Liu Xinghua looked at Ruan Changgui, didn't say much, and turned back to the house.
As a junior, Ruan Xi naturally said nothing and followed Liu Xinghua in.
Ruan Zhigao didn't rush out just now. When he saw them pull the curtain and enter the room, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Liu Xinghua took her needlework and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking unhurried and said slowly, "The second son wants to split the family property, and he and his wife are playing a double act here."
Ruan Zhigao took a puff of his pipe and said after a while, "The wife that the second son married is as cunning as a monkey. If there is an advantage to be gained, she will try her best to get in, for fear that she will not get enough. If she is asked to suffer a little loss, she will run faster than a rabbit."
Liu Xinghua asked: "What do you think we should do?"
Ruan Zhigao said: "What can we do? If they want to divide it, just follow their wishes."
Liu Xinghua and Ruan Zhigao had their own ideas, but Ruan Xi kept quiet and didn't interfere, just minding his own business.
In the afternoon, Ruan Xi looked at the height of the sun in the sky and went out with half a basket of eggs.
Jinguan Village, where the old tailor lived, was lower in altitude than Fengyan Village, so she had to walk down the mountain road.
After finding Jinguan Village, I asked everyone I met until I found the old tailor's home.
Although the old tailor lived alone, his house was not small and had a neat wall surrounding a small courtyard. There was a wooden board nailed to the side of the gate, with the five words "State-owned Tailor Shop" written crookedly on it.
This tailor shop is the only one on Fengming Mountain. One can imagine how comfortable the life of the old tailor is on this mountain. Others eat coarse food, but he eats delicious food and drinks spicy drinks.
The old tailor did not go out to make clothes today, and the door of his shop was wide open.
Ruan Xi held the bamboo basket and looked inside. She saw a grape trellis in the yard. The green vines provided shade. The old tailor was lying in a rocking chair under the trellis, resting with his eyes closed. A fat yellow cat was lying on his legs.
Ruan Xi raised her hand and knocked on the door, and then she heard the old tailor say, "Come in."
Ruan Xi carried the eggs in and walked up to the old tailor, only to find that he was too lazy to even open his eyes. He raised his hand and touched the big yellow cat on his body, and asked directly with his eyes closed: "Making clothes?"
The old tailor is now over seventy years old. His head is covered with white hair and beard. A small tuft of beard hung on his chin, and it moved up and down with his chin when he spoke.
Ruan Xi looked at him while holding a basket. "Grandpa Song, I am the granddaughter of Ruan Zhigao, the secretary of Fengyan Brigade. My name is Ruan Xi. I brought you half a basket of eggs. I don't make clothes, so I want to learn to be a tailor from you. Do you still accept apprentices?"
The old tailor still didn't open his eyes to look at her, and directly replied to her: "Put away the hammer!"
Ruan Xi was stunned—Hey! This old man!
Although he was rejected, Ruan Xi did not turn around and leave immediately. She stood in front of the old tailor with her hands clasped in front of her, holding the bamboo basket, without moving, only raising the corners of her mouth a little higher.
The big yellow cat stretched and jumped to the ground, and then the old tailor opened his eyes.
He lay in the wooden rocking chair and looked Ruan Xi up and down.
After looking around, he met Ruan Xi's gaze and asked in a different tone, "Do you want to... learn how to make clothes?"
Ruan Xi nodded and said, "I want to be a tailor."
"Not everyone can be a tailor."
If it was really that easy, there wouldn't be only one tailor shop like his on this mountain, and he wouldn't be able to live such a comfortable life.
Ruan Xi was just about to express his determination and say that he would definitely learn it well. But before she could finish her words, the old tailor interrupted her and said, "Put down the eggs and go clean the house inside and out."
After hearing this, Ruan Xi swallowed his words of determination and didn't ask any other questions. She thought that the old tailor was giving her a chance, so she put down the basket, turned around, took the broom from the corner, and went into the house to sweep the floor.
After sweeping the floor, she washed the rag and wiped everything in the house.
Compared with the ordinary residents on Fengming Mountain, the old tailor's life could be described as a paradise. He had a half-new sewing machine, a Shenhai brand, and a cabinet full of honey peach cakes and other snacks.
The main hall of his house is the shop. In addition to some machine tools such as sewing machines and irons, there is also a rope with some finished clothes hanging on it. There was a pile of cloth in the corner, not arranged neatly, with folded clothes on top.
Ruan Xi tidied up all these slightly messy things, put them in order, then changed the rag and went into the house to mop the floor. Because there was no mop available, she could only bend down and wipe it with a rag.
After cleaning the whole house, her waist was sore and the sun outside had set on the top of the mountain.
