Chapter 89
It was freezing cold, and Shen Mingzheng wasn't there. With no one to warm the bed, Gu Xi happily ran over to share a bed with her two younger sisters.
Xu Yuansheng and the other person were also very excited.
They hadn't slept with their eldest sister in a long time. After arriving here, they wanted to share a bed with her, just like before, with the three sisters sleeping together, as if reliving those old memories.
However, Gu Xi had an injury on her face at the time, and fearing that she might accidentally hurt it, she had no choice but to give up.
Gu Xi's facial injury has now healed, and the scar on her face has finally fallen off. It's probably because the scar has just fallen off, leaving a white scar that is noticeably different in color from the surrounding skin. She will need to apply medication to remove it.
This is what Ji Ya said.
Gu Xi didn't care about her face, but everyone else did. They were determined not to let her face have any scars or marks and were determined to restore it to its original state. Xu Yuansheng and her sister diligently reminded her to apply the medicine every day.
Gu Xi stuffed the hot water bottle into her two younger sisters' blankets, placed it at the foot of the bed to warm their feet, and then crawled into bed.
Because of my cold constitution, my hands and feet easily get cold when the weather gets cold. I need to use a hot water bottle to keep my feet warm all night in order to sleep well.
Winter is Gu Xi's least favorite season. Her feet get so cold that she can't sleep well all night, no matter how many blankets she covers herself with.
Xu Yuansheng and Xu Huaisheng excitedly crawled into bed, nestled close to Gu Xi on either side.
Gu Xi felt like she had returned to a long time ago, when she was sleeping at night with her two younger sisters on either side of her, unable to move.
Fortunately, she was trained by her two younger sisters from a young age to maintain one position all night and sleep peacefully until dawn in order to take care of the children who had trouble sleeping.
That night, the three sisters lay in one quilt and talked for a long time.
With her two younger sisters helping to warm the bed, Gu Xi slept very well that night and didn't wake up cold in the middle of the night because Shen Mingzheng wasn't there, which made her very satisfied.
Shen Mingzheng went out to help with disaster relief, and Xu Yuansheng and her sister were quite worried.
They had never experienced anything like this before, and they didn't know how to do disaster relief or whether there would be any danger.
They were afraid of upsetting their eldest sister, so they didn't dare show it. They secretly asked the older women in the family about the situation, just to find out more.
Fortunately, the snow finally stopped a few days later.
When the snow stopped, the weather was still cold, but at least it stopped snowing, so the situation was relatively better.
After the snow stopped, Gu Xi put on a heavy military overcoat, scarf, hat, gloves, and other protective gear, and led the Xu Yuansheng sisters out to clear the snow.
The three not only shoveled the snow blocking their front door to the side, but also cleared snow from the surrounding area.
Not only them, but everyone in the family compound who was at home came out together to clear the snow, so that the snow wouldn't be too deep and affect their travel.
The heavy snow covered the rooftops and courtyards, creating a vast expanse of white from afar.
Gu Xi was worried that the thick snow would damage the roof tiles, so she borrowed a ladder, propped it against the wall, climbed up, and removed the snow from the roof.
The Xu sisters were terrified and called out from below, "Big sister, come down here, let us go up and do it."
Gu Xi said, "You are not as strong as me, so I will do this." Then she said to them, "You can also sweep the snow in the yard."
The two sisters were still worried. "Big sister, the wind is too strong, come down quickly!"
"It's okay, I'll be quick."
Amid the sisters' worries, Gu Xi quickened her pace, removed the snow, and then got down on her own.
The wind was really strong up there, and it made her nose turn red.
Although she was dressed warmly, gusts of cold wind still blew in from under her clothes, making it quite chilly. Gu Xi couldn't help but sneeze.
The two sisters were extremely worried and quickly put her in front of the hearth in the kitchen, let her sit there to warm herself, and poured her a cup of ginger tea.
