Li Yan glanced warily at Li Xiulan, who had her back to her and was completely unaware of her subtle movements.
Clutching the keys, she quietly slipped out of the yard.
Mu Jiuchun, who had been waiting outside, waved to Li Yan.
Li Yan ran quickly toward Mu Jiuchun.
Mu Jiuchun lowered his voice and asked, "Did you get it?"
Li Yan nodded and opened her hands for Mu Jiuchun to see.
Seeing the key in Li Yan's hand, Mu Jiuchun smiled and said, "Great! Your auntie will reward you with ice cream later! Creamy ice cream!"
When Li Yan heard the word "cream ice cream," her eyes lit up. Cream ice cream was a high-end ice cream.
The popsicles that ordinary people eat are the kind that are just sweet and contain only water. Better ones are fruit-flavored, and the best ones are red bean popsicles.
Almost no one buys the cream version because it's expensive...
Mu Jiuchun asked Li Yan to open the door to the woodshed, and she followed behind Li Yan, pushing her bicycle.
Right behind her yard, a woodshed was built in the open space next to the yard wall.
The woodshed was very low; you had to bend over to squeeze in. It stored coal and firewood for the winter, as well as some other useless junk.
The saying goes, "Even a broken home is worth a fortune." In this era where no one is wealthy, not even a needle can be carelessly lost.
I keep all sorts of junk, just in case I need it someday and won't have to buy it again.
Even the broken inner tubes of bicycles are kept and cut into rubber bands to make shuttlecocks for the children or strung together for jump rope.
Mu Jiuchun untied the rope binding the willow basket and took it off the back of the bicycle.
Curious, Li Yan opened the lid of the willow basket and saw two small black dogs. Although they were small, they looked fierce and bared their teeth at her.
She was startled and took a step back. "Auntie, why did you buy two little black dogs? They look so fierce!"
Mu Jiuchun said, "Being fierce is the right thing to do! Otherwise, how can your mother avenge you!"
You absolutely mustn't tell your grandma about this! She's old and her mind isn't what it used to be; she can't even tell the difference between family members and strangers!
She grumbled as she carried the willow basket into the woodshed.
She dared not take the little black dog out of the basket; it was too fierce and would bite anyone who reached out. She could only put the basket and dog into the woodshed together.
After she put the firewood away, she locked the woodshed and took Li Yan home.
To avoid arousing Li Xiulan's suspicion, she told Li Yan to go back first, and she would stand outside for a while before going back.
Li Xiulan had boiled the eggs, but couldn't find Li Yan anywhere. She stood in the yard and called out, "Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan, where are you?"
Li Yan pushed open the courtyard gate and ran in, "Grandma, I'm here!"
Li Xiulan asked, "Why did you go out again?"
Li Yan said, "I'll go to the neighbor's house to see if Xiao Ni is home. I want to play with her."
Grandma, I'm eating boiled eggs, aren't you going to give me some soy sauce and vinegar?
Li Xiulan said, "Look at my brain, I forgot. I'll go get you some soy sauce."
Li Yan likes to dip boiled eggs in a "three-in-one oil" mixture, which contains soy sauce, vinegar, and a few drops of sesame oil. The boiled eggs taste especially delicious when dipped in this mixture.
Li Yan watched as Li Xiulan went into the kitchen, then followed her and put the key back on the windowsill.
Everything was done so perfectly that Li Xiulan didn't notice anything amiss.
She prepared the three-ingredient oil mixture for her granddaughter, carried the bowl out, and watched her granddaughter eat the boiled egg.
There was a stone table and two rattan chairs in the courtyard.
Li Yan sat in the rattan chair, happily eating her boiled eggs.
In those days, boiled eggs were definitely a delicacy, something adults couldn't afford to eat on a regular basis.
Li Xiulan sat next to Li Yan, fanning away flies with a fan.
Although it's cold now, it's not completely cold yet, and there are still flies in the yard.
When she saw Mu Jiuchun return, she asked, "Weren't you off your early shift? Why are you only coming back now? Where have you been gallivanting off to after get off work?"
Mu Jiuchun said with dissatisfaction, "Can't I go shopping? If I can't afford it, can't I even look around?"
"If you have time, why don't you go to the Li family and yell at Li Wenbo, and vent your anger for your daughter?"
Li Xiulan said, "What you sisters did has made me lose all face. Why would I go and scold them? Your sister is confused, and you are confused too!"
I'm warning you, don't go looking for trouble with them again. They're magnanimous enough not to come to our doorstep and tell everyone what your sister did.
If someone came and said something, would you still have the face to go out in public? Your neighbors would be gossiping about you and breaking your back!
Mu Jiuchun rolled her eyes. Her mother was so unenhancing. If it were someone else's mother, she would have gone to the Li family to throw a tantrum and make a scene!
Given her temperament, if she's not having a good time, no one else will either!
Even if her sister did something wrong, she still gave birth to a daughter for Li Wenbo. Why should her sister be kicked out of the house?
Why should Cheng Xiaohui be able to live a comfortable life in the Li family?!
They should make such a scene that Cheng Xiaohui will never have peace for the rest of her life!
She had nothing in common with her mother, so she pushed open her sister's bedroom door, went in, and slammed the door shut to vent her frustration.
After Li Yan finished eating the two eggs, she said to Li Xiulan, "Grandma, Auntie seems really angry!"
Li Xiulan touched Li Yan's forehead and said, "You mustn't learn from your aunt! Hey, there are gods watching over us, we can't do anything wrong!"
Go in and try to talk to your mother. She hasn't been able to speak these past few days, and her eyes are almost blind from crying!
Li Yan took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, then got up and went to her mother's room.
Inside the room, Mu Jiuchun and Mu Jiuhong were whispering to each other.
When Mu Jiuchun saw Li Yan walk in, he patted his chest. Luckily, it was Li Yan who came in, not Li Xiulan.
She lowered her voice and said, "Close the door quickly, don't let your grandma in!"
Li Yan obediently closed and locked the door. She leaned close to her aunt and asked, "Auntie, what did you and Mom talk about just now?"
Mu Jiuchun asked, "You stay at the Li family's house every day, but does Li Xiyue go home every day?"
Li Yan shook her head and said, "No, she doesn't come home every day, she only came back last night. Auntie, why are you asking this?"
Mu Jiuchun asked again, "Did you notice? Does Li Xiyue have a shadow? I heard that people possessed by ghosts don't have shadows!"
Li Yan was startled. "Auntie, what are you saying? Possessed by a ghost? Is Li Xiyue possessed by a ghost? Is she a ghost?"
Mu Jiuchun said, "It's not certain yet, but Granny Zhang has seen her and said that she has a lot of yin energy on her body, and that she is involved in a case in the underworld!"
By the way, after Grandma Zhang read her birth chart, she was struck by lightning on her way home, breaking one leg and one arm, and now she's bedridden and can't move.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
