Chapter 12
Han Shengyi walked out of the vegetable garden, and Chu Jiujiu's hand, which was holding the pheasant's neck, became uneasy.
She explained herself: "Well, I don't have a flint."
"It won't light a fire."
"I still can't pluck hair..."
Chu Jiujiu twisted her body and looked at him cautiously, "How about we each take half?"
Han Shengyi lowered his eyes and looked at her. The more he looked, the more Chu Jiujiu didn't dare to look him in the eye. She pursed her lips and said, "Go over there and wait for me for a while."
After saying that, he returned to the vegetable garden and continued watering.
Chu Jiujiu was stunned for a moment, then realized that he had agreed. She immediately responded cheerfully, then ran to sit under the tree according to Han Shengyi's instructions.
This side is upwind and shaded by trees, so it's cool and not hot or smelly. Chu Jiujiu waited for about half an hour before Han Shengyi came over.
The two of them went back to the stream. Chu Jiujiu had forgotten all the unpleasantness of the past. As she watched Han Shengyi build a fire, she chattered, "I caught this chicken over there, just down the hillside. Chu Shao wouldn't let me go up the mountain alone, and without someone to guide me, I didn't dare go up, so I could only wander around the hillside. I wandered for a long time before I saw something edible."
Han Shengyi fiddled with the firewood and said without raising his head, "Your brother is right. You should listen to him."
Chu Jiujiu curled her lips, "I know, I heard it. He was afraid that I would be taken away by the wolf, so I didn't go in."
"In addition to wolves, there are snakes and a one-meter-long centipede."
Chu Jiujiu: “…”
She didn't dare speak anymore.
But children have short memories, and Han Shengyi only scared her into silence for five minutes. After five minutes, she returned to her normal nature.
"There are so many bugs here. Every night they bite me. Look, there's no good flesh left on my arms."
As she spoke, Chu Jiujiu lifted her sleeve to show Han Shengyi. Han Shengyi took a glance and saw five or six big lumps on her lotus-root-like forearm. It was really miserable, but Chu Jiujiu was still talking.
"Sleeping on straw is really uncomfortable. Sleeping on the ground might be more comfortable than sleeping on straw."
Han Shengyi sleeps on the ground. He sleeps on the floor under his grandparents' feet, but he has a mat and his own mattress in winter. This is the difference between having parents and not having parents.
Han Shengyi was about to say a few words to comfort her when Chu Jiujiu's thoughts jumped. She suddenly raised her head and asked Han Shengyi: "Brother Shengyi, do you know where Chu Shao used to live?"
Han Shengyi paused, then nodded, "I know."
He pointed in a direction, "The one with the red gate closest to the mountain is where Chu Shao used to live."
Chu Jiujiu hadn't found the captain before, and then she was busy testing the necklace, so she had completely forgotten about the house. It was only when the bugs were mentioned today that she remembered it. Finding Han Shengyi could answer, she continued, "So, is the house empty now?"
Han Shengyi shook his head. "Your second uncle and his family live there."
Chu Jiujiu was stunned. "Why would they be allowed to live here?"
"They moved in after Aunt Zhang died."
What Han Shengyi said was very simple. The more complicated process was that Mrs. Zhang drove Chu Shao out of the house, emptied the house like a property search, and then allowed her second son and his family to move in.
Chu Jiujiu felt her fighting spirit about to be aroused again. However, before she got angry, she needed to confirm, "That house was originally bought by my great-grandmother... ahem, my mother, right?"
Han Shengyi thought about it and said, "That should be the case."
He came to Qingzhu Village in 1966 or 1967, a year later than Zhang Fengjuan and her son. He didn't know about their house purchase. He only knew that Zhang Fengjuan had been living there. Apart from sending gifts during the holidays, he had almost no contact with the Zhang family.
Chu Jiujiu stopped talking. This was the first time she shut up on her own initiative. Han Shengyi looked at her and found that her cheeks were puffed up and she looked very angry.
After a moment of silence, Han Shengyi turned back and continued looking at the half-cooked pheasant.
They are not close.
At the very least, it wasn't a relationship where he could help out with advice just by being kind-hearted.
After the pheasant was cooked, the two of them ate their fill on the mountain as usual. As for the rest, Han Shengyi only took a small portion. He said that the roasted chicken had a strong smell and taking too much would be discovered, so he was only willing to take this little. Chu Jiujiu listened and did not force him.
The chicken tastes really good, much more fragrant than fish and rabbit. Even if Chu Shao can't finish the rest, she can still finish it.
When going down the mountain, Han Shengyi found a ripe banana. The skin was still green, but the banana was already big enough. Han Shengyi told her to wait for a few days before eating it.
When Chu Jiujiu heard this, she immediately stuffed all the bananas into his hands and said that she would ask Han Shengyi to bring them back to her when she was ready to eat.
Han Shengyi thought about the Zhang family's situation and agreed without saying anything else.
The two separated when they were about to go down the mountain. Han Shengyi didn't let her go down with him. Chu Jiujiu vaguely understood what he meant. By the way, she also seemed to understand why he had rejected her before.
