Chapter 11 Chapter 11
The old house has been empty for more than ten years. The walls are covered with ivy and many weeds have grown out from the base of the walls.
The house was covered with bumps and dirt of varying sizes, traces left by unknown animals. A pungent stench of horse fleas mingled with the decay.
Fortunately, the walls and load-bearing structures were not damaged, so they could be moved back after some cleaning.
Liu Shuqin had not yet told her sons that she was going to move back to the village with Qiao Jiaxin.
After returning home that day, she went about her daily business, buying groceries, cooking, and cleaning the messy room as usual.
I just found the sleeves at home and went to the market to buy two small shovels.
The next morning, as soon as Qiao Wangbei and Du Juan left the house, Liu Shuqin took Qiao Jiaxin to Jicheng Village.
They have to clean up the house first.
Weeding, clearing, cleaning... Even though there were only two of them, the grandmother and the granddaughter, and two rooms were enough for them to live in, Liu Shuqin still insisted on cleaning all the rooms.
Because this is their future home, and since it is a home, it must be tidy and clean.
This is not an easy job.
The three-story building has a total of twelve rooms of various sizes, covering a total area of more than 400 square meters. The yard in front of the house is also very large, and just looking at it is enough to give people a headache.
However, with the unity of the two generations, even if they can only clean up a little in a day, they can still clean the place.
Snap... snap!
The sickle in the corner was corroded by rust, but after Liu Shuqin polished it, it soon regained its metallic luster.
This was the first time Qiao Jiaxin saw her grandmother doing chores.
With skillful wielding of the sickle in his hand, the lush weeds quickly fell down into patches.
When she encountered vines that were difficult to cut, she was too lazy to bother with them. After straightening them, she chopped them hard a few times and the old vines were split into small pieces.
A few months ago, my grandma just celebrated her 65th birthday and has completely entered the realm of “old age”.
In my memory, my grandma was always slow in doing any work at home, just like a woman in seclusion doing delicate needlework. Occasionally, when she was tired, she would stand up and rub her sore waist.
But at this moment, the grandma in front of him was more like a general on the battlefield, slashing left and right among the enemies with a sharp blade in her hand.
He had cleared half of the yard without complaining about being tired. He just wiped the sweat from his forehead with the white towel around his neck.
"Grandma, take a break. I'll clean up."
Qiao Jiaxin rolled up her sleeves and put down the mop tied with a cloth strip.
When she walked over, she was about to reach out to take the sickle from her grandmother, but she was stopped by her grandmother, "You have never done this kind of work before, go wash the mop first and mop the room."
The sickle was sharp, and Liu Shuqin was afraid that she would hurt herself.
Students' hands are used to hold pens and write, so it would be bad if they were injured.
Even though she is old, she has done farm work after all. When she was young, she could plow several acres of land, let alone these weeds?
She has plenty of strength, and this little work won't tire her out.
Grandma insisted again and again, so Qiao Jiaxin had to take the washed mop and go into the house to do some light work.
The floor of the house is paved with cement. Some places have weathered into fragments and powder, and some places are stuck with sticky unknown liquid. It is best to clean it with a wet mop soaked in water.
After mopping the outer hall, Qiao Jiaxin pushed open the door of the bedroom on the first floor.
A broken table, a broken chair, and a tattered old shirt draped over the collapsed bed...
The room was full of dusty debris, and it was obvious that no one had been in for a long time.
However, this place has become a paradise for small animals. Apart from the huge spider web above their heads, when Qiao Jiaxin pushed the door open, she saw several insects that she couldn't name running by.
Qiao Jiaxin was most afraid of insects. The scene before her was like a horror movie, and she didn't dare to breathe, fearing that the smell of insects would...
After preparing herself mentally several times, she finally picked up the mop and went into the house.
She is afraid of insects, but insects are definitely afraid of people. As long as she is fierce enough, the insects will definitely avoid her.
Well, yes, that must be it!
In order to give herself courage, Qiao Jiaxin poked the rag bag on the ground heavily with the mop, thinking of giving the insects lurking in the house a warning and making them run away quickly.
After pausing for a moment, and seeing that no more insects came out, she relaxed a little.
Thinking that the bed was in the way in the middle of the room, Qiao Jiaxin put down the mop and wanted to drag the bed out first.
But just as she reached out to lift the bed board, she heard several rodent cries.
Squeak...squeak...
It's a mouse!
Two or three mice suddenly scurried out from under the bed, some ran out of the house, and some hid in other hiding places in the house.
Although they only flashed before her eyes for a moment, Qiao Jiaxin could see clearly that the mice were as big as an ear of sticky corn.
