Chapter 231: Filial Piety (End)

Qu Jing went to school with her schoolbag on her back.

Her schoolbag was made for her by Hunter Qu with floral cloth, the only one in the ten miles and eight villages. The floral cloth that ordinary families could only wear on their bodies when their daughters got married was made into a small cloth bag by Hunter Qu for Qu Jing to hold books.

Whoever saw it would have to say, although Qu Jing had a strange illness and didn't grow up, Hunter Qu really had nothing to say about his granddaughter.

Qu Jing didn't go directly to school, but went to the village chief's house to find Gou Dan. A few years ago, Gou Dan was still a child who only knew how to drool at sweet potatoes, but in the past two years, he had grown to be the same size as Qu Jing.

Gou Dan was very happy to see Qu Jing come to find him, grabbed a sweet potato, ran to the door, and asked: "Qu Jing, are you here to wait for me to go to school together?"

Back then, many children who were mobilized by the village chief to pay tuition to go to school had already stopped reading. Some were too old, such as the village chief's eldest daughter, who was already 13 years old when she went to school. After finishing the second grade, knowing a few characters, knowing how to write a few characters, and knowing how to calculate, she became a cultural person in the eyes of the villagers and stopped reading to get married.

More were reluctant to pay tuition. Sending children to school required paying money and they couldn't help the family work. Some families read for one year and rested for one year. Reading until now, only Qu Jing and Gou Dan had smoothly read to the fourth grade and were about to go to the town to read junior high school.

"I'm not going to school today, you help me ask for leave from Li Laoshi, I have something to find Village Chief Grandpa," Qu Jing said, and took out an egg from her arms, "Eat."

Gou Dan received the egg ecstatically, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Grandpa, Qu Jing is looking for you!"

The village chief came out of the house with a bowl: "Jingjing, is Old Qu taking you to the provincial capital hospital to get soy... to see a doctor again? I'm telling you, I've already inquired clearly. There are trucks going to the provincial capital on the way in the county. I'll help you make arrangements. This ride is fast, no need to be like before, taking more than half a month to go back and forth!"

Qu Jing shook her head: "Not me."

The village chief immediately became nervous: "Old Qu? What happened to your grandpa? Did he fall into a trap and hurt his leg? I'll go call someone now! This can't be delayed. Back then, the old hunter died after hurting his leg and lying at home for half a month. I'll go find an ox cart now and take your grandpa to the health center."

"No," Qu Jing hurriedly stopped him, "Village Chief Grandpa, I discovered that Grandpa's memory hasn't been very good these past few months."

The village chief hurriedly let out a long sigh of relief: "Memory isn't good, normal. He's already 50-something, old age, forgetting things."

"I also forget things. Last time the county called me over to hold a meeting, I forgot."

Qu Jing shook her head: "Not this kind, I discovered that Grandpa seems to be unable to remember recent things."

The village chief didn't quite understand, but still comforted: "Jingjing, I'm telling you, don't look at your grandpa who looks strong and healthy usually. He suffered quite a few injuries when he was hunting on the mountain in his early years. Look at me, my hair is just a bit white, your grandpa isn't much older than me, and his hair is already more than half white."

"I know you are a sensible and good child. Usually, you take care of your grandpa more, and let him go up the mountain less. If there are really wild boars, the village will organize people to fight them together. He knows the road well, so he can lead the way. When the time comes, there will be no shortage of your family's share."

Qu Jing asked: "Then can this kind of thing be cured by going to the hospital?"

The village chief said with a smile: "This isn't an illness, what's there to cure. Back then, the old master of the landlord's family was so confused he didn't even recognize people, but he still lived to be 70-something. As long as he can eat and drink and has someone to take care of him, it's fine."

Qu Jing didn't give up. She had already asked Gou Dan to help her ask for leave, and after leaving the village chief's house, Qu Jing relied on her face to buy on credit and took an ox cart to the town.

