Chapter 81
Xu Tao was gone for several hours, and when she came back, it was already dark.
Yang Qiujin saw her carrying a bag full of ice cubes, holding a textbook in her hands, and her face and body were covered in dirt. She was shocked and asked, "Xiaotao, you are not going to Tianshan to dig ice cubes, are you?"
Xu Tao neither admitted nor denied it. She grinned and said, "Aunt Yang, try putting ice on your forehead. It will definitely feel comfortable."
Yang Qiujin took out ice cubes from her bag with a complicated expression. Li Xiu'e took out a clean handkerchief, smashed the ice cubes with a small hammer, wrapped them in the handkerchief, and applied them on Yang Qiujin's forehead.
The cool feeling immediately made Yang Qiujin feel much more comfortable. She took Xu Tao's hand and said, "Xiao Tao, you haven't eaten yet, right? Let your grandmother Li cook some noodles for you, and then you can go back."
The Tianshan Mountains, the closest mountain to the troops, take an adult four hours to walk back and forth. Yang Qiujin couldn't bear to think about how much danger Xu Tao, a teenage girl, would have to take and how much distance she would have to walk to get back safely by going up the mountain alone to dig ice and snow.
How could there be such a silly girl in this world?
Yang Qiujin felt really sorry for such an honest and sensible girl, but she was feeling really unwell, so she could only let Liu Xiu'e cook for Xu Tao.
Li Xiu'e agreed, "Yes, yes, Xiaotao, it's getting dark now. You've been walking for so long, you must be exhausted. Sit down and take a rest. Grandma will make you a bowl of fried egg noodles. Don't rush back to your home. If you go back now, you will definitely be scolded by your stepmother, and you will be hungry. Grandma feels sad just thinking about it."
As Li Xiu'e said this, she hurried to the kitchen to cook.
"Come, Xiaotao, sit inside." Yang Qiujin pulled Xu Tao into the living room and asked her to sit down. She turned around and took out two pieces of peach cakes, a handful of glutinous rice sticks, and more than ten fruit candies from her room and put them in Xu Tao's hand. She smiled and said, "You must be hungry. Eat some snacks to fill your stomach first."
Xu Tao was indeed hungry. She looked at the candy snacks in her hand, smelled the rich aroma of peach cakes and glutinous rice sticks, and swallowed unconsciously.
She seldom ate snacks and candies because her mother couldn't give birth to a son. Also, because her mother was weak and incompetent, her father beat and scolded her mother, and her sisters also disliked her.
Growing up, they had been short of food and clothing. In the past, during festivals, when their mother was still alive, their father would pretend to buy some candies to entertain the guests, and they would secretly eat a little.
Later, her mother was kicked out by her father and remarried. After her stepmother came into the family, she took control of the family's money and left all the delicious food and drinks for her younger brother. She and her sister couldn't even have enough candy or snacks, let alone meals. Snacks became a distant dream for them.
Xu Tao carefully broke off a small piece of peach cake and put it into her mouth, feeling the fragrant, crispy and slightly sweet taste. Her saliva was overflowing unconsciously. She wanted to eat a few more bites, but she also thought about her elder sister at home who was very kind to her. So she took out a washed-white handkerchief from her trouser pocket, carefully wrapped up the remaining piece of peach cake, a few pieces of glutinous rice noodles, and half of the candy, intending to give them to her sister when she got home.
Yang Qiujin saw her movements and felt even more sorry for her. She wanted to give her more, but was afraid of hurting the child's self-esteem, so she said, "Xiaotao, thank you for coming all the way to get ice for Auntie. Auntie feels much better now. Auntie will go back to the room to rest first. You can do your homework at our dining table after dinner. If you have any questions, you can ask your brother Tianyou."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie."
Chen Tianyou, who was doing his homework at the dining table, watched Yang Qiujin go into the house, then turned and glared at Xu Tao: "Didn't I tell you not to come to my house to work? Why are you here again? Do you know what those classmates at school have said about you..."
He stopped here and said no more.
"What did you say about me?" Xu Tao asked curiously.
"They said that you... are young and naughty, imitating your stepmother's coquettish and charming manners. They said that you seduced me and wanted to become my child bride." When Chen Tianyou finished speaking, his fair and handsome face was flushed.
