Neither of them spoke again, and they remained silent for a while.
When Lu Wanqing arrived at the Lin family's house, she saw the familiar mud-brick house, which seemed even more dilapidated than before. The straw on it had turned black from years of rain erosion.
A dim, yellowish light shone from the east room, while the room in the woods to the west was pitch black, shrouded in the shadow of the tall locust tree beside it.
"Put your things down first, then we'll go eat," Lin Ye's deep, magnetic voice rang out.
Lin Ye lived with his mother Zhao Xiaolan and his uncle Lin Jianguo. His aunt Wang Xiuqin took on the task of taking care of Zhao Xiaolan and stopped working, spending her days busy with household chores.
She cooks all three meals a day and washes everyone's clothes, and she complains of back pain every day.
By now, they had finished eating, and the family was sitting in the kitchen, each busy with their own tasks.
Lu Wanqing followed him back to the west room. He placed the bag on the low cabinet and then lit the kerosene lamp.
The room was still the same as when I left. On the north side were two beds placed side by side. The larger bed had a table next to it with a mirror and some odds and ends on it.
Between the small bed and the doorway, there is a standing wardrobe, which is quite old and the paint on it has peeled off.
Besides these, there was nothing else, leaving some space to expose the solid mud that had been trampled smooth.
In those days, there were no paving stones, and cement was also very rare; everything was just the most primitive mud.
The bed was alright, with a coarse cloth mosquito net hanging on it. The sheets and blankets were old and worn, but they were made up neatly.
Lin Ye may look rough on the outside, but he is actually very skilled at his work and is good at both.
Lin Ye opened the low cabinet door and found that it was full of her things that she had left at the educated youth settlement. It turned out that after Lin Gou Dan took those things, he had asked for them back and put them away carefully.
He was waiting for a miracle, a miracle that she would come back!
Lin Wanqing made up her mind that she would never let the man in front of her down again in this lifetime!
When it was time to go eat, Lu Wanqing pointed to the snowball in her arms and said shyly:
"Will it be okay for it to live with us from now on?"
Lin Ye blew out the kerosene lamp, closed the door, and led her away, saying, "It's alright, I'll make sure you have enough to eat."
His gaze swept over Snowball, and his expression darkened slightly. "Will my wife be holding me all the time from now on?"
"Yes, I will live a good life with you," Lu Wanqing said casually.
Lin Ye paused, his heart leaping with joy, as if a flower had bloomed. With her words, he no longer cared about anything else; he would give her his life if she wanted!
Upon arriving at the east room, Lin Ye first called out "Mom," then greeted Lin Jianguo and Wang Xiuqin before shyly saying to everyone, "Wanqing is back."
Zhao Xiaolan was sitting in a chair, playing with a paper airplane like a child. When she saw Lu Wanqing, she quickly stood up and clapped her hands, "Great! Great! This little girl is so pretty, I want to play with her!"
Lu Wanqing smiled and called out "Mom," feeling a pang of heartache as she looked at her mother, who was over forty but still naive and clueless.
Lin Jianguo, still smoking his pipe, slightly raised his eyelids to indicate that he understood. Wang Xiuqin, who was mending old clothes, softly hummed in agreement.
Lin Xiaocui, who was doing her homework on the bench, suddenly looked up, staring at her in disbelief, and asked, "Sister-in-law, why are you back?"
Lin Xiaocui is Lin Jianguo's youngest child, a high school freshman who travels more than ten miles to and from school every day. She is doing her homework by the light of a kerosene lamp.
She was quite open-minded and felt it was a waste for a pampered city girl like Lu Wanqing to marry a rough man like her cousin.
When Lu Wanqing was about to leave, she kept watch.
Lu Wanqing had a good impression of this little adult.
"Write your homework, hurry up and finish it, I'm turning off the lights. Every day, don't you know how to work overtime?" Wang Xiuqin said irritably.
Lin Ye was already used to the atmosphere at home, and went to the cupboard to find something to eat.
Usually, if he comes home late, Wang Xiuqin will save the food for him.
After all, he is the main breadwinner of the family, and he can't work on an empty stomach. His own useless youngest son is counting on him to help with the work and earn work points!
Lin Ye brought out the food: a vegetable pancake, half a bowl of white rice, a dish of pickled vegetables, and a small clump of scrambled eggs.
The Lin family has a rule that women's staple food is brown rice porridge in the morning and vegetable pancakes for lunch and dinner, while only men get half a bowl of white rice.
Women could only eat white rice during festivals and holidays.
Lin Ye could tell from the sight of the leftovers that there wasn't enough for Lu Wanqing.
Logically speaking, since Lin Gou Dan came back and told her the news, the aunt should have known that she had returned, but she didn't cook for her.
Lin Gou Dan was nowhere to be found, so he could only tell Lu Wanqing:
"The food is still warm. You and Snowball can eat it. I'm not hungry!"
Lu Wanqing thought to herself that there was no need for that; she and Xueqiu could eat in the space.
Before she could even come up with an excuse, Wang Xiuqin angrily threw the clothes aside and said sternly, "This food is for those who will work tomorrow. There's no food for idlers in the house! Also, there's no extra grain for the livestock. Don't think that just because they look good, we won't stew and eat them!"
Snowball shrank its neck, indicating that it was very scared!
"Master, they don't seem to like you!" Snowball whimpered.
"If you can't stand it, then we'll split up. I'll persuade Lin Ye to split up." Lu Wanqing wanted to stay and live her life, but that didn't mean she would just accept things passively.
Lin Jianguo also felt that his wife had gone a bit too far, and said coldly:
"Say less. She's from the city, spoiled since childhood. She's probably not used to physical labor at first, but we'll teach her slowly. Go cook another dish!"
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