The doctor at the health center couldn't give any useful diagnostic results either, and comforted Qu Jing that people's memory would be a bit senile when they were old, which was very normal. Considering Qu Jing's difficult and miscellaneous illness, the doctor skillfully opened one or two taels of soybeans for Qu Jing, and let Qu Jing go back to boil soybeans for Hunter Qu to eat to supplement nutrition.

Qu Jing gave the soybeans to the driver to pay for the fare. The driver was so happy that he stuffed the soybeans into his pocket, sighing that in these ten miles and eight villages, only Qu Jing found it easy to go to the hospital to open soybeans. Many people nearby pretended to be sick to go to the hospital to open soybeans, but the doctor ignored them.

After returning, Qu Jing began to pay closer attention to Hunter Qu. As long as it was the day Hunter Qu went up the mountain, Qu Jing would ask Gou Dan to help her ask for leave from school, and she would follow behind Hunter Qu up the mountain.

Hunter Qu was indeed old.

Four years ago, when Hunter Qu picked up Qu Jing on the mountain, Qu Jing just stood behind the tree for too long and didn't stand firm, taking a step back, and Hunter Qu could hear the movement and keenly find the tree Qu Jing was hiding behind.

Now, Qu Jing followed behind Hunter Qu up the mountain like a little tail, but Hunter Qu was completely unaware.

Hunter Qu's illness developed very quickly.

Before, when he was at the Cloud Canteen, Grandpa Wang suspected he had Alzheimer's disease and had consulted Qu Jing. In order to comfort Grandpa Wang, Qu Jing conducted a very systematic popularization, and Qin Huai also heard a little bit at the time.

Under normal circumstances, Alzheimer's disease takes 7–10 years from mild to severe, and those with faster disease development might develop to severe within 5-8 years. But people don't get sick the way it's written in textbooks. The patient Qu Jing knew with the fastest disease progression only took one year from having symptoms of forgetfulness to not recognizing anyone at all.

Patients will first forget recent things.

When Hunter Qu mentioned for the third time that Wang Laoshi, a former private school teacher, came from the town to the village to teach, and taught very attentively, and asked Qu Jing to give the rabbit he just caught yesterday to Wang Laoshi, Qu Jing didn't correct him, smiled and nodded, and carried the rabbit to school to give to the later Li Laoshi.

When Hunter Qu forgot for the first time that he had made a new schoolbag for Qu Jing with floral cloth two years ago, and nagged about wanting to make a beautiful schoolbag for Qu Jing, Qu Jing silently put away her schoolbag and hid it in the cabinet.

When Hunter Qu forgot that Qu Jing had already read to the fourth grade, and thought Qu Jing had just started school and asked Qu Jing to get along well with her classmates, Qu Jing silently put away the fourth-grade textbooks.

Later, Hunter Qu didn't remember that there was an elementary school in the village, thinking it was when he had just picked up Qu Jing, and kept looking for the glutinous rice the young man from the pastry shop had given him at home, wanting to learn how to make rice cakes.

Qu Jing asked for a long leave from school and guarded Hunter Qu at home.

Everyone in the village knew that Hunter Qu was senile and couldn't remember things clearly, and needed his granddaughter to take care of him at home. Many people sighed quietly at home, don't look at Qu Jing having a strange illness and not growing up, but this granddaughter wasn't raised in vain, and she would definitely be able to support Hunter Qu in his old age and perform his funeral rites in the future.

Hunter Qu's forgetfulness wasn't permanent.

It was intermittent.

Sometimes, while forgetting, Hunter Qu would remember. After remembering, he would be very regretful, very annoyed, and very self-blaming, but he couldn't stop his forgetfulness.

Qin Huai watched all this quietly, from summer to winter. He knew that one day Hunter Qu would forget Qu Jing. In Hunter Qu's 50-something years of life, the 4 years of picking up Qu Jing were just a very short part of his long river of time.

