Chapter 194 Brown Sugar and Eggs
Lu Dongcai scratched his head in frustration, threw the hatchet aside, and sat down. As the sun completely set over the mountain, his heart seemed to sink as well. Chuyi's crying, Gao Xiulan's scolding, and Li Laiying's wailing mixed together in his head, and he felt a throbbing pain in his head, as if it was about to explode.
"We have to wait until she gives birth to the child. After the child is born, no matter whether it is a boy or a girl, we will get a divorce and that's it." What's the point of having a wife when he feels worse than not having one?
Li Laiying didn't know that Lu Dongcai had lost his patience with her and was waiting for her to give birth to the child before divorcing her.
Her belly is not showing yet, but she has heard that the first three months are very important. If you want to have a boy, you must keep hoping for it in your heart so that the Goddess of Fertility will understand your feelings. It is best to stay away from girls, because girls can only bring about girls, not boys.
She used to pretend to take care of Chuyi, even though Chuyi didn't want her at all. But ever since she knew she was pregnant due to morning sickness, she no longer took care of Chuyi, as if she was avoiding the plague.
Gao Xiulan had no idea what all sorts of nonsense she was thinking about all day. It was New Year's Day, and they had an appointment to go to the commune to watch the fun after breakfast. While cooking, Chuyi was asleep in bed, so she asked Li Laiying to keep an eye on the child. She agreed on the surface, but she didn't even go to the room across the street. Chuyi woke up and groggily crawled down, falling headfirst onto the ground and feet up. The ground was uneven, and if Lu Dongfu hadn't gone in to scoop up some food, the child would have suffocated to death.
How could Gao Xiulan not make trouble with her?
Because of this commotion, no one called her when the family had breakfast in the morning. After dinner, no one was home anymore. No one came back until the sun went down in the afternoon. She was hungry and could not wait any longer, so she went to the kitchen to light a fire and cook.
The food was originally kept in the main room, but after the argument, Gao Xiulan took it directly to her room. Fortunately, the room wasn't locked every day. Just like today, no one knew where the person had gone, but the door was hung, not locked.
She went into the house.
She rarely came to Gao Xiulan's room. The room was small, simple and clean. There was a bunk bed against the wall, a large box at the foot of the bed, and next to the bed, by the window, an old table with three drawers. On the table sat an iron box, the box of malted milk she had finished on the first day of the new year. Now that she was able to eat, she hadn't bought her that stuff again because it was too expensive. In the empty box was the brown sugar she had bought before the New Year.
Li Laiying opened it and took a look at it and couldn't let it go.
Then she opened the drawer and found eggs that had been stored for a long time.
He grabbed a few in his hand, then scooped out some sugar from the sugar jar and quickly left the house and went to the kitchen.
The brown sugar boiled eggs, too much sugar, were cloyingly sweet, yet she drank it with such satisfaction that she felt as if she had taken a large bowl of blood, her whole body steaming with warmth.
After drinking, I washed the pots and pans and put them back as they were, then added water again and lit the fire to cook.
Gao Xiulan took Chuyi to visit a friend and came back at dusk. When she came back and saw that the meal was ready, she felt a little relieved. But when she thought about Chuyi sleeping drowsily all day, her anger rose again and she still didn't look at her with a happy face.
After dinner, they warmed themselves by the fire. Lu Minghai held Chuyi in his arms and looked at her still sleeping, feeling somewhat worried. "If she's still like this tomorrow, take her to the county hospital for a checkup."
This is a fall on the head. What if he becomes stupid?
Gao Xiulan sniffed and put her hand over her eyes. "We'll see tomorrow. Before the New Year, I was thinking that Haodai has grandchildren now. I haven't been back for all these years, and they're not that far away. I should take them and Chuyi to visit my eldest brother. After all, we're relatives, and if we don't visit, the connection will be cut off. I've lost all my mood because of this commotion."
Lu Minghai thought for a moment and said, "Don't overthink it. Life has to go on as it should. If you plan to go, then go. I don't know if Chunmei and Chunyan will come back this year. Let's see tomorrow. If you don't have anything to do on the first day of the new year, then go. Invite Dongcai and his wife to come along."
"Don't even bother to shout. I can take Chuyi with me. Such a jinx is not only embarrassing herself at home, but she also has to embarrass herself outside. Who knows who Li Laiying is? If people talk about it, they will only laugh at me, Gao Xiulan, for being so blind to find such a wife for my son."
"That's fine, as long as you're happy." Lu Minghai was also unhappy. When he was young, he took care of his two younger brothers by himself, trying every possible way to survive. He finally found a wife, who was virtuous and capable. She took care of his two younger brothers, acting as both sister-in-law and mother. When they all got married and had their own children, they thought life would get better, but then the great famine hit. After enduring for so many years, they were all grown up, and they just waited for them to get married, and their mission was considered completed. But after they got married, life became more and more restless, and life became more and more difficult.
It's true. This woman has never had a single happy day in her entire life with me.
I slept soundly all day the day before, but I recovered on the first day of the next day. I woke up very early and even peed on the bed.
Gao Xiulan lost her sleepiness after hearing her disturbance. She changed her diaper and clothes and lay in bed for a while. When it was light outside, she got up and asked Lu Minghai to take the child with her. She went to cook breakfast early.