This was definitely the biggest rat she had ever seen in her life!
Have they mutated?
"ah!!!"
Qiao Jiaxin couldn't help but let out a deafening scream.
Frightened by her like this, several mice squeaked out from everywhere, and one of them was so blind that it even dared to run past her feet.
When Qiao Jiaxin felt a long tail touching her, she didn't scream.
Because she felt like she was a little dead...
"Ah! Grandma! Grandma!"
When running out of the house, Qiao Jiaxin stumbled and almost fell.
Seeing her grandmother running towards her with a sickle in hand to protect her, she was so scared that she threw herself into her grandmother's arms and tears burst out.
The bravest mouse did not rush to escape and remained in the outer hall.
It was really brave. It even raised its nose and stood up straight from the ground as if in provocation.
Liu Shuqin didn't hesitate and threw the sickle in her hand over.
Bang!
The sickle hit the ground but missed, but the crisp sound was enough to scare the mouse away and teach it a loud lesson.
You dare to bully my granddaughter? You're courting death!
After taking deep breaths of the hot air outside, it took Qiao Jiaxin a long time to come back to her senses.
"Let's find a place to rest for a while. I'll come clean the house later."
Looking at her grandma, Qiao Jiaxin's eyes became red again, "Grandma, I'm sorry..."
She wanted to help, but she didn't expect that grandma would have to do it herself in the end.
I was the one who held my grandma back.
"Oh, there's nothing to be sorry about. It's okay!" Liu Shuqin wiped her tears and coaxed her, "The mice in the village are more vicious than cats. No wonder you're scared. Your mother cried several times when she was a child because of mice."
Grandma tried to comfort herself, but Qiao Jiaxin knew that she was also afraid of mice.
Because she remembered that a few years ago, when her grandfather came back from work in the middle of the night, a very hungry mouse followed him into the house.
It took her grandfather a long time to beat it with a broom, and at that time, when her grandmother was holding her and comforting her, she could feel that she was trembling.
"Why is the Qiao family's door open?"
"I don't know."
"It can't be a thief."
"Are you stupid? No thief would steal things from an abandoned house."
Outside the door, two voices were approaching.
The people who opened the door were two shirtless teenagers.
A guy who was over 1.7 meters tall, looked about 12 or 13 years old, probably in fifth or sixth grade, or middle school;
The other one was a tall guy over 1.8 meters tall, with a body build similar to that of an adult, but his appearance still had the youthfulness and immaturity of a high school student.
The two men have similar facial features, both with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and high noses. They have a bit of the honesty and simplicity unique to the countryside, and they look like brothers at first glance.
Hiss... Why does this "brother" look so familiar?
"Grandma, why are you back?!"
The boy called Liu Shuqin "Grandma" and greeted her in surprise.
"Who are you……?"
Liu Shuqin also thought he looked familiar, but she hadn't seen him for a long time, and she couldn't remember his name after thinking for a long time.
"I'm Hai Yan. My father is Hai Youfu, from our village's second team. He lives diagonally across from your house!"
After he reminded her, Liu Shuqin suddenly remembered: "Oh~ What a blessed little one! God, you only grew up this big when I held you in my arms when you were little. It's been so many years since I last saw you, how come you've grown so tall?!"
Hai Yan scratched his head and said, "I ate a lot since I was young, so I grew taller."
After saying that, he nudged his brother's arm again and reminded him, "Hurry up, call for milk."
The boy took a small step forward and bowed politely to Liu Shuqin, "Hello, Grandma."
Hai Yan: "This is my younger brother, Haiyu. He's still young and just started junior high school this year."
When their family moved to the city, Hai Yan was only four or five years old. Unexpectedly, after not seeing him for so many years, the Hai family had another son.
That’s great. Both of my sons seem to be very sensible.
Looking at Qiao Jiaxin who was standing next to Liu Shuqin, Hai Yan also greeted her warmly: "Qiao Jiaxin? Long time no see."
Qiao Jiaxin still couldn't remember who he was.
After wiping the moisture from the corners of her eyes, she forced a smile and responded to him dryly: "Well, long time no see, long time no see..."
He pushed Haiyu's arm again, and this time, without his brother reminding him, he would take the initiative to say "Hello, Sister Qiao".
Seeing Qiao Jiaxin still looking confused, Liu Shuqin quietly reminded her, "Don't you remember? He's Hai Yan, we played together when we were kids."
“…”
It seems like I have a slight impression?
"You were still crying and clamoring to marry him."
Qiao Jiaxin: ???
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