Xu Tao looked at his shy and pinched face and chuckled, "Let them say whatever they want. Anyway, I have heard more unpleasant things than these since I was a child. It doesn't hurt me if they say that. I am just repaying your kindness and doing what I can. I have a clear conscience."
"But, you, you also wash my underwear. There are differences between us as men and women. Aren't you ashamed?" God knows, Chen Tianyou only found out from his pacifier today that Xu Tao has been helping his grandmother with housework for the past two months, and at the same time, she has been washing his underwear. This is such a bolt from the blue for him.
He was already shy enough when his classmates spread rumors that Xu Tao wanted to be his child bride. Now he also learned that when he was out playing with his friends in the family compound, Xu Tao, a little girl, washed his underwear for him. He felt angry and embarrassed just thinking about it.
His face was red, and he was afraid that others would know about this and make him, a young man, lose face. He repeatedly warned: "Don't wash my underwear anymore. I have hands and feet, and I can wash them myself. As a girl, you should know shame and don't wash other boys' underwear for no reason. If this gets out, it will be bad for your reputation."
"What's the big deal? In my family, my dad and my brother's underwear, as well as excrement and diapers, are washed by my sister and me. If I don't wash them, my dad and stepmother will scold me to death. It's just convenient for me to wash yours. Who left your underwear for several days and it's almost smelly and you didn't wash it? Grandma Li wanted to wash it for you, but you wouldn't let her." Xu Tao folded the handkerchief containing snacks and candies and put it in his trouser pocket, saying nonchalantly.
Chen Tianyou's face turned redder when her little secret was exposed. He explained, "I wash my underwear every day. I just forget to wash it when I play too late sometimes. I didn't leave it unwashed on purpose. Anyway, remember this. Next time you come to my house, you are not allowed to wash my underwear. You are also not allowed to tell others that you have washed my underwear for me!"
"Oh, so you mean I can continue to come to your house and help you with housework in the future?"
"Oh, that's not what I meant."
"What do you mean?"
"The noodles are here." While the two were arguing, Li Xiu'e came over with a big bowl of steaming hot noodles and placed it in front of Xu Tao, "Xiao Tao, grandma specially added a lot of sesame oil and pork fat, it tastes very delicious, try it."
A golden fried egg lies on the steaming white noodles, with a few emerald green vegetable leaves next to it, sprinkled with green onions, and oil beads floating in the noodle soup. When the dish is served, you can smell the unique aroma of lard, sesame oil and egg white noodles.
Xu Tao drooled at the smell. She held a large bowl of noodles and smiled at Li Xiu'e, "Thank you, Grandma Li. The noodles you make must be delicious. I can smell them just by smelling them."
She had a sweet mouth, which was one of the reasons why Li Xiu'e liked her. Li Xiu'e sat on the bench next to her, looked at her kindly and said, "Eat quickly. If it's not enough, grandma will give you more."
"That's enough. Such a big bowl of noodles is more than enough." Xu Tao said, picking up a piece of noodles, blowing it slightly to cool it down, and putting it into her mouth.
The noodles are made of white flour that Li Xiu'e kneaded, rolled and cut on the spot. They taste particularly delicious. Knowing that Xu Tao is from Xiangbei and can eat spicy food, Li Xiu'e also added a lot of red peppers and a little pepper powder for her, and added lard, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, MSG and other seasonings to mix them. The noodles are very flavorful and the fried eggs are tender and slightly crispy. Paired with the spicy and fragrant noodle soup, it tastes even more delicious.
Xu Tao finished the noodles, eggs and vegetables in the bowl in one go. After taking a short break, she blew on the boiling noodle soup and drank it all up. Then she licked her lips with a sense of unsatisfaction, put down the bowl, burped and said, "Grandma Li, the noodles you made are so delicious. I have never eaten such delicious noodles. I don't even want to go home. I just want to stay with you."
Li Xiu'e knew that Xu Tao's parents were not human beings, so she said distressedly, "Xiao Tao, grandma likes you very much. If you really want to follow grandma, grandma will talk to your aunt Yang and your uncle Chen. If they agree, you can follow grandma and be grandma's granddaughter, okay?"