Chu Jiujiu was holding a roasted pheasant and originally wanted to wait for Chu Shao on the way back from the lotus pond, but then she changed her mind and walked in the direction Han Shengyi said.
It didn't take long for her to find the house with the red door.
The house was about the same size as Zhang's, very big, but the door was worm-eaten and the windows were broken. Chu Jiujiu was looking at the house from outside. In the yard, a little girl was sweeping the floor.
Seeing Chu Jiujiu coming over, the little girl asked, "What are you doing here?"
This little girl is Zhang Laoer’s second daughter, her name is Xia Hua.
Don’t think this is a very literary name. Her elder sister is called Chunhua, and her younger sisters are called Qiuhua and Donghua, which together mean spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Chu Jiujiu ignored her, so she asked again. The woman in the room heard the noise and came out, "Xia Hua, who are you talking to?"
Before she finished speaking, she saw Chu Jiujiu standing outside the yard.
Chu Jiujiu stared at the house expressionlessly, and the look she gave her was no longer as indifferent as before, but instead contained a hint of anger.
Zhao Shiliu's eyebrows twitched, and she grinned: "Isn't this my niece? Do you have something to ask my second aunt?"
Chu Jiujiu glanced at her, said nothing, and turned away.
Zhao Shiliu was upset by her behavior. If she had done nothing wrong, she wouldn't be afraid of ghosts knocking on her door. But Zhao Shiliu felt guilty, and Chu Jiujiu's look made her think about it.
Are you trying to get the house back for Chu Shao?
This little girl is quite bold. This house already belongs to their family and has nothing to do with the Chu family!
She was actually quite nervous, but Xia Hua ran over and shouted, "Mom, it smells so good, like meat. I want to eat stewed meat."
Zhao Shiliu could naturally smell the aroma of chicken in the air, but she had no idea where to find the meat, so she could only kick the child: "Get out! Get out! You look like meat to me! I'd rather stew you!"
After driving Xia Hua away, Zhao Shiliu returned to the house with a calculating look on his face.
Zhao Shiliu smiled as he thought of an idea. If she wanted to fight with him, she would be too far behind him.
——
In the evening, Chu Shao did not see Chu Jiujiu who came to pick him up. When he returned to Zhang's house, he found that Chu Jiujiu was sitting safely in the hut, guarding a pile of roasted pheasants that exuded the aroma of meat, while Mrs. Zhang was standing outside the hut, almost drowning her with spit.
Chu Shao: “…”
That night, no one in the Zhang family had a good meal. They ate coarse food here, but the smell of meat lingered in the hut for a long time. Mrs. Zhang cursed the evildoer even in her sleep. Old man Zhang never cared about family affairs. He felt ashamed when his eldest daughter eloped, so he turned a blind eye to Mrs. Zhang's torture of Chu Shao.
Smelling the meat, Old Man Zhang sighed. If only he hadn't been so extreme, he would have been eating the meat by now.
…
After Chu Jiujiu brought the meat back, the Zhang family members almost took turns to attack her. Mrs. Zhang wanted to scold the meat, Niu Ailing wanted to snatch the meat away, Zhang Lao Da wanted to persuade her to take the meat, and the four flowers of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter looked at her eagerly, wanting to take the meat away.
But no matter what tricks they used, Chu Jiujiu remained motionless. When she was forced into a corner, she said she would ask the team leader to come over and let him see how the Zhang family treated their granddaughter.
After Chu Shao finished eating the chicken, Chu Jiujiu threw the chicken bones directly outside the broken door to let it continue to emit residual heat.
Chu Shao: "...What's wrong?"
Even if he was slow-witted, he could tell that Chu Jiujiu was in a bad mood. Chu Jiujiu sat on the straw, curled up, and asked, "Grandpa, did the house Xia Hua and the others live in originally belong to you?"
When Chu Shao heard about this, he understood everything and nodded.
Chu Jiujiu was anxious, "Then let's take the house back. Why should we give it to them? They are robbing us!"
Chu Shao looked at her but said nothing.
Chu Jiujiu felt a chill in her heart when he looked at her. She opened her mouth and asked again, "Grandpa, can we still get the house back?"
Chu Shao pursed his lips, moved closer to Chu Jiujiu, touched her head, and replied, "I can't."
"My mother is dead, and the house, the things, and myself are all beyond my control."
Children have no say. This is the case now and will remain the case for decades to come.
This is why people are filled with sympathy when they hear the word "orphan".
There is no one to protect them anymore, and they can only let everything be swallowed up by greedy outsiders.
Chu Jiujiu's eyes blurred. She blinked and tears immediately fell. She cried quietly, but it made Chu Shao feel more distressed than any other time before.
It turns out that this is what true heartache feels like, a dull pain in the heart. If mom could see how they look now, she would probably feel heartbroken too.
Chu Shao thought without any expression, took Chu Jiujiu into his arms, patted her back gently, and listened to the little girl's sad sobs. Chu Shao said slowly: "It's okay, it's okay."
"I'll find a way and I'll protect you, dear."
"Grandpa will protect Jiujiu."
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