Chapter 149 Wild Duck Eggs
The cool breeze in the bamboo forest was quite pleasant. After washing my clothes, I came out and saw a cluster of chrysanthemums on the roadside. Unlike the small yellow chrysanthemums in the mountains, these hadn't fully opened yet because of the cool weather. The buds were white with purple, about the size of copper coins, and were mixed in with the weeds.
Wen Wan was overjoyed. She trotted back with the basket in her hand. She didn't even have time to hang out her clothes before returning with a hoe. She carefully dug out the chrysanthemums with their roots, fearing that they would break and be difficult to grow.
Li Laiying, with her big belly, was clumsily walking towards the bamboo forest with a basket on her shoulder, and just happened to run into her.
Wen Wan was stunned for a moment and greeted, "Sister Laiying!" It had been a month since Li Laiying came to Wen Wan to ask her to make clothes for the child. Although they were separated by a wall, they could see each other, but they hardly talked.
Wen Wan was not familiar with her, and they did not have similar personalities and could get along well, so she did not care.
Li Laiying nodded, trying to smile but with difficulty: "What are you doing? Didn't you go to school?"
Wen Wan raised the things in her hand and said: "I dug a chrysanthemum and took it home to plant it. It's vacation time, so I don't have to go to school."
Li Laiying said "Oh" and said, "Then you go ahead and do your work. I'm going to the bamboo forest to wash clothes."
Wen Wan glanced at her belly, thought for a moment and said something more: "Be careful!" Her belly is so big, and she doesn't know when she will give birth. She has to carry so many things. Even if she sits to wash clothes, she has to bend over. It's very tiring. She doesn't even have a waist anymore, how can she still bend over?
Regardless of whether Li Laiying listened or not, she carried the hoe and the chrysanthemums and went back excitedly to plant the flowers.
Autumn is the season when chrysanthemums are in full bloom. If you plant the flowers at this time, you don’t know whether they will survive. But Wen Wan hasn’t done this for a long time, so she is a little excited.
She also planted a lot of flowers in the small courtyard and on the second floor of her house. Xu Ruyin was an elegant person and especially liked flowers and plants. In such a small space, Old Wen personally built flower beds on both sides with bricks, and also built a row of flower beds on the second-floor balcony. He took the guards and drove a long way to fetch soil back.
The flower bed is not big, but there are many varieties, including roses, roses, peonies, chrysanthemums, and wintersweets. You can always see different colors throughout the year.
Wen Wan squatted beside the new house and dug the soil. As she dug, she began to sigh.
She missed home. Lujiazui was so far away from the capital.
Why hadn't Old Wen replied in such a long time? And what about the Xu family? Didn't her grandparents receive her letters? Didn't Xu Qingming receive any letters from home either? She always felt something was wrong.
The weather was good and the sun was out for several days in a row.
The people in the mountains worked hard to bring the corn home. The elderly people in the team who could not go to the threshing floor with crutches to peel the corn. While the sun was shining, they threw the corn into the open air to dry. By the time the corn at the back was harvested, the moisture in the corn at the front had almost dried up.
Then, the sky turned cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain again.
Lu Minghai was so anxious that his mouth was covered with blisters. He worked hard during the day and took a break at night to eat something. He called the young people in the team to go to the wheat field and hang up the half-dried corn with torches.
No matter how hard we tried, the rain still came.
Even a strong young man like Lu Dongping could not bear it after enduring two days in a row and being caught in the rain.
The rain started to fall, and it was getting heavier. The corn in the field had been harvested, but the straw had not been completely cut, so it didn't matter.
The most worrying thing is the rice in the fields. It changes every day and I can’t bear it any longer.
But if it rains, what can we do?
There was nothing he could do. Lu Dongping was so tired that he fell into a deep sleep. He didn't even get up to eat breakfast and slept until the afternoon.
I was woken up by the urge to pee. I opened my eyes and looked at the light in the room and the mosquito net that was still above my head. I blinked and felt as if I was dreaming.
Wen Wan was outside in the house. It didn't matter that it was raining, she continued knitting the sweater. There was only one last bit left, and if she worked harder today, the sweater would be finished. It really had taken her too long. The house was quiet; through the window, the only sounds were the rain outside and the rustling of water on the eaves.
Lu Dongping got up and left the room. Wen Wan heard the noise and looked up: "You're awake!"
Lu Dongping responded and left the house. He went to the toilet under the eaves to drain the water. When he came back, his body was damp. He washed his hands with the water from the eaves and stamped his feet outside, saying, "It doesn't feel like late autumn with this rain, it feels more like summer."
Wen Wan put down the work in her hands and said, "Did you sleep well? You haven't had breakfast yet. I'm warming the pot for you. I'll go get it for you."
As soon as he reached the door, Lu Dongping stopped him and said, "Don't worry." He was too hungry to feel anything at the moment. Besides, it was raining so hard, how could he let a little girl get him food? It wasn't like he was missing any limbs.
After saying that, he reached out and hooked his arms around Wen Wan's waist, hugging her and burying his head in her neck.
Wen Wan reached out to push him, but after a few attempts without success, she let him hug her and move slowly into the house.
Then I was pressed on the bed and kissed so hard that I couldn't breathe.
When I caught my breath, I felt a chill on my body, and my clothes were lifted up and someone was nibbling on them gently.
