"Mom! My brother got married. This is my sister-in-law. She is so beautiful and a very nice person."
After returning to the dilapidated courtyard, Lin Xiaoxue couldn't wait to pull Liu Rumeng and introduce her to her mother on the hospital bed.
"Ah? Liu...Liu Zhiqing, you...you really want to marry Awang?
This is unacceptable. Our Awang is not… not so blessed and is not worthy of you.”
Mother Lin was shocked at first, then burst into tears and said, "Look at our family, we can't even have a decent meal.
There is today but no tomorrow.
How...how can we allow you to suffer with us?"
"Auntie! Oh no! Mom, in my opinion, Lin Huowang is no worse than anyone else.
In fact, he is cleaner and kinder, and I am willing to follow him.
I also believe that as long as we work together, we will be able to have enough food to eat and live a good life.”
Liu Rumeng smiled and said that in the three years since she went to the countryside, her mood and thoughts had never been so clear and smooth.
"Awang? Where's Awang? My daughter!
Has our Awang bullied you?
Call Awang here, it’s my fault for not taking good care of him…”
"No, mother! Awang never bullied me. I married Awang voluntarily.
He is now helping me to pick up the two orphans from the land temple. We will come back first and continue making this corn flour."
Liu Rumeng also changed her words and called Lin Huowang "Awang" as a relative.
After comforting Lin's mother, she cooked with Lin Xiaoxue.
Using the half remaining stove and a broken clay pot, he got some snow and melted it into water.
Then divide two pounds of corn flour into two piles, one pile is used to knead the dough and make pancakes.
The other pile was prepared to be used to make a pot of sticky cornmeal porridge.
Lin Xiaoxue also took out a handful of dried wild vegetables from the stove and said to Liu Rumeng:
"Sister-in-law! Chop up this wild vegetable and put it in the porridge. It smells delicious!"
Some were dry and some were liquid. Soon the house was filled with the burnt aroma of pancakes and the sweet fragrance of sticky porridge.
Lin Xiaoxue, who had been hungry for several days, swallowed her saliva, although she really wanted to drink a bowl of sticky porridge immediately.
But when she thought that her brother had not come back yet, she forced herself to hold back and insisted on waiting for her brother to come back to eat together.
Sure enough, after a while, Lin Huowang returned with the two orphans from the land temple.
These are a brother and sister with pale faces and skinny bodies. The brother is thirteen years old and is called Zhao Daniu, and the sister is only nine years old and is called Zhao Juhua. They are from the production team of Zhaojiatun next door.
Their family's situation was not bad at first, but when my parents were following the production team's ox cart to the commune to transport fertilizer, both the parents and the cart fell off a cliff.
Although the production team later gave pension subsidies, some of the original family property was also taken away by my uncle's family.
Afterwards, the brother and sister were driven out, and they became orphans wandering around without anyone to rely on.
Sitting around the bed, eating hot pancakes and drinking sweet sticky porridge, everyone listened to the Zhao brothers and sisters crying about their life stories.
"We are all miserable people! Baby! Don't cry.
Just follow us from now on. God will never let the sparrow starve to death.
The more others want to harm us, the more they look down on us, the more we must live like a decent person to show them.”
Mother Lin was half leaning on the bed. Although she was weak, the words she said made everyone feel encouraged.
There was so much corn flour that she could not stop eating it. Mother Lin did not eat the flatbread and gave it to the Zhao brothers and sisters. She only drank some sticky porridge.
But even so, everyone was only half full and their stomachs were not very comfortable.
Lin Xiaoxue even grabbed a few more handfuls of snow, boiled a bowl of water for washing the pot, drank it, and then touched her bulging belly, feeling extremely satisfied.
"I'm so full! My stomach feels warm after eating so much. It's so comfortable!"
Zhao Daniu and Zhao Juhua, brother and sister, hadn't had such a hot meal for a long time.
But when Lin Huowang looked at the happy atmosphere in the house, his brows furrowed even deeper.
Two kilograms of corn flour have been eaten up. There are six people in the family now, and we really have no idea where to start.
After taking a look at the wind and snow outside, Lin Huowang walked out of the house silently.
Seeing this, Liu Rumeng quickly followed out.
"Awang! Where are you going?"
Liu Ru dreamed that Lin Huowang found some rusty wire from somewhere, and asked a little worriedly.
"Liu Zhiqing, please go back inside, it's cold outside.
I'll go to the woods behind to see if I can trap some rabbits..."
Lin Huowang used snow water to clean the rust on the wire while bending the wire into nooses.
"Awang, just call me Mengmeng. We will go to the production team to get our marriage certificate tomorrow.
As for food rations, we can work out a solution together.
I wrote to my family last month, asking them to send some food coupons and money.
Also, I have inquired before, and the commune has some work like pasting matchboxes and mending clothes, and we can also take them back to do.
In the past, I was an educated youth and could not get these jobs.
After you and I get our certificates, we will also become members of the production team and can earn some food by doing these jobs.
Your mother is right. God will not let the sparrow starve to death. As long as we use our hard-working hands, we can definitely earn a living."
After hearing these words, although Lin Huowang didn't want to discourage her too much, he still shook his head and said:
“Those easy tasks have long been taken away by people with connections in the commune.
If you want to have enough food, you have to find another way..."
After saying this, to Liu Rumeng's surprise, Lin Huowang walked into the dense forest behind the yard without looking back.
When Lin Huowang picked up the two siblings, he had actually explored them first and found several paths with rabbit footprints.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
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