At around five in the afternoon on the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Xuemei had just arrived at her doorstep when she saw Wu Jianye and his two grandchildren knocking on the door, carrying things.
"Grandpa Wu, Sister Wu, what are you doing here at my house?" Xuemei pushed her bicycle up and opened the gate. Han Chen also came out of the yard and opened the door, with Xiao Huang following behind him.
"Xuemei, you're back. We came to see Aunt Li and the village chief about something!" Wu Yuezhu said with a smile.
Wu Jianye and Wu Yuezhu also need to work in the fields together during the summer and autumn harvests and participate in the rush to harvest.
Each person gets two days off a month, and the Lunar New Year holiday runs from the 28th day of the 12th lunar month to the 5th day of the 1st lunar month. Because the clinic is right in the village, it only takes them about ten minutes to walk there. Their usual working hours, regardless of season, are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with a lunch break from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
If they wanted to go up the mountain to collect herbs, they couldn't go together during working hours; one person had to stay behind to watch over them. This was a decision made by the commune and the village based on their circumstances.
This is also why Wu Jianye and his two grandchildren came to the Liu family now. They did not deliberately come to the house at mealtime to eat for free. Liu's father and mother were not at home at noon. They would come after the Liu family had finished dinner. Wu Xingqiao would go to bed again, and they were worried about leaving her alone at home. Therefore, they came now when it was just getting dark and the Liu family had not had time to eat. Now every family is short of food, and generally no one will stay for dinner.
When Xuemei heard this, she quickly said to Han Chen, "Han Chen, go call your parents!"
Han Chen nodded and turned to walk towards the firewood shed. Today, Han Chen and the other two went to the mountain to chop firewood for the whole morning and did not return home until after two o'clock in the afternoon. Han Chen and Liu's father were chopping and moving firewood at this time. They would fill the firewood shed first, and if there was any left, they would pile it directly in the yard.
Liu's mother just went to the kitchen to cook.
When Xuemei parked her bicycle, Liu's mother had already brought Wu Yuezhu and her two grandchildren into the main room, while Liu's father and Han Chen went to the kitchen to get water to wash their hands.
"Xuemei, go get some sugar to make some sweet water for Uncle Wu and the others!" Liu's mother shouted outside.
"Yeah!" Xuemei responded and went to Liu's mother's room to get something.
"Aunt Li, there's no need to soak it. White sugar is precious and sugar coupons are hard to come by in the countryside!"
"That won't do. No matter how precious the food is, our Qiaoya has to have a taste of it! Our Qiaoya is the most obedient." Mother Liu smiled as she watched Wu Xingqiao struggling to get off Wu Yuezhu's legs.
Wu Xingqiao's name has now become popular in the village. Everyone thinks Xingqiao is difficult to pronounce, so the villagers call her Qiao Girl or Qiao Ya. Even the grandparents Wu Jianye and Wu Yuezhu have followed suit.
When Xingqiao heard this, she quickly trotted over to Liu's mother's legs, hugged her thighs, and said in a grandma's voice, "Good milk, Tangqiaoya loves it! Thank you, grandma!"
Wu Yuezhu bent down, pinched Wu Xingqiao's nose, and said with a smile: "You little greedy cat, there is nothing you don't like to eat!"
"Oh, what child is not greedy? But our Xingqiao is obedient and polite!" said Liu's mother kindly.
After Xuemei made a cup of sugar water for each of Wu Jianye, his grandparents and his two children, Liu's mother asked Xuemei to hold Wu Xingqiao and go to the kitchen to watch her cook corn porridge. Han Chen then went to the kitchen with the sugar water for Wu Xingqiao.
As soon as they entered the kitchen, Xuemei sat Wu Xingqiao on a low bench next to the stove, some distance away from the fire and warm. Han Chen put the sugar water on the table to cool. The freshly poured water was too hot to drink.
Seeing that the corn paste had boiled, Xuemei quickly lifted the lid of the iron pot and stirred it with a rice spoon.
Xuemei asked Han Chen to watch over Wu Xingqiao while she took out a freshly soaked pickled radish, some pickled peppers and a piece of pickled ginger from the sour water jar and rinsed them with water.
Just as Xuemei was about to cut, Han Chen took the knife.
"Xuemei, I'll prepare the dishes and you can cook them later. Is there anything else besides these?" Han Chen asked.
"Okay, then you come and cut all these into shreds. After that, go to the yard and pull out a cabbage, wash it and set it aside." After Xuemei finished speaking, she sat down next to Wu Xingqiao.
After Xuemei sat down, she found that Wu Xingqiao was staring at the syrup on the table. As she looked at it, she swallowed her saliva and moved her butt on the stool towards the table.
Xuemei looked at the little fellow's adorable behavior, smiled, pulled Wu Xingqiao's hand, and unconsciously whispered softly, "Qiaoya, wait a little longer. It's hot to drink now!"
"Sister, how long do we have to wait!" As soon as Wu Xingqiao opened her mouth, saliva flowed down her mouth to her chin.
Xuemei took out a handkerchief and wiped Wu Xingqiao's saliva. She asked, "Qiaoya, have you forgotten? You should call me Auntie! Not Sister."
Wu Xingqiao looked at Xuemei with a confused look on her face. Finally, she tilted her head and said to Xuemei in a tangled manner, "Beautiful, it's my sister!"
Xuemei laughed happily and pointed at Han Chen who was cutting vegetables and asked, "Qiaoya, what should you call him?"
Wu Xingqiao moved forward to the stool, and when his toes touched the ground, he slid down from the stool and ran to Han Chen. He looked up at Han Chen, then with his hands behind his back like a little old man, he slowly walked up to Xuemei and replied, "Looks good, it's my brother!"
Xuemei and Han Chen couldn't help laughing when they heard this. Xuemei held Wu Xingqiao on her lap and couldn't help pinching her little face, saying, "What a smart child. But you still have to call us aunt and uncle when you see us from now on!"
Wu Xingqiao frowned, not knowing why she had to call them aunt and uncle. She touched her face with her little hands and sighed. She didn't understand the adult world, so she decided to ignore it. She just wanted to drink sugar water now.
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