Chapter 5 Auntie, could you please not...
I closed my eyes and bathed in the warm sunshine.
Then Chen Pan quickly got dressed and made his bed. The winter in Longcheng was extremely cold. Although it was not as cold as in the Northeast, one had to wear a down jacket and a thick cotton-padded jacket whenever he went out.
However, people's living conditions are generally not good now, and very few people wear down jackets or cotton coats outside. Most people wear homemade cotton-padded jackets, and those with better conditions may wear thick coats.
The thick sweater and trousers Chen Pan was wearing at this moment were all knitted by her grandmother. Even the thick blue trousers she wore over the trousers were hand-sewn by her grandmother.
After getting dressed, he looked at himself in the mirror on the small cabinet. He was stunned for a moment at his suddenly younger appearance, but soon Chen Pan put away his still somewhat excited mind and quickly left.
Her house was an old-fashioned one with seven rooms in a row. From left to right, it was the kitchen, master bedroom, central hall, second bedroom, and storeroom. The master bedroom and central hall each took up two rooms, while the kitchen, second bedroom, and storeroom each took up only one room.
At this moment, Chen Pan came out of her bedroom, walked through the central hall which was the size of two of her rooms, and came to the main house where her grandparents lived, which was the big room where she took a nap last night and ate and cooked in the evening.
"Panpan is up now. The red kettle contains yesterday's hot water. Wash it out quickly. The hot water on the stove is about to boil."
As soon as Chen Pan walked into the master bedroom, she saw that her grandmother had moved the kang table that was usually placed on the kang. Now she had spread a large plastic leather cushion on the bed, and on top of it was the largest chopping board in her house, which was about 1.5 meters long, and she was kneading dough on it.
"Grandma, why do you and Grandpa always get up so early? What are you doing so early in the morning? Oh, Grandma, where is my Grandpa?"
It should be only six o'clock now. Turning his head, he glanced at the old-fashioned pendulum clock in the main room, and then Chen Pan started to pick up the thermos to pour water for washing his face and rinsing his mouth.
"We're all elderly, and most people don't get as much sleep as they do when they get older." Grandma Chen, wearing a headscarf, an apron, and blue sleeves, ignored her granddaughter's chatter. She skillfully kneaded the long dough in her hands while patiently answering her granddaughter's questions: "As for what to make? There's still some dough left from yesterday. I'll add some flour and make you some pancakes. And today is Little New Year, so we have to eat stove cakes and offer sacrifices to the stove cakes anyway."
"Oh, what about my grandpa?"
After soaking the towel until only half of the big red basin was left with Xizi, Chen Pan continued to ask questions in a good mood.
"Your grandfather went to the mountain to burn incense. He didn't burn enough yesterday, so he went there early today to burn more." Thinking of the incident yesterday when her child appeared and saved her life, Grandma Chen's voice sounded a little strange again.
"Then I'll go feed the cows and chickens later—"
Not paying attention to the complicated expression on his grandmother's face, the somewhat excited Chen Pan quickly washed his face and brushed his teeth, then turned around and walked out with the washbasin.
"Wait a minute, kid, why did you forget to put on facial oil again?"
Grandma Chen was still feeling sad, but when she saw Chen Pan walking out in a sweater without even wiping her face, she immediately called out to her reflexively.
"Oh, I see. I'll pour the water and wipe it when I come back." After agreeing loudly, Chen Pan went out with the washbasin.
At night, they usually dumped the used water into a sewage bucket outside, waiting to carry the full bucket out the next day. But during the day, if the weather permitted, they would usually dump the water directly outside. Of course, the sewage was poured into the stinking ditch outside, but as for the clean water after washing their faces, they would pour it directly into the yard.
After pouring the water and wiping his face, Chen Pan went out to work.
Of course, when she went out to actually work, she also put on the old coat that her grandmother found for her, and she also put on everything like the headscarf and gloves at her grandmother's reminder.
"Just pick the ones you can do. For the heavier work, you can leave it to your grandfather when he comes back."
It was a rare day off for the children, and Grandma Chen didn't really want Chen Pan to do so much work. But looking at the dough she was kneading, thinking that her husband wouldn't be back for another two hours after his incense-burning trip, and hearing the animals squealing outside, Grandma Chen had no choice but to let Chen Pan do it first.
"Don't worry, grandma. I have a plan in mind."
Growing up, Chen Pan had always had a good life in the Chen family. She truly felt that her grandparents were exceptionally kind to her. However, this kindness definitely didn't mean she had to do no housework. At least in the relatively backward northwestern countryside of the 1990s, it was rare for rural children to completely avoid housework.
Chen Pan believed her grandparents were especially kind to her, but in reality, her clothes were always the least patched in the entire Chen family, sometimes even patchless. To this day, it seems her grandparents only have one or two sets of clothes that are completely patch-free enough to wear when visiting relatives. Meanwhile, her clothes, from childhood to school, were practically patch-free. Even when they were patched, they were only on sweaters, cardigans, and socks. At least on the surface, she was always clean and tidy.
She also never lacked a school bag and school supplies.
Other girls her age in the village were often forced to work in the fields by their parents almost every day. Some were even forced to marry off suddenly before finishing junior high school. Some families waited for her to graduate so they could start working and support the family.