Wen Wan pushed Lu Dongping with difficulty: "Don't, don't make trouble, it's broad daylight." The important thing was that Lu Dongping had just gone in and out without closing the door, which was wide open. If someone came and saw them - although they were a couple in their own room, it would still be a bit embarrassing in broad daylight.
Lu Dongping said in a hoarse voice: "I thought about it."
"Well, that will have to wait until tonight."
Lu Dongping didn't want to wait, so he stood up and quickly locked the door. Before Wen Wan got down, he grabbed her and pressed her down.
After this ridiculous moment, Wen Wan felt limp and powerless, but the man was satisfied. He diligently cleaned her and then tucked her into bed: "Sleep for a while."
Wen Wan snorted, turned around and ignored him.
Lu Dongping smiled and rubbed her head, tucked her in, and went out. Then he stepped back and called out, "Wanwan, are you still raising that rabbit? If not, why not kill it when it rains?" He added, "If you like it, I'll bring it back to you when you see a little rabbit next time."
Wen Wan was stunned for a moment before finally saying, "Then, let's kill it!" She liked furry little animals like rabbits, but she wasn't one to keep forever. Even if she had thought about it, it wouldn't happen; the conditions wouldn't allow it.
After hearing her words, Lu Dongping went to the kitchen to find some food to fill his stomach and then went to kill the rabbit. When Wen Wan woke up after being unconscious in bed for a while, the rabbit that he had raised for half a year had turned into a pile of meat in the pot waiting to be cooked.
Zhang Hongying was stoking a fire behind the stove. Wen Wan peeked out from the doorway and called out, "Mom, what are you cooking for dinner? Let me help you."
Zhang Hongying glanced at Lu Dongping standing in front of the stove, and then her eyes fell on her again: "No need, Dongping is here to help, and if it doesn't help, there is Chun'e. We are all free, go and do your own thing."
Wen Wan was just being polite. She didn't particularly like working or cooking. She only cooked because everyone was busy doing heavier and more tiring work.
After Zhang Hongying said that, she didn't insist anymore and went back to the room to continue closing the sweater while it was still light.
I finished knitting the sweater I had been knitting for so long in one go, until I could no longer see it in the house and my neck was stiff.
Lu Dongping's voice could be heard from outside. And who was that? Wen Wan put her clothes away before she noticed that Xu Qingming had arrived. She didn't know when he had arrived, and he hadn't even called her.
She walked out of the house, took two steps from the courtyard, crossed the eaves in front of the main hall, and went to the door of the kitchen and called out to Xu Qingming: "Seventh Brother, when did you come?"
Xu Qingming said: "I just arrived, and since you were busy, I didn't bother you."
The educated youth settlement was a small space, with several men crammed into one room. Normally, work was fine; everyone did their own thing, and when they were tired, they'd just go downstairs. The night would pass in the blink of an eye. But when it rained, it was annoying. We were all crammed into one room, and there was nothing else to do except play cards made from cigarette boxes.
He came when Lu Dongping called him, and took out the things he had been saving under the bed. Among them were wild fruits he had found while going up and down the mountain some time ago, and a bag of wild duck eggs he had picked up from the grass by the river.
Wen Wan recognized another new thing, a wild duck egg, which was much bigger than the hen eggs that Lu Dongping brought back two days ago.
In the evening, Zhang Hongying specially steamed some multi-grain rice. It contained more corn and less rice, but it was also a rare and delicious thing to eat.
The rabbit meat and soaked bamboo shoots and mushrooms were stewed in half a pot, and the wild duck eggs were left for the time being.
After dinner, Wen Wan took advantage of Xu Qingming's absence to ask, "Seventh Brother, did your family send you a letter?"
Xu Qingming shook his head. "No, I only received a letter from my dad shortly after arriving here, but nothing since then. My eldest and second uncles are both busy, and my dad is traveling all over the world. Most of my brothers and sisters have their own families, so they're naturally busy. Before they left, my sixth and second sisters were planning to go to the countryside to support construction, so they've probably already gone there, so it's normal that there haven't been any letters."
Wen Wan nodded: "Okay, if you write to me, remember to tell me." After that, she glanced into the house and said, "The weather is getting colder. Do you have enough clothes? Do you need me to make you some? I asked my mother to make you a pair of soles, and I will make you a pair of cotton shoes. Since you are here, I will cut a pattern."
Xu Qingming smiled brightly upon hearing this: "Great, brother loves you for real. He even remembers to prepare cotton shoes for me. But, can you see in the dark now?"
Wen Wan said, "Don't you have a flashlight? It needs to be brighter to cut a shoe pattern. You are usually very busy, so I never see you. It just so happens that you are here." As she said that, she went into the house, found a newspaper and a pencil, and made a rough drawing.
The roads were slippery due to the rain, so Xu Qingming didn't stay long after dinner. He talked to Lu Dongping for a while and then left with a flashlight.
The day's rest was almost over, and Zhang Hongying and the others were in no hurry to go to sleep. They got a basket and sat on the doorstep, rubbing the few corns they had collected from their private plot, chatting as they rubbed them.
The conversation turned to Wang Mingfang. Zhang Hongying said to Lu Mingjiang, "I heard from my eldest sister-in-law that Lu Mingqing has found a wife. She's from Maoerling, deep in the mountains. The family is so poor they can't afford to support her, so they've brought her here in exchange for food and a way to survive. One hundred kilograms of food will be enough to send her over. Wang Mingfang and her husband can't wait until the twelfth lunar month for their rations, so they've approached my eldest brother and asked for an advance."
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