Chapter 10 Chapter 10
Qiao Jiaxin looked at her with tears in her eyes: "Move, move away?"
Wiping the moisture from the corners of her eyes, Liu Shuqin nodded and said, "Yes, let's go back to our hometown."
A few days ago, when her sons expressed in words and deeds that they did not want to support her, Liu Shuqin had this idea.
I didn't say it at the time because I thought maybe I could still bear it.
Now, she really can't bear it anymore.
It is called my hometown, but it is actually Chengbian Village in the east of Yu City, about ten miles away from the city.
Strictly speaking, Liu Shuqin and Qiao Wensheng are not from the city.
They moved to the city more than ten years ago. Before that, they were native farmers.
When the old couple moved from Jicheng Village to the city, one reason was that they thought their sons were all in the city and they could live closer to them; the other reason was that Qiao Jiaxin had to go to school and it would be more convenient to live in the city.
Now that their sons have abandoned them, returning to the village may be the best option.
In Jicheng Village, their house and land are still there.
Although Liu Shuqin couldn't find a job in the city and had been idle at home for more than ten years, she still had the strength to farm and was still strong, so she could work for at least a few more years.
It shouldn't be a problem to support myself and my granddaughter.
She would rather live a more tiring life than have to see these unfilial sons again and make a living by reading their expressions.
After the husband's death, the son follows the wife? Haha...
Liu Shuqin's words gradually stopped Qiao Jiaxin from crying.
In her memory, her impression of her hometown is very vague.
She was only five or six years old at the time. After her parents passed away, she only lived with her grandparents in the village for half a year. When she was about to start elementary school, they moved to the city with her.
She remembered that there seemed to be a very tall locust tree in the village.
Grandpa once took the original owner to pick locust flowers, and grandma made dumplings stuffed with locust flowers and eggs, which were very fragrant and delicious.
She also remembered that there were many gray houses in her home, and the original owner would often hide there and let her grandmother come to find her.
The original owner's memories of his hometown were all happy and beautiful.
So Qiao Jiaxin also felt that if she really returned to the village to live with her grandma, her life would definitely get better and better.
Liu Shuqin: "When we move back to our hometown, we can grow our own crops and vegetables and live on our own. We don't have to worry about anyone's feelings."
Qiao Jiaxin nodded vigorously, "Okay!"
Just go.
That morning, they borrowed a tricycle from their neighbor, intending to go back to the village to check on the condition of the old house.
The person riding the bike is Qiao Jiaxin.
She had little strength and usually had difficulty lifting heavy objects, but when she thought about leaving her uncles, her legs became like chicken blood and she kicked violently. Even though her clothes were soaked with sweat, she didn't feel tired.
Since moving to the city, Liu Shuqin has not taken this road back to the village for many years.
In the past, whenever the village notified them of any important matters, Qiao Wensheng would go back to handle them.
The last time Liu Shuqin returned to the village was when her family's abandoned land was being rented out to the village. Both of them had to go back to sign and put their fingerprints on the document. Thinking about it carefully, it seemed like seven or eight years had passed.
The bumpy dirt road was turned into a stone-paved road, and there were many more electric poles on both sides of the road.
In the past, people went to the city from the village either by pushing a wooden cart or riding a 28-inch bicycle.
Unlike now, there are bus stops. It is really fashionable to see the minibus with "Shaolin" printed on the front passing by on the road.
"It's just ahead."
Pointing to the tall locust trees in front, Liu Shuqin said excitedly.
The locust trees at the entrance of the village are still as tall and straight as I remember.
She remembered that when she was little, the locust trees were only three or four meters tall, and their trunks were only as thick as a bowl.
Now, decades have passed, and it is already taller than the buildings in the village. Although its branches and leaves are lush, it still looks a bit old.
As before, many people were sitting under the trees at the entrance of the village to enjoy the cool air, or peeling peanuts, or weaving wicker baskets. While chatting about family matters, they always had something to do.
But most of the faces Liu Shuqin looked at were unfamiliar.
The children in the village have grown up, but she hasn't seen them for many years and she can't tell them apart.
"Aunt?"
Seeing that the person who got off the tricycle was Liu Shuqin, a middle-aged woman who was eating melon seeds, she called out to her in surprise.
Standing up and walking towards them quickly, the woman's face was full of joy. She then warmly took her hand and said, "It's been so many years since we last met. Why are you back now?"
Looking at the woman in front of her whose smile was brighter than flowers, Liu Shuqin felt that she looked familiar, but she couldn't remember who she was for a moment.