On a winter morning, Qu Jing got up early to cook corn flour in the kitchen. Hunter Qu was a bit suspicious, and approached the kitchen with some vigilance, watching Qu Jing skillfully burning firewood in the kitchen, and opened his mouth hesitantly:

"Little girl, why are you in my house?"

Qu Jing's hand adding firewood paused, raised her head, looked at Hunter Qu, and squeezed out a smile: "I am your granddaughter."

"Sun Nu?" Hunter Qu was very confused. He didn't remember having a granddaughter, but the layout of the house he saw after waking up just now had indeed changed. There was an extra room and a small bed.

"Grandpa, you are sick and can't remember clearly. The meal will be ready soon, eat first. I'll boil meat soup for you to supplement nutrition. After eating, you might remember," Qu Jing said. "It's cold outside, Grandpa, go to the kang and rest."

Hunter Qu was still puzzled, but accepted Qu Jing's statement, muttered about when he had become so rich to eat meat so early in the morning, and walked back to the room obediently.

Qin Huai was also a bit suspicious. Hunter Qu had indeed picked up a wild chicken in the trap yesterday, but Qu Jing hadn't stewed chicken soup at all this morning. If she started stewing now, it was estimated that it would be mid-morning before it could be eaten.

After Hunter Qu returned to the room, Qu Jing closed the kitchen door, took down the wild chicken hanging on the wall, plucked the hair, chopped off a chicken leg, removed the bones, and chopped the meat into meat paste.

Qin Huai watched from the side, guessing Qu Jing's train of thought for cooking.

It was probably because Hunter Qu was old and his teeth weren't good, and he couldn't bite the meat, so chopping it into meat paste to boil and eat wouldn't waste his teeth.

Chopping into meat paste and boiling soup also took less time, and it cooked quickly.

Just when Qin Huai sighed that having great strength was good, and even chopping meat paste was exceptionally beautiful, Qu Jing took off her cotton-padded jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and without hesitation, slashed her arm with a knife.

Qin Huai:!

Qin Huai watched with his own eyes as Qu Jing scooped a piece of meat from her arm with an expressionless face, blood flowing down the wound and dripping onto the chicken meat paste.

To stop the bleeding, Qu Jing directly pulled a piece of firewood from the stove and pressed it onto the wound. The sizzling sound made Qin Huai not dare to look at all.

Doing this step, Qu Jing just frowned, gritted her teeth, and didn't make a sound. Seeing that the bleeding had stopped, she put on her clothes, and continued to chop the meat as if nothing had happened.

It was as if she had been preparing for this day for a long time.

The sumptuous breakfast was served on the table by Qu Jing.

Even though Hunter Qu didn't recognize Qu Jing anymore, seeing the only meat soup placed in front of him, he still pushed the meat soup toward Qu Jing.

"Little girl, you eat meat too."

Qu Jing shook her head with a smile: "Grandpa, this is specially for you to supplement your body, you eat."

Only then did Hunter Qu pick up the bowl, carefully scooped a spoonful of soup, and then ate the meat bite by bite.

Qu Jing sat opposite Hunter Qu and watched quietly. Hunter Qu ate bite after bite. When the meat soup in the bowl was about to bottom out, Hunter Qu's hand holding the bowl paused, as if he had thought of something, and put down the bowl very annoyedly.

"Jingjing." Hunter Qu was like a child who had done something wrong, "I'm sorry, Grandpa is so senile that I even forgot you."

"No, Grandpa," Qu Jing said with a smile, "You are sick."

"I heard a folk remedy two days ago, your forgetfulness can be cured by eating the meat of the turtledove."

"Turtledove meat?"

"Qiujiu, a bird recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. The head is white, the hair on the body is green, and the claws are yellow. The sound it makes is like 'Qiujiu', so the name is Qiujiu."

"It is said that eating its meat makes you not hungry, and can also cure forgetfulness."

