Chapter 252: Divine Love
Shen Wanxue looked up at Xia Juanjuan, her eyes already filled with sleep. She nodded and said, "Yes. I have been obsessed with him all my life and refused to give birth to children for him. Even when he was old, he still tolerated me. Meeting him in this life is worth it..."
Xia Juanjuan was moved when she heard this. Families like Shen Wanxue's were in danger in this era, and there were countless couples who fled separately when faced with disasters, but they still withstood the test.
True divine love.
Knowing that my friend is like this, what more could I ask for?
After staying for a while, Shen Wanxue said she wanted to go back.
Before leaving, she gave Xia Juanjuan all the clothes she had made for her son over the past few years and said, "Juanjuan, give these clothes to Lizhan when he comes back."
Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly declined, saying, "Auntie, this is the clothes you made for him yourself, so why don't you give it to him yourself when he comes back?"
After pushing for a while, Shen Wanxue saw that Xia Juanjuan was determined not to do so, so she had to take the bag back.
The next morning, Xia Juanjuan went to the town to send a telegram.
In this day and age, everyone is very dedicated to their work and there are people on duty at the telegraph station on New Year's Day.
When she came back, she saw Li Jie wandering around the door of her house, looking like he wanted to go in but was too embarrassed to do so.
"Third brother, why don't you go in now that you're here?" Xia Juanjuan hurried up and asked.
Li Jie then said somewhat embarrassedly: "Juanjuan, this matter... is really hard to bring up. But... after thinking about it, you are the only one I can help with. Do you have ten yuan on hand? I'll lend it to you first, and I'll definitely pay you back after the New Year or the beginning of spring."
Xia Juanjuan understood what she heard and asked, "Third brother, tell me the truth, did you borrow money to go to Beijing to find that piece of jade?"
Li Jie blushed a little and said, "The jade... was lost by our Li family after all. We can't rely on Li Qiang and Liu Lan, and Li Qiang certainly can't borrow money. If we don't look for it quickly, we will really lose it..."
Xia Juanjuan said, "Third brother, don't worry about this. I went to the county today and sent a telegram to Li Zhan to tell him about this. I also sent a letter to his friends in Beijing, asking them to help look for it. Don't worry, although they have never seen the jade, I told them in the telegram what Li Qiang looks like, what his accent is, and where he sells things. They are from Beijing, so it will definitely be easier for them to find it than us looking like headless flies in the past."
Li Jie was still a little worried after hearing this: "Is this...really possible? What if we can't find them? How will my fourth brother find his parents?"
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Beijing is not that big, and they are in the military, so they definitely have more ways than us, Third Brother, don't worry. Even if we really can't find it, Third Brother, don't you know what kind of person Lizhan is? He will definitely not blame us."
Li Jie listened and thought it made sense.
The last time Xia Shuangshan was framed by Xia Dazhuang and Li Cuihua and was put in jail, wasn’t it because Xia Juanjuan’s brother knew the police that the problem was solved?
His comrades who fought hard in the battle might also know people in the police station and could help him find the person better than a farmer like him who couldn't read a single word.
Li Jie nodded and went back.
However, this matter certainly cannot be let go like this. Wouldn't that be a bargain for Li Qiang and Wang Guixiang?
Li Jie called Secretary Zhao and the village cadres over and asked Li Qiang to write an IOU for thirty yuan in public, demanding that he return the money!
Li Zhaodi realized that this was the only way to deal with the situation temporarily, so he said he wanted to go back.
She came in a hurry this time, as it was New Year's Day and she was worried about her husband and seven children being the only ones at home.
Xia Juanjuan put the dried pork and sausage, dried beans, pickled duck eggs, etc. into a bundle, stuffed seven red envelopes in it, and also grabbed a bag of candy and a bag of melon seeds and stuffed them in. She took it to Lijie's house and handed it to her, saying with a smile:
"Sister, we have prepared a lot of New Year's goods this year, and we are afraid that we won't be able to finish them if they go bad in the spring. So I gave you some, and if you don't mind, you can take them back. There are also some candies and melon seeds for the children. And this red envelope is for them as New Year's money."
How could Li Zhaodi accept it when he saw it?
She had come here empty-handed, and had only prepared a dime of red envelopes for her nephews and nieces from her mother's side as New Year's gifts. How could she bring back so many bags when she was leaving?
"This... it doesn't make sense to go back to your parents' home and bring things back from there... And as for the red envelope, our kids didn't come with us, so forget it!"
Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "Big sister, you don't want to accept it, does that mean you are giving up on me? The kids didn't come, but they must be looking forward to the red envelopes at home. If you go back empty-handed, they will probably think that your uncle and aunt are stingy! Then won't we die in vain?"