"No need, Grandma Li, I was just joking, don't take it seriously." Although Xu Tao was only ten years old, she knew clearly in her heart that no matter how good Aunt Yang and Uncle Chen were, her father was not dead, and there was no way they could raise her without her father's permission.
Although she liked the Chen family and everyone in the Chen family, she did not belong here and she had to go back to the home she did not want to return to.
She stood up, took the bowl of noodles she had just eaten into the kitchen, washed the bowl and pot thoroughly, then returned to the living room, put on her schoolbag, and walked back to her home with heavy steps along the lighted road in the family compound, while Li Xiu'e looked worried.
Xu Tao's home is in the last row of houses approved by the company commander in the family compound. It is a large courtyard house with four families living in it. Her house is in the house on the west side, with an area of about 30 square meters, and it is a layout of one room and a living room.
It's not time for the troops to turn off the lights yet. There are still ten minutes left before the lights are turned off.
Three of the women in the compound all have jobs. Now, they are carrying their children, and are either rushing their children to take a bath before the lights are turned off, or they are in the house supervising their children to do their homework, and are beating and scolding disobedient children.
Because it was a large courtyard with four families living in it, there was only one toilet and one tap water pool. Several military wives crowded together to collect water for washing dishes and clothes, some of them were talking with guns and sticks, some were queuing in front of the toilet to take a shower, and the boys were chasing each other in the small courtyard, laughing and joking, and occasionally knocking over pots and pans that someone had placed at the door of their house because they couldn't put anything in it, which caused several women to curse them...
Compared to the families of officers above the rank of battalion commander who live in separate houses and enjoy a leisurely and comfortable life behind closed doors, the courtyards where the families of company commanders live are as noisy as a vegetable market from morning to night, no different from the large mansions in big cities.
To be honest, Xu Tao didn't want to go back to such a big mansion at all. She would rather live in the small mountain village where she grew up and run around carefree in the spacious old house in the village, than be squeezed in such a narrow mansion and watch those bad-tempered military wives gossiping.
But no matter how unwilling she was to go back, this was her home and she had to go back whether she wanted to or not.
She walked into the compound with her head held high. A 30-something military wife named Pan, who had droopy eyes and a mean and sarcastic look, saw her coming back with her schoolbag on her back and shouted in a sinister tone, "Hey, who is back? Isn't this the second daughter of the Xu family who wanted to climb up the social ladder and become someone's child bride, doing laundry and cooking for others? Comrade Fan, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but if you're someone's stepmother, you should be nice to them and stop beating and scolding their ex-wife's daughter all day long. Look, you've beaten her so hard that she doesn't even care about her face anymore, and you want to cling to your thighs and leave your vicious stepmother."
Fan Yinliu, a petite girl with a pretty face, was blocking the door of the toilet, bathing her baby son, who was already over three years old, in a large basin.
She said with a gloomy face, "Mrs. Pan, it's not your turn to talk about my family's affairs. I can't control where that damn girl goes. You'd better take care of your son. I heard that your son got into a fight with a bunch of bad boys and injured the child of the second commander of the artillery battalion. You must pay a lot of money this time."
"That's better than your girl being thrown away by someone else." Mrs. Pan was unhappy. She deliberately washed the clothes with heavier hands. The detergent foam in the washing basin splashed into the eyes of Xu Yaozu who was taking a shower at the door of the toilet. The fat man immediately howled.
"Mr. Pan, you did this on purpose, didn't you?" When Fan Yinliu saw her precious son crying, she stood up like a lion with its fur standing on end and pushed Mrs. Pan without caring about anything. "You want to ruin my Yaozu's eyes, I want your life!"
“Hey, who’s afraid of who? Come on!” Mrs. Pan was not someone to be trifled with, especially since she was tall and strong. She had an advantage over Fan Yinliu in height. She pushed Fan Yinliu to the ground and yelled, “Who told you to occupy the toilet space for so long that you couldn’t wash? It’s just some laundry foam. Why don’t you let your son wash it? You damaged his eyes. I won’t take the blame. If your son really goes blind, it’s your karma, Fan Yinliu!”
As for other military wives in the family compound, no matter what conflicts they have in private, they rarely quarrel like this in front of everyone.
