After Yang Chunyan and her husband got home, Zhou Huaian took some canned food, sugar and cakes to Zhou Yiding's house, and the two of them went to Xu Erchun's house together.
When I walked into the yard, I saw Xu Erchun squatting at the door smoking with a frown on his face. When he saw the two of them coming, he forced a smile and said, "You're here!"
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian and the other man handed him the basket of vegetables. "How's Uncle Xu?"
"Not good!" Xu Erchun took the basket and put it down. He looked at his two good friends and his eyes turned red. "He's hanging on by a thread. I feel bad for him!"
He thought about how his brother and sister-in-law didn't agree to send him to the hospital, saying that instead of leaving him hanging like this, it would be better...
Zhou Huaian patted his shoulder in fear and comforted him: "Don't worry, Uncle Xu will be fine!"
"Yeah, it'll be fine!" Zhou Yiding comforted dryly.
Xu Erchun nodded, squatting on the ground with his head in his hands, "I used to think he was so sick, and sometimes I even thought he was a burden. Now seeing him like that..." He choked in his throat and couldn't continue.
He had even thought before that it would be better for him to die than to live in this sick state. When that day really came, he felt as if his heart was being stabbed by needles.
I feel that I am just like my brother and sister-in-law, not a good person, otherwise why would I have the idea of hoping that the old man will die.
Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding squatted beside him, took out a cigarette, lit it and handed it to him, "Don't worry, it'll be fine..."
Xu Erchun took the cigarette, and the three of them squatted on the steps and smoked...
Mother Xu came out of the house and saw the three people squatting on the steps. She said with red eyes: "Youngest, Yiding, you are here to see your Uncle Xu! I'm afraid he won't be able to celebrate the New Year... Woo woo..."
"Auntie, it won't happen..." Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding looked at her and didn't know how to persuade her. They felt that the old lady who used to scold them with full of energy and look at them with a gloomy face was still at ease.
Xu Erchun stood up, supported her and whispered, "Mom, don't cry. The old man will be very upset if he hears..." Then he picked up the basket on the ground and said, "The old man likes canned food the most. You can give him some..."
"Yeah!" Xu's mother wiped her tears, picked up the vegetable basket and went into the main room.
Xu Erchun and Zhou Huaian followed him in, only to see Old Man Xu lying on the bed with his eyes closed. His cheeks were sunken, and he looked a little scary under the dim oil lamp. If they hadn't seen that his chest was still rising and falling...
Mother Xu walked forward and sat on the edge of the bed. "Old man, the youngest and Yiding are here to see you." She turned her head to look at the two of them, tears falling down her face. "He doesn't know anymore. He won't respond even if I shout... Woo woo..."
Zhou Huaian and Zhou Yiding looked at the two old people, their noses a little sour, "Auntie, Uncle Xu will be fine if he takes a while..."
"Let's go out!" Xu Erchun pulled the two of them, turned around and walked out, and the two of them followed him out.
Xu Erchun stood at the door of the main hall, hesitated for a moment, and said to Zhou Huaian: "Did you see Yang Hui at Yang's house?"
Zhou Huaian didn't answer, but asked him, "What's wrong with you two? Uncle Xu is not in good health. Did you bring a letter to the Yang family today?"
Xu Erchun took out a cigarette and handed one to the two of them. He lit the one in his hand and took a deep puff. "I didn't send anyone to send a letter, but the sister-in-law next door is from my sister-in-law's place. She should tell her family when she goes back, right?"
Zhou Huaian felt that Yang Xiaoxue's words were not groundless, and were probably true. "Uncle Xu is so sick, why didn't you bring a letter to Yang Hui? Are you two having a conflict?"
Xu Erchun shook his head. "I picked her up on the 29th and everything was fine. Yesterday, my mother met Aunt Liu and asked her if the Yang family had chosen a date for the engagement."
"Aunt Liu said that the Yang family asked me to buy another sewing machine and gave me 280 yuan as a betrothal gift, saying that all these things must be brought over when we get married."
"My mother was never happy that the Yang family had let us separate and live on our own. Plus, I made some money digging truffles this year, and thought that since the house had been repaired, we wouldn't have to worry about finding a daughter-in-law.
"They said they disliked my parents-in-law before they even moved in, saying that we had already given in and agreed to their demands, and now that the house has been repaired, they are just waiting for the spring to set a date, but they are not keeping their word and are trying to get even more..."
After hearing this, Zhou Huaian hurriedly asked, "Is this what made Uncle Xu angry?"
"It's not about that!" Xu Erchun took a few puffs of his cigarette before saying, "On New Year's Eve, my brother and his family came over for a family reunion, and my eldest and second sisters-in-law said some unpleasant things behind my back, and my husband happened to hear them."
"He was worried that my mother would quarrel with them if she knew about it during the New Year, so he kept it to himself. He couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and got up to drink. I got up to go to the toilet and took him back to the room to sleep. His body couldn't handle drinking... He was not feeling well last night..."
Zhou Huaian thought it was good that this was not the reason, "What do you think? Do you want us to help mediate?"
Xu Erchun shook his head sadly, "Youngest, Yiding, you know that I have been repairing the house in Xiaoshulin by myself for such a long time. Yang Hui only came once when we were putting up the beams, and after the house was repaired, she didn't even help pick up a brick.