Hunter Qu felt that he was just listening to a story: "I know the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas'. When the literacy class told stories, they told them. Those are all made-up books and scripts. The things inside are all gods and monsters, how can there be real ones."

"So it's a folk remedy," Qu Jing said with a smile. "Now it's winter, there's little food. Making bird-catching traps will definitely catch many small birds. When the time comes, I'll chop these bird meats like I did today's meat soup, and boil soup for you to drink. Maybe your illness will be cured."

Hunter Qu sighed: "You child... it's Grandpa's illness that delayed you."

After breakfast, Qu Jing went back to the room to find a piece of clothing she didn't often wear, cut the clothing into cloth strips, and bandaged the wound.

In winter, people wear a lot of clothes, so the cloth strips wrapped around the arm couldn't be seen.

For the next week, Hunter Qu didn't have an episode.

Qu Jing really made bird-catching traps and caught some small birds, but didn't boil soup, but used them to exchange for radishes and Chinese cabbage with children in the village. Hunter Qu just thought Qu Jing was a child's nature and wanted to catch birds to play, and took advantage of the fact that he didn't forget things during this period of time to go up the mountain more often, catching many wild chickens and wild rabbits back.

On the afternoon of the 9th day, Qu Jing, who had been carrying a basket and exchanging vegetables with children in the village, saw Hunter Qu processing skins at the door of the house.

"Little girl, why are you running here in this cold weather? It's close to the mountain here, dangerous, hurry home." Hunter Qu reminded.

He forgot Qu Jing again.

"Truly strange, why do I always feel my arm is not listening to me today? Could it be that I hurt it yesterday?" Hunter Qu muttered.

Qu Jing didn't hesitate at all, put down the basket: "Grandpa, I'll cook for you."

Then she walked into the kitchen and closed the door.

"Eh, you little girl, how can Grandpa recognize the wrong person." Hunter Qu wanted to block, but seeing Qu Jing close the door neatly, he let it go, and muttered in a low voice, "Do girls in this era go to other people's houses to find food and call

In the kitchen, Qu Jing, just like last time, raised her hand and brought down the knife, carving another piece of meat from her own arm.

Over an hour later, Hunter Qu held the soup bowl, sighing that he really was clear-headed for a while and muddled for a while.

In the days that followed, Qu Jing would regularly boil meat soup for Hunter Qu, one bowl every 9 days. Qu Jing's meat-carving movements became increasingly proficient; if the meat on her left arm wasn't enough, she would use her waist and abdomen. Qu Jing's wounds healed very quickly, and the flesh grew back just as fast, but no matter how fast it grew, it couldn't be faster than the speed at which she cut it.

She didn't dare carve meat from her right arm because the right hand was her dominant hand and it would be noticed, and she didn't dare carve from her legs either, because being injured would make her limp when walking.

Even for her waist and abdomen, Qu Jing would avoid carving if she could.

Sometimes when Qin Huai saw that left arm of Qu Jing's, layered with new scars over old ones, he would hallucinate the Qu Jing of this lifetime; both were covered in winding, hideous scars, both were unbearable to look at.

Throughout the entire winter, Hunter Qu never had a relapse.

Spring arrived, and the weather turned warm, so there was no need to wear thick padded jackets like in winter. Qu Jing had to be even more careful and cautious when carving meat, terrified that Hunter Qu would see through her.

Seeing that his illness seemed to have truly recovered, Hunter Qu was also very happy. At breakfast on a day without meat soup, he said to Qu Jing:

"Jingjing, now that Grandfather's illness is cured, when school starts, you should go back to study."

"Your Li Laoshi said you have good grades and asked me to support you through middle school, and later go to the county to attend high school; you might even be able to get into university."

"By that time, you will be the first university student in our village."

