While Old Mrs. Wu was tidying up her things in the inner room, she didn't try to hide it from anyone. Huang Mancang and his sons sat in the outer room, staring intently at Old Mrs. Wu.
Huang Xiaoguo nudged Huang Xiaomin next to him with his elbow, "Do you have any ideas?"
"What are you thinking?" Huang Xiaomin looked at him in surprise. "What? You've changed your mind?"
"No, I'm worried..." He gestured towards Huang Mancang, who was watching intently from the side, "I'm afraid that once Mom leaves, the two of us won't be able to control him, and that he'll do something reckless."
Huang Xiaomin's heart skipped a beat. Yes, Huang Mancang's past offenses were still fresh in his mind. If no one kept him in check, and he caused such a huge famine again, the two of them wouldn't be able to clean up the mess.
Huang Mancang was just thinking about how to turn the tables and sing songs of triumph after Old Lady Wu left when a sleazy voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Dad, won't you be lonely if you and Mom are separated like this?"
Lonely? You have kids, what's there to be lonely about? Huang Mancang glanced at Huang Xiaoguo, "What do you mean?"
“I’m worried that after Mom leaves, you won’t have anyone to care for you.”
Huang Mancang smirked speechlessly, "When your mother was alive, she never cared about me at all."
Um, Huang Xiaoguo paused for a moment, that's true.
He had no choice but to drag Huang Xiaomin to the front and make him talk to Huang Mancang.
“Dad, look, now there are six of us, including you. Relying on my brother and me to earn money, and having to pay back twenty a month, we are really struggling to make ends meet.”
"Oh... I understand now, you don't want to support me, do you?"
"No, no. I was just stating the facts."
Huang Mancang turned his head and glared at his two sons. "You two! I'm not so old that I can't move yet, and you're already planning to abandon me. You two ungrateful wretches!"
"How could you forget that I raised you two with my own hands full of love and care?"
Huang Xiaoguo and Huang Xiaomin flinched and whispered, "They were raised by their mothers with great care."
"you!"
Just as Huang Mancang was about to lash out in anger, Old Lady Wu's voice rang out from behind, "What? Want to commit domestic violence?"
No, no.
Huang Mancang instantly put on a smiling face and looked at Old Lady Wu, "They're the ones who are being unreasonable. I raised them all, and now that they've grown up, they want to kick us to the curb. That's really unreasonable, isn't it?"
"No, no."
The two Huang brothers were so anxious that they shook their heads like rattles, saying, "We didn't." They were afraid that they couldn't control Huang Mancang and would let him accumulate a mountain of debt again.
Grandma Wu nodded thoughtfully, then said something surprising: "Why don't you come to the countryside with me?"
Huang Mancang froze, then weakly uttered a "no," "No, even though these two children are older, they still need someone to look after them. If you're not here, and I'm not here, and something happens, there's no one to make decisions." He then gave Old Lady Wu a sly glance, "What do you think?"
In the end, Huang Mancang lay down on the 1.2-meter bed, afraid that Old Lady Wu would say something about him going with her again.
Huang Mancang covered his head with a lid, and Wu Laotai's indistinct words came through the quilt.
"It's alright. If he dares to cause trouble outside after I leave, send a telegram and I'll deal with him!"
Huang Xiaoguo and Huang Xiaomin made no attempt to hide their joy, which made Huang Mancang roll his eyes in anger under the covers.
Old Mrs. Wu didn't sleep a wink all night, with her luggage piled high on the floor.
She slept fully clothed all night, and by the time the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room in the morning, Old Mrs. Wu had already gotten up.
Huang Mancang was still fast asleep when Old Lady Wu approached Huang Xiaofu and Huang Xiaoqiang's room, gently fanned each of them, and woke them up to tidy up.
It takes two days and one night to travel from Changping City to Nanshi by train, and today's departure time is in an hour and a half.
"Mom, let me sleep a little longer, it's not even dawn yet."
Huang Xiaofu had just turned over when a crisp slap landed on his face, instantly waking him up.
The familiar pain, the familiar burning sensation, made Huang Xiaofu hiss repeatedly as he dressed.
Huang Xiaoqiang shook his head and patted Huang Xiaofu, "Second brother, you..."
After quickly washing up, the two were stunned when they saw the overflowing luggage in Old Lady Wu's room.
"Mom, are you moving? There's so much stuff!"
Grandma Wu glanced at the two of them. These were all prepared for them. Otherwise, she could have easily done it all by herself, which would have been so much more comfortable.
"Bedding? We brought our own."
Grandma Wu glanced at the thin sheet covering their backs and said speechlessly, "There's no kang (heated brick bed) over there, only a bed. Are you trying to die from the hardness?"
The two women exchanged a glance, about to say something, when Old Mrs. Wu said impatiently, "Are you bringing it or not? If not, don't ask me for it when you get there. I don't have money to buy it for you."
"Take it, take it..."
With each other's help, Huang Xiaofu and Huang Xiaoqiang carried things with both hands, making for a truly spectacular scene.
Wang Huijun had just brought in the boiled eggs when she saw the two brothers panting heavily. She swallowed hard and handed the eggs to Old Lady Wu.
"When you're out and about, you need money everywhere. Mom, take some with you to eat on the road."
Grandma Wu felt a warmth in her palm, and her voice softened considerably.
"Okay, I got it." She stuffed the eggs into her bag and said, "If you can't make it in the city, come find me. I'll send you a telegram once I'm settled."
Wang Huijun was taken aback, not quite understanding what Old Lady Wu meant, and nodded blankly, "I understand, Mom."
With one foot already across the threshold, Old Mrs. Wu paused, hearing the snoring sounds inside. She slapped him hard, turned back, and instantly woke the soundly sleeping Huang Mancang.
"Who! Who hit me!"
When he sat up, all he saw was a large, dark shadow. He instinctively touched his face, and the burning sensation made him pull his hand back in an instant.
"hiss!"
This slap was much harder than the one that hit Huang Xiaofu earlier. Huang Xiaofu thought of his father's face, which was swelling up rapidly, and then touched his flat face and swallowed.
Grandma Wu still loved him very much; at least she didn't hit him hard.
When the mother and her two children arrived at the train station with their luggage, it was already dawn, and Huang Xiaofu and Huang Xiaoqiang were exhausted.
"Mom, let's rest. We can't walk anymore."
Grandma Wu nodded, and the two of them instantly collapsed to the ground, leaning against the luggage behind them and panting heavily.
There are still more than forty minutes before departure, it's too early to go in and get your ticket checked now.
The train station was filled with smoke in the early morning. Groups of people huddled together, with all sorts of bags and backpacks at their feet.
"You two wait here, I'm going to buy something."
Huang Xiaofu quickly replied, "Okay, okay, Mom, go ahead." He was hungry, and when his sister-in-law gave him eggs that morning, he would have swallowed three to fill his stomach if his hands hadn't been full.
"Okay, I'll keep an eye on my second brother and make sure he doesn't run around. Don't worry, Mom."
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