The old tailor was still lying leisurely in the rocking chair, with a little bit of the sunset glow on his face. He didn't get up. He looked at Ruan Xi, who was panting from exhaustion, and said, "Go back today. Come back tomorrow and I'll teach you how to operate the sewing machine first."
After hearing this, Ruan Xi no longer felt tired and his body suddenly felt extremely relaxed.
She smiled and said, "Okay, I'll come back tomorrow morning."
The big yellow cat rubbed against her feet, rubbed its head against her legs, and meowed twice.
Ruan Xi bent down, touched the big yellow cat's head, then went home with a smile.
She walked slowly up the mountain path, shaking an empty basket in her hand, and humming a folk song in a low voice when she was in high spirits.
I got home just in time for dinner, and because Sun Xiaohui had gone back to her parents' home, there was one less person at the dinner table.
No one mentioned the unhappy matter of the family division. Grandma Liu Xinghua asked Ruan Xi: "He accepted your eggs, but did he teach you how to cook?"
Ruan Xi drank half a bowl of boiled water in one breath, quenched her thirst and said slowly, "Not yet. I cleaned the house for him for half a day. He told me to come over tomorrow and teach me how to operate the sewing machine tomorrow."
Ruan Changgui ate his steamed bun and said, "Teach you? He won't teach you. He's just playing with you. You picked him up for free to give him eggs and clean his house. Go there tomorrow, there will be other things waiting for you to do, maybe carrying manure and watering the vegetables."
Ruan Xi looked at him and said, "You should teach me how to act."
Ruan Changgui: "It's just for show."
The voice-over is - Delivering so many eggs and putting in so much effort, just for show?
He added, "Xiaoxi, you were not born to do this. I would say you should give up on this idea as soon as possible. You will never be able to learn this skill. I don't know how much stuff you will have to put into it. You won't even have a hot dish on the table at home."
After hearing these words, Liu Xinghua's temper suddenly flared up again. She looked at Ruan Changgui and said, "Your niece is learning a skill, and you have so much to say? The lack of hot dishes has nothing to do with Xiaoxi. It's because Xiao Wuzi wants to marry, and I have to save the money for the betrothal gift in advance."
Since it was brought up, Ruan Zhigao next to him asked, "Is this why your wife left? Why don't you go and bring her back?"
Ruan Changgui had a lot to say, but he just said, "Xiaohui said that she won't come back unless the family is divided. What can I do?"
Liu Xinghua asked him: "What do you think?"
Ruan Changgui was silent for a while, then said, "What ideas do I have? I'll listen to you."
In the evening, Ruan Zhigao was smoking a pipe in the house and chatting about this matter with Liu Xinghua.
Ruan Zhigao said: "If they wish, I will go find Gao Wu tomorrow. He is the best at repairing houses and building stoves. Since the house cannot be built for the time being, we will share the pots and eat. We will build a stove for him, buy a pot, prepare tables and chairs, and divide the spatulas, bowls and chopsticks, water jars, chickens and ducks, and private plots in half. Give them all, and let their family of five live a good life over there."
As Ruan Changgui's mother, Liu Xinghua still felt heartbroken. When there is a real opportunity to take advantage, it is to love and care for the whole family. There was no advantage to be gained, and the biological son immediately turned against her, only seeking to make his own life easier.
Not to mention how much advantage their family had taken before, even if they didn't take advantage, isn't it their duty to help support the family? I worked so hard to raise him, saved money to help him get married, and have lived with him well for so many years, but he is not even willing to help his parents share some of the burden.
From childhood to adulthood, he has only asked for things without giving anything in return. This is what an ungrateful person is.
Even if you raise a dog, it will know how to guard the house and wag its tail.
Not even bothering to scold him, Liu Xinghua took a deep breath and said, "If we break up, I won't let him regret it."
Ruan Zhigao said, "He definitely won't regret it. Xiao Wuzi is really useless and will probably be a burden in the future. You spoiled her like that. And Xiaoxi isn't cut out to be a tailor, but you let her learn it. It's a waste of the family's stuff."
Liu Xinghua was unhappy to hear this, and said in a slightly higher voice: "No matter how useless he is, he is still his biological brother from the same mother. Besides, there is no such thing as usefulness in this mountain. We all make a living in the fields. How much better was the second brother than Xiao Wuzi when he was his age? We still had to worry about everything for him. Xiao Wuzi is still young now. When he gets married and has a family, he will naturally know how to support the family. The old tailor is cunning, and he may like our Xiaoxi. If he really becomes a tailor, you can only be jealous!"
Ruan Zhigao laughed, "Why should I be jealous? Xiaoxi was raised by me, her grandfather. If she becomes a tailor, I, as her grandfather, will be the first to enjoy the happiness."
Liu Xinghua glared at him, "You're a shovel!"
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