"Cough cough..."
As soon as she entered the house, Xiuxiu was choked by the smoke.
The room was already poorly lit, and the smoke made it even darker.
She quickly fanned her eyes and saw Old Xu, wearing a tattered sheepskin coat, squatting in front of the dark stove, tending a fire.
"Old Xu, what kind of stove do you have? Why is smoke constantly billowing into the house?"
Xiuxiu couldn't stand it, so she quickly pushed open the wooden door.
Little Flower and Little Tibetan Fox, who had followed them into the house, also ran out.
The smoke in this room is really choking.
"Comrade Xiuxiu? What brings you here?"
Xu Huayun was surprised when she saw her.
Seeing that she was crying from the smell, Xu Huayun felt very embarrassed.
He picked up a small shovel and quickly scooped up the still-burning horse manure and firewood from the bottom of the pot, throwing them outside.
There was still a little fire left in the stove, so he simply scooped up half a ladle of water and poured it into it.
"Don't……"
Xiuxiu called too late; the water in Lao Xu's ladle had already been poured in.
Suddenly, smoke and ash shot up from the stove.
Xiuxiu couldn't stay any longer, so she turned around and strode out.
"Cough cough..."
Xu Huayun couldn't stand the choking either, so she followed her out of the mud-brick house.
"Old Xu, do you know how to start a fire?"
Xiuxiu brushed the ash off her military overcoat, looking very angry.
She had come to deliver something, and not only was she choked and irritated by the smoke, but she was also covered in soot, even on her head. She took off her hat and shook it off, and she regretted coming over.
"Comrade Xiuxiu, I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry."
"I don't know what's wrong with the wind today, it keeps blowing into the chimney, and I... I was in a hurry to put out the fire, so... so..."
Seeing Xiuxiu's appearance, Xu Huayun was extremely anxious.
He raised his hand, unsure of what to do, and sweat beaded on his forehead from his anxiety.
"Okay, okay, I was just saying, I'm not blaming you."
Xiuxiu put her hat back on and wiped away the tears that had come out from the fumes.
She waved to the little wild donkey, and when it came over pulling its load, Xiuxiu pointed to the cart and said:
"This is what my sister asked me to bring to you. Hurry up and move the cabbage inside, or it will freeze."
"This...no, no, I can't accept it."
Xiuxiu pouted. Yesterday, she also shouted that she didn't want it, but this person just put down the things and left. Now it's finally her turn.
She lifted the straw curtain, picked up the cabbage, and went into Old Xu's house.
There was still some smoke and ash in the room. She quickly looked around and found that Old Xu's room was very small. The earthen bed on the west side took up almost half of it, and with the stove, firewood, and horse manure on the east side, she really didn't know where to put the cabbage.
She was puzzled to see two hens lying in front of the earthen bed.
However, when she thought of the half-basket of eggs at home, she immediately realized that the eggs must have been laid by those two hens.
After looking at it again, she simply placed the cabbage under the simple desk in front of the window.
With a casual glance, Xiuxiu noticed that this person had quite a few books.
She went outside again, picked up another cabbage from the sled, and went back into the house.
"Comrade Xiuxiu, don't rush, just leave it...you...sigh."
Seeing that Xiuxiu ignored him and was just holding the cabbage by herself, Xu Huayun was at a loss.
He wiped his hands on his sheepskin coat, then bent down, picked up two cabbages, and quickly went inside.
"Old Xu, didn't you say you didn't want it? Why did you pick it up?"
Xiuxiu turned to look at Lao Xu and asked with a smile.
"I...I..."
"You're really easy to tease. Alright, hurry up and move them, or the cabbage will freeze."
Xu Huayun wiped the sweat from her forehead and let out a soft breath.
After a while, the two of them worked and quickly moved all the cabbages from the sled into the mud-brick house.
Xiuxiu picked up the cloth bag and directed Xu Huayun to carry a jar of oil into the house.
"Oh...ah..."
With nothing left on the sled, the little wild donkey brayed at Xiuxiu and then turned and headed towards the horse pen.
Xu Huayun looked at the little wild donkey and couldn't help but smile.
It's been a long time since I've seen the little wild donkey. I didn't expect it to have grown so much and even looked quite chubby.
Looking back, he saw that there was no more smoke in the room. He found a wooden stool and placed it in front of Xiuxiu.
"Comrade Xiuxiu, please have a seat."
Xiuxiu didn't speak; she stood with her hands behind her back, curiously looking around the room.
Seeing that there were many books on Old Xu's desk, she leaned closer to take a look and found that many of them were school textbooks. "Comrade Old Xu, are you a teacher?"
"It was before."
"Comrade Xu, may I take a look at your book?"
"Comrade Xiuxiu, feel free to look around, it's no use now anyway."
Xiuxiu turned around and glanced at Lao Xu.
Knowing that he had been sent to the countryside, Xiuxiu didn't know how to comfort him, so she simply took out a book and started flipping through it.
She was engrossed in reading a fifth-grade Chinese textbook.
"Gurgle~"
Beside her, Xu Huayun rubbed her stomach, feeling a little hungry.
He glanced at Xiuxiu, then took a handful of dry grass and tentatively put it in the stove to burn. Seeing that smoke was still billowing into the room, he quickly put out the fire.
He waved to Xiaohua and patted her head with a smile.
"Meow~"
Xiao Hua's cries startled Xiu Xiu, who was reading a book.
"Comrade Xu, now that the things have been delivered, I'll head back."
She glanced at the book in her hand again, carefully put it back, and then turned and left.
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