"I still don't know, Sister Wu, which village are you visiting relatives in?"
"Iron Butt Village".
"Oh my, what a coincidence! I wonder which family you are? I know everyone in the village."
Old Mrs. Wu smiled with her eyes downcast, "Guo Zhixia."
"Guo Zhixia..."
He muttered a few words to himself, then suddenly his eyes widened, "Yes!"
Grandma Wu smiled gently. "Yes, she is my sister."
The people on the oxcart suddenly fell silent, when a voice broke the stillness.
"What are you doing? They just came to take a look, how could they kidnap someone?"
"What kind of good people can live in a cowshed? Pshaw!"
A voice, neither too loud nor too soft, suddenly rang out.
Despite the gentle smile on Old Mrs. Wu's face, her heart sank. It seemed that Guo Zhixia and the others were not having an easy time.
While some objected, others offered comfort.
The woman who spoke first swayed and sat down next to Old Lady Wu, patting her hand. "Don't worry, I'll take you to find the person when we get there. I don't believe it, let's see what happens."
"When something happens to this family, instead of checking on them, they just run as far away as possible. That's not human, that's animal!"
Grandma Wu gratefully pressed down on her hand, saying, "Thank you, thank you."
"It's okay, my name is Wang Dani'er, you can just call me Dani'er."
"Ni'er?"
"Okay, it sounds nice when someone speaks in a literary style."
The oxcart suddenly stopped, and Wang Dani pulled Wu Laotai up and got off the oxcart.
Before leaving, he glanced at Gou Sheng's mother and said, "Don't you dare go to the village secretary to complain. My family has been poor farmers for three generations, with impeccable revolutionary credentials. If I find out you've been secretly complaining, I'll see how I deal with you!"
"Let's go!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Old Lady Wu noticed that Gou Sheng's mother's face was turning pale and then red, and she opened her mouth.
Watching the two figures leave, Gou Sheng's mother stomped her foot in anger, "Does Wang Dani have any sense of reason? I only said one sentence, does she have to humiliate me like this for an outsider?"
"So what if her ancestors were poor peasants for three generations? I am, well, Gou Sheng's mother."
"Puff!"
Turning my head, I saw that everyone around me had already turned and left.
Grandma Wu didn't say anything until she could no longer see the village entrance. "Thank you so much, Ni'er."
Wang Dani waved her hand generously, "You've said thank you so many times since just now, I'm tired of hearing it."
“I’ve met Guo Zhixia before. She’s a straightforward and nice person, but she’s been dragged down by her family. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here to guide you.”
Before Old Mrs. Wu could speak, Wang Dani pointed and said, "We're here, it's just ahead."
With her mind focused on what was ahead, Old Lady Wu approached and found that the cowshed was similar to those in Shanyao Village. Suddenly, a drop of ice water dripped from the roof and landed on her neck, startling Old Lady Wu. Only then did her vision slowly clear.
"Sister Zhixia?"
Guo Zhixia turned her head and froze, exclaiming in disbelief, "Ming, Mingxia?"
"It's me."
Looking at Guo Zhixia, whose hair had turned almost half white, Old Mrs. Wu swallowed hard. "I came to see you."
Guo Zhixia quickly pulled her own blanket over her, saying, "Are you cold? Hurry up and cover yourself to warm up."
When she accidentally touched Guo Zhixia's cold hands, Grandma Wu covered her with the blanket she was carrying. "It's alright, I'm not cold. You should warm up."
Watching them argue over who should have a blanket on, I knew I hadn't misjudged them.
"Alright, you two can chat amongst yourselves. There's not much work lately, so Guo Zhixia doesn't need to work today."
Guo Zhixia's eyes lit up, and she bowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Captain Wang."
Grandma Wu stared at Wang Dani in surprise. "Captain?"
After Wang Dani left, Guo Zhixia explained to Old Lady Wu.
"She's in charge of us."
Old Mrs. Wu looked away, staring at her hair, "You..."
Guo Zhixia touched her hair and said apologetically, "It's just my hair, it's nothing."
"Where is Director Jia?"
"What factory director? Just call him Jia. If it weren't for him, never mind, let's not talk about it anymore. It's already good enough that we were able to protect Xiaoyue. We can't ask for too much."
Grandma Wu nodded.
Looking at the drafty shed, Old Mrs. Wu rubbed Guo Zhixia's arm and frowned, "Where are your clothes?"
"In this cold weather, what if you catch a cold if you don't wear clothes?"
Guo Zhixia sighed, "I did manage to bring a few clothes with me when the incident happened so suddenly."
"That......"
He said bitterly, "It was snatched away by Jia Hua."
What!
"Doesn't Director Jia care?"
"Him? Ha... I didn't realize it before, but now that things have happened, I know he's a complete good-for-nothing. All he cares about is his sister; he doesn't care about me at all."
No way, Old Lady Wu thought back to what Factory Director Jia looked like.
He seems to have a clear mind.
Seeing that Guo Zhixia didn't want to talk about him, Old Lady Wu let the topic drop.
When she was in Changping, Guo Zhixia helped her a lot; she was an honest person.
Having been given a second chance at life, it's rare to find friends with similar temperaments; cherish each one you have.
"Wait for me."
With that, he turned and left the cowshed, his footsteps crunching through the snow.
A short while later, we saw Old Lady Wu carrying a large package in.
“What are you doing…?”
"This is for you. There's food and clothes, everything is here."
Guo Zhixia's voice choked with emotion, "What are you doing? I know your husband's situation perfectly well, you yourself..."
Grandma Wu sighed, "Sister Zhixia, it's alright. I'm doing very well there. I have plenty to eat and wear, and the village secretary is doing well too. Please accept these things."
As she spoke, she turned her head and glanced around, "You can't hide anything here, I'll help you stuff it in."
Guo Zhixia shook her head with a wry smile, "No, even if there were a place to hide it, Jia Hua..."
Grandma Wu grabbed her hand tightly. "What happened to you? I remember you weren't like this before. Now that you've come to this, can your life get any worse?"
"Take it on! Besides, so what if Director Jia is involved? If he sides with his sister, just scratch him. You willingly followed him to this point, so what else is there to tolerate?"
"They have done their utmost in terms of benevolence and righteousness; they have done more than enough."
Old Mrs. Wu's face was stern and her tone was cold and sharp, which startled Guo Zhixia awake.
After searching around, Grandma Wu finally found that she could barely hide the items under her bed. After much hesitation, she decided to hide them there for the time being.
She won't leave for now. She'll get Guo Zhixia a box and lock it. That would be the best way to put her things.
After the two of them had been busy for a long time, Grandma Wu took out the new cotton-padded coat she had made and put it on Guo Zhixia, while she was still wearing her old tattered clothes over it.
"This cotton coat will be really warm next summer."
"Same as you."
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