Seeing Xu Keke remain silent, Li Wenlian and her husband Zeng Geng exchanged a glance.
She turned around skillfully, reached into the mattress on the bed, took something out, and shoved it into Xu Keke's hand.
Xu Keke was sitting facing Zeng Geng when he suddenly turned to look at the dark wall beside him. Before she could understand what was happening, something was shoved into her hand.
She looked down and saw two neatly folded ten-yuan bills.
“Your dad asked me to prepare this for you. Take it back and buy some food for yourself and the kids.” Li Wenlian nudged her from behind, gesturing for her to look at Zeng Geng.
But Zeng Geng was awkwardly turning his face to look at the wall, which was completely empty.
Xu Keke smiled, afraid of embarrassing herself. Xu Keke stuffed the money back to Li Wenlian, saying, "You keep it, I have money on me."
Xu Keke's firm attitude left Li Wenlian at a loss for what to do, and she looked at her husband.
Zeng Geng turned around, his face stern, and scolded, "What money could you possibly have? You only earn twenty or thirty yuan, and you have to give it to your mother-in-law. If I tell you to take it, then take it. Besides, this money isn't for you; it's for you to buy some food for the children."
“In our family, your younger brother and his wife don’t have any children. The processing work I do, plus your father’s salary, is barely enough to make ends meet. Just take it. Don’t be so stubborn.”
Li Wenlian moved forward slightly. "Your father has always felt bad about delaying your university education..."
Zeng Geng glared at him, "Why talk about those things with the child?"
Li Wenlian pursed her lips and didn't say anything more.
Xu Keke smiled and said, "Okay, I'll take the money. I'll go back and buy some snacks and candy for those two. Fu Bao loves candy the most; her little mouth is never still all day."
Hope shone on the two elderly people's faces. Li Wenlian smiled and said, "Really? Then buy more for the child. Tell me what he likes to eat, and next time I'll have your brother and sister-in-law bring some back from the department store. Last time your sister-in-law even bought some White Rabbit candy."
As Li Wenlian spoke, she was about to get out of bed to look for it. Xu Keke quickly stopped her, "I'll go buy it for him in a bit, don't take it. My sister-in-law bought it because she wants to eat it at home. If you give it to me, she'll have to go out and buy more, what's the point of all that back and forth? It's not like I can't go out and buy it myself."
“Exactly, exactly, you don’t even understand things as well as a child,” Zeng Geng chimed in. “Also, children should eat less sugar; it’s bad for their teeth when they’re teething. I never let you eat sugar when you were little…”
Xu Keke listened with a smile as Zeng Geng lectured her on childcare for a long time. It was clear that this family had once lived a very happy life. If Zeng Geng hadn't gotten sick, and if they hadn't moved to such a cramped little house...
Xu Keke chatted with the elderly couple for a while, and just as she was about to leave, Yang Xia, the original owner's sister-in-law, returned from get off work.
As soon as I pushed open the door, I saw her sitting on the bed, her eyes wide open. "Oh! It's rare to see you here today, sister. Don't you have to work overtime?"
In the original owner's memories, she hadn't had much contact with this younger sister-in-law. After seeing the situation of this family, Xu Keke had already guessed why the original owner hadn't had much contact with her family after getting married.
I'm afraid it's because of housing and going to university.
It's not necessarily true that the original owner harbored much resentment. Judging from the fact that she hid that memory, she probably dared not touch it. Because for her, it was a period of life that was far too happy.
The sweeter those days were, the harder the present days are to endure.
Seeing that Xu Keke didn't speak, Li Wenlian spoke to Yang Xia on her behalf, "Your sister is just taking a day off today and came to see us. That's all."
“Really? Then you can eat at home before you leave.” Yang Xia’s eyes were incredibly bright.
She put her bag on the bed, took off her outer clothes, and hurriedly washed her hands. She scooped two ladles of water from the vat against the wall and poured them into the washbasin by the door.
While washing her hands, she said, "Mom, sister, dad! Guess what? When I came back today, I put on that piece of clothing that I left at the factory. I found two meat ration coupons inside. Isn't that amazing?"
She glanced at the three of them triumphantly, her eyes seeming to say, "See how great I am?" "I gave the meat ration coupon to Qiangzi and told him to go buy it. Sister, isn't this like getting it for free? I also told Qiangzi to bring back a cabbage. I'll come back and knead the dough; we'll have steamed buns tonight to celebrate."
Judging from the expressions on the original owner's parents' faces, it was clear that Yang Xia was usually a free spirit. Xu Keke glanced at the overhead bunk.
Yang Xia isn't bad-looking, and she has a stable job. The fact that she was willing to marry Zeng Qiang, the original owner's younger brother, in such a small house suggests that she couldn't possibly have a bad personality.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Xu Keke asked politely, even though she was terrible at cooking.
"No need, sis, are you really eating at home today?" Yang Xia said in disbelief. "Sis, don't worry about it, just sit there. I usually don't let Mom do anything. Today, I'll let you try my cooking."
“What do you mean, your skills?” Zeng Qiang said as he entered from outside, making the room feel even more crowded.
Upon seeing Xu Keke, Zeng Qiang was not as happy as Yang Xia; he kept a cold face and didn't greet her.
Li Wenlian had already gotten off the bed, carried the bundles from the chair onto the bed, laid a mat on the bed, and placed a large cutting board on it, which would become the family's cooking board.
Xu Keke suddenly spoke up, "I actually came here today to discuss something with you."
Xu Keke's casual remark caused the people busy in the room to stop what they were doing and turn to look at her.
Xu Keke raised an eyebrow; she hadn't expected the original owner to have such a high status in the family.
He could only cough lightly in an attempt to ease the tension, but it had little effect.
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