I make this ginger and brown sugar water every day to ward off the cold. I drink a cup while it's hot; it's sweet and spicy, and it makes me sweat a lot, which feels very comfortable.
"It's just a sneeze, it's nothing serious," Gu Xi reassured them.
The two sisters were adamant and refused to let her go out to work anymore.
They heard that she had fallen ill again after arriving here and had to go to the hospital for several days of IV drips, so they dared not take it lightly.
The Xu sisters let Gu Xi rest at home while they continued to go out to clear the snow, and also helped clear the snow off the roof of Qiao Hui's house next door.
Chief of Staff Gao also went to the disaster relief site and hasn't been home for a while. Qiao Hui doesn't seem like someone who can do this kind of work.
The two sisters are healthy and skilled at housework. Back in their hometown, they often climbed onto the roof to dry things, replace tiles, and so on. They were very adept at these tasks, so they would also help clear the snow from their house.
After they finished working, Sister Zhu brought them a large bowl of dumplings as payment.
Grandma Yu, who lives across the street, saw the two sisters carrying a ladder and working busily, and said to them, "Hey, could you two also clear the snow off my roof?"
Holding a bowl of dumplings, Xu Yuansheng turned and asked, "Grandma Yu, do you have anything to eat? We're hungry."
Grandma Yu was immediately displeased, especially when she saw the dumplings they were carrying. She knew they were asking for some food in exchange for their help. In her heart, she cursed Qiao Hui for being such a spendthrift. All she was asking were two girls to help clear the snow off the roof, and she was given such a big bowl of white flour dumplings. What a waste!
The Xu sisters ignored her, carried the ladder and dumplings back home.
The two sisters both came from the countryside, where they had seen all sorts of strange things, so they weren't shy about letting people take advantage of them.
Grandma Yu realized she hadn't gotten the better deal, muttered a curse under her breath, turned around and went home to direct her daughter-in-law to climb onto the roof and clear the snow.
Seeing this, the others who wanted the sisters to help them with their work for free immediately gave up the idea.
They wouldn't be willing to give out white flour dumplings as payment; they wouldn't even eat them themselves.
-
Sister Zhu's dumplings are delicious; they're filled with pork and cabbage, and they're especially fragrant when dipped in vinegar.
"Big sister, these white flour dumplings are so delicious!" Xu Huaisheng felt incredibly happy with his life. "I love them!"
Back in her hometown, she had never eaten such delicious white flour dumplings. Even during the Lunar New Year, her family would never make white flour dumplings, as He Guihua said it was a waste of money.
However, Xu Dagui and his wife would secretly take Xu Baosheng to the state-run restaurant in the county town to eat white flour dumplings.
They found out about this because Xu Baosheng came back and boasted to them about how delicious the white flour dumplings in the restaurant were, saying that they, as people who were just throwing money away, didn't deserve to eat them.
Actually, after arriving at the military base, they ate very well every day. This kind of life felt like a dream, and they didn't really crave white flour dumplings.
This is simply because I never got to eat it when I wanted it most before, so I always felt it had special significance.
So every time the two sisters eat white flour dumplings, they feel very emotional.
Gu Xi understood her feelings very well. The misfortunes brought about by their original families left too deep a mark on their hearts, which was difficult to eradicate and required a lifetime to heal.
She said, "If you want to eat it, we can make it ourselves tomorrow. It's cold now, so we can make a lot and it won't spoil."
The cold weather has its advantages; in this place without a refrigerator, food can be preserved for longer.
The next day, Xu Yuansheng got up very early to queue at the supply and marketing cooperative, bought fresh pork, and brought back a bag of flour.
After breakfast, the three sisters made dumplings together.
Xu Yuansheng chopped the meat, Xu Huaisheng washed the cabbage and sauerkraut, and Gu Xi kneaded the dough and rolled out the dough.
They made two kinds of dumplings today: one with pork and cabbage filling, and the other with pork and sauerkraut filling. The sauerkraut wasn't very sour; it just had a mild sour taste, making it refreshing and not greasy. Shen Mingzheng liked this kind of dumpling.