The reason why Mrs. Pan quarreled with Fan Yinliu was simply because she disliked her. Fan Yinliu was a particularly troublesome person. Because she gave birth to a son, she felt that she had become more confident. Not only did she beat and scold the two daughters born to her first wife, she also often occupied the sink and toilet in the compound.
When others wanted to go to the toilet, she took her time to come out. When others wanted to get water, she carried several large buckets but still couldn't get any for a long time.
She was also very greedy and would always steal the food cooked on the stove outside other people's homes when they weren't paying attention. She would not admit it even when she was discovered.
Her son was not a good person either. At a young age, he followed suit and often stole food from other people's pots. When he was caught, he pushed the blame onto the Xu Tao sisters, accusing them of stealing it.
The other three families now have to watch over the pots when they cook, lest she steal the food from T's family...
As similar incidents occurred more and more frequently, the other three families in the compound became fed up with Fan Yinliu and her son, and would target her whenever they got the chance.
Fan Yinliu and Pan Junsao started arguing and fighting, and the other two families came forward to mediate.
Xu Tao watched coldly for a few seconds, then quietly went into the house carrying her small schoolbag.
Her sister's name is Xu Xia, she is two years older than her, and is a twelve-year-old girl with the same oval face, fair skin, and delicate eyes and eyebrows.
Seeing her coming back, Xu Xia sat up from a small bed in the corner of the living room filled with tables, chairs, benches and other sundries, took her hand and asked softly: "Why did you come back so late today? Did something happen at Chen's house? You must be hungry, I secretly left you a steamed bun, come and eat it."
As she spoke, she took out a palm-sized black steamed bun from her pocket and stuffed it into Xu Tao's hand.
This was the food that the sisters ate on a daily basis. They had three meals a day, and could only eat one black-faced steamed bun for each meal. This was a rule set by their stepmother and tacitly agreed to by their father.
Just because their stepmother said that they would lose money if they were married off too early, they could not eat other foods and would waste the family's money. All the money and good food and drinks had to be kept on their younger brother. She only gave them black-faced steamed buns every day and didn't give them anything else.
The sisters have become accustomed to this and have been eating this for years. Each one of them is thinner than the other.
"Sister, I have something good for you today. It was given to me by Auntie Yang." Xu Tao took out the handkerchief from his trouser pocket like a treasure and put it in Xu Xia's hand. "Eat it quickly. Don't let stepmother and Yaozu see it, or they will snatch it away."
She picked up the black steamed bun from Xu Xia's hand and ate it without any appetite.
This black steamed bun is made of sweet potato vines, wheat bran, corn bran and other things beaten into black flour. It tastes hard and hurts the throat. It also makes it difficult to defecate if you eat too much. But if Xu Tao and her sister don't eat it, they will starve to death.
Xu Tao was no longer hungry after having a big bowl of noodles at Chen's house. She symbolically took a bite of the black-flour steamed bun, just because she didn't want to refuse her sister's kindness.
Xu Xia opened the handkerchief and saw the peach cakes, glutinous rice sticks and fruit candies inside. Her eyes widened. She ate a piece of glutinous rice stick, felt the sweetness on the tip of her tongue, and was so happy that she almost shed tears.
But she also knew that her sister was able to get these things only because she ignored other people's gossip and went to work at the Chen family, and because of Aunt Yang's kindness.
She ate a piece of glutinous rice noodle and put her hand back in front of Xu Tao, "Sister, you eat it. I don't like sweets."
Xu Tao was struggling to swallow a piece of black steamed bread. He choked when he heard this and quickly reached out and hit his chest.
"Hey, eat slowly." Seeing her face change, Xu Xia hurriedly poured her a cup of hot water and asked her to drink it, while patting her back to calm her down.
Xu Tao drank the water and swallowed the black flour steamed bun that cut her throat. She took a deep breath and said, "Sister, don't say you don't like sweets. You are not much older than me. Don't I know you? You just want to save the delicious things for me. But sister, you have been my sister for so many years and have always stood in front of me to protect me. As a younger sister, I also want to protect you and give you the best. This thing is specially reserved for you. I have already eaten half of it. Don't refuse it to me anymore."
