The path was wet after the rain. Xue Huahua tiptoed on her injured left foot and stepped on the grass on both sides of the path. Compared to her nervousness, Chao Caizhi was much calmer. She packed the baby blanket in an orderly manner and put the leftover wild vegetable porridge on the table for her son to eat when he was hungry.
The duration of childbirth varied. She went to the commune and didn't know when she would come back.
Xue Huahua threw away the basket and glanced at Lu Mingwen's room. There was someone hiding behind the door. She frowned and shouted, "Second daughter-in-law, what are you doing?"
After a while, a woman in a grayish-blue top walked out. Her facial features were young and tender, unlike the skinny villagers. Her cheeks were slightly round, and she called out "Mom" resentfully.
Xue Huahua wanted to say something, but Lu Dewen came back from behind, followed by two energetic women in their forties. There was no health center in the village, so people went to the commune hospital to give birth. The experienced elders in the village would go with them to help. Giving birth was a happy event, and the team did not deduct any work points. The neighbors were willing to help.
It was Auntie Cui and Sun Guixian. Seeing that Xue Huahua was staring at the woman at the door, Auntie Cui stepped forward and said, "Huahua, where is Dewen's daughter-in-law? You have to go to the commune hospital as soon as possible …"
Xue Huahua retracted her gaze and looked at Sun Baoqin. She felt that something was wrong, but childbirth was more important. She asked Sun Guixian to wait for a while and went into the room. Her room was big. In addition to the bed, there was a big cabinet. There were two big jars next to the big cabinet. There was a straw cushion at the mouth of the jar and a stone on the cushion. She carried the stone down and took off the straw cushion. She squatted down and put her hand in it. After feeling for a long time, she took out a black stone. She patted the dust on it and walked out quickly. She handed the stone to a thinner woman. "Auntie Cui, please take care of Caizhi. I don't trust Dewen with the money. Please take care of it for him."
The original owner of the body had saved up the money. She was reluctant to take it out when Lu Mingwen got married. She wanted to use it when Chao Caizhi gave birth. Xue Huahua counted it and it was not much. It was only enough for one child.
Auntie Cui lowered her head in surprise. "You're not going?"
In the village, when a daughter-in-law gave birth, the mother-in-law would go and watch over the child. They were afraid that the daughter-in-law would sell the newborn grandson. In this era, boys were treasures. They were always fighting for someone to raise them. There were always people loitering outside the community hospital. The family was so poor that they had no choice but to sell the boy.
After the founding of the People's Republic, selling a child was punishable by imprisonment. However, the two families did it secretly. They did not say that they sold the child, but said that they could not raise the child.
However, the villagers knew the truth. They just did not say it out loud.
Auntie Cui did not expect that Xue Huahua would not go. She tried to persuade her. "If it's fast, it will be back at night. If you can't walk, you can ask Dewen to carry you."
"No, no, I won't go. Second and Third Brother are still lying in bed. Xixi can't leave us. I'll stay at home. Thank you for your trouble." Xue Huahua gave the baby steps to Auntie Cui and gave Lu Dewen a warning glance. Lu Dewen did not dare to say no. He nodded his head vigorously.
Auntie Cui did not say anything more. They could take care of the children. She turned to ask Chao Caizhi if she could go. After getting a nod, she walked away unhurriedly.
Xue Huahua went back to the house and carried Xixi. She asked him if he was afraid. Xixi shook his head. A two-year-old child did not know how to speak. Other than calling for his mother, father and grandmother, he could only say the word 'work' clearly. Xixi's age could not keep up with his nutrition. When she died, he would have started kindergarten.
Xue Huahua touched his head and took him to the village to borrow eggs. There were not many people in the village who raised chickens. How could they have the food to raise chickens? They borrowed only 20 pens. Four of them were broken. She put them to her ear and shook them. She did not dislike them and took them all.
When it was getting dark, she took Xixi home. There was half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge on the table. Xixi pointed at the bowl and called her grandmother.
Xue Huahua shook her head at him. She put him on the firewood in the kitchen and began to cook.
She did not know when Chao Caizhi and the others would come back, so she cooked more. She went back to her room and took out a small bag of sugar. She sprinkled some into Xixi's bowl. Xixi's eyes bulged and he could not close his mouth. Xue Huahua smiled and pinched his face. She scooped a bowl of porridge and stirred it with chopsticks. She carried him to the central room and slowly fed him.
When the small bowl of porridge was half left, Lu Mingwen walked in with his hands against the wall. He said embarrassedly, "Mom, it's time to eat."
Xue Huahua's face was cold. "Where is your wife?"
Sun Baoqin never worked after she married. It was the original owner and Chao Caizhi who served her. She could not tolerate a daughter-in-law who was lazy.
Lu Mingwen lowered his head and whispered, "She went back to Sun Family Village. Mom …"
Lu Mingwen walked over slowly and sat down at the square table. The empty bowl on the table was not there. In the dim light, he could only see the outline of the table. When he heard Chao Caizhi and Xixi talking in the room, he felt hungry. Sun Baoqin scolded him for being a good-for-nothing. He did not even dare to eat leftovers. Why did she fall for him in the first place?
He was so angry that he ate the food.
It was not as if this had never happened before. His eldest brother took the opportunity when they were working in the field to sneak home with the key and eat all the leftovers in the kitchen. When his mother came back, she sat in the kitchen and secretly wiped her tears. After crying, the matter was over.
