Chapter 21
Jiang Jiang saw Feng Zhen squatting beside a bush of dwarf pines through a few trees. Her eyes were red and she looked like she had just cried.
"Sister Fengzhen!"
Feng Zhen didn't expect someone to come here suddenly. She looked a little surprised. She just stood there, watching Jiang Jiang walking towards her quickly.
"I didn't see you when I woke up, and the basket for collecting pig grass was gone. I guess you must have gone up the mountain..." Jiang Jiang was stunned for a moment, took out a small square handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped her tears, "Sister Fengzhen, are you okay?"
"Wow..." Fengzhen couldn't help but hugged Jiang Jiang and cried.
Fengzhen let her go with a red face until her stomach growled with hunger.
She didn't eat much at noon. The food at her grandmother's house was watery, and there were so many people, so she ate a bowl of porridge and a cornmeal bun. When she wanted to get more, the basket was empty.
"Eat this." Jiang Jiang opened the paper package and handed the fried cake to her.
They each took a piece of fried cake, found a clean place to sit down and eat it. The fried cake was fried in oil and filled with brown sugar filling. It was fragrant and sweet when you took a bite.
"Delicious." Jiang Jiang took a bite of the fried cake and sighed happily.
Feng Zhen stared at the little girl next to her, hesitated for a while, but couldn't help asking, "Jiang Jiang, why are you willing to play with me? Don't you think I'm stupid?"
"You have never disliked me, Sister Fengzhen."
In this family, besides her parents, she spends the most time with Fengzhen. Fengzhen is also the first person in the family who truly accepts her and her first friend.
Jiang Jiang hugged her and said seriously, "Sister Fengzhen is a simple, down-to-earth, and kind-hearted person."
"Thank you, Jiang Jiang."
After they finished eating the fried cakes, Jiang Jiang and Feng Zhen went to fill the baskets with pig grass before they went back together.
Li Hongmei was furious when she saw Feng Zhen and Jiang Jiang together. If it weren't for Jiang Jiang, Feng Yin would be the daughter of the third brother and his wife. She sneered, "You are getting close to that bastard outside! If the bad luck of this unlucky star is passed on to us, I will not forgive you!"
Seeing Jiang Jiang lower her head, Feng Zhen didn't know where she got the courage from suddenly. She straightened her back and said seriously, "Mother, Sister Jiang Jiang is not a bastard. She is the adopted daughter of my third uncle and aunt. She is my cousin and my friend."
"You..." Li Hongmei looked at this little girl who talked back to her and was so angry that she wanted to go up and hit her.
"Wow, you've harvested so many full baskets of pig grass in this winter? You two should go get the pig feeding buckets to feed the pigs." Zhang Yueju spoke up to help the two children out.
It was estimated that Zhang Yueju had heard what she had just said when she was scolding that damn girl Jiang Jiang. Li Hongmei didn't want to lose her temper in front of her, as she would not gain anything if she made a big fuss, so she had to give up in disappointment.
Fengzhen and Jiangjiang fed the pigs first, then went to the kitchen to help the adults light the fire. For dinner, they had white flour buns, cured pork and cabbage stewed with vermicelli, cured pork ribs stewed with radish, and a dish of pickled radish sprouts. Halfway through the meal, they realized that a child was missing from the house.
Feng Yin was injured by a trap in the mountains. When the villagers helped to find the person, Feng Yin was almost unconscious from the pain and had lost a lot of blood.
During the cold winter, some people in the countryside would set traps to catch weasels, peel off their fur and sell them on the black market. Weasel fur is valuable, but in recent years, the catch has been tight and it is done secretly. These traps are hidden in haystacks, and some unlucky people may get caught in them.
At five o'clock in the afternoon on the second day of the Chinese New Year, after the family hurriedly ate a little meal, Grandma Lin filled a jar of porridge. Feeling sorry for her son, she put a poached egg, a few white steamed buns left over from the morning, and a few chopsticks of pickled cabbage in the bowl on top of the rice jar.
