Chapter 43
Lunch was simple, just taro rice and half a clay pot of egg soup.
Although simple, it was already very good food for a farmer. And for Fu Zhen and his wife, who had been eating steamed buns and rice soup for three years, these were things they had never dared to think about before.
Fu Zhen once again felt that life at home was really different from the past, completely different.
This is the first time for the whole family to have dinner together.
No one spoke, just ate their lunch quietly.
After lunch, Fu An was about to clear the dishes, but his mother had already done so and whispered to him, "Let mother clean up."
Fu An still cleaned up with A Niang.
After the meal was over and the table was cleared, Fu Zhen took his axe and went out to chop wood, and Wen Xing followed him out to help.
Yu Ying originally wanted to persuade them to take a day off, but when she fished out a boiled egg from the kitchen, everyone had already left.
Yu Ying gave up and called Fu An over. She peeled off the skin and removed the bruises on his face.
She looked at the slap mark on Fu An's face and felt very upset.
She asked, "Does it hurt?"
Fu An shook his head and said, "It doesn't hurt now. It hurt a lot when I was beaten just now."
Yu Ying was silent for a moment, then picked up the egg and rolled it on his cheek.
Fuan still felt some pain, but he just gritted his teeth and endured it.
"If someone slanders someone in your family in the future, don't rush to take action. Think about whether you can handle it before you take action." Yu Ying said slowly.
Fu An was stunned and said in surprise: "I thought my aunt would advise me not to fight in the future."
Yu Ying said gently, "Just fighting isn't a good idea, but ignoring it isn't either. Doing so will only make you get bullied even more."
The different historical backgrounds naturally require different response methods.
Fu Wei heard what his aunt and nephew were saying outside the house, and he lowered his eyes and thought for a moment.
Yu Ying added, "But don't worry, Aunt Cuilan won't let the slander and beating of you go unresolved."
Mentioning that vicious woman, Fu An felt a little scared: "With her shrewish and scoundrel personality, what can my aunt do to her?"
Yu Ying didn't say what she could do to Aunt Cuilan, but only said, "You'll find out soon."
After removing the blood stasis from Fu An, Yu Ying went to the He family and discussed with Uncle He and Aunt He about collecting herbs. She came back about half an hour later.
*
At dusk, after dinner, problems arise.
There are suddenly two more people in the house. There are only two rooms and two beds in the house. How should we sleep at night?
Yu Ying had thought about this problem before, but even though she had asked someone to make a bamboo bed, it hadn't arrived yet, so her elder brother and sister-in-law had to sleep on the floor for the first two nights.
Fu Zhen didn't have any objections. Compared to staying in the quarry, it didn't matter if he slept in the yard at home.
Yu Ying said to Fu Wei, "Now that your elder brother and his wife have returned, it will take a few days to build the thatched hut. Besides, the bamboo bed hasn't returned yet, so we really can't live here right now. How about this? This room is more spacious. Let your mother, your elder brother and his wife stay here, and I'll sleep in the next room with you. What do you think?"
Fu Wei had no requirements for this residence, so he nodded: "Okay, as you say."
Fu Wei couldn't stand up, so Yu Ying called her eldest brother and asked him to help her carry Fu Wei to another room.
There are two thick bamboos in the house, which are used for washing during short periods of time.
Yu Ying took out a thick bamboo and gave it to Fu Wei so that he could use it for strength.
Looking at the two thick bamboos, Yu Ying thought of the crutches used by people with mobility impairments in later generations. She pondered for a moment, thinking that since Uncle Chen's cousin could make bamboo furniture, he could definitely make crutches as well.
She will go to the county town tomorrow, and after returning, she will go to Chenjia Village with Uncle Chen. In addition to seeing whether the bamboo bed is ready, she will also talk to the bamboo craftsman about the bamboo crutch.
There's no way around a wheelchair, but crutches should still be possible.
After Fu Wei rests for a few more days, he will be able to get out of bed with a pair of crutches.
After all, if you stay in the house all day, you will get sick even if you are healthy.
Moreover, if you stay in a small space for a long time, your mood will definitely be depressed and you will become much more gloomy.
Then again, Yu Ying had originally planned to help Fu Wei over with her elder brother, but after Fu Zhen entered the house, he said to Fu Wei, "I'll carry you over."
Fu Wei nodded and accepted it quickly, letting Fu Zhen carry him out.
It was the first time for Fu Wei to go out of the house in more than two months. Looking at the light outside, the haze in his heart seemed to dissipate a little.
The room next door was originally a bit small, and with a pile of firewood, it seemed even smaller. But after the kitchen was built, the firewood was gradually moved over. The room only had a straw bed, which was even smaller than the one next door, and no other furniture.
It's quite spacious.
Originally, Mrs. Luo asked them to move the bamboo bed over, but Yu Ying said that a new bamboo bed would be made in the next two days, so they could just use it for two nights, so she didn't ask them to move it over.