No one called Li Laiying to eat, but she was very self-aware. She got up, washed herself, and took a bowl to scoop rice from the pot.
Gao Xiulan told Lu Dongcai about going back to her mother's home: "Your grandparents are long gone. When I was little, I relied on your uncles to raise me. Your eldest uncle is not young anymore. Speaking of which, I haven't been back for a few years. This year, Chuyi happened to be born. I went back to visit and pay New Year's greetings during the first month of the lunar year. I originally wanted to ask you and your wife to go with us, but your wife is pregnant, so it's not easy for her to go around. Wait for a while, I'll pack up, and you can come with me and take Chuyi with you."
Lu Dongcai nodded: "Okay." Anyway, it's the first month of the year, and there's nothing to do right now. As long as he can make his mother feel a little relieved about yesterday's incident, that's enough.
After dinner, Gao Xiulan went back to her room to clean up. She planned to grab half a pound of brown sugar, ten eggs, and a few of the fruit candies Wen Wan had given her on the 30th. There were children there too, and giving one to each of them would at least sweeten their mouths. She also had to save a few in case the two girls brought their children back to her parents' home.
Before the New Year, she bought a pound of sugar. She poured out half a pound for herself and sealed the other half. The eggs were in the drawer. She took the smallest basket in the house, put some dry leaves in it as a cushion, and went into the house to get the eggs. As soon as she opened the drawer, she felt something was wrong and immediately went out to call Lu Dongfu: "Dongfu, have you picked up eggs these days?"
Lu Dongfu said, "Yes, I picked them up. I've been digging for earthworms everywhere since I came back from vacation. The food has been good during this period. We get two eggs every day."
"That's weird. I must have remembered it wrongly. I checked the drawer the day before yesterday and it was better. How come it's been two days and it seems like nothing has changed?"
She grumbled and grumbled but didn't think too deeply about it. Li Laiying, however, was extremely nervous inside. She had been a bit greedy yesterday and had taken four eggs at once, boiling them in a bowl of brown sugar. She had been enjoying the meal comfortably, but now, after Gao Xiulan's words, she began to get nervous.
Gao Xiulan just talked about it, picked up ten eggs and put them in the basket, added some sugar, and held it in her hand.
Lu Dongcai was holding Chuyi, and he also had a bag with a pair of Chuyi's pants and diapers in it. The mother and daughter took the child and said goodbye to Lu Minghai before leaving.
As soon as they left, Lu Dongfu couldn't stay at home anymore, so he turned around and ran next door to find Lu Donglin.
They got up a little late in the morning, so they had dinner late too. When Lu Dongfu came over, Lu Mingjiang's family was sitting around the fire pit, eating with their bowls in their arms.
He poked his head out the door, and Lu Mingjiang saw him: "Dongfu, what are you doing? Peeking around, come in and warm yourself by the fire!"
Lu Dongfu scratched his head and came in from outside: "Where is Brother Dongping?"
"Let's go to the commune! Have you eaten? I'll scoop some for you." Zhang Hongying greeted him.
Lu Dongfu sat down by the fire and said, "I've eaten. I'm coming to find Donglin to see if he's going up the mountain." Then he looked at Wen Wan and asked, "Sister-in-law, aren't you going to the commune today?"
"If I don't go today, I won't have anything to do after rehearsal."
Zhang Hongying asked, "It's New Year's Day. Why don't you stay home and rest for a few days instead of running up the mountain? Didn't you guys spend the whole day up the mountain yesterday? By the way, how's Chuyi doing? Are you feeling better?"
Wen Wan smiled and said, "Mom, just ask them one by one. How can you ask so many questions at once and ask him to answer you?"
Lu Dongfu rubbed his hands and said, "Chuyi is much better today. He is chattering again in the morning and looks a little more energetic. My mother went to visit relatives today and took him away."
Zhang Hongying nodded: "Visiting relatives is fine. Will Chunmei and Chunyan come back this year?"
"I don't know. Every family has their own problems. Even though they're not far away, they're a big family. It's hard to say."
Zhang Hongying nodded, "That's right." Then she added, "Don't go running up the mountain. It's a rare opportunity to rest at home for two days during the New Year. After that, we'll have to clear our private plots. By the way, have you cleared your private plots yet?"
Lu Dongfu said, "No, there are radishes and cabbages in the fields. We can't eat all of them if we bring them back at once. We haven't caught our pigs yet, so we should wait for two days."
As they were talking, Lu Minghai came over.
Lu Mingjiang held the bowl and asked, "Brother, have you eaten yet?"
Lu Minghai sat down and said, "Let's eat. Your sister-in-law is going to visit relatives, so breakfast is served early today."
Zhang Hongying said, "Don't lie. Eat some more and I'll scoop it out for you."
"No, no, why would I pretend with you in my own room?"
"I was just talking to Dongfu, is Chuyi okay today?"
"Well, it's not good and I dare not take her to visit relatives."
Lu Mingjiang quickly scraped the rice out of his bowl, put it down and said, "I was thinking of asking you yesterday. Aren't those piglets at the pig farm about to turn one month old? Since we've got nothing to do these past few days, why not take some time to catch them? All the pigs that should have been paid in before the New Year have been paid in, and all the pigs that should have been killed have been killed. The pens are empty. If you want to catch them, you have to go early. If you're late, they'll all be dead, and you won't be able to pick any good ones."
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