After she put water in the pot, threw in the bowls, chopsticks, and other utensils, and stuffed a whole piece of firewood into the stove, she had time to tidy up the yard.
Before the fallen leaves could even be swept away and the weeds pulled, Tiezhu was already standing at the gate of the yard: "Aunt Siya?"
Xu Ningyan let him in. Tiezhu was a diligent child, and without being told, he squatted down to help Xu Ningyan.
"Aunt Si Ya, did you come back for Aunt Xie?" Tie Zhu asked, leaning closer.
Xu Ningyan was prepared and pulled out another handful of candy from her pocket to give him: "Tell me! What exactly happened?"
Tie Zhu was the gossip leader of the united brigade that she had cultivated with countless sweets. Basically, nothing that happened in the brigade could escape his eyes and ears.
Sure enough, Tie Zhu took the candy with a grin, skillfully put it in his pocket, and patted it.
Aunt Si Ya hasn't been back for a long time, and he has a lot of gossip to tell her, so that he can make the most of this treat.
Moreover, he came on the orders of his grandfather, the brigade leader, to secretly deliver a message to Xu Ningyan.
Regarding Aunt Xie's matter, the brigade leader's advice was that Xu Ningyan should stay away from it.
From Tie Zhu's description, Xu Ningyan realized that the Northwest Military Region people were being subtle in their explanation. They meant that Aunt Xie's mental state seemed a bit abnormal, as if she were half-mad.
To the people of the Unity Brigade, Aunt Xie was completely insane.
Before the people from the Northwest Military Region came to her door to inform her of Xu Changfeng's sacrifice, Aunt Xie was already seriously ill and in a daze.
Everyone thought she probably wouldn't make it, so they asked Xiong Mingxia to send a telegram to Xu Changfeng, hoping he would come back and see his mother off.
Xiong Mingxia sent the telegram and even sought out a doctor upon her return. Desperate for a cure, she sought out a famous old traditional Chinese medicine doctor who had been transferred from a hospital in Beijing to a neighboring brigade.
When Xiong Mingxia saw that the doctor had saved someone else, she had an idea. She asked the doctor to come and see Aunt Xie, to see if she was alright. Even if she was kept alive, she could wait for Xu Changfeng to come back so she could see her one last time.
The doctor was indeed quite skilled; Aunt Xie's condition did stabilize. However, the doctor said that due to her advanced age, after this serious illness, she was sometimes confused and sometimes lucid.
When she was lucid, she would chant Xu Changfeng's name; when she was confused, she would cry and laugh, saying things like she didn't believe it and talking about retribution.
Normally, when an elderly woman like Aunt Xie, who is of high seniority in the Xu family, shows such signs of passing away, all the relatives would go to see her.
But those who have seen Aunt Xie are all horrified by her current appearance.
Having been ill for a long time, he was already thin, and now he was even more emaciated. When his eyes stared straight at people, it sent chills down their spines.
Those who are easily frightened will have nightmares when they go home.
Now, Xiong Mingxia's whole family had moved into Aunt Xie's house to take care of her.
But Aunt Xie's half-mad, half-ghostly appearance frightened Xiong Mingxia's husband, Quan Dajiang, so he took the children and moved back home, leaving Xiong Mingxia alone who couldn't leave and had to stay with Aunt Xie every day.
In just a few days, Xiong Mingxia had aged ten years from the torment, and was no different from a walking corpse.
The brigade leader was one of the few people who knew about the rift that had developed between Xu Ningyan and Aunt Xie.
So when the people from the Northwest Military Region arrived and said that Aunt Xie wanted to see Xu Ningyan now that she was awake, he didn't quite agree.
But he was just a country bumpkin, and even as a battalion commander, his words carried no weight in front of the People's Liberation Army.
Moreover, Aunt Xie is now the mother of a martyr, and there are some things he can't say even if he keeps them to himself.
The Northwest Military Region went to find Xu Ningyan. At the time, he was thinking that Xu Ningyan had gone to the Northwest Military Region before, and he heard that she had gone to the capital. It would be best if she hadn't come back, so as to avoid this troublesome matter.
I never expected Xu Ningyan to come back.
So, secretly sending his grandson Tiezhu over to remind him was already taking a risk.
Xu Ningyan had no idea that Aunt Xie's condition had become so serious.
Was it because you couldn't get over that illness in your heart? It can't be that bad. All these years, you watched helplessly as the original owner, Siya, suffered in the Xu family for the sake of your son's future, and you didn't seem to have any regrets.
Is this because he feels guilty after being exposed?
Xu Ningyan pondered this in her mind, her hands busy at work. Seeing that all the weeds in the yard had been cleared away, she got up.
He thanked Tiezhu and gestured for him to go back first.
I went to take a walk around my private plot first.
Since this plot of land was given to the people in the cowshed, they haven't grown vegetables; they've used it to grow coarse grains.
After all, it's not a big deal if we don't eat vegetables; we can just mix in some wild vegetables. But not having enough grain is a matter of life and death.
If you go there now, you'll see that summer corn has been planted in the private plot, and sweet potatoes have been intercropped underneath.
It's already September, and the summer corn is almost ripe. You can see the corn cobs on the stalks, wrapped in green leaves and hanging with ears of corn, looking very heavy. It seems like there should be a good harvest.
The sweet potato vines below are also growing lushly.
These sweet potato vines are a real treat. The tender leaves can be stir-fried, and the stems, once peeled, can be stir-fried with chili peppers for an extremely refreshing flavor.
Even the old leaves can be chopped up and fed to pigs.
The private plot was very well maintained, with hardly any weeds visible, which must have been carefully tended by the people in the cowshed.
But does this breeding technique already exist? Xu Ningyan looked at it suspiciously a few more times. Or are there people in the cowshed who know this?
Judging from the growth of the corn and sweet potatoes, at least the people in the cowshed will experience less famine after the harvest.
Xu Ningyan looked around and saw that most of the people in the brigade were working in the fields, so she didn't see anyone.
She went back to the yard, and only after she entered and closed the gate did the pair of wary eyes in the cowshed seem to breathe a sigh of relief.
When the work bell rang, Xu Ningyan waited a moment before packing up the gifts for the brigade leader, the brigade secretary, and several other cadres, and headed to the brigade leader's house.
The battalion commander wasn't home. Upon asking, they learned that the soldiers from the Northwest Military Region had been staying at the battalion headquarters for the past few days, and since Aunt Xie's family only had two women, it wasn't convenient for them to stay there.
No other family could accommodate so many people, so they decided to let them squeeze into the brigade headquarters.
The battalion commander's family was responsible for the soldiers' meals. The battalion commander's family ate, and the soldiers ate whatever they wanted. They would settle accounts with food coupons and money later.
The brigade leader's wife, Qian Chunlan, was not surprised to see Xu Ningyan; the brigade leader had already spoken to her about it that afternoon.
Seeing the things Xu Ningyan was carrying, they felt embarrassed, especially after hearing that they had been specially brought back from the capital for them. They couldn't bring themselves to refuse.
Those are things brought back from the capital; even a needle from there is definitely better than those from the county town!
Since Xu Ningyan was giving it to her sincerely, she accepted it with some reluctance. However, before Xu Ningyan left, she gave her a basket of vegetables from her own garden and some eggs to take home.
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