"I felt uncomfortable thinking about these things, but I thought that she didn't mind my poverty and was willing to marry me. I took her to buy a watch when I made money. I also told her that after we got engaged, we would buy a sewing machine and a bicycle. If she liked these things, she would have to give them to me as a betrothal gift..."
He took a few deep puffs of his cigarette, looked at the two of them and said firmly, "It doesn't matter if this marriage is final!"
Zhou Yiding said: "If you don't like each other, why bother getting married? It's better to get married as soon as possible, so as to avoid living like Cai Ermei and Wang Dasao in the future."
Zhou Huaian thought of Yang Hui who was laughing and making noises at Yang's house in the morning, and felt that she might not really care about Erchun. "If Yang Hui is really that kind of person, I also support your decision!"
Mother Xu stood aside at some point and said, "That's right. Even if we don't ask her to share the good and bad times with Erchun, at least the couple should be of one mind, so that they can live a peaceful life in the future!"
She wiped away her tears and said, "At first, Granny Liu said that her family disliked me for being too talkative and didn't want to live with two old people like us. I thought that as long as the baby lived well, we two old people would live in the old house and not get in her way. But what happened?
In the past few months since she and Erchun established their relationship, she has been like a lady from a noble family. My Erchun has visited her several times, including when she was putting up the beams and two days ago. My Erchun is not so ugly that she cannot be seen by others. Yesterday..."
Xu Erchun interrupted her, "Mom, stop talking, the youngest and Yiding already know."
"No more talking!" Mother Xu put down the basket and said, "Youngest, Yiding, thank you for coming to see your Uncle Xu."
"It's my duty, Auntie!" Zhou Huaian picked up the vegetable basket, "Erchun, we'll go back first. Ding Dingmao and I are going up the mountain tomorrow. If you need a tractor, go find my brother and his family. I'll say hello to them when I get back. For other matters, you can go find your sister-in-law."
Xu Erchun said gratefully: "Thank you very much, I will go find my brother if I need you!"
Zhou Yiding patted his shoulder and said, "Then we'll go first."
"Yeah!" Xu Erchun sent the two people out of the hospital gate and turned around only after watching them walk away.
Zhou Yiding said to Zhou Huaian with some sadness: "I think Uncle Xu may really die before the end of the Chinese New Year. Seeing Erchun like that, I feel really bad."
"Yeah!" Zhou Huaian responded in a low voice, "The older generation really suffered too much. Just like my grandma, she didn't even have a good meal before she passed away. It's like she came to this world to suffer for decades. It's not worth it."
After listening to this, Zhou Yiding thought about it and found that many elderly people in the village were like old oxen, working until the day they could no longer work. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt.
He shook his head vigorously, shaking off those unhappy things, and stepped forward to hug Zhou Huaian, "Let's not talk about these unhappy things during the New Year. Let's talk about which nest we are going to visit first tomorrow?"
Zhou Huaian pointed to the opposite hilltop and said, "Let's go to the back hill first. There is a nest there that was dug out not long after the Dragon Boat Festival. If we are lucky, there should be a lot of winter honey."
Zhou Yiding nodded, "Then let's go there first. I'll bring Da Huang and Da Hei to call you tomorrow morning!"
"Hmm!" Zhou Huaian thought for a moment, "There's also the patch of wild chrysanthemums I saw last time. I'll add some honey water and go look for them there this time."
"That's right!"
As they were talking, they arrived at Zhou Yiding's house. Zhou Huaian wanted to go home and tell Yang Chunyan about Yang Hui and Xu Erchun, so he went straight back without delay.
When he met villagers on the road, some asked him to play cards, and some asked him how much he had earned this year and whether he had earned back the money he spent on repairing the oven.
After getting the bezoar from home, he found that no matter how people asked, as long as he didn't admit it, they would just guess.
Not long after walking, they saw Li Wu and Li Xiaoping coming over from the edge of the field, carrying buckets of water. "Where are you two from?"
"Uncle Huai'an, let's go catch loaches." Li Xiaoping responded crisply.
Zhou Huaian smiled and said, "Did you get it from the winter paddy fields over there?"
"Yes!" Li Wu nodded happily, "It's a good thing I met you. Let's take these loaches back."
I was busy all year round, but during the Spring Festival, I took Xiaoping to the winter paddy fields and caught a lot of loaches to fry and eat. The child was happier than receiving New Year's money and wearing new clothes.
After that woman left, Xiaoping was no longer the same as before. Seeing that he ignored me, he even helped take care of his younger brother. If I had known this would happen, I would have just lived with the child like Zhou Daqing did.
Zhou Huaian looked at the small wooden barrel, which was filled with at least half a barrel of loaches, each as thick as his thumb. "Give all of these to me? That's embarrassing!"
He recalled that in the past, when his family was in a period of famine, they often had no food to eat. His second and third brothers would take him to dig loaches in a small ditch without water. If they were lucky, they could dig up a small bucket of loaches.
After I got home, I killed it and gave it to my mother, who then added a little rapeseed oil, salt, pickled chili peppers, pickled ginger, and Sichuan peppercorns, and cooked it in a pot with spicy sauce. The taste is so delicious just thinking about it now.
Li Xiaoping looked at him with a smile, "Uncle Huai'an, we were planning to send food to your house for Aunt Yang."
Li Wu took it and said, "My mother said that the turtledoves in the sky and the loaches on the ground are good to eat, so she asked me to send some to your house." (End of this chapter)
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