In the blink of an eye, the year passed, Zhang Huilan was out of confinement, and Li Mingxi was carried out by her mother every day. She was so happy every day. But the happy days did not last long, and the team leader Li Tiezhu notified them to go back to work.
At first, when the weather was cold, Li Mingxi was left at home with Dani and the others to look after her. Zhang Huilan would rush home to feed her after a couple of hours. Later, when the weather warmed up, Zhang Huilan found a way to get a cloth bag and carried Xiaoxi on her back. After all, she needed to earn work points, and she couldn't run home every day. If she did, the commune members would complain.
At noon that day, Zhang Huilan carried Li Mingxi to the door. Just as she was about to open the door and go in, she heard someone calling her from behind. She turned around and saw a little old lady with patches all over her body and a dirty face.
He hurried forward and asked, "Auntie, what do you want me to do for you?"
The old lady was staring at the back of her with shining eyes. Zhang Huilan felt a little uneasy and confused at the same time. There was nothing behind her.
So he tried to speak again, "Auntie, is there something wrong with you?"
This time the old lady finally spoke.
She said weakly, "I'm here to look for Liu Zhaodi. Is that bitch from this family? I'm her mother. I don't think you look familiar. You must be the new bride of this family. Please help me in."
Zhang Huilan wanted to refuse this unreasonable request, but before she could say anything, the old lady became impatient.
"Why are you still standing there? If you don't help me in quickly, I think the beating was too light."
At this time, Li Mingxi, who was lying on his mother's back, was staring at this strange old woman with wide eyes. Unexpectedly, when the old woman saw the girl looking at her, she started to curse again, "What are you looking at? If you look again, I will throw you away!"
After entering the main room, the old woman began to give orders again, "Go and make me a bowl of brown sugar water."
"Auntie, we don't have that precious thing called brown sugar at home. I'll pour you a cup of tea, is that okay?"
When she heard there was no brown sugar water, Mrs. Zhao's face drooped and she muttered, "What the hell? I won't even give you brown sugar water."
Li Mingxi thought, "Ugh, you're still drinking brown sugar water! Why don't you just go to heaven? I'll make you suffer when grandma comes back."
Speak of the devil, and here it is. Niu Cuihua's resounding voice echoed outside the door, "Huilan, I heard there's a guest at home. Who is it?"
"It's me, mother-in-law. I haven't been here for a long time. I came to see the children."
Then Li Mingxi saw a dramatic scene. The sick old lady immediately stood up from the stool and stood aside timidly.
Niu Cuihua, who had just entered the main hall, was smiling, but her expression immediately changed when she saw that it was Mrs. Zhao.
He walked over, untied Li Mingxi from Zhang Huilan's back, and carried her away, then sat down on a stool nearby. "What's the matter? Tell me, no need to beat around the bush."
Looking at Niu Cuihua sitting upright, Mrs. Zhao slowly said, "I do have something to ask my mother-in-law. Isn't there always a disaster? There is not enough food at home. I kept stewing and wanted to borrow some."
"What do you mean? You come to my house to borrow food? Do you think I have enough food?" Niu Cuihua's face turned cold.
"Isn't there anything we can do? I think your family will have a better life. Brother Zhaodi hasn't married yet. You, my mother-in-law, can't just stand by and watch our Liu family die out, right?" Mrs. Zhao said as she wiped away her tears.
Niu Cuihua gritted her teeth, "You're afraid that the Liu family will die out, so you come to my house to borrow food? Why don't you think about how my family of more than a dozen people, young and old, will survive?"
"But don't your daughter and son-in-law both get salaries? Besides, your fourth son is a driver. How is he not better off than my family? My dear relative, please have pity on me. Look, I'm so skinny that I'm just skin and bones." Mrs. Zhao raised her hand to roll up her sleeves.
When Liu Zhaodi, who had just arrived home, saw the pale and thin Mrs. Zhao, she couldn't help crying.
He grabbed Mrs. Zhao's hand and said, "Mom, how did you become like this? Why are you so thin?"
"What's going on? They're all hungry, but you're so lucky. You eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks every day. Look how fat you are. Do you know that your brother is so hungry that he can't even get up now?"
Liu Zhaodi turned pale upon hearing this and hurriedly said to Niu Cuihua, "Mom, I beg you to lend me some food. If that doesn't work, just save some from Erni and Sanni's rations. They're just girls anyway, and it won't help if they eat too much."
Niu Cuihua didn't react much to Liu Zhaodi's words, after all, she was already used to Liu Zhaodi's idea of favoring boys over girls. But Li Mingxi was not so impressed. As a person with higher education, she could understand that some older generations favored boys over girls, but there was no need to sacrifice girls just to save boys!
When Li Mingxi was considering whether to lend his grandmother the grain, he heard Niu Cuihua say, "At most ten pounds of unkerneled corn cobs, no more."
When Mrs. Zhao heard that Niu Cuihua was willing to lend her grain, she immediately smiled and said, "Ten kilograms is fine. Thank you, in-law."
So Niu Cuihua handed Li Mingxi to her daughter-in-law and went to pack the food herself. After a while, everything was packed and Mrs. Zhao was about to take it over.
Niu Cuihua spoke up, "You can't just take it away like this, you have to give me a written receipt, otherwise if you don't return it later, who can I go to for justice?"
Mrs. Zhao's eyes rolled around. "Hey, you still don't believe me? Besides, isn't Zhaodi your daughter-in-law? How can I not return her to you, relative!"
"No, considering your family's situation, I don't believe it. It's better to sign a written agreement to be safe!"
Finally, Mrs. Zhao could only watch helplessly as she pressed her handprint on a piece of paper. When she left, she didn't even glance at Liu Zhaodi who had been following her.
Liu Zhaodi watched Mrs. Zhao walk out the door and immediately followed her.
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