Xu Xia's throat choked. She looked at her dirty little face, tears welled up in her eyes. She reached out to wipe the dirt off her face and said with a sob, "If our mother had been stronger and had not divorced our father, we sisters wouldn't have ended up with such a miserable life. Sister, I recently followed the aunts in the family compound to the match factory to take a job pasting paper boxes. I can earn at least one yuan a day. When I get my salary, I'll take you to the state-owned restaurant to eat meat, okay?"
Because of her bad luck with her stepmother and stepfather, Xu Xia stopped going to school after she finished elementary school because her stepmother was reluctant to spend money on her education. In the past two years, she has been helping her stepmother with laundry, cooking and taking care of the children at home. She is exhausted and not getting any good treatment. She is often beaten and scolded by her stepmother and stepfather, and is also bullied by the boys in the compound who are older than her.
She had endured it for a long time and finally decided not to endure it anymore. These days, whenever she had free time, she would go to the homes of some kind-hearted military wives in the family compound to help them paste matchboxes. After the wives delivered the goods and got the money, they would share it with her.
Just as she finished her words, the half-closed living room door was kicked open with a bang, and Fan Yinliu walked into the room with disheveled hair and a murderous look on her face.
Sister Xu Tao was startled. Xu Tao instinctively hid the handkerchief behind her body, but Fan Yinliu saw it and asked fiercely, "What did you steal from the house again? Take it out!"
"We didn't steal!" Xu Tao said, shaking her head.
"You said you didn't steal anything, but what did you hide behind your back?" Fan Yinliu walked over angrily and pulled Xu Tao's hand out. When he saw what was in her hand, he flew into a rage: "Well, you actually dared to steal your brother's snacks and candies. I think you are tired of living!"
She raised her hand and slapped Xu Tao in the face. Xu Xia hurriedly protected Xu Tao, "Aunt Fan, we didn't steal my brother's candy. Aunt Yang gave it to my sister. We didn't steal it!"
It would have been better if she hadn't said anything. Once she said it, Fan Yinliu got even angrier and beat them even harder. "I told you to go to other people's homes to beg for food as maids. It's embarrassing. You don't do the housework, and you can't even look after your ancestors. But you rush to support others and bring shame to your father! What's the point of me raising you? I might as well beat you to death!"
Don't be fooled by her petite figure, when she hits someone, she slaps with great force, over and over again without stopping, making the Xu Tao sisters cry and howl, and run around the house to avoid the slaps.
This made Fan Yinliu even angrier, and she grabbed the broom at the door and beat them even harder.
When Xu Taiyi, a 35-year-old man of short stature and fierce appearance, returned to the compound, he heard a quarrel in his family. He frowned, unbuttoned his military uniform impatiently, walked into the living room and asked, "Why are they fighting again?"
"They deserved to be beaten!" Seeing the man coming back, Fan Yinliu stopped what she was doing and said with tears in her eyes, "Master, since I married you, I have given birth to your children, washed clothes and cooked for you, and worked hard for this family. But your two daughters are so good. They don't respect me and don't help me with housework. One of them is away all day long, and Yaozu is unwilling to take care of her, leaving me busy all by myself. The other one runs around to other people's houses to be a maid, wash clothes and cook for them, and rushes to curry favor with them, hoping to become their child bride, which makes you lose face. Today, they were so bold as to steal Yaozu's snacks, and they refused to admit it when I found out! Master, you have to make the decision for me. It's so hard for me to be a stepmother!"
"How could this happen?" Xu Tai stared fiercely at the trembling Xu Tao sisters hugging each other, "You dare to steal Yao Zu's things and embarrass me. I will beat you to death!"
Xu Tao was frightened by his beating. She trembled and hurriedly explained, "Dad, we didn't steal anything. Those candies and snacks were given to me by Aunt Yang."
"So you are so shameless that you rush into someone's house and embarrass me?"
Xu Tai angrily pulled off the belt from his waist, raised his hands, and hit the thin bodies of Xu Tao and her sister fiercely, "You have embarrassed me, I will beat you to death!"
"Dad, I was wrong, we were wrong, please stop hitting me, it hurts, ah——"
In the narrow courtyard, the painful howls of the Xu Tao sisters were soon heard.
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