Chapter 9: Finally Home

As Aunt Liu was speaking, pictures appeared before Shi Xiaoai's eyes, all of which came from the original owner's memories.

A large aluminum lunch box is indispensable in all those pictures.

This lunch box would always appear on their windowsill in the morning before dawn, and it would always be full every time it was opened.

Either a box of hot big meat buns, or a box of firmly pressed freshly fried dough sticks.

Another time, the aluminum lunch box was filled with a whole box of sugar!

At that time, the original owner had been suffering from a fever for several days. The old man was extremely anxious but could do nothing to help, so he had to search around for this box of candy. This was the most nutritious thing the old man could find for his granddaughter.

Even through her memory, Shi Xiaoai was still shocked at this moment.

You have to know that even in this era, a person can only get two taels of sugar tickets per quarter, and there are often tickets but no goods, let alone more than ten years ago.

She had no idea how much trouble the old man had gone through for this box of candy.

After reading these memories, she nodded heavily to Aunt Liu and said seriously, "Aunt, I remember everything. We all remember how good Grandpa was to me and my parents."

"Oh, that's right!" Aunt Liu clapped her legs happily after hearing this, but she still couldn't help but tear up.

She didn't seem to want to cry in front of Shi Xiaoai, so she wiped her tears quickly and said with a smile, "Your grandfather will be very happy to hear this, and he will definitely feel relieved."

Because it was working hours, Aunt Liu didn't want to stay any longer. She handed the key to her house to Shi Xiaoai, and told her that she would bring them lunch at noon, and then left.

When there were finally no outsiders in the house, the family of three finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Shi Xiaoai finally had the opportunity to take a good look at the house.

This house is neither big nor small.

There is a patio at the entrance, and opposite the door is a suite. The suite is similar to a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment, with a small living room in the middle and a small room on each side.

Xiao Ai and the others were in one of the rooms at this time. This room should have been the old man’s bedroom before.

The room opposite was converted into a kitchen, with a long chimney extending from the kitchen, coiling above the three rooms.

Coming out of this suite, there are two bungalows of similar size on its left side, which is the east side of the patio.

However, the doors were locked and the window papers on the windows had turned yellow, and it was obvious that they had not been used for a long time.

There was no room on the right side of the patio, but instead a flower bed made of blue bricks. In it stood a grape vine that was almost as thick as a child's wrist, and there were also some dead flowers and trees, making it impossible to tell what they were.

In addition to these, what made Shi Xiaoai most happy was that there was a separate bathroom built near the door.

Although we still have to use a toilet because there is no sewer, at least we don’t have to put the toilet in the bedroom!

There is even a shower head above the bathroom.

This means that as long as you have enough hot water, you can take a bath here without having to go out to find a large bathhouse.

Looking at such a bathroom, Shi Xiaoai felt a rare sense of happiness.

She suddenly realized that her desires were getting lower and lower, and this little bit of happiness could make her happy.

When Shi Xiaoai was visiting the house, Mingrui and Mingxi were sitting on a small bench, snuggling together and almost falling asleep.

It was still winter, and the house had not been occupied for a long time. It was cold and gloomy, and Xiao Ai couldn't help shivering even when she was moving.

Seeing the two little guys curled up there, she quickly went over and slapped them awake: "Don't sleep yet, you'll catch a cold if you sleep like this. Just bear with it for a while, I'll boil some hot water for you to drink, then you can go back to sleep."

As she spoke, she opened the bundle she had brought back, stretched out the quilt and wrapped the two children in it.

"Mom, let me help you light the fire." Mingrui's eyes were glued together and he was arguing with each other, but he still struggled to get up.

"No, just sit down. You don't know how to use the stove here."

Shi Xiaoai said as she patted her daughter's face again, waking up the little one who had already started snoring: "Xiaoxi, wake up. Mommy has some chicken for you to eat. Wake up quickly."

When Xiaoxi heard that she could eat chicken, she quickly opened her eyes.

The night before leaving, Shi Xiaoai almost didn't sleep all night and cleaned up all the edible things in the house.

Even though Xiaoxi was crying loudly, she still killed the two hens at home. She used coarse salt to rub the chickens inside and out, then put ginger slices in their stomachs and steamed them in a big pot.

An hour later, we harvested two salt-steamed chickens with crispy skin, tender meat and fragrant aroma.

In addition to the chicken, she also used all the remaining eggs. She used the little remaining oil, the chicken fat cut from the chicken and the soaked dried radish to make preserved radish fried eggs.

Although the total amount of oil is still small, a full nine eggs are used!

When the dish was cooked, even the sobbing Xiaoxi wiped away her tears and sat down in front of the stove in despair.

It was precisely because of these two dishes that the family of three was able to successfully complete the journey of nearly a thousand miles.

Otherwise, with only the whole-grain pancakes, Shi Xiaoai doubted that she would even be unable to carry the large package after getting off the bus.

Now, the pancakes and fried eggs have been eaten. But the two children are very sensible and only eat a little bit of chicken each time. Until now, there is still one-third of the chicken left.

Fortunately, the weather was cold enough so that it didn't go bad.

"Let's eat all the remaining eggs, and Mom will make you some chicken soup. Wait a minute, you have to eat something before you can go to sleep."

Perhaps blood ties are something that no one can escape. After spending a few days with the child, Shi Xiaoai has completely entered the role of a mother.

As she spoke, she walked quickly into the kitchen, but was dumbfounded again when she saw the stove and the pile of honeycomb coal in the corner.

She doesn't know how to burn this coal!

Mingrui, always a considerate little helper, jumped off his chair when he saw his mother enter the kitchen and followed her in.

Looking at the honeycomb coal stove that he had never seen before, the child was also confused.

After thinking for a while, he turned back to the house, pulled out half a newspaper from somewhere, and said, "Mom, let's burn some firewood."

At this time, Xiao Ai had already noticed a small bag of chopped wood pieces placed next to the coal, which were obviously used for starting a fire.

Fortunately, she knew a little more than her son, and finally knew to put two pieces of coal in the stove when lighting the fire.

After a flurry of activity, when the whole house was almost covered in smoke, the stove was finally lit.

Take a steel pot with some water and cook the remaining chicken in it.

Shi Xiaoai rummaged around in the kitchen and found some unexpected surprises - there was actually half a handful of unused thin noodles in the corner of the kitchen.

This was a rare delicacy for the three people who had not eaten fine grains for many days.

Although there was no dish, after each person had a bowl of hot chicken soup noodles, the mother and her two children felt unprecedented comfort.

Of course, this comfort comes more from the psychological side - they are finally home and no longer have to live in fear!