"Who are you……"
"I'm Xiaoxiu from the old village! I used to play with Fenglai when we were little. I always came to your house for dinner."
The woman's reminder made Liu Shuqin suddenly remember, "Oh, it's Xiaoxiu! You've gained a lot of weight. I remember you were as thin as a monkey when you were a child. Which village did you marry into?"
"I'm still not married, and I'm still in our village. My father-in-law is Zhang Baoguo, and I'm married to the third son of his family."
Liu Shuqin nodded. "Yes, the third child in his family has been honest since childhood. Marrying him will definitely not make you suffer."
Seeing Zhuang Xiu, Liu Shuqin couldn't help but think of her daughter again.
They had the best time playing together when they were little. If Feng Lai were still alive...
We are from the same village and grew up drinking from the same well. Even if we haven't seen each other for many years, there is no sense of strangeness when we meet again.
Seeing a girl around ten years old beside Liu Shuqin, Zhuang Xiu asked again, "Is this the girl my sister has?"
Qiao Jiaxin bowed slightly and politely said hello to her, "Hello, Auntie."
"Okay, okay!"
Touching Qiao Jiaxin's head, Zhuang Xiu smiled with satisfaction, "She looks so much like my sister. She's sure to have a great future!"
Near noon, after exchanging a few words with Zhuang Xiu, Liu Shuqin took Qiao Jiaxin away.
After they walked away, Zhuang Xiu returned to the shade under the tree.
"Who is that?"
"You don't know the aunt of the Qiao family."
"Doesn't she live in the village? Why are there only the two of them?"
"Our son is very successful, so we moved to the city a long time ago."
"Then why are you back at this time? Could it be..."
Just now they were talking about what they were going to eat for lunch, but as soon as this sentence came out, everyone's attention was immediately drawn together.
yes!
Liu Shuqin and her sons all live in the city, so they are definitely more informed about news in the city than in the village.
Could it be that she really heard the news about the demolition, so she returned to the village early to take a look?
Rumors started a few years ago that the villages on the outskirts of the city around Yu City were going to be demolished. The rumors have been most intense in the past two years, but no one knows where the demolition will start.
Demolition is a major event that determines whether all villagers can become rich overnight. The faster you run, the more meat you can eat, so everyone wants to become a demolition household.
I heard a rumor a few days ago that Jicheng Village was among the first batch of villages to be demolished. Today, Liu Shuqin brought her granddaughter back to see her old house...
It can't be true, right?
*
A yard without people quickly falls into disrepair.
The gate of the yard was covered with mottled rust. Through a gap as wide as a palm, you could see that the yard was full of weeds and there were two broken old chairs.
I tried pushing the iron door, and the squeaking sound scared away the wild cats foraging in the house.
The lock core in the iron door had been rusted for several years and had long been unusable. When Qiao Wensheng came back a few years ago, he locked the door with an iron chain.
However, the iron chain lock had not been used for a long time, and it took a lot of effort to open it after inserting the key.
After many years, when she stepped into the old courtyard again, looking at this old house that had been vacant for a long time, the hot wind suddenly brought Liu Shuqin's thoughts back to more than 20 years ago.
"Mom, pass me the basket."
"You don't need to come up. Fenglai and I can do this job."
"I'm not hot. I'll go down after I finish this."
This house was rebuilt after the old house was demolished twenty years ago.
At that time, Qiao Wangdong was studying in college, Qiao Wangxi was studying carpentry in the city, Qiao Wangnan went to work in other places, and Qiao Wangbei was nowhere to be seen all day.
It was Qiao Fenglai and his wife who helped the old couple build this three-story building.
They were busy with their work at the police station, but they would still take time out to come back and build the house. They squeezed out the money for cement and bricks bit by bit from their wages.
Qiao Wensheng didn't want them to be too tired, so he said that building two rooms would be enough for them to live in.
It was Qiao Fenglai and Shi Lei who insisted on building a few more rooms, saying that the whole family would live together in the future and everyone would have a room to live in, so they built the building to three stories high.
They spent a lot of money to build this building and worked for half a year to complete it.
I thought the family could live happily and beautifully in their new home.
Unexpectedly, the brothers of the Qiao family each took root in the city. A few years later, Qiao Fenglai and his wife met with an accident. Until the old couple moved into the city with Qiao Jiaxin, this newly built building was completely vacant.
As she walked into the house, Liu Shuqin casually pulled out a few weeds growing in the yard.
Twisting the grass leaves, her eyes couldn't help but become moist when she looked up at the room on the east side of the second floor.
She thought back to the afternoon when the building was just completed and her eldest daughter was standing upstairs waving at her...
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