Chapter 25: Burial on the Low Hill

When Tian Guifang learned that her husband had been the primary catalyst for the tragic incident, she was consumed by remorse. Although she and Qiu Decai were at odds, she had no personal grievance against Cai Zhongsheng. Thus, after her husband killed Cai, she felt a lingering sense of guilt.

On the night of the tragedy, Cai Zhongsheng’s daughter, Wu Ying, who was less than a year old, suddenly woke up in her cradle and wailed. Tian Guifang picked her up, murmuring, "Poor child, your life is so bitter. You’re not even a year old, and your mother has met such a violent end. Your father will surely have to pay with his life for his crime, and the family will be shattered. How pitiful! How pitiful!"

The infant, unaware of the tragedy, continued to cry. Usually, when she woke up, her mother would be there. If she cried, her mother would know she needed to relieve herself or wanted to nurse. The child would bury her tear-streaked face in her mother’s bosom, and the crying would cease. Now, everything had changed. As she lay in Tian Guifang’s arms, she wept inconsolably.

Hoping to quiet the child, Tian Guifang unbuttoned her shirt and offered a withered, milkless breast. The baby sucked desperately, but upon realizing there was no milk, she pulled away and resumed her wailing. Tian Guifang had no choice but to carry the child to a nursing woman at the south end of the village.

This was not a long-term solution. After the funeral, Tian Guifang brought Wu Ying to Liushu Village to be raised by her paternal grandparents. However, the grandparents were displeased, as the child was sickly and, being a girl, could not carry on the family line. When the girl’s health improved slightly, her grandfather, Wu Jiacuang, brought her back to Qiulin Village and handed her to Tian Guifang, insisting that they lacked the means to raise her and asking Tian to see the matter through to the end.

Tian Guifang hesitated, then accepted the child, feeling it would be a betrayal of her late mother to refuse. Seeing how thin the infant had become, she worried about her survival. Wu Jiacuang, relieved, handed her a bag of powdered milk, saying, "Whether you raise her or give her away is up to you. It depends on fate." Tian accepted the milk, thinking to herself, "If I can nurse this child, why should I care about a bag of milk?"

Looking at the infant, who already had hollow eyes before reaching her first birthday, Tian felt a profound pity. When she teased her, the child would offer a faint, raspy smile that was heartbreaking to witness. Tian noticed that the baby, still in her infancy, no longer cried with the vigor of a normal child. It was as if the loss of her mother had robbed her of the very right to weep; her expression had grown vacant, and even her rare smiles were dull and listless. This was clearly the result of neglect or mistreatment by her guardians.

Once the grandfather left, Tian Guifang had the local woman nurse the child for a few days, but it was not sustainable. She searched everywhere for a family willing to adopt Wu Ying, but couples who saw the sickly, gaunt child were afraid she wouldn't survive. When Tian tried to persuade her husband to adopt the girl, he refused, claiming the child’s "fate" was cursed and would bring misfortune to their household.

Abandoning the idea of raising her herself, Tian Guifang pushed for the village to send Wu Ying to an orphanage. This helped soothe her conscience regarding Cai Zhongsheng. Whenever something went wrong, she would grow superstitious, fearing the ghost of Cai Zhongsheng was blaming her. She would frequently burn incense and paper money at his grave, kowtowing and begging for forgiveness and protection, whispering, "Zhongsheng, I’ve sent your child, Wu Ying, to an orphanage. From now on, you can rest in peace, free from worry."

One evening, her husband, Qiu Manfu, mentioned that Wu Ying had fallen ill at the orphanage. He had heard this from Qiu Jiangshui, a partially blind man who lived at the social welfare home. Qiu Jiangshui, a lifelong bachelor in his sixties, had been placed there by the government because his own brothers refused to support him.

Hearing that Qiu Jiangshui had returned to the village, Tian Guifang went to find him. She spotted him leading a yellow ox to the pond for water. The sight triggered a painful memory: it was a dispute over this very type of ox grazing in her fields that had led to the chain of events ending in murder. Standing by the road, she asked about Wu Ying.

Qiu Jiangshui explained that the nature of the child's illness was unclear, but it was serious, and the orphanage director had sent her to the hospital. Tian Guifang went to the orphanage the next day, only to be told that the child had passed away in the hospital the previous night. Her body was in the morgue, and the committee was deciding whether to cremate her or bury her in the wilderness.

Tian Guifang approached the director and requested, "There is no need for cremation. Let me take her back to the hillside behind Qiujia Village and bury her beside her mother, so they may be reunited." The director agreed, as it saved the orphanage time and expense.

An employee helped Tian Guifang wrap the stiff little body in white cloth and transport it back to the village. Qiu Manfu hammered together a simple wooden box for the burial. As they prepared, Tian whispered, "Poor child, you will soon be beside your mother." However, Qiu Manfu snapped at her, warning that it was unlucky to bury an infant who died prematurely with adults.

In the end, the villagers buried the wooden box on a small hill half a mile away from Cai Zhongsheng’s grave. Tian Guifang did not follow them, merely sighing to herself, "Poor child, I wanted you to be with your mother, but customs forbid it. As your grandmother, I can only pray that in your next life, you are born into a wealthy and happy family."