Chapter 2: Going Home with Mom
Little Baoya curled up on the steps and raised her head.
A short, lame woman slowly walked out of the crowd.
She was wearing a gray old coat, her skirt was covered with patches, her face was sallow, and she looked very thin.
But she stood in front of Zhou Cuihua, her eyes bright: "Sister Cuihua, if you really don't want Baoya anymore, let me raise her. I don't have any children anyway."
Zhou Cuihua looked at the woman as if she were a fool.
He Chunxiu, the wife of the third son of the Yun family, was picked up from the town by the Yun family a few years ago. After she came back, she has been sick and has not given birth.
No wonder I wanted to raise Baoya.
Zhou Cuihua rolled her eyes and grinned, "Okay, Third Yun's, if you want to raise her, you can take her away now. But forget about Baoya's two acres of land. We, the Chen family, have raised Baoya for two years, we can't end up with nothing."
"What's more, Baoya is a big eater. The annual grain output of two acres of land is probably not enough for her to eat!"
This is just nonsense.
Baoya is a five-year-old child. No matter how much she eats, she cannot eat up all the food from two acres of land in a year.
The onlookers smacked their lips. Chen Zhou was a well-known mean and cunning person in the village, good at fighting and calculating. Unexpectedly, she would not let such a child go.
He Chunxiu didn't think about the land at all. She just felt sorry for Baoya since she had no children herself.
It would be better to take it home and raise it well, which would be considered a good deed.
So she said, "Okay, since everyone is here today, I'd like you all to be witnesses. I'm taking Baoya away today. How she lives in the future has nothing to do with you, Zhou Cuihua, or the Chen family."
"Then it's settled." Zhou Cuihua glanced at the little Baoya curled up on the ground with a look of disgust on her face. "Take her away quickly. I won't ask whether she eats coarse food or fine food in the future. But don't come to my door and cry poor after raising her for a few days!"
"This damn girl is a glutton. I've already said it before! If you don't want to raise her anymore, I won't take over!"
He Chunxiu looked at the little girl on the steps with red eyes and a pitiful look, and felt sad.
She clenched her fists and said firmly: "I'm different from you. Even if I go out to beg for food, I won't let Baoya go hungry!"
After she finished speaking, she limped over to the little girl and squatted down with difficulty.
She was so busy arguing with Zhou Cuihua that she didn't even ask the little girl if she was willing to go with her.
What if people dislike her because she has a lame leg and is not good-looking?
However, Xiao Baoya stared at her with her watery eyes for a while, as if she couldn't believe it, and then threw herself into her arms.
He Chunxiu's eyes were sore, and she hugged her tightly: "Good child, it's okay, go home with mother."
Xiao Baoya nodded continuously. Someone was willing to marry her and she had a mother.
She wanted to call out "Mom", but when she opened her mouth, two small stones rolled out.
He Chunxiu was startled and picked her up against the wall: "Silly girl, why...why are you eating stones? You can't eat these things!"
Little Baoya looked at the small stone in He Chunxiu's hand, lowered her head, and said in a soft voice, "Baoya is hungry, Aunt Zhou... won't give her food."
He Chunxiu's nose felt sore again. Zhou Cuihua was really inhuman. She didn't give such a young child any food and he was so hungry that he could only eat stones.
She took a deep breath, held back her tears, searched her body for a long time, and took out a dry steamed bun, which was left over from when she went to the fields to eat yesterday.
She stuffed the dry bun into Baoya's little hand and said, "Eat this first. Mom will make you something delicious when you get home."
Baoya took the dry bun, took a big bite, and swallowed it without chewing it.
He Chunxiu was stunned. She patted Xiao Baoya on the back and kept saying, "Eat slowly, eat slowly, no one is going to snatch the food from you."
Little Baoya smiled at her and hugged her neck, "It's so good to have a mother, mother, I have a mother!"
"What a silly girl." He Chunxiu raised her hand and scratched her little nose.
The onlookers dispersed, and Zhou Cuihua also went into the house. He Chunxiu originally wanted to go to Aunt Sun's house to exchange some eggs, but she picked up a girl on the way and turned back.
The Yun family has not yet split up, and the three sons still live with their mother. Their father passed away a few years ago.
He Chunxiu limped to the door of her house holding Baoya in her arms, her steps slowing down. She brought Baoya back in a fit of rage without informing her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law, Zhao Zhilan, had always been the one who made the decisions on all matters big and small in the family.
What if she brings the person back and her mother-in-law is unhappy?
The laughter of the two maids from the second brother's family came from the room. She lowered her head and looked at Baoya with red eyes, and she couldn't bear it anymore.
He Chunxiu gritted her teeth and thought, who cares? Now that she had brought the girl back, she would not send her back. If Zhao Zhilan really didn't want Baoya, she would just take Baoya and live separately from the family. Fortunately, her husband Yun Sanlang had always been on her side, so it shouldn't be difficult.
He Chunxiu carried Baoya into the house and saw the two maids from the second family sitting at a low table in the main room, peeling bean pods and playing around as they did so.
Seeing her come in, everyone turned around and called out, "Aunt San!"
He Chunxiu nodded and put Baoya at the table: "Huaya, Yueya, this is Baoya, she will be your sister from now on."
After she finished speaking, she took a bowl of leftover lunch from the cupboard and walked towards the kitchen.
The eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Cailian, poked her head out from the west room and asked, "Chunxiu, why did you bring this girl back?"
"Zhou Cuihua kicked her out," He Chunxiu sighed, "but I felt sorry for her, so I took her back."
"Did you eat too much this morning?!" Wang Cailian's eyes widened. "You know the situation in our family, and you brought this kid back with a big mouth! Aren't you afraid of Mom scolding you?"
"Then I can't just sit there and watch her," He Chunxiu sighed, "Sister-in-law, please go inside and rest. I'll go make some food for the child."
After saying that, he turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Wang Cailian glared at her back and spat, "You're missing your child so much! I think there'll be more quarrels when Mom comes back."
Baoya was placed on a small stool, sitting there obediently, staring at the two little girls in front of her who were about her age with wide eyes, not daring to move.
Yunhua was the eldest daughter of the old family. She was gentle and easy to get along with. She looked at Baoya and grabbed a few pea pods for her to play with. "Your name is Baoya? You are from Old Chen's family, right?"
Baoya nodded and whispered, "Aunt Zhou doesn't want me anymore, but mother wants me."
Her black little hands were about to drool as she pinched the bean pods. She put them directly into her mouth and chewed them twice. They were raw and astringent, not tasty at all.
Yunhua chuckled: "Sister Baoya, these beans are raw. They need to be peeled and cooked before they can be eaten."
Yunyue rolled her eyes and whispered to Yunhua, "Sister, why is this girl a little silly?"
"Yueya, Baoya is younger than you, don't say that."
Yunhua uttered a scolding sound, took out a candy from her pocket and put it into Baoya's hand: "Baoya, come and have some candy, it's sweet."
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