Lin Youqing took the initiative to take on the task of delivering meals to Lin Laoer. He carried the lunch pot and went out with his daughter.
He pushed his black Forever bicycle out of the yard, down a small slope, and came to the road. The moon has risen over Junfeng Mountain, dimly illuminating the vague village and the earth.
This bicycle was bought by Lin Youqing and kept at home, but when he was not at home, it was Lin Lao Da and Lin Lao Er who rode it.
Lin Youqing carried his daughter into the car and asked, "Are you sitting tight?"
"It's safe."
Fengyin was receiving treatment in the hospital in the commune. Jiang Jiang held the lunch can in one hand. Lin Youqing was worried that she wouldn't be able to see the road clearly when she got home in the dark, so he bought a flashlight and asked his daughter to hold it.
It was cold outside, and He Guijuan felt sorry for the child, so she took out one of her woolen scarves and put it on Jiang Jiang. She didn't want Jiang Jiang to go with them, but Jiang Jiang wanted to go with her father, so she had no choice but to agree.
With his daughter and in cold weather, Lin Youqing did not dare to ride too fast. It took him nearly twenty minutes to ride the bicycle for the ten kilometers to reach the commune hospital.
The hospital is a bungalow and looks rather simple. There is a sign hanging on the door that says "Luling Commune Hospital".
"Hello, comrade. I would like to ask which ward Lin Fengyin is staying in?"
The nurse on duty was a short, fat female nurse. She glanced at them and asked, "Are you the family members of the little girl who was caught in the trap?"
"Yes."
"Stay in room 103."
"Thank you, comrade." After expressing his gratitude, Lin Youqing carried the lunch can and took his daughter to Ward 103.
Lin Lao Er looked at Lao San with a tired face, "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to bring you some food. How's Feng Yin?"
Lin Laoer was very hungry, so he quickly grabbed a white flour bun from the bowl on top of the rice pot, took a big bite, and swallowed it without much chewing.
"The wound has been treated, and he's fine now. But he still needs to be observed. The medical expenses and hospitalization fees are not cheap..."
This money-loser can't do anything, and yet he still has to pay for it.
As he spoke, he bit his steamed bun and looked at Jiang Jiang who was standing next to Lin Youqing with complicated eyes. Why did the third brother decide to adopt this wild girl who was not related to him by blood?
If he adopted Fengyin, not only would he have one less burden, but Fengyin would also be able to inherit the house and money left by the third brother and his wife in the future.
If he really adopted Feng Yin, who knows, his Feng Yin might even become an official in the future, and then he would be the father of a big shot.
"It's good that you're okay. You can earn money again if you lose it. You should eat first. Jiang Jiang and I will go back first. Although we have flashlights, it's dark now and the road is still difficult to walk on..."
"Okay, I'll go back early tomorrow morning."
Jiang Jiang sat on the back seat of the bicycle and took out a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket. He peeled off the candy wrapper and put it in his mouth. The candy was sweet with a strong milky flavor and was much more delicious than fruit hard candy.
However, the price was much more expensive than fruit candies, so He Guijuan couldn't bear to buy more. After returning home, she gave a few to the children of the neighbors, half to her two sisters-in-law, and kept the rest for Jiang Jiang.
When the father and daughter returned home, He Guijuan had already started packing some things to take back to the city.
"Tomorrow we will go pack up Jiang Jiang's things. When we get back to the city, we will fence off a small area in the yard. Then we will go to the Chengguan market and ask a carpenter to make a custom chicken coop for us to raise the old hens in the yard."
"Okay." Jiang Jiang didn't expect at first that Lin Youqing and He Guijuan would agree to let her bring the old hen to the city.
"Don't want the old clothes anymore. The ones that are worn out are old and tattered. The cotton-padded clothes are not warm at all and can't be worn. When we get to the city, we'll make a few new ones. Then we can pack up the things that Jiang Jiang's parents left behind and take them with us."
Jiang Jiang nodded, "Well, I'll listen to my mother."
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