.

Although Old Mrs. Chen's family was poor and had little influence outside, her daughter-in-law adopted a mother-in-law's demeanor as soon as she entered the house, determined to assert her authority.

Liu Qing was only ten years old when he started working tirelessly, taking care of everything at home and in the fields. He was beaten and scolded countless times every day.

Every time she was tormented and suffered at the hands of Old Lady Chen, Chen Dong would comfort her when he returned from his vacation in the city.

The more she was bullied, the nicer Chen Dong treated her after he found out. At first, she didn't understand what was going on. But after being beaten so badly she couldn't get out of bed several times, she suddenly realized—he was setting her up!

Isn't this just a case of "slapping her and then giving her a sweet treat"? Are they trying to manipulate her like they're "training a dog by taming an eagle"?

From that moment on, she showed an extraordinary attachment to Chen Dong. Liu Qing treated every casual remark Chen Dong made as a sacred decree, remembering it to the letter and listening to everything he said.

When the People's Republic of China was founded, it was said that the outdated practice of child brides would be abolished. The two brothers, Chen Dong and Chen Xia, who were working in the city, hurriedly returned to the village and discussed it with their mother overnight.

The wedding was held in the village the next day. Thirteen-year-old Liu Qing married twenty-three-year-old Chen Dong.

After Liu Qing became pregnant in 56, the whole family moved to the city.

……

Liu Qing was off work today, so she got up early to take care of the whole family. After everyone went to work or school, she took out her account book and started recording the expenses.

At the same time, I went through my mental ledger again. One life for another:

Eldest brother — Chen Dong (died in the winter of 60, pushed into an ice hole) ✓

My nephew — Chen Qinghai (Qian Xing's eldest son, who went up the mountain in 59 looking for food, knocked out the wolves, and fed them) ✓

"Something terrible has happened!" Neighbor Li Lanhua rushed into the Chen family home, calling out, "Qian Xing, Qian Xing!"

Qian Xing rubbed her eyes: "What's wrong, Lan Hua? Why are you so startled?"

"Something's happened to your Chen Xia!" Li Lanhua slapped her thigh, her voice so loud that all the busybodies around came out.

"What's wrong?" Qian Xing asked nervously, grabbing Li Lanhua's arm.

"They said your Chen Xia fell into a steel furnace." Li Lanhua looked at her best friend with sympathy.

"What?" Qian Xing fainted upon hearing this.

Upon hearing that her son was in trouble, Old Mrs. Chen, who had been lying down, hurriedly got up. In her agitation, the chest pain that had been building up for months suddenly became unbearable, and her limbs twitched. Her survival instinct caused her to struggle and fall to the ground.

A loud thud came from inside the house. At that moment, chaos erupted outside.

"Qian Xing, Qian Xing," Liu Qing kept patting the other person's face in an attempt to wake her up.

"If you can't wake him up, try pinching his philtrum! Pinch his philtrum!" The neighbors couldn't just stand by and watch, so they offered suggestions.

Liu Qing used all his strength to pinch his philtrum tightly. Some kind people even offered to wipe his face with wet towels.

It took a while for her to recover. When Qian Xing opened her eyes, she saw a group of people surrounding her.

"Now is not the time for you to be sad," Liu Qing urged Qian Xing. "Go to the factory and take a look!"

"Yes, Xingzi, hurry to the factory and see what's going on!"

With a cry of "Aww!", Qian Xing scrambled to her feet and ran toward the steel plant.

Liu Qing looked at his sister-in-law with concern, then suddenly realized, "Oh no!" He turned and ran towards the main room.

"Why hasn't Granny Chen come out all this time?"

I think I heard a noise inside the house.

"Let's lend a hand." "Let's go."

"Mom, wake up! Mom, what's wrong?" Liu Qing shook Granny Chen for a long time, but she didn't move.

With red and swollen eyes, she knelt down before the crowd, pleading, "Aunties and grandmothers, please help me get my mother to the hospital!"

When the concerned crowd came to carry her away, they found that Granny Chen was pale and had purple lips; she had already passed away.

"Liu Qing, please accept my condolences!"

"The Chen family is in deep trouble." "How pitiful."

"mom--"

Liu Qing let out a miserable scream, crying so hard he could barely breathe, and the surrounding neighbors also had tears in their eyes.

People are compassionate, so let's help each other with the funeral arrangements.

Liu Qing, weeping, washed and cleaned her mother-in-law, then took out a set of newly made clothes from a trunk and changed her in. The elderly women who had helped saw that Granny Chen was dressed in new clothes from head to toe, and everyone praised Liu Qing's filial piety. She was truly blessed to have such a daughter-in-law!

Father — Chen's mother (died of a heart attack in October 1977) ✓

……

Chen Xia's job was to push a cart and dump scrap steel and iron into the steelmaking furnace.

He felt unwell in his stomach at work today and went to the toilet twice, but it didn't get better.

"Chen Xia, how are you? If you're not feeling well, you should go to the infirmary," the team leader asked with concern.

"It's just diarrhea, nothing serious. I'll go after I finish pushing this cart." Chen Xia didn't refuse the other person's kindness.

He had planned to take leave to visit the clinic after finishing this last cart. But while dumping the waste, Chen Xia felt as if a hand was twisting his intestines. Distracted, he fell into the steel furnace and instantly turned to ashes.

The other team members panicked and quickly called for help, while the team leader was completely bewildered. He thought to himself, "It's over. Someone died, and all the bonuses are gone. He's going to be fired this time."

Currently, the country is facing a shortage of supplies, resulting in a huge demand for steel. Steel mills have been working overtime to increase production.

Moreover, the quality requirements for this batch of steel are extremely strict and high; any impurities will affect the quality of the steel. Even a bird falling into molten steel would be unacceptable, let alone a person or a bird.

This furnace of steel is ruined! Who will be responsible for the loss of state property?

Upon receiving the news, Workshop Director Wei stormed into the workshop, furious: "The factory has repeatedly emphasized safe production, but nobody takes it seriously. They just ignore it. Is human life a trivial matter? When something happens, it's a major incident."

That afternoon, after discussion, the factory leaders issued the following notice: 1. Staff from the factory clinic will patrol the workshops daily. 2. Workers who are feeling unwell are prohibited from coming to work. 3. Daily workshop benefits in summer: In addition to mung bean soup, each worker will receive two extra cold drink tickets. Employees can use these tickets to collect popsicles or iced soda from the ice cream parlor. 4. Workers who haven't received mung bean soup before, or whose medical staff have refused to provide it, can report this to the organization.

Hearing the announcement on the radio, Xu Jing'an didn't know what others were thinking, but she wasn't worried at all.