"Don't worry about your illness either. Now that Grandfather is cured, I can go up the mountain to hunt, and by next year I'll have saved enough money to go to Beiping to treat your illness. When the time comes, Grandfather will take you to Beiping to find a big hospital and see the experts; it will definitely be curable."

Qu Jing had nodded when she first heard Hunter Qu tell her to go back to school, but she hesitated when she heard about going to the town for middle school.

"Grandfather, there's no need to be in such a rush. I'm worried about you being home alone," Qu Jing said.

"What's there to worry about? That folk remedy of yours for the meat soup is so effective. When the time comes, you can just tell Grandfather the recipe for the soup, and Grandfather can boil it himself at home," Hunter Qu said.

Qu Jing didn't speak.

For the next day or two, Qu Jing was preoccupied. Seeing that Qu Jing had something on her mind, Hunter Qu also began to worry, reflecting on which sentence he might have said wrong to make his granddaughter unhappy, but he couldn't figure it out no matter how much he thought about it.

Soon, the day for boiling the soup arrived.

As luck would have it, a torrential rain started early in the morning. The wooden house leaked easily, and the kitchen was the worst area for leaks.

Qu Jing had no time to deal with the leaks in the kitchen. Hunter Qu wouldn't go out today because of the rain, so she had to boil the meat soup before Hunter Qu got up. It wasn't winter anymore, and she was wearing fewer clothes, so she was afraid that if the wounds weren't treated well, Hunter Qu would smell the blood.

It was just like a scene from a movie.

The rain poured down, and the whole world could only hear the sound of the rain. Qu Jing was skillfully mincing meat in the kitchen. Because Hunter Qu was old, he slept lightly and was awakened by the sound of the rain. His first reaction was to check if Qu Jing's room was leaking.

Discovering that Qu Jing wasn't in her room, Hunter Qu knew she had gone to make breakfast, so he walked toward the kitchen.

"Jingjing, is the kitchen leaking? Be careful not to get wet."

The sound of the rain drowned out Hunter Qu's voice.

"Jingjing!" Hunter Qu walked closer and closer until he reached the kitchen door.

He pushed the door, but it was locked.

"This girl, she always likes to lock the door when she's cooking." Hunter Qu shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to return to his room, he noticed the door had been pushed open a crack.

"This door needs fixing too." Hunter Qu's hand touched the door, wanting to see where the problem was, and he pressed himself against the door.

Through the crack, Hunter Qu could see Qu Jing inside the kitchen.

Hunter Qu saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Qu Jing's left hand was dripping with fresh blood, her arm was covered in hideous, pitted, and uneven scars, and a piece of bright red meat lay on the cutting board, mixed in with the minced meat.

He saw his granddaughter skillfully using hot firewood to stop the bleeding, bandaging it, pulling down her sleeve, and continuing to mince the meat.

Hunter Qu's eyes widened, tears gushing from his eye sockets, streaming down his furrowed skin. He opened his mouth, muttering silently to himself.

Qin Huai read his words from the shape of his mouth.

"Cutting flesh to save my mother—so that's how my illness was cured."

"I really am a jinx, cursing my father, my mother, my relatives, and my children. Now that I'm old, I'm still harming my granddaughter."

Hunter Qu murmured silently, walked back to his room in a daze, and after a long time, wiped away his already dried tears and lay down as if nothing had happened.

When drinking the meat soup, Hunter Qu swallowed with extreme difficulty.

"Grandfather, did you catch a cold? Is your throat uncomfortable?" Qu Jing asked.

"No." Hunter Qu squeezed out a smile, his voice a bit hoarse, "By the way, Jingjing, has it been a while since Grandfather made you rice cakes?"

"I ate them during the New Year."

"Then it really has been a while." Hunter Qu nodded, "There isn't much glutinous rice left in the house. When the rain stops, you go to the grain shop and the grocery store in town to see if there's any glutinous rice for sale. Grandfather will make rice cakes for you."

"Okay!" Qu Jing said happily.

