Chapter 1909 Recognition
The three of them retreated while talking, and soon they were far away from the battlefield. They first asked the children playing in the alley for directions and found the well.
There is a shortage of water in the north, and few families can afford to dig a well on their own. Most of the time, the village head will choose a place to dig a well for everyone to use together.
The well was not far from where they were. Although it was noon, there were still many people drawing water there to wash clothes.
Bai Erlang ran in front, borrowed a bucket from the person at the well, threw the bucket in, and clumsily drew up half a bucket of water, but it was enough for them.
He called out some water to wash his hands, and waved to Bai Shanzhou, saying, "Hurry up."
Bai Shan went forward and washed the handkerchief before wiping his face with a look of disgust.
Manbao also asked for water to wash her hands. She was lucky because she was standing behind Bai Shan when the two started quarreling.
The two of them squatted aside and watched Bai Shan wash his face with a smile.
The people washing clothes by the well also stared at Bai Shan, and one woman couldn't help but sigh, "The young master is so handsome."
Bai Shan blushed slightly, and politely thanked the man for the compliment. Then he asked casually, "Where is the home of the head of this village?"
Everyone couldn't help but look at Bai Shan and the other two, and couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, what do you want to talk to our village chief about?"
Bai Shan smiled politely and said, "We are here from the capital looking for our relatives. However, we haven't been in touch for many years and it seems that our relatives have moved to a new place, so we wanted to ask the village head about it."
Everyone was excited when they heard this, and they all said, "Is the relative you're looking for near us? Then why not ask us? We've lived here for a long time, so we know a little bit about him."
Bai Shan's eyes passed over them. Those who would wash clothes here couldn't be too old. The oldest one looked to be only about thirty years old. There were only six of them in total. The other five looked even younger, about the same age as Zhou Liusao, and all had women's buns.
It was obvious that they all married here, but Bai Shan didn't quite believe that they had always lived here.
However, neighbors have more rumors than secrets. Mrs. Xia seemed to have a bad temper and didn't have a good relationship with others. People would definitely like to talk about her family affairs more. Maybe they really know something.
So Bai Shan found a rock nearby and sat down to talk to them. "They are relatives from the older generation. We were young and never came. We haven't been in touch for more than ten years and don't know where they are."
He asked with a smile, "Sister-in-law, do you know that more than ten years ago there was a scholar named Xia here? He had only one daughter, and I heard that he later took in a son-in-law."
The oldest one was stunned for a moment and looked at Bai Shan in surprise.
The young wife at the side started laughing and said, "I've never heard of such a family. Is my son mistaken? We don't have any families here that accept sons-in-law."
Bai Shan looked at the older woman.
She hesitated for a moment, then looked at Bai Shan curiously and asked, "Is my husband a relative of the Xia family?"
Bai Shan smiled and nodded.
She frowned and said, "I've never heard that the Xia family has such a relative outside."
There was something wrong with her gaze towards Bai Shan, and her enthusiasm had faded a lot, but she still said, "However, more than ten years ago, there was indeed a family surnamed Xia here who was a scholar, but the man is long gone. One of their daughters was married off, but she left with her husband and never came back."
Having said this, she paused and looked at Bai Shan suspiciously again, but seeing that he was a boy and the age did not match hers, her gaze shifted to Zhou Man, who had been squatting quietly beside her.
After taking a closer look, her eyes widened slightly and she stared at Zhou Man and looked him up and down.
Manbao moved back slightly when he was looked at by her.
Bai Shan stood up and walked in front of Man Bao to block her, and said to the woman with a smile: "Sister-in-law, do you know who is living in his house now? I wonder if there are any other relatives in his family?"
The woman leaned over to take another look at Zhou Man, but when he moved to block her view, she said helplessly, "The one living in his house now is a nephew of his family. It's been several days since we last met. Who are you..."
She looked around and lowered her voice to ask, "Are you from Xin Niang's family? Where are Xin Niang and Mr. Zhou?"
Bai Shan just smiled, stretched out his hand to pull Man Bao up from the ground, and said to her: "We are here to look for our relatives. Do you know how to get to the village head's house?"
The woman showed them the way with great energy, "Go in from there, and there's an intersection ahead. Go out, and when you get to the street, turn right and it's the second house."
She wanted to take another look at Zhou Man behind him with her sharp eyes, but was blocked by Bai Shan.
Bai Shan thanked her, took Man Bao and left.
The three of them left quickly, almost running. Manbao patted his chest and said happily, "It's like they want to eat me up."
Bai Shan said, "You must look like Uncle Zhou or Aunt Zhou."
Manbao tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, "I always hear my dad say that I look like him, and the people in the village also say that I look like him. I guess I look like him, right?"
Bai Shan took her to the village head's house and smiled when he heard her say, "That's good. Since we look alike, we can save ourselves some trouble."
Behind them, the woman put all the clothes into the wooden basin with an excited look on her face after they left, and left.
The young wife at the side couldn't help but ask, "Aunt Fan, you don't want to wash anymore?"
"No need to wash, I'm going home first."
The young wives were shocked when they saw her putting the unwashed clothes into the wooden barrel, and thought to themselves: If we go back like this, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law might have another quarrel.
Aunt Fan didn't care. She picked up the wooden basin and walked away quickly. When she got home, she threw it in the yard. Her son opened his mouth wide when he saw it. Her mother-in-law also saw it and was about to scold her, but she said excitedly, "Mom, do you know who's back?"
"Who's back? Even if you're back, you can't just throw the tub away like that. There are only a few tubs in the house. Wait, are you washing the clothes clean?"
"Xin Niang and her family are back."
"Who is Xin Niang?"
Aunt Fan pointed to the next door and said, "Xin Niang! Her Xin Niang is back!"
The old lady's eyes widened slightly. She no longer cared about the basin or the clothes. She grabbed her sleeve and asked, "Really? Where is the person?"
As he spoke, he pricked up his ears to listen to the noise next door, "That's not right. I only heard the quarrel between the neighbors and Gao today, and didn't hear anything else. Have you seen Xin Niang?"
Aunt Fan's body stiffened, and then she realized something was wrong. She didn't see Xin Niang. Moreover, if Xin Niang came back, she could just go back to her own home. Why did she come to ask her about her relatives?
Seeing her daughter-in-law in a daze again, the old lady said angrily, "You are talking nonsense again..."
"Yes, yes. I didn't see Xin Niang, but I saw her daughter. She's really her mother. The child looks about fourteen or fifteen, not only is her age right, but her little face looks just like Mr. Zhou's. Her eyes look like they were plucked out of her father's and put on her. Also, her forehead and chin look especially like Xin Niang's. She must be their child."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
