After the crowd dispersed, the two sisters began to clean up the mess that Li Lan had made in their house. The food that they had not had time to take away was thrown on the ground, and the girl cried as she picked it up.
Qin Huai went into the house to see that the tattered bed was overturned and old cotton quilts were scattered all over the floor. The house was obviously in tatters, but their biological mother thought they were not miserable enough and came back to continue hurting them.
What kind of mentality does a mother have to be so cruel as to sell her own daughter?
Speaking of which, Li Lan is also a very contradictory person. She left her own daughter at home and wanted to be a filial daughter in the city, so she brought her mother to the city to take care of her.
Qin Huai thought that this might be a kind of psychological compensation to make up for the fact that she was not valued by her mother when she was a girl at home, but she doubled the harm her mother had done to her and returned it to her own daughter. I just don't know if Qin Xiaomi and her sister will treat her mother the same way she treats her when they grow up.
After the maid had cleaned up and walked in from outside, Qin Huai saw that the maid's feet were bleeding again, and she looked very miserable. It was autumn and the little girl was barefoot wearing a pair of torn straw sandals. Qin Xiaomi's cloth shoes also exposed her toes. Seeing her brother staring at their feet in a daze, the two little girls hurriedly hid their feet and cleaned the house consciously.
He patted their heads and said, "Let's not clean up. I'll take you to the city to buy shoes."
This family is extremely poor and there is not enough money anyway. Let the little girl live like a little girl first. She is now like two weeds on the roadside and has never been loved by anyone.
Hearing him say this, even Qin Xiaomi shook her head and said, "Brother, it's okay. Winter is coming soon and we don't have any food at home."
"Why are we getting so much food? Are we going to let our parents come back and take it? Stop talking. Let me buy you a pair of shoes first."
The old man said, "You guys go ahead, I'll stay home and help watch over it for you." He said this to indicate his agreement.
Qin Huai nodded and said, "Grandpa, don't worry, I won't let anyone bully my sister in the future."
"I know, Qin Huai, you have grown up." The old man agreed and waved his hand, sitting cross-legged at the door, as thin as an old monkey.
The more I think about this family, the more chills my spine gets.
Four miles is nothing to people nowadays. In the afternoon in the county town of northern Anhui, there were fewer people and many shops on the street were closed. He held Qin Xiaomi's cold little hand and said, "You must be starving. Eat something first."
The girl said, "Brother, eating out is so expensive. Save some money and buy some food to bring back so you can eat for a few more days."
"I told you not to worry about supporting the family. Just listen to me today."
The bargain price of the meal at the state-owned restaurant was more than double the price. The girl, who knew how to read, turned around and tried to leave when she saw the price. Qin Huai grabbed her collar and pulled her back, saying, "Why are you running? No matter how much it costs today, you have to eat your fill here."
Despite what they said, the three of them ended up only eating three bowls of shredded pork noodles, each costing 25 cents.
While eating, the girl kept saying that she shouldn't have ordered shredded pork noodles. It cost so much money to order such a small amount of shredded pork, while the buns were only five cents each. How many big buns could she buy with seventy-five cents?
Qin Huai looked at her and said, "Sister, this is delicious." The girl lowered her head and ate slowly because she felt embarrassed by his gaze. Qin Xiaomi didn't have time to speak. While the girl was still talking, she had already finished a bowl, raised her head, licked the corner of her mouth and said, "Sister, this is delicious."
The girl's complaints stopped abruptly, and she even gave hers to Qin Xiaomi. Although she was only two years older, the younger sister already took care of her younger sister like an adult.
Qin Huai pushed the bowl to her and said, "It's just a bowl of noodles. If she's not full, I'll get her another bowl. You can eat it yourself."
Qin Xiaomi said, "Sister, I'm full, you eat."
Although this family is poor, they have the most precious family love in the world.
The county town was deserted in the afternoon. A barber shop on the road was about to close. Qin Huai stopped him and said, "Master, give us a shave."
The barber looked up and said with a smile, "Okay, a man's head is five cents, and a girl's head is more valuable, ten cents."
"Master, you can do whatever you want."
Craftsmen are proletarians, and they can set up stalls.
The barber cut the two girls' dry and yellow hair short and said, "Your hair will get darker if you cut it and let it grow." The two girls saw themselves in the mirror and giggled.
Qin Huai said: "Shaving your head will make you look ugly for three days, but after your hair grows back, you will look good again."
The girl said: "It's not ugly at all, it's beautiful."
When he heard that they still needed to buy shoes, the barber enthusiastically pointed him to a place that sold cloth shoes. There was an old lady whose children had died in the war. She had no choice but to make shoes to support herself, and the street turned a blind eye to her.
"Her shoes are cheap and sturdy, and they won't wear out after years of wearing."
Following the barber's instructions, the three found the old lady. She looked very old, with a hunched back, but her eyes were bright. An old cat that looked almost as old as her was lying beside her. When it saw people coming, it glanced at them with its sidelong eyes like a human, and then closed its eyes. The old lady first touched its head lovingly, and it rubbed its head against the old lady's hand. Then the old lady took out two pairs of cloth shoes for the girl, with embroidered flowers on them.
Two pairs of shoes cost one dollar. Seeing that Qin Huai really paid, the old lady bowed to him and said, "Thank you."
Qin Huai was startled and said, "Grandma, you make shoes and I buy them, so there's no need to thank me."
The old lady sat down again and said, "Oh, I'm used to it."
In this era, life is not easy for everyone.
The cat suddenly stood up, lifted its feet off the ground and bowed to him repeatedly.
The old lady said, "Dahua is also thanking you."
Qin Huai said: "You're welcome. We bought the old lady's shoes because they are well made. You should spend more time with her in the future." The old cat opened its dim eyes wide and called out softly.
The old man said: "Dahua has been with me for fifteen years. It is like my child. It knows everything and is telling you what it knows."
Yatou and Qin Xiaomi put on new shoes, and they wanted to hold on to their old shoes, but Qin Huai threw them away and said, "Out with the old, in with the new."
The two girls cherished their new shoes and walked less casually than before, hopping around the water stains. Qin Huai frowned and saw that their clothes were torn everywhere, then said, "It's getting cold, I'll make each of you a padded jacket."
Seeing that the girl was about to object again, Qin Huai said, "If I don't give you money to use, what's the point of keeping it?"
Qin Xiaomi said, "Brother, you are so nice."
The three siblings walked into the supply and marketing cooperative and were shocked to see the price difference between those with and without tickets. The regular cloth cost 60 cents per meter, while the bargain cloth cost one yuan and one ten-thousand yuan. The two little girls needed five meters of cloth for the lining and the inner lining was cheaper, so the total cost was five yuan. They had to find someone to help them make the cloth, and they also bought needles and thread for twenty cents.
The girl watched Qin Huai spending money like water and finally stopped talking.
As mentioned earlier, after a rural family works hard for a year, the strong laborers may get a hundred yuan, but families with fewer people may not see any money at the end of the year.
With this said, you may understand how luxurious it is for people of this era to make a piece of clothing.
After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, the girl was afraid that Qin Huai would have to spend more money, so she hurriedly said, "Brother, let's go home quickly."
Qin Huai said, "Okay, let's go back."
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