"Yes, I don't understand him, but go ask around in the village. Who doesn't know he drinks and gambles, and beats and curses his younger siblings all day long? Do you not know why Xiao Jian ran away from home?"
Liu Qing glared at his sister like a maddened little bull, arguing with her.
"He..."
Liu Ye felt a twinge of guilt. After all, what her younger brother said was the truth—Xiao Weiguo had indeed done all those things.
"Hasn't he changed now? He's been doing business honestly with me this whole time, and he hasn't touched any of that stuff anymore. Every day when he comes home, he buys Shanshan and the others a lot of things."
"Besides, haven't we been able to make this much money lately entirely thanks to him? Otherwise, where would we have gotten the money to buy you a new bicycle?"
Liu Ye pointed to the brand-new bicycle in the courtyard, which their father had specifically bought for Liu Qing after they started making money.
Mentioning this only seemed to anger Liu Qing further. He stepped forward and kicked his bicycle down onto the ground.
"Who cares about the bicycle? I'm never riding it again."
With that, he ran back inside the house with red eyes.
Wang Guirong watched her children quarrel, saying nothing from beginning to end.
She had watched Xiao Weiguo grow up since he was a child, and she knew that he truly used to be a good kid.
Yet the later Xiao Weiguo, just as her son had said, had turned into a thorough good-for-nothing whom even she began to look down upon.
However, over the past half-month or so, Xiao Weiguo had earned several thousand yuan for their family—an amount equivalent to three or four years of her husband's salary.
Although their family was considered relatively well-off in the village, who would ever turn down more money?
Therefore, for the sake of the money, she kept her mouth shut.
"Hey, you little brat, taking it out on the bicycle?"
Wang Guirong stepped forward to pick up the new bicycle, wincing as she wiped off the dirt adhering to it.
When Xiao Weiguo returned home, Xiao Shanshan had just come back from the fields and hadn't yet had time to start the fire and cook.
"Brother, why are you back so early?"
In the past, whenever Xiao Weiguo went out to sell socks, he would be gone the entire day and never came back at noon.
Xiao Weiguo was in the midst of moving things from his bicycle into the house.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and pointed to the large pork buns sitting on the stove.
"Shanshan, hurry up and start the fire to heat the buns. Don't bother cooking a meal, and don't go down to the fields this afternoon either. Help your brother with some chores."
Seeing him unload pile after pile of items from the bicycle, Xiao Shanshan couldn't help feeling curious.
"Brother, what did you buy? There's so much miscellaneous stuff."
Indeed, besides mouse traps, rat cages, and rat poison, Xiao Weiguo's bicycle was laden with quicklime, mosquito repellent, toilet water, and mosquito nets—he had practically brought back an entire grocery store.
Xiao Weiguo looked at his younger sister, patted the dust off his hands, and said solemnly, "Alright, while we have this moment, our family needs to talk about something."
He beckoned Xiao Jiang and Xiao Yue, who were playing with pebbles, calling them over as well.
"I'm telling you all something: a plague is going to break out in our area very soon. So starting today, we must take protective measures."
Hearing the word "plague," Xiao Shanshan's expression changed drastically.
She had already been old enough to understand when her parents died, and she knew the cause of their deaths. Now, this deadly monster was making a comeback, instantly making her heart leap into her throat.
She could not imagine how she would face the pain of losing loved ones all over again.
Life had just given her a glimmer of hope, only to shroud her once more in this dark fog.
"Brother... is what you're saying true?"
Her voice trembled slightly, and a chill swept through her body.
The two younger ones didn't feel much; after all, they were too young back then, and even now, they didn't understand how devastating a plague could be.
Xiao Weiguo nodded solemnly.
"When I went to the county town today, I ran into someone who had already fallen ill on the road. Based on my judgment, more cases will be discovered very soon. If we wait to take precautions until then, it will be too late."
"Brother, what should we do?"
Xiao Shanshan anxiously grabbed her older brother's arm and urged him.
Xiao Weiguo nodded and said sternly, "Here are a few requirements I'm putting forward. Every single one of us in this family must obey them."
"First..."
He held up a single finger.
"From now on, every meal we cook must be eaten then and there. Whatever is left over must be completely thrown away; eating leftovers is strictly forbidden."
In this era, such behavior was absolute and severe wastefulness, but Xiao Weiguo could no longer afford to care about that. The lives of his family members were what mattered most. If some food had to be wasted, so be it—it was infinitely better than losing a loved one.
Whether they fully understood or not, Xiao Shanshan and the two younger ones nodded in agreement.
"Second, we must wash our hands and faces thoroughly before and after every single meal, and scrub with great care—no half-hearted jobs allowed."
He produced four bars of Lux soap, handing one to each person and keeping one for himself.
This brand of soap was imported, with foreign writing covering the packaging. At the time, it cost 4.5 yuan per bar—enough to buy several catties of pork—making it an extremely luxurious item in those days.
Even so, Xiao Weiguo had prepared a bar for each of them. Money could always be earned later, but safety was the absolute top priority right now.
"Third, unless absolutely necessary, try not to leave the house, and minimize contact with the outside world."
He glanced at Xiao Jiang and Jiang Yue, and continued, "Especially the two of you. You must stay at home recently and stop running wild outside."
"Shanshan, put aside the work in the fields for now. Skipping a few days won't delay much, and we're not short on that little bit of harvest from the fields anymore."
Xiao Weiguo gave his instructions one by one, terrified of missing a single detail.
Xiao Shanshan nodded. She could deeply feel her eldest brother's care; just like her, he cared so deeply about this home and their family.
Over the past few years, wasn't this precisely what she had wanted? The older brother who had made her feel so proud since childhood was back.
Her nose stung, and she nearly failed to hold back her tears.
"Brother, we'll listen to everything you say."
Xiao Weiguo smiled and patted his sister's shoulder.
"We don't need to worry too much either. As long as we do a good job with the preliminary precautions, the plague is nothing to be feared. Trust your brother; I won't let anything happen to any of you."
Xiao Shanshan nodded fiercely.
"Alright, Shanshan, go heat up the buns. They're big buns with mutton filling, too! Once we finish eating, we've got work to do."
Hearing that there were large meat buns to eat, the two little ones were the first to jump up with joy.
They rushed into the kitchen together.
"Sister, I'll help you start the fire."
"Sister, I'll go pump the water for you."
After the meal, led by Xiao Weiguo, the family went straight to work.
Mouse traps, rat cages, and rat poison were placed in every single nook and cranny.
A thin layer of quicklime powder was scattered across the entire courtyard, filling the air with a pungent lime scent.
Inside the house, mosquito coils were lit, and mosquito repellent was sprayed thoroughly from top to bottom. Mosquito nets were set up over the large heated brick bed as well as in Xiao Weiguo's small room.
For a full afternoon, the family bustled about happily.
After all this commotion, the interior and exterior of the house were visibly much cleaner, completely free of buzzing flies and mosquitoes.
With the mission accomplished, the siblings looked at the fruits of their labor and felt a genuine, heartfelt sense of joy.
For the first time in years, their family had gathered to work together collectively. United as one, they did it all for the sake of their home.
Just as they washed their hands and prepared to sit down and rest, the sound of police sirens wailed, and a police car pulled up right in front of their gate.
The courtyard gate was kicked open with a loud crash, and four public security officers rushed inside.
The leading officer with a dark complexion pulled out a pair of handcuffs and strode straight toward Xiao Weiguo.
"Xiao Weiguo, do not resist! You've committed a crime, come with us."