By the time they returned to the village, night had already fallen. After a quick bite to eat and getting ready for bed, they realized the mattress was still unfinished.
They had no choice but to spread out mats and each of them rolled up in a quilt like a cicada pupa to spend the night.
At dawn the next day, Aunt Mao slapped Wen Xi and Gu Shengmo on the buttocks and urged:
"Hurry up, there's still a lot to do!"
Wen Xi shrank her head and replied sullenly:
"On our first day of freedom, we should sleep in together."
"I think you are a lazy girl. Hurry up and get up. Look, your little brother has already gotten up. Hurry up."
As he said that, he walked up to her and pulled her little ear.
This caused the two people next to him to burst into laughter.
Shivering helplessly, he gritted his teeth and steeled his will, reaching into the ice-like hole in his pants leg. After putting it on, he was still shaking in place for a few seconds, which was really refreshing.
Aunt Mao brought in a bowl of noodles from the kitchen. Xiangye quickly tidied up the quilt and other things on the bed. Then she put the food on the bed.
There's no way, the only furniture in this room is the bed.
A plate of pickles, a bowl of noodles, or even noodle soup would be more appropriate.
After the dishes and chopsticks were put away, Xiangye rushed to serve everyone rice, and Aunt Mao said:
"I saw Aunt Du didn't get up to make breakfast, so I left a bowl for her in the pot. We're staying here, and it seems like she's having a hard time, so we'll help her as much as we can."
Seeing Wen Xi picking up the dough and not putting it in her mouth for a long time, she tapped her hand and said unnaturally:
"Eat quickly. Auntie has never made pasta before. This is her first time, so she may not be able to master it. But she will be able to do it well next time."
Wen Xi pouted and rubbed the back of her hand:
"It hurts. Auntie is not gentle anymore."
Aunt Mao was so frightened that she quickly pulled her hand over and rubbed it, and asked:
"Did it hurt? Did you hit me too hard? Mommy, blow on me..."
Wen Xi's eyes curved with laughter instantly:
"mother……"
The Gu family had strict rules, and concubines were always concubines, and they were never allowed to call them mothers. So Concubine Mao strictly followed the rules, and only when the two siblings were hurt and distressed would Concubine Mao quietly call herself mother and caress them with the most gentle hands.
Aunt Mao raised her head in confusion.
Then Wen Xi continued:
"Mother, mother, mother..."
Gu Shengmo seemed to sense something and shouted:
"Mother, mother..."
Tears immediately welled up in Aunt Mao's eyes. She opened her mouth for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Gu Shengmo saw her crying and quickly rushed over to hug her.
"Auntie, I'm sorry. I won't call you that again."
They thought that their sister and brother had angered their aunt again, because she would get angry every time they called her "mother".
Wen Xi looked at Aunt Mao seriously:
"Mom, the Gu Mansion is gone, and those rules are no longer valid. Now there are only four of us. There is mom, my aunt, me, and my brother. You gave birth to us, so don't you deserve to be called mom?"
Xiangye was also sitting opposite, crying like a tearful person and nodding her head vigorously.
Aunt Mao was extremely soft-hearted. She thought that to have children like this, she must have accumulated great blessings in her previous life.
In this way, I finished my breakfast in tears and warmth.
It seemed as if the brother and sister had agreed on this, but whenever they had nothing to do, they would call for their mother, as if they wanted to make up for the past time.
After replacing the window paper on the windows, Mao and Xiangye began to sew mats.
Gu Shengmo was fiddling with his belongings nearby. After the house was raided and then plundered twice, no one cared much about what the little kid had on him. He didn't have a gold collar, and he was already too old to wear bracelets, so no one thought much of him.
It turned out that this little guy had hidden so many goodies. A small bag of gold gourds and silver peanuts he got during the New Year, his own moon silver, a small jade pendant, a small jade pot, and so on.
Mao asked him how he came up with the idea, and he said that his sister asked him to pack up the things he liked.
Wen Xi looked confused and said she was just saying it casually.
I didn't expect this guy to be richer than me. This also shows that he is more prosperous than me in the Gu Mansion. Just thinking about it makes me cry.
Wen Xi took a rope and wound it up and said to Mao:
"Mom, I'm going to pick up some firewood. It's not good to always use Grandma Du's firewood."
"Can you do it on your own? Don't get lost. How about you wait a little while, and I'll go with you when you're almost done."
"Oh, even the six or seven-year-old kids in the village go up the mountain to collect firewood every day! I'm already that old, how could I be so bad?"
Mao was still a little worried and said:
"Then don't go too deep, just pick it up at the foot of the mountain!"
"Yeah, don't worry! I got it!"
Wen Xi put on her specially made gloves and hat and went out into the cold wind.
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