She finally saw clearly who the adults were carrying. It was really her mother.
She had been holding back her tears in front of the little boy before, but now she couldn't help it anymore, she reached out to hold Nie Qiuping's hand and cried: "Mom, mom..."
Nie Qiuping's face was pale, her clothes were still dripping with water, her hair was wet, and her hands were very cold. She lay there as if she was really dead.
Several villagers doing farm work used a door panel to carry her back.
The village of Yanzihe is not big. If a chicken is bitten by a weasel, the villagers will talk about it for a long time after dinner, let alone this kind of thing. So soon, almost the whole village came over and surrounded the yard of Yan Qingsi's house. Inside, he looked at Nie Qiuping's "corpse" and pointed.
Yan Qingsi's face was full of tears. She stretched out her hand to hold Nie Qiuping's hand and cried: "Mom, please open your eyes and look at me. Mom... I am Qingsi... Look at me quickly. You said you will make egg noodles for me tonight." …”
The little girl's voice was hoarse from crying. She kept trying to pull Nie Qiuping up, but she was too weak and could only pull her up a little each time.
Whispered discussions in the village.
"It's so pitiful. You lost your mother at such a young age..."
"Her dad hasn't been back for two years. I heard that he got married outside a long time ago..."
"Is her dad any different? What a crime."
Yan Qingsi's sister-in-law, Yan Ruke, came over and said, "Qingsi, stop crying. My sister-in-law... is dead, so stop dragging her."
Ji Mianmian shook her hand away hard: "Aunt, my mother is not dead... Not dead, or how did she fall into the river?"
A flash of panic flashed across Yan Ruke's face: "I...how do I know? I have to ask my sister-in-law herself."
She secretly used Nie Qiuping's money from selling grain and went to the town to buy herself a new scarf. It was too precious. She just met Nie Qiuping outside the village. She asked Yan Ruke where the money came from. The Yan family's life was very tight. She was the only one to support the family, and every penny she got had to be broken into two pieces for use. During the argument, the scarf fell into the river. Yan Ruke immediately started crying and insisted that Nie Qiuping fish it for her.
On an April day, the river water was still bitingly cold. Although Nie Qiuping knew how to swim, her legs cramped in the water. She asked Yan Ruke to call someone, but at that time Yan Ru was just crying and insisted on letting her take her first. He gave her the scarf, and Nie Qiuping struggled in the river before sinking.
Yan Ruke panicked and hurriedly called for someone.
But when people came and took Nie Qiuping out, she had no breath.
Yan Ruke was scared, so of course she would not tell her about it. She thought to herself that her sister-in-law was dead anyway, and if she died, no one would know what happened.
But Yan Qingsi didn't believe it at all. Her mother was dead, and she didn't know where she got the strength to pull Nie Qiuping off the door panel.
Nie Qiuping fell to the ground, rolled twice, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of water.
Someone exclaimed: "She is going to live. Just spit out the water and it will be fine. Press the water out for her quickly..."
After pressing it several times in succession, Nie Qiuping spat out a few more words and opened her eyes after a while.
When she first opened her eyes, Nie Qiuping's eyes were dull, as if she hadn't recovered yet.
When Yan Qingsi saw that her mother was awake, she cried happily: "Mom, mom... I knew you wouldn't abandon me..."