But in the Chen family, Chen Pan had rarely been to the fields since he was a child. Even in the summer, when he did, it was just to bring water and food to his grandparents. Or, when they were too busy, he would carry a bag, pick up a few wheat ears, or collect farm tools.
In Chen Pan's memory, she never spent all day working in the fields like her sisters. If she did work, it was when her grandparents were particularly busy, and Chen Pan would often go up the mountain to herd cattle and sheep.
As for studying and going to university, her grandfather did not allow her to study at first when the family was in financial difficulty. But later when the family's conditions improved a little, her grandfather began to encourage her to study again.
But she had a very difficult time studying in that high school.
In addition, a relative came to her school to collect a debt and ridiculed her in front of her. In the end, Chen Pan really didn't have the courage to continue studying. So even though she was admitted to university that year, she lied to her grandfather and said that she didn't pass, which completely cut off her path to studying.
Anyway, in Chen Pan's heart, her grandparents were really good to her.
They did love her, but not to the point of spoiling her completely.
So she has always been able to do things like cooking, washing dishes, feeding pigs and cows.
At least after her grandmother passed away suddenly, Chen Pan was able to quickly take over the housework and take good care of herself.
Anyway, when it comes to housework, perhaps in his previous life, when he was fourteen, Chen Pan might have felt a little reluctant or reluctant to do it. But for Chen Pan now, all of this is just a drizzle.
He mixed grass for the old ox at home and made chicken feed for the dozen or so chirping old hens and roosters. Then Chen Pan distributed the extra chicken feed to the dozen or so little rabbits and six big ducks at home.
Her family's pigpen currently houses three sows weighing over 100 pounds, and they eat the most. So, Chen Pan struggled to prepare and carry the pig feed. Grandma, who was making stove cakes in the main house, saw through the window and immediately came out to help. The two of them, one on each side, carried large buckets and dumped the pig feed directly into the buckets, effectively completing the crucial feeding task.
"My Panpan is so sensible. After we slaughter and sell the pigs in a couple of days, grandma will buy you clothes for the New Year."
Looking at the chickens, ducks, cows and sheep in the house that had all calmed down, Grandma Chen took off her gloves and spoke happily.
"Well, I'll sweep the floor again."
Chen Pan, who was very excited, nodded excitedly, then found the big broom at home and started sweeping.
"Okay, take your time sweeping, I'll go in and continue making pancakes."
My old man went out at 5:30. Normally, he should be back soon.
Because we wanted to wait for each other to come back, we all had breakfast together.
So Grandma Chen hesitated for a moment and didn't ask Chen Pan to stop immediately.
But when Chen Pan was outside sweeping the floor and burning the yard with a big broom, Grandma Chen hesitated for a moment, then rummaged through the drawers and found a bag of brown sugar and white sugar at home, planning to make her granddaughter's favorite brown sugar pancake later.
Just as Grandma Chen was making stove cakes and brown sugar cakes one by one in the house, and Chen Pan was wearing the yellow headscarf given by her grandmother, sweeping the yard and the gate outside with her head down, suddenly the door of the Wang family opposite, which had been half-closed, creaked open completely.
Then, the soft voice that Chen Pan would never forget appeared again from the opposite side, saying delicately, "Panpan, why are you sweeping the floor and feeding the livestock today? Where are your grandpa and grandma?"
“…”
Chen looked forward to Wang Xiaohua suddenly coming out from the opposite side, but she didn't say anything immediately. Or perhaps it was only at this moment that she really considered how she should face the woman across from her.
“…”Wang Xiaohua, who was wearing a plaid coat and had curly hair, did not care about Chen Pan’s rudeness.
Looking at the worn cotton shoes on Chen Pan's feet, the blue pants on her legs that were dusty and had no patches but were obviously worn for a long time, and the large gray cotton coat with obvious patches on her body. There were also the dirty gray gloves on her hands, and the ugly yellow headscarf on her head. Thinking that this child would suddenly act like this, maybe she was shy about wearing such an outfit. Wang Xiaohua's nose was sore, and then she immediately said: "Pan Pan, you are here, please wait a moment, auntie just has something to give you."
After saying something hurriedly, Wang Xiaohua, who usually stayed in town and only came back occasionally, immediately turned around and went home.
Looking at the other party's behavior, Chen Pan almost instantly realized what she was going to do.
Sweeping with the broom and thinking as he went along, Chen Pan did not go home at a loss, nor did he feel any uneasiness about what was to come.
A minute later, the other party came running over excitedly with two half-worn girl's coats and a pair of black leather shoes with worn soles.
Finally, before the other party could say anything, Chen Pan suddenly interrupted the other party with a broom: "Auntie, these are Sister Juanjuan's old clothes and old shoes, right? Auntie, can you please not give me Sister Juanjuan's worn-out shoes and clothes in the future? My family is not a rag collector, it's not good for you to always do this. Besides, my family is not in such a difficult situation that we need to pick up other people's unwanted clothes, right?
To be honest, every time you come to our house, my grandparents and I feel awkward. If you accept your things, we can't stand other people's dirty clothes and shoes. But if you don't accept them, it seems like you mean well and we don't know how to appreciate your kindness.
"I--" Wang Xiaohua had never expected that the well-behaved and sensible Chen Pan would say such a thing. She had prepared these two sets of clothes and these shoes early this time, and her face suddenly turned red.
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