Chapter 212: The Difficulties of a Stepmother (4)

The old lady of the Qi family was unable to stop Old Zhang and his daughter Zhang Shiyi from bringing the wheat flowers home. She was so angry that she beat her son several times with her cane.

Qi Yangui knew his mother's temper. The more you resist, the angrier she gets. So

he just stood there like a dead person and let her beat him. Seeing his dying look, the old lady of the Qi family suddenly felt dizzy. She leaned against the wall and started to curse.

Qi Yangui stood in front of his mother and listened to her repeatedly scolding his father who died early as a short-lived ghost, scolding himself as a useless piece of mud who couldn't be helped, scolding his wife who had just died in childbirth as a fool and a rotten beggar, and so on. Her words implied that she was the one who suffered the most. A good family, now suddenly the elder one was gone, and the younger one was gone too. He was also angry, but after all, it was his widowed mother who pulled and beat him. He frowned a few times and then relaxed.

The people watching outside the door didn't want to help clean up the dead bodies of the Qi family, so they left quickly when Old Zhang's family left.

Among the onlookers, there were still some people with conscience who spoke up for Old Zhang, saying that he was a kind-hearted person, and that although he had a bad temper, he still had a conscience and a sense of responsibility.

After all, the Qi family's grandmother was famous for being harsh on her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Although there were mothers-in-law with bad relationships in this village, none of them was like the Qi family's grandmother, who dragged her daughter-in-law to the fields to plant rice just a few days after giving birth. In addition, there were grandmothers who didn't like their granddaughters, but no one would beat the child to death just because the child accidentally touched her new clothes, or pour boiling water down her throat if the child ate a piece of meat scraps from the pot.

"Mother of the child, hurry up and cook, we are all starving." Old Zhang started shouting as soon as he arrived at the gate of the yard.

Grandma Zhang is famous for her toughness in the village. Mai Huaer saw her quarreling with other wives from afar, and scolded them to tears. Thinking that she would meet Grandma Zhang soon, she felt a little scared.

Shi Yi was sensitive to her shaking hands, squatted down and coaxed her, "My mother is very nice, you can treat her as your grandmother, tell her what you want to eat, her cooking is delicious."

"Where did you two go today? You were not here when we called for lunch at noon, and now you are calling hungry." Grandma Zhang came out of the kitchen door. Mai Huaer saw that she had a piece of flowered cloth wrapped around her head and was pulling noodles in her hands, so she didn't feel so scared anymore.

"Isn't this child from the old Qi family?" Grandma Zhang looked at Mai Huaer suspiciously, and then looked at Shi Yi to ask her to explain.

"I like this child, so I'll take her to live with me for a few days." Shi Yi knew that Mai Huaer was still afraid, so he took her hand and walked into the house step by step.

"You old woman, you always talk too much. Nothing is more important than eating. Let's talk about everything after eating." Old Zhang smashed the sickle into the crack of the brick and went to the well with big hands and feet.

Every day after work, he had to take a bath with cold water from the well. This was a habit he had adhered to for more than 60 years.

Seeing that the man in charge had said so, Zhang's grandmother didn't dare to ask any more questions. She looked at Shi Yi and Mai Huaer who entered the house suspiciously, and dragged the noodles back to the kitchen.

"You, sleep with me from now on." Shi Yi took Mai Huaer into his room and pointed to the large carved bed that Mai Huaer had never seen before.

"It's so beautiful." When Mai Huaer stepped into the room, she felt very embarrassed and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, because everything in the room was so clean that it seemed to be glowing, but the cracks between her dirty fingernails were also full of dirty mud. She felt that every step she took seemed to pollute the room.

In fact, the room Shi Yi lives in now is not a fancy place at all. The conditions in rural areas are limited, and the ground is just a polished cement floor. In addition to the carved bed, there are a few white-painted cabinets and desks in the room, as well as a wooden dressing table with a mirror made by Old Zhang himself. But these conditions are already among the best in the village, especially since Old Zhang's family built a small bungalow instead of a mud-walled house.

"I'll find you some clothes, you wear mine first." Shi Yi was busy arranging Mai Huaer's life at home, and didn't have time to notice Mai Huaer's embarrassment and distraction.

"No, I'll just wear my own." Mai Huaer's eyes were still wandering around the furnishings in the room, full of envy. After a long time, she said disappointedly: "I will dirty your clothes, and the room will be dirty too."

Aunt Zhang was so good to her. If she dirtyed Aunt Zhang's things, she would feel uncomfortable for the rest of her life.

Shi Yi found a few of his short shirts and compared them with Mai Huaer. The short and thin Mai Huaer wore the short shirt like a skirt. He smiled with satisfaction, "You, a little kid, worry too much. Your Aunt Zhang doesn't have much, but these old clothes are a lot. Also, the rooms upstairs are empty. If you are not used to sleeping with me, you can sleep upstairs alone."

"But I'm too dirty." Mai Huaer looked up at her, tears were rolling in her extremely clear eyes.

From childhood to adulthood, no one has ever cared about her so much and treated her so well, not even her own mother.

"What's the matter with being dirty? Just wash it. I'll give you a bath after dinner." Shi Yi patted her thin little head and pretended to scold her, "If you say you are dirty again in the future, I will be unhappy."

"I have never slept in such a big, wide and beautiful bed." Mai Huaer's eyes were fixed on the big carved bed. She thought it must be very soft and warm to sleep on it.

At home, only grandma and dad slept on the cement-made earthen kang. When grandma allowed dad and mom to sleep, mom, who slept on the floor in the room, could sleep on the cement-made earthen kang. At home, she slept on the hay next to the pigpen, which became very damp in winter, and the torn cotton quilt was not warm. Every night she huddled in a corner, and when it was especially cold she could only fall asleep while hugging the piglets.

Shi Yi saw the fascination in Mai Huaer's eyes and suggested, "Do you want to go up and lie down now?"

This was undoubtedly a temptation for Mai Huaer. Her eyes lit up for a moment, but she looked down at her dirty clothes and the torn shoes with her toes exposed, shook her head vigorously, and said loudly, "No."

"You little thing who says one thing but means another." Shi Yi picked her up and threw her onto the big bed.

Mai Huaer instantly fell into the warm quilt, and felt as if she was in the clouds, so happy that she was about to float up.

(End of this chapter)