Chapter 15: Huang Siyu is isolated
When Bai Wei woke up, it was already dawn. She had no idea about the turmoil that had occurred in the He family that night. She stood up and picked up the dirty clothes in the enamel basin.
I haven't washed this set of cotton-padded clothes in over a month, and they are so dirty they are almost stiff. Clothes are really valuable these days, so I can't just say I don't want them.
She came to the door of the guesthouse carrying an enamel basin.
"Excuse me, where can I do my laundry?"
Wang Chunlan looked at Bai Wei and realized that she was so beautiful!
With big eyes and an oval face, the teacher's daughter is a well-known beauty in the teacher's class. However, compared with this woman, she is far inferior.
"Go west and walk about 300 meters. There is a river. But it snowed yesterday, so the river might be frozen."
"Thank you."
Bai Wei nodded. Following the route Wang Chunlan described, there really was a river.
The snow had stopped and a layer of ice had formed on the surface of the river, but it was not thick. There were already five or six women by the river, breaking the ice and washing clothes.
Bai Wei walked over, found a place to squat down, and touched the river water. It was so cold that his fingers almost numb.
But Bai Wei didn't mind. When she participated in wilderness survival in the Arctic, when it was the coldest, she was still digging holes in the two or three meter thick ice to fish. This level of cold was not a problem for her.
Bai Wei put down the enamel basin and took out the soap. Just as she was about to wet her cotton coat, a red, frozen hand reached out and stopped her.
"If you wash your clothes like this, they will become useless."
The voice was soft and pleasant. Bai Wei looked up and saw a woman wearing a blue cotton jacket and two braided pigtails. Her face was like a silver basin, her eyes were like water apricots, her lips were red without any makeup, her eyebrows were green without any makeup, and she had a bit of the charm of a classical woman.
"This dress is so dirty, it can't be washed?"
Bai Wei asked in confusion.
The woman shook her head and reached out to pick up the cotton coat and trousers in Bai Wei's basin. Her expression was calm and she didn't mind the dirt at all.
"This real cotton cannot be washed with water, as it will become hard. You have to separate the outer and inner fabrics of the cotton shirt before washing. The cotton padding inside cannot be washed."
While she was talking, the woman actually took out a pair of scissors from the military cloth bag she was carrying, and helped Bai Wei to separate the sock cloth and the lining, and take out the cotton inside.
She did it very carefully. She unwrapped the cotton and wrapped it with a piece of clothing. Then she put the cloth into the basin, poured some soapnut powder into it, and filled it with water to soak it.
"That's all..."
Bai Wei stared blankly at the woman in front of her. She really didn't understand why the cotton blouse had to be taken apart to wash.
"Thank you. Thank you."
Bai Wei thanked him repeatedly, but she was very curious. Why would someone carry a pair of scissors with them?
"You're welcome. This river leads directly to the snow-capped mountains. It's cool all year round. I see you're young. If you're afraid of the cold, you can carry some water back. It won't be so cold after you bask in the sun."
The other party smiled and gave a special reminder.
Bai Wei is small, with a round face and round eyes. She looks delicate but young, and everyone thinks she is just a little girl.
"My name is Bai Wei, what's your name?"
Just as the woman was about to speak, a short-haired woman came over carrying a bucket, squatted beside Bai Wei, and spoke while scooping water from the bucket.
"Little comrade, this person is a nuisance, you need to stay away from her!"
She had a loud voice, and her roar attracted the attention of other people by the river. The wives of soldiers who were washing clothes, when they saw the woman, raised their clothes hammers and yelled at her.
"Huang Siyu, you still dare to wash clothes upstream, get out of here!"
"She is not worthy of bathing with us. Who asked you to come this morning? Hurry up and leave!"
"I didn't see when she came. If I had known she was coming, I wouldn't have come. It would have been bad luck."
Everyone looked at Huang Siyu with an unfriendly expression, and they all shouted at her to leave quickly.
Huang Siyu picked up the scissors. When the women saw the scissors in her hand, they all fell silent.
She didn't say anything, but put away the scissors, picked up the basin where the clothes were still soaking, glanced at Bai Wei, and spoke softly.
"Take the cotton home first, don't let it get soaked by the snow. When the sun comes out, take it out and beat it to get rid of the dust."
"Okay...thank you."
Bai Wei nodded.
Huang Siyu picked up the basin and walked downstream against the cold wind. After she had walked about a hundred meters and turned into a tiny black dot, she squatted down and chiseled ice by the river alone to prepare for washing clothes.
When she left, all those military wives spat at her in disgust.
"Why……"
Watching Huang Siyu leave, Bai Wei was about to chase after her, but the short-haired woman Liu Shufen grabbed her.
"Young comrade, please stay away from her. She comes from a bad family and is not the same as us!"
Bai Wei then learned from Liu Shufen that there were many children in the army, so they picked the most educated educated youth from the nearby village to be the teacher. This time, they chose Huang Siyu.
However, Huang Siyu's family background was not good, so she was sent to Wumeng Mountain as an educated youth.
"Do you know why she carries scissors with her?"
Liu Shufen stared at Bai Wei, and when Bai Wei shook her head, she continued with satisfaction, "When she was an educated youth in the village, she was isolated by other educated youths and was called a reactionary! It was heard that there were people who wanted to humiliate her, and she couldn't beat them, so she stabbed herself in the stomach with a pair of scissors and forced those people to retreat."
"Yes, yes, yes. From then on, she carried scissors everywhere she went."
"She is simply a crazy woman, comrade, you better stay away from her!"
Everyone grinned and advised Bai Wei to stay away from Huang Siyu.
Bai Wei raised his head and looked at the small black dot on the river bank in the distance, just a lonely person.
Huang Siyu spoke softly and was very pretty. No one would have thought that such a weak woman like her could do such a decisive thing.
To what extent would a woman be forced into a situation where she would commit self-mutilation to preserve her innocence?
"Comrade, which military family are you from? You look unfamiliar, I have never seen you before."
The woman fetching water asked Bai Wei curiously.
The other military wives who were washing clothes only smiled again after seeing Huang Siyu leave, and their eyes all fell on Bai Wei.
"You have such a pretty girl. Your man must be a battalion commander..."
A long-faced woman in a grey cotton jacket said jokingly.
"I... am here to marry Song Qinian."
Bai Wei answered casually, but his eyes were on Huang Siyu in the distance.
She didn't notice at all that when she said this, the faces of everyone present suddenly became a little strange.