Compared to sweet, Shen Mingzheng seems to prefer sour.
Because there wasn't enough pork, Gu Xi mixed in the pork cracklings left over from rendering oil a while ago, making the dumplings with the pork cracklings extra fragrant.
The three sisters spent the whole morning making lots of dumplings.
At noon, their lunch consisted of sour soup dumplings made by Gu Xi. She took a bowl of the dumplings to Qiao Hui next door, and put the rest on the cutting board, covered them with a clean gauze, and placed them by the courtyard in the yard. The snow there hadn't been cleared, so it looked like the dumplings had been frozen in a refrigerator.
**
The students will be on holiday soon.
Because of the cold weather, the kindergarten is also closed for the holidays.
Gu Xi picked up Gu Tuantuan and brought her home. During the day, she stayed with them. In the evening, she would wait for Ji Ya to come home from work, have dinner there, and then pick her up to go back home. If Ji Ya was working the night shift, Gu Tuantuan would stay at the house.
Although Gu Tuantuan is young, she is very well-mannered. She did not cry or make a fuss about leaving her parents, and she didn't seem to miss them at all.
It's as if they've long been used to this kind of thing.
Little Tuantuan said, "Before, when my parents weren't home, I would go to Grandma Zhao's house and wait for them to come back."
Grandma Zhao was their neighbor, a very kind woman. Ji Ya entrusted her child to the neighbor for help, and would give her some food as payment.
Although Aunt Zhao is a kind person, she has many children, including children of the same age as Gu Tuantuan. Living in someone else's home, she inevitably suffers some grievances.
She felt more comfortable at her aunt's house, and her aunt doted on her and would cook delicious meals for her.
Gu Tuantuan really likes her aunt Gu Xi. Now that two more aunts have come, she has even more people to play with. Moreover, Xu Huaisheng is still quite young and childlike, and he gets along exceptionally well with Gu Tuantuan.
When the two of them, one big and one small, come together, they can read storybooks together, draw with crayons together, play cat's cradle together, listen to the radio together...
Younger children always like to play with older children. Xu Huaisheng is very patient and knows how to take care of the little girl's feelings. Gu Tuantuan was having so much fun that she didn't want to go home.
The Xu sisters also quite liked Gu Tuantuan. Everyone likes a well-behaved, cute, and clean child like that.
With Gu Tuantuan joining the family, it seems even more lively.
Before it snowed, Gu Xi took them to town to buy things and prepare for the New Year.
Gu Xi went next door to find Qiao Hui and borrowed her bicycle.
After her postpartum confinement period, Qiao Hui asked Chief of Staff Gao to buy her a bicycle so she and Gu Xi could ride to the town market together. However, now that the weather is cold, she doesn't like to go out much, and the bicycle is just sitting idle.
Gu Xi asked, "What kind of New Year's goods are you planning to buy? I'll bring some back for you."
Qiao Hui thought about it and felt that there was nothing she needed to buy, because both her parents' family and her husband's family would send them New Year's goods, so it wouldn't matter if she didn't buy anything.
She said to Gu Xi, "I can't think of anything to buy. How about we go together next time and I'll buy it then?"
“That works too,” Gu Xi said. “I heard from Sister Ye that there’s a market in town almost every day around the New Year, so there’s no worry about not being able to buy anything. We can go together another day.”
**
After they were all fully armed, they went out.
Gu Xi placed Gu Tuantuan in the front child seat, which she had specially made. It was modeled after a futuristic bicycle child seat, with some strips of cloth wrapped around it, making it very suitable for young children.
Her younger sister, Xu Huaisheng, sat on the back seat, and Gu Xi rode the bicycle a long way with a single pedal stroke.
Xu Yuansheng rode a bicycle by himself.