When he saw Xue Huahua's expressionless face, he felt scared. "Mom …" Lu Mingwen pursed his lips. "I ate the porridge. I was so hungry that I couldn't help it when I saw the porridge in the bowl …"
Xue Huahua glanced at him indifferently and did not say a word. When Xixi was full, she picked up the bowl next to her and ate. She ate very slowly, occasionally putting down her chopsticks to look at Lu Mingwen before continuing to eat. Lu Mingwen was scared by her gaze. He trembled and said, "Mom, I … I won't dare to do it again."
The house was silent.
The moon was hanging in the sky that night. It was not bright, just enough for him to see Xue Huahua's eyes clearly. That pair of eyes that were as empty as a dead pond had become much deeper, as though it was accumulating a vigorous energy. Lu Mingwen trembled and did not dare to look at her.
After a long while, Xue Huahua said coldly, "Since you've eaten, go back to the house and sleep. I'll wake you up tomorrow morning." Xue Huahua said again.
Lu Mingwen frowned. "Mom, I'm not full …"
Xue Huahua threw her chopsticks. She did not look happy.
"You're not full? I'm not full yet. You guys don't work all year round and want me to feed you for the rest of your lives? You want to be full, right? Go to work tomorrow and earn some work before we talk. "
If not for the fact that she was afraid of scaring the child, she would have given Lu Mingwen a beating. If he ate leftovers today, would he have to go out and steal food tomorrow? It was easy to learn good but hard to learn bad.
Lu Mingwen trembled when he was scolded. He nodded in a panic. "Okay."
Xue Huahua only scooped a bowl of porridge for Lu Jianxun after she finished eating. Among the three sons, Lu Jianxun was the youngest and the most impulsive. Liu Huaxian brought people to scare them. Based on the original owner's character, he did not fight back and let others bully him. However, Lu Jianxun was different. He shouted that political power comes from the barrel of a gun and pounced on them.
This angered Liu Huaxian. She waved her hoe and fell. Lu Jianxun's injuries were the most serious. When he was sent to the commune hospital, the doctor said that there was no hope for him. He could not resist Lu Jianguo's persuasion before he was willing to have a check-up. Fortunately, he was more scared than hurt. Other than the serious injury on his leg, he was fine. He had 5 stitches on his forehead, 12 stitches on his arms and 8 stitches on his leg.
She did not know if it was because of his good foundation, but Lu Jianxun recovered the best out of the three brothers. Xue Huahua took into account his young age and let him lie at home until he was better before going out.
At this time, people's thoughts were not so complicated. Whatever the elders said, no matter how unreasonable or shrewd you were, you had to listen to your own parents.
Xue Huahua watched Lu Jianxun finish his meal and washed the dishes under the moonlight. Just when she was about to go back to the room to sleep with Xixi in her arms, there was a fire not far away. Xue Huahua was happy. She weighed the drowsy Xixi in her arms and said, "Xixi, your mother and the others are back. I wonder if they gave you a younger brother or sister."
After putting Xixi on the bed, she hurriedly went to the kitchen to boil water to cook poached eggs. The fire went out outside the yard, and Mrs. Cui's laughter sounded, "Huahua, your Caizhi made you proud. She gave birth to a boy again."
Before they reached the yard, they saw the shadow of fire in the kitchen. Needless to say, Xue Huahua saw them coming back and was making food in the kitchen. Many people in the village did not have enough to eat, but they never forgot to do favors. For example, they came back with poached eggs. She asked Lu Dewen to help Chao Caizhi into the room to lie down, and she carried the child into the kitchen to let Xue Huahua take care of him.
Seeing the eggs and sugar on the stove, Mrs. Cui smiled from ear to ear, "Come and see your grandson. I will make the fire for you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Sun Guixian had already sat down on the stool, "Let me do it. Huahua, go and see your grandson." She did not mention a word about Sun Baoqin coming back and leaving.
Xue Huahua was too lazy to ask, and her mind was on her little grandson. The newborn child's face was wrinkled like an old man, and the light was dim, so she could not see his face clearly. But she still teased him and asked about Lu Dewen's performance at the commune.
"He is doing well. He did whatever the doctor asked him to do. Guixian and I did not run errands. On the way back, he even carried his wife for a while." He was already a father of two children, so how could he be as lazy as before? Mrs. Cui said, "I see that Dewen is working hard. You will live a happy life in the future."
Xue Huahua did not think much of it, "I don't count on him."
God did not give her a second life to live a happy life, but to atone for her sins. She did not teach her son well, and now that she was given the chance to teach him well, she must make them right.
The water boiled, and Xue Huahua let Mrs. Cui hold the child. She cracked four eggs into the pot, and put the four rotten eggs in it. She did not dare to take them out to serve guests.
The four poached eggs were placed in bowls with a lot of sugar. After eating them, they would still taste sweet with a bowl of soup.
Mrs. Cui and Sun Guixian sipped on the soup, and their eyes narrowed into slits. Xue Huahua was poor, but she was generous when it came to favors.
In front of Lu Dewen was a small bowl of egg soup. He did not expect that there would be eggs and sugar in it. He was already very grateful that Xue Huahua was willing to scoop out the egg paste and give it to him. He held the bowl and drank two mouthfuls. His tongue came into contact with something hard, and it was scalding. He retracted his tongue and looked up in surprise. "Mom, I have eggs too?"
Xue Huahua sat beside him with the child in her arms, and said calmly, "Half an egg white. It's a reward for you."
Although it was only half an egg white, it was enough to make Lu Dewen dance with joy. He drank the soup first, and then scooped two bowls of soup from the pot, leaving the egg white in the bowl. After drinking two bowls of soup, he raised the bowl and took small bites of the egg. It was tender and smooth, and he had not eaten it for almost half a year.
Delicious!
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