After Fu Wei sat down on the straw bed, Yu Ying began to clean the small room.
She swept away the broken herbs and small branches in the corner, then rolled up the straw curtains for ventilation.
Fu Wei looked at her busy figure coming in and out, and his eyes gradually softened.
Yu Ying had not had much rest due to the long journey these days, and now that she was done with her work, she was exhausted.
After entering the house, Yu Ying fell silent when she saw that it was so narrow that only she and Fu Wei could lie down, with their shoulders touching. There was no room for Fu Ning to lie on the straw bed.
She was only thinking about how to allocate the house and ignored this.
But it has come to this. Can she just go out and change her mind and tell them to move the bamboo bed over?
Fu Wei had already realized Yu Ying's problem. He pondered for a moment and said, "Why not move the bamboo bed over here?"
Yu Ying shook her head and said, "That bed was originally where my eldest brother and his wife slept. The new bamboo bed came back a few days ago, so two days won't make a difference. It's just..."
She paused before continuing, "We might have to squeeze in a bit."
Fu Wei propped himself up and moved to the outside of the bed, with almost half of his body hanging in the air.
Then he said: "I'm fine, I just wronged you."
Yu Ying smiled and said, "I don't have any problems either. It's not like I'm wronged."
This is real life. You can't ask for too much, and there aren't that many options for her to choose from.
After saying that, she turned and left the house to boil some hot water to wash herself and then rest.
Because Yu Ying only had two sets of clothes, one of which had been lent to her sister-in-law, she had no other clothes to change into.
Then he thought of his elder brother's clothes, which were even more tattered than Fu'an and Funing's, and thought to himself that he would have to go to Yu County tomorrow to get some cloth to make clothes.
Even if she can't do it, her sister-in-law should still be able to do it.
After coming back from bathing, it was already dark. Yu Ying came in carrying an oil lamp.
While taking a bath, Yu Ying was mentally prepared to lie alone in bed with Fu Wei, so after coming back, she accepted it quickly.
She placed the oil lamp on the ground outside the bed before climbing onto the bed and lying down.
The two of them were shoulder to shoulder, inevitably touching each other's arms.
The heat from each other was transmitted to each other's arms through two thin layers of clothes, and the silence was awkward.
Yu Ying's ears gradually turned crimson.
She had never lain so close to any man before, even with Xiao Fu Ning between them. Although it was the first time, there was no such awkward and indescribable atmosphere as now.
It's a very embarrassing and uncomfortable atmosphere.
Yu Ying was physically tired, but her mind was tense.
I want to sleep but I can't.
Feeling the tension of the people around him, Fu Wei asked slowly, "Brother and sister-in-law are back. When do you plan to start collecting herbs?"
Yu Ying thought for a moment and said, "Let them rest for two days. After that, I'll teach them how to identify and dry herbs. After that, we can go collect herbs in the morning and build a thatched hut at home in the afternoon. We can do both at the same time."
"In this way, you don't have to be so tired."
Yu Ying smiled and said softly, "I didn't feel tired before. I just wanted to be busy so that I wouldn't have any extra time to think about other things."
Fu Wei thought for a moment and knew what she meant by "other".
Perhaps she had lived in a place similar to the one he had when he was the son of the county magistrate, but in an instant she had lost everything just like him, which was naturally hard for her to accept.
"What now?" he asked.
Yu Ying stared at the rooftop, thought carefully, and then answered, "Maybe I've accepted reality, or maybe it's because life has gradually gotten better, which has made me feel that this place isn't that bad after all, and I've started to want to take a break once in a while."
She relaxed a little, yawned, and continued, "When we go to Chenjia Village tomorrow, I'll ask the bamboo craftsman there to make you a pair of crutches. That way, you won't have to stay indoors all day. In a month or so, you'll be able to start walking again."
Upon hearing this, Fu Wei lowered his eyes and whispered, "Thank you."
Yu Ying closed her eyes and murmured, "There's no need to keep thanking me all day. We're all just helping each other. Just like when I brought your brother and sister-in-law back home, I actually just found two trustworthy people to help me. I'm helping you now, and maybe you can help me in the future..."
As she spoke, her voice gradually became quieter, and sleepiness came over her like a wave. Yu Ying relaxed and gradually fell asleep.
Fu Wei knew that she was asleep, so he slowly turned his head and looked over.
His eyes fell on her profile, from her brow bone to her thick eyelashes, and then from her high nose bridge to her pink lips.
Fu Wei's throat rolled involuntarily, as if he realized that his behavior was not gentlemanly. He suddenly turned his head, picked up the oil lamp on the ground and blew it out.
In the darkness, Fu Wei closed his eyes and exhaled quietly.
After a long silence, when she couldn't hear him, he finally spoke in a low voice, "If you really don't think this place is that bad, then stay."
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