Chapter 30 Change a Name
After Xiaoya finished eating breakfast and taking her medicine, Daya and Erya hurried home.
If they don't go back soon, they're afraid their parents will come looking for Jiang Yuan's family, and if Xie Wanniang and their parents have another conflict, it will be troublesome.
They were different from Xie Wanniang. Xie Wanniang could decide for herself whether to go up the mountain or do housework, but they had to follow their parents to the fields every day and do all kinds of housework every day.
The two hurriedly returned, just in time to find their parents had taken their farm tools and were telling Shuanzi to go and call them back.
Shuanzi didn't want Daya and Erya to come back. He thought that since the family didn't have much land, they could manage even if Daya and Erya didn't go to the fields. So they might as well let Daya and Erya stay there to take care of Xiaoya.
However, he dared not disobey his parents, who had been in a very bad mood since yesterday, so when his father told him to go and call Da Ya and Er Ya, he reluctantly agreed.
Hearing the conversation between the two, Daya and Erya quickened their pace and walked into their own yard.
Leaving aside how the two sisters who didn't return home all night were scolded and questioned by their parents, let's just talk about Xie Wanniang. After Da Ya and Er Ya left, she took a needle and thread to Xiao Ya's room.
After Xiaoya woke up, she had already heard from her sisters about how she had fallen seriously ill, been abandoned by her parents, and then been bought by Xie Wanniang for treatment. She lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and silently shed tears for a long time.
Remembering what her sister had said—that she was only able to survive thanks to Xie Wanniang—the little girl weakly opened her mouth and said, "Thank you... sister."
Xie Wanniang patted her head, "If you really want to thank me, then be a good girl and get well soon."
The little girl nodded with tears in her eyes, "I'll be good."
Xie Wanniang smiled and said, "Go to sleep. Eating well, sleeping well, and taking your medicine will help you recover faster."
The little girl nodded and obediently closed her eyes.
For the next three days, Xie Wanniang did not go up the mountain. In order not to waste time, on the afternoon of the day Xiaoya woke up, she asked Jiang Yuan to buy her two large sacks of scraps of cloth, as well as embroidery hoop, needles and thread and other materials needed for embroidery.
The scraps of cloth are leftovers or surpluses from cloth shops and embroidery shops. They have always been sold by the sack, and include coarse cloth, fine cloth, and even smaller pieces of silk and satin, which are relatively expensive.
After Jiang Yuan brought the items back, Xie Wanniang first sorted the scraps of cloth according to their size and texture. Then, while taking care of Xiaoya, she used the largest pieces of coarse and fine cloth to piece together two small outfits for Xiaoya.
This was the first time in the little girl's life that she had worn new clothes. When trying them on to see if they fit, the little girl was so happy that she carefully and tenderly touched her two new outfits with her slender little fingers.
The two outfits Xie Wanniang made for her consisted of an inner garment made of fine fabric in off-white and light blue, and an outer garment and trousers made of coarse fabric in indigo, brown, gray, and black.
In addition to these two new outfits, Xie Wanniang also made two new pairs of socks and two new pairs of shoe uppers for her using only a palm-sized piece of fine black cloth.
The soles of the shoes were made of even smaller scraps of cloth pieced together. Thanks to Xie Wan Niang's skillful hands, these two outfits and shoes, all made entirely of scraps of cloth, were surprisingly beautiful.
"Do you like it?" Xie Wanniang stroked the little girl's dry, yellow hair and asked gently, her eyes finally showing a little light.
Xiao Ya nodded vigorously, and, holding back her sobs, said to Xie Wan Niang, "It's...the first time I've worn new clothes."
She told Xie Wanniang that in their family, only her parents and brothers had new clothes to wear, while she and her sisters could only wear old clothes that their mother had altered.
Xie Wanniang's feelings were mixed. She patted the little girl's thin, bony shoulder and said, "How about I change your name?"
The little girl looked bewildered. "Change your name?"
Xie Wanniang nodded, "What do you think of the name 'Xie Chaoyang'? Do you know what 'Chaoyang' means? It's the sun that just rises in the morning. I hope that you will be like the rising sun in the future—strong, warm, bright, positive, and full of hope."
Xiao Ya didn't understand some of the words, but she felt more comfortable with this impressive-sounding name than the very common "Xiao Ya".
The little girl nodded vigorously, "I think it's great."
Xie Wanniang smiled, "Then you'll be Xie Chaoyang from now on. A Yuan and I will call you Xiao Yang."
Xiao Yang laughed along with her, but then felt a little melancholy.
Now she has even changed her name, and she truly has no connection with that family anymore.
The thought that her parents would rather let her die than pay for her medical treatment still caused Xiaoyang a dull ache in her heart.
Her sisters quietly advised her not to hold a grudge against their parents, saying that their parents didn't only treat her this way. Even if they were the ones who were sick, they would choose to endure minor illnesses and wait to die from serious illnesses, rather than spend money to see a doctor.
They said, "It's all because of poverty," and added, "We poor people see everything as valuable, except for our own lives."
The two older sisters spoke with absolute certainty, but Xiao Yang, who had just woken up, remained silent, because a voice in her heart kept saying, "No, that's not how it is."
Perhaps when her older sisters are sick, they will indeed receive the same treatment as her, but her older brothers and parents are treated differently.
Just like the new clothes in the family, they were always only for the parents and brothers.
Just like every time they eat, she and her sisters never get any of the thicker dishes.
Shaking his head, Xiao Yang shook those unpleasant memories out of his mind.
She needs to look forward, get better quickly, and then help Sister Xie with lots and lots of chores. Only then can she repay Sister Xie for treating her illness, cooking delicious food for her, making her new clothes, new shoes and socks, and giving her a proper new name.
The two girls, one older and one younger, got along well and the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.
Although Jiang Yuan, who was taciturn and had a cold expression, was not as approachable as Xie Wanniang, he would specially prepare sweet candies and fruits for Xiao Yang so that she could change her taste after taking her medicine.
He also bought the basins, buckets, chests, cabinets, shelves, cloths, and other items that Xiao Yang needed on the afternoon Xiao Yang woke up.
These past few days, Jiang Yuan has been brewing most of the medicine Xiao Yang needs to take.
Xiao Yang saw and remembered everything Jiang Yuan did, so the girl didn't find Jiang Yuan scary at all.
She even felt that Jiang Yuan and Xie Wan's mother were more like her family than her father, who always beat and scolded her and her sister, and her mother, who always ignored them and only cared about her two brothers.
They were like her older sisters, caring for her and looking after her. Even if she did something wrong, they wouldn't scold or beat her, but would patiently explain the reasons to her.
She felt at ease staying at Jiang Yuan's house, but Jiang Yuan was filled with worry because Hao Yu had not returned for a long time.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com