The next day the weather cleared up. Hunter Qu had just drunk the meat soup yesterday, so Qu Jing wasn't afraid of him having a relapse. Early in the morning, she took the ox cart to town to buy glutinous rice.

Glutinous rice was definitely a rare item in this era.

Qu Jing was unlucky and didn't manage to buy any. In fact, it hadn't been easy for Hunter Qu to buy glutinous rice all these years; he always traded game with people at the grocery store or the supply and marketing cooperative.

The staff at the grocery store recognized Qu Jing and told her to come back next month; if they had glutinous rice, they would save it for her, as per the old rule of trading for game.

Qu Jing had to return empty-handed.

When she got home, there was no one in the wooden house. Qu Jing didn't pay much attention to it; after spring began, Hunter Qu went up the mountain frequently. He couldn't go yesterday because of the rain, so it was normal for him to go up today to check the traps.

Qu Jing began to clean the house.

Hunter Qu didn't really clean or tidy up the house; this work was usually done by Qu Jing. She knew where everything in the house was better than Hunter Qu did.

In Hunter Qu's room, Qu Jing saw the hunting rifle hanging on the wall.

Qu Jing suddenly felt that something was wrong.

She hurriedly went to the kitchen to look, and on the wall where the game was usually hung, she saw the bow and the knife.

How could anyone go up the mountain without taking any weapons?

By the kitchen stove, there was a piece of rice cake covered with a damp cloth.

Beside the rice cake was a piece of paper. The paper had been torn from Qu Jing's notebook, and the characters on it were crooked, as if they had been drawn; one look and it was clear it was written by a beginner.

【Jingjing, Grandfather doesn't want to harm you anymore.

You are a good child, and Grandfather is very happy to have been your grandfather. Grandfather cannot accompany you to Beiping to see a doctor anymore. The money Grandfather has saved over the years is in the tin box in the cupboard. Keep the money safe, go to town to attend middle school, attend high school, and get into university.

If anything happens, go find the village head. Live well.】

Qu Jing stared at the paper, frozen in place.

Outside the house came the village head's shouting: "Jingjing, Jingjing, is your grandfather there?"

"Just now, Gou Dan told me that your grandfather went to school to ask Li Laoshi how to write many characters, and he also asked Gou Dan and several other students about characters, saying he wanted to write something."

"My Gou Dan said your grandfather asked him how to write 'live.' Is he home? Is he okay? He hasn't gone senile and doesn't want to live anymore, has he?"

Qu Jing grabbed the note and rushed out of the house, running toward the mountain. The village head shouted, yelled, and chased after her, but couldn't catch up.

Although Qu Jing hadn't gone up the mountain much over the years, she was very familiar with the paths in the mountains, especially the paths leading into the deep mountains. She wouldn't be like she was at the beginning, wanting to enter the deep mountains but taking the wrong path and wandering around outside.

Qu Jing searched in the mountains until nightfall.

She found nothing.

On the morning of the 3rd day, Qu Jing came down the mountain, soul-broken, and found the village head and his wife waiting for her at the wooden house.

"You child, how dangerous it is to run straight up the mountain! There are wolves, tigers, and bears in these mountains. If something happened to you, how would we answer to Old Qu!" Seeing Qu Jing return, the village head's wife rushed over and checked if Qu Jing was injured.

Qu Jing stood there blankly, not resisting. When the village head's wife was checking, she rolled up Qu Jing's sleeve and screamed in shock when she saw the hideous wound on Qu Jing's left arm.

"Has my grandfather returned?" Qu Jing asked.

The village head shook his head and sighed: "Old Qu... some children in the village saw him go up the mountain."

"Old hunters all know where the bears' dens are."

The village head didn't say anything else.

Qu Jing nodded and walked into the wooden house in a daze.

Qin Huai knew that Qu Jing had failed her tribulation.

Qin Huai left the memory.

(End of chapter)