It's too late today, so I won't go to Li Jing's house. I'm going to my maternal grandmother's house tomorrow, so going to Li Jing's house the day after tomorrow won't be too late, since we're in the same village and close by.
And everyone in the village knows about the fight with Zheng Shuzhen today. Li Jing didn't come; she's probably visiting relatives again. So let's go see her the day after tomorrow.
That evening, Gu Lanyan packed two bags of shortbread, one bag of mooncakes, two pieces of cloth, and several bundles of yarn into a clean cloth bag.
After packing it up, he said to Huakai, "Kaikai, take this bag of things to your aunt. They're having a hard time, so giving her pineapples and apples won't do her any good. It's better to give her something more practical."
Hua was in a dilemma because there wasn't much information about her aunt in her diary, and she didn't even know where her aunt lived. However, she could visit her aunt by going to her maternal grandmother's house, which meant they lived in the same village.
If that's the case, her younger brother probably knows that she can only place her hopes on him.
She replied, "Okay, Mom. Then let's get some more flour and oil for Auntie's family, and put it in a big container."
Gu Lanyan sighed: "That won't do. When you go to visit your maternal grandmother, you bring more things for your aunt than for your maternal grandmother. What will your aunt think?"
Hua Kai really didn't have these experiences, but thinking about it, it made sense. Since Grandma lived with her uncle, she would definitely bring more gifts to her uncle's family. After all, it wasn't easy for her aunt to take care of Grandma. If her aunt was having difficulties, she could find other ways to help her.
So Hua Kai nodded and said, "Okay, Mom, I'll listen to you."
Gu Lanyan prepared the things to bring, and then took out the clothes that Hua Kai and Hua Qingyang would wear tomorrow and placed them on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed): "Take the early bus tomorrow, and don't rush back in the afternoon. If you want to stay at your grandma's house, you can stay for one or two nights."
Hua was eager to get back to work, so she agreed verbally but secretly promised to come back tomorrow.
Hua Kai went to bed early at night and didn't have much entertainment. She thought that if she could earn money before the New Year, she would buy a TV for the family. But then she thought again that there was no rush. She would build a new house next year and it would be more appropriate to buy a batch of good home appliances then.
Before long, she fell asleep.
The next morning, Hua Qingyang was woken up early by his younger brother. He rarely traveled by car, so he was very excited and got up early to put on clean clothes.
He was afraid of missing the train, so he hurriedly woke Hua Kai up.
Hua Kai goes to bed early, so when Hua Qingyang called her, she got up and got dressed.
After getting ready, it was time for breakfast.
After breakfast, Gu Lanyan gave Hua Kai ten yuan and asked her to buy two jin of meat for her grandmother when the bus passed by the meat stall in the village.
Hua Kai agreed and didn't let Gu Lanyan see her off. She took Hua Qingyang to the village entrance to wait for the bus.
It's harvest time now, and early this morning many people were already riding bicycles and carrying farm tools to harvest the crops.
Hua Kai and Hua Qingyang politely greeted the people who had passed by.
It was almost eight o'clock when the bus finally arrived. Because my maternal grandmother's village is called Shanghuangtun, Hua Kai checked with the ticket seller again at the bus door. After the bus passed through Shanghuangtun, she and her younger brother boarded the bus.
Once in the car, each person carried a cloth bag. Hua Kai's bag was for her aunt's family and was relatively small, while Hua Qingyang's bag was for his maternal grandmother's family and was larger.
Gu Lanyan was worried that if she carried baskets or something for them, the cart might sway and spill the contents halfway through the journey. So she put the contents in cloth bags and tied the openings, so that the two of them could each keep an eye on one of them.
The bus was quite crowded, especially during holidays, but there were still seats available in the back, so the two of them sat down there.
When the bus arrived in the village, Hua Kai greeted the ticket seller as they passed a meat stall. She got off the bus and bought four jin (2 catties) of meat, asking for two extra plastic bags. She gave two jin to her maternal grandmother's family and two jin to her aunt's family, tied them tightly, and put them in the bags.
The contents inside were all carefully wrapped by Gu Lan Yan, and the meat flower was also packed securely, so there was no fear of it getting on other things. Everything was packed together for easy handling.
People were getting on and off along the way. Because there were so many people today, it was almost nine o'clock when we arrived at the entrance of Shanghuangtun Village.
The two got off the car with their things. After getting off, Hua Kai was a little confused. This wasn't a village. It was at the head of a stone bridge.
Hua Qingyang looked at Hua Kai, who was lost in thought, and said, "Sister, what are you thinking about? Let's go."
Hua Kai quickly caught up with her younger brother: "It's been a while since I've been here, it feels a bit unfamiliar."
As Hua Qingyang walked, he said, "That's right, the last time I came here was during the Chinese New Year."
After crossing the bridge and walking for another seven or eight minutes, we turned behind a mountain and finally saw a small village with only about a hundred households.
There were few pedestrians on the road, but some children walked by in groups of three or five. When they saw strangers coming to the village, they all stared at them.
I had never been to such a backward mountain village before. Looking at these children, I felt a little sad, but I was also amazed at how fast the country was developing. These are not remote mountain areas. In just a few years, they will all be living a prosperous life.
As Hua Qingyang walked, he pointed to a mud house not far away and said to Hua Kai, "Sister, you can see Auntie's house now."
Hua Kai looked over and said, "I guess my aunt will have to go to work in the fields today. I wonder if she'll be home."
Hua Qingyang said hopefully, "I hope Jianjun is home. He's so good to me."
Along the way, Hua Kai heard Hua Qingyang talk a lot about her aunt's family. She learned that her aunt's name was Gu Lanying, her husband died early, and her aunt had only one child named Chen Jianjun, who was the same age as her but a few months older. He was a very sensible young man.
As she walked, she said, "Then why don't you bring Jianjun to stay at our house for a few days?"
Hua Qingyang asked excitedly, "Really? Will it work?"
Hua Kai nodded: "As long as Auntie agrees, Mom and Dad will definitely have no objections."
The siblings arrived at their uncle Gu Jinzhou's house as they talked. The uncle's house was a small brick and tile house with three rooms. The yard was quite large, but it was very quiet inside, with not many livestock, just a few chickens in the yard.
Once inside the courtyard, it was quite quiet. The siblings didn't go in immediately after reaching the gate.
Since she didn't know if anyone was home, Hua Kai called out first, "Is anyone home?"
"Who is it?" Grandma Jiang Fengxian asked as she pushed open the door. When she saw her grandchildren, her eyes lit up with joy. "What brings you two here? Who are you with?"
Hua Qingyang laughed and called out, "Grandma, it's just me and my sister who came. We're busy with the autumn harvest, so my parents couldn't come."
When Hua Kai confirmed the matter, Grandma also called out "Grandma".
Jiang Fengxian was not tall. She wore a gray cloth shirt with side buttons, black pants, gray hair, and many wrinkles on her face, making her look somewhat haggard.
She reached out and grabbed Hua Kai and Hua Qingyang's arms, saying, "Just the two of you came. This child has really grown up; he can come to his grandparents' house by himself now. Come on in." As she spoke, she noticed the things they were carrying and said, "Why are you carrying so much stuff? Your family has had a tough time, and so have your parents. It's enough that you came; why did you bring all this stuff?"
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