Zhou Qiuhe also came forward and said with a smile: "Yes, elder sister. You have taken care of Lijie since he was a child. Even if our bones are broken, our tendons are still connected. Our family is not as rich as the fourth brother's family, but these things and the annual deposit are not enough to have children. Elder sister, if you don't accept it, it will be too polite..."
After hearing this, Li Zhaodi had no choice but to accept it.
Li Jie borrowed Xia Juanjuan's bicycle again, sent Li Zhaodi to the county town, and then returned by bike.
Li Zhaodi arrived home and showed the things to her husband. She also opened the red envelope of New Year's Eve money given by Xia Juanjuan. She saw that it was not a big deal, as each child got 50 cents!
Zhou Qiu's purse was small, and none of his seven children had a penny.
But no matter how you calculate it, she has the most children in her family, so she must have benefited from the annual allowance.
Not to mention the New Year's money, just the things Xia Juanjuan brought her, such as bacon, bacon and salted duck eggs, are things their family can only eat once or twice a year. Now that they have brought back so much at once, they may be able to have a prosperous New Year this year!
Li Zhaodi also heard from Li Jie that since Li Zhan went to the army, he would send back his allowance every month. When Li Lao Dad was still alive, he still had the final say in the family, and the allowance had not been taken by Liu Lan alone. Therefore, the Li family was able to marry a daughter-in-law because of Li Zhan's help.
Li Zhaodi felt a surge of emotion in his heart.
Their Li family adopted the fourth brother, and although they were grateful for his upbringing, Li Zhan probably had already repaid the debt over the years. On the contrary, they also benefited from it!
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Yuru returned to her home and lived with Xia Shuangshan.
Xia Shuangshan also heard about Li Zhan's life experience and sighed.
"Alas... I guess it's God's will that Juan'er and Liezhan, two children without parents, can be together."
Lin Yuru said: "Who said it wasn't true? I don't know what Lizhan's parents are like. If they are still like Liu Lan, then our Juan'er... Oh!"
Xia Shuangshan said: "Oh! You are just worrying for nothing. I think Lizhan is also a sensible man. If his mother is really like that, Lizhan will definitely stand on the side of our Juan'er..."
As they talked, they couldn't help but think of Yan Haotian who was still in the south.
Yan Haotian was also on a mission during the Spring Festival and could not come back. He had sent a telegram in advance.
In addition, a package was also sent over, which contained Guangdong specialties and snacks such as sausage, water chestnut cake, and egg rolls, as well as a remittance slip for twenty yuan.
He also asked Jiang Hai to come visit them once before the New Year and bring them rice, flour and other things, so they had a prosperous New Year.
This almost made the other two branches of the Xia family jealous to death.
In the past, the two families relied on Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru to work hard and earn work points. Now that the family has been divided, there is no one to call on. At the end of the year, other families raise chickens, pigs and sheep, but these two families are lazy and do not raise anything. They are not active in farm work. At the end of the year, the work points are not enough for the whole family to eat! They are waiting to eat relief food, and they are criticized by the commune.
The relief rations only ensured that they would not starve to death, but it was impossible for them to have enough food, let alone meat!
Seeing that Xia Shuangshan and Lin Yuru lived a wealthy life and their sons and daughters gave them so many things, Liu Hongmei and Sun Yuxiu shamelessly came to their house to ask for money. Sun Yuxiu even persuaded her husband to come over once.
However, Xia Shuangshan ignored them. He had already made up his mind to completely sever ties with this extremely splendid family, and he didn't even look at them!
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Xia Juanjuan followed tradition and took her children and gifts back to her parents' home.
There is nothing to do after that. I just stay at home to sleep, make glutinous rice balls, and make lanterns, waiting for the Lantern Festival.
While busy with all these, Xia Juanjuan was waiting for the fierce battle.
When she sent the telegram, it was an urgent telegram, asking Li Zhan to go home.
If Li Zhan saw it, he would probably reply immediately, or if he couldn't, he would probably reply by telegram.
But by the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, there was still no response, and Xia Juanjuan couldn't help feeling depressed.
This kind of situation has happened before. After all, Li Zhan's whereabouts are uncertain due to his missions. It is not uncommon for him not to receive letters or telegrams for a while.
But this time, perhaps from the moment she sent the telegram, she was looking forward to seeing him, looking forward to it day by day.
Now that we can’t wait any longer, it’s normal to be frustrated when our expectations are dashed.
It was also the first time that she felt so deeply that she missed Li Zhan so much. She wanted to see him and hear him talk...
When celebrating the New Year in the countryside, people always feel psychologically that the year is over after the Lantern Festival.
If Lizhan could come back before the Lantern Festival, the whole family could celebrate the New Year together.
By the Lantern Festival, Xia Juanjuan no longer expected Lizhan to come back.
The family ate Yuanxiao and went to bed early.
In the middle of the night, Xia Juanjuan heard some rustling noises coming from outside!