She had originally planned to give her younger sister a ride, worried that it would be too much for her older sister to carry two people. But when she saw the bicycles in front of her flying by, so fast they couldn't stop, she immediately became expressionless.
Xu Yuansheng pedaled hard on his bicycle to chase after her, but found that he couldn't catch up. He could only shout loudly, "Big sister, wait for me!"
Cheers came from ahead from Gu Tuantuan and Xu Huaisheng. They clearly enjoyed the lightning speed and weren't scared at all; they were quite brave.
The snow on the road had been cleared by the military to make it easier for people going to town; it only took half an hour to get there.
Although the weather was cold, the town market was very lively, with many people coming to buy New Year's goods.
After parking their car, Gu Xi and the others put on their baskets and went shopping together.
There were so many people, shouts and noise everywhere, steaming heat from food stalls along the roadside, the aroma of food filling the air, and joy on ordinary faces.
Like everyone else at the market, Gu Xi, along with her two younger sisters and Gu Tuantuan, squeezed through the crowd, chattering in the local dialect as they bought things, quickly negotiating prices with the stall owners.
Xu Yuansheng and Xu Huaisheng already knew that she could speak the local dialect, but every time they heard her talking to the locals in a dialect they couldn't understand, they felt a sense of disbelief.
Is the local dialect really that easy to learn? This lady has only been here for about six months, right? How come she speaks the local dialect so fluently?
The two sisters listened carefully for a while, then looked completely bewildered.
I don't understand, and I don't know how to learn.
Gu Tuantuan held a piece of candy in her hand, eating it while smiling. When she heard her aunt speaking in the local dialect, she muttered a few words to herself.
This really spurred the two sisters on.
"Tuantuan, you can speak this dialect too?" Xu Huaisheng asked curiously.
Gu Tuantuan said, "There are people in the hospital who know how; I've heard them talk about it."
Many of the patients at the military hospital are locals, speaking the local dialect. Some of the nurses are also locals, and after hearing them so often, she can also say a few words.
The two sisters finally felt relieved. Children learn languages quickly, and with the help of the environment, it's not a big deal that little Gu Tuantuan can speak some of the local language.
Soon their baskets were filled with things.
Gu Xi checked the time; it was almost noon, and she needed to take them to lunch.
However, before eating, she wanted to buy some meat at the black market.
Gu Xi turned her head and said, "Yuansheng, you take Huaisheng and Tuantuan to the restaurant to order food first. I'll go buy some things and come find you later."
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuansheng knew that her sister was going to buy meat on the black market again.
The first time they came to the market, her sister did the same thing, and the meat she bought was not only fresh but also plentiful. At that time, her sister also used this method to send them away, not wanting them to get involved.
She never expected her older sister to be so bold as to dare to buy meat on the black market; she would never have dared to do such a thing before.
Xu Yuansheng sighed inwardly, but said outwardly, "I know, you should come early, otherwise the food will get cold and won't taste good."
Gu Xi nodded, indicating that she could rest assured.
-
Gu Xi stopped near Uncle Qiu's house.
Standing on the opposite street corner, she saw several people enter Uncle Qiu's house. She frowned slightly, realizing that today was not a good day to buy meat.
She had met these people several times at Uncle Qiu's place, and they were clearly not good people. Every time she went to buy meat, they would stare at her for a long time. Although she wasn't afraid, she didn't want to cause any trouble.
After thinking about it, Gu Xi decided to forget about it.
No meat? No meat. We'll just buy another chicken or duck later.
When Gu Xi arrived at the state-run restaurant, Xu Yuansheng and the others had just ordered their food, but the dishes hadn't been served yet.
Seeing that she returned so quickly, Xu Yuansheng asked, "Big sister, have you finished shopping?"
"I didn't buy any, they're not selling them today," Gu Xi said calmly. "We'll buy something else later."
Xu Yuansheng glanced at her but didn't ask anything more.
After lunch, Gu Xi took them for a walk around the town, bought a chicken and a duck, and some local snacks, before finally heading home.
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