Chapter 11
The next day, Jiang Jiang woke up at daybreak. Following his long-standing habit, he did not stay there any longer and directly climbed up from the kang.
She sat on the bed for a while, rubbed her eyes, and soon woke up. Jiang Jiang looked at He Guijuan beside her, opened her mouth, and whispered, "Mom."
Then he called out in the direction of Lin Youqing, "Dad."
She has a father and a mother now. This feeling is so novel and happy. She feels like she is walking on clouds, feeling dizzy and light.
She dressed quietly, went out, and washed up at the well in the yard. In the kitchen, Zhang Yueju had already gotten up to prepare breakfast for the whole family. In the backyard, there was a dark and strong little girl who was feeding the pigs with a pig food bucket.
This pig seemed to have been raised for some time. It had begun to gain weight, and its fur had become shiny black. The pig feed bucket was mainly filled with slop from washing pots and dishes, chopped pig grass, and some dried sweet potatoes.
Jiang Jiang was stunned for a moment before she remembered who this was and called out softly, "Sister Fengzhen."
Feng Zhen was dumbfounded for a long time before she nodded and stammered with a red face, "Sister Jiang Jiang."
After feeding the pigs, Fengzhen cleaned the pig food bucket and took the large wooden basin full of clothes to go out and do the laundry.
"Sister Fengzhen, I'll help you."
"No need, I can wash it myself." Feng Zhen said hesitantly. Jiang Jiang is younger than her biological sister Feng Yin, who never does any work. How could she let Jiang Jiang, who is even younger than her, help her wash clothes?
"I'm very strong, I can wash it clean. I used to wash clothes myself."
"Then come with me." Feng Zhen agreed.
The two of them carried the large wooden basin out of the door. A five-meter-wide river ran through Dongxi Village. The river water was freezing cold in the winter mornings, and winter clothes were thick and heavy. Only three or five rural women were washing clothes and chatting, but the two girls were used to it. They skillfully found a quiet place and started washing clothes.
With Jiang Jiang's help, Fengzhen finally washed all the family's clothes before dawn.
When He Guijuan got up, she saw Jiang Jiang and Feng Zhen throwing heavy clothes onto the bamboo poles used for drying clothes. The yard was already full of clothes.
"Ginger."
Jiang Jiang responded and trotted towards He Guijuan.
On a cold winter morning, He Guijuan was sweating all over. She wiped the sweat off her daughter's forehead and said, "I've got some hot water in the house. Go back and wash up and get ready for breakfast."
Fengzhen looked at him enviously, then took the bucket to the kitchen to get hot water.
Her parents were still waiting for her to fetch water for them to wash.
Breakfast was pumpkin porridge, white flour steamed buns, pickled radish and cabbage with vinegar.
Jiang Jiang sat next to her parents and did not take the initiative to pick up food. She ate whatever He Guijuan gave her.
The staple food of most northerners is pasta, such as steamed buns, noodles, etc. Among them, white flour and other refined grains have the best taste and nutrition, followed by corn flour, and black sorghum flour is the worst.
The staple food of the Lin family is either white flour steamed buns or corn flour steamed buns. Both adults and children can eat their fill, which is rare in the village.
After breakfast, He Guijuan went back to her room and took out from the cupboard the set of doll clothes that she had bought at the second store of the county department store before returning to the village. The doll clothes were made of pure cotton and felt very soft. She also took some apples and red envelopes as New Year's money for the children into a basket and went out with Jiang Jiang.
When the mother and daughter went out, Grandma Lin was digging corn in the yard. Jiang Jiang called her grandma, but Grandma Lin didn't respond with a gloomy face. When she saw the backs of the two people, she couldn't help but spit.
"Bah, two unlucky ones!"
A hen that doesn't lay eggs, a jinx that brought death to her own parents, how could she have been so blind to agree to her son marrying this woman.
After spitting, Mrs. Lin felt that her breathing was much smoother. Just as she was about to sit down, she felt a pain in her lumbar spine. She must have used too much force and got a sprain. Mrs. Lin's face instantly turned painful, "Oh, my old waist..."
After walking for a while and crossing a ditch, I arrived at the home of my high school classmate Wang Shuwen. Wang Shuwen's family is also a well-off family in Dongxi Village. Wang Shuwen's husband works in the second store of the county department store. Wang Shuwen herself is a government-sponsored teacher, teaching in the village elementary school. Her parents-in-law passed away a few years ago, and she and her two older brothers separated from the family. The two of them live a very comfortable life.
It was the full month of their youngest son. Wang Shuwen's husband Shi Qianjin took leave and came back two days ago. He was entertaining several of his wife's relatives. Although it is not popular to hold full month banquets nowadays, it is still nice to get the whole family together for a warm and lively meal.
"Doctor He, I knew you would come! Please come in and have some tea..." Shi Qianjin saw He Guijuan and her daughter from afar and went forward to greet them enthusiastically.
Wang Shuwen is a woman in her thirties with short hair and a capable and neat demeanor. She and He Guijuan were high school classmates, but she did not continue her studies after graduating from high school and returned to the village to get married.
Perhaps because she had only attended high school, Wang Shuwen didn't get along well with other people in the village. Later, He Guijuan married Lin Youqing from their village. Although they no longer lived in Dongxi Village, they would come back during the holidays and the two of them could chat together.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com