Chapter 22
The next day, Lin Youqing and his wife took Jiang Jiang back to her original home to pack up their things.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jiang Jiang's family is penniless. There are two caves in total, and there is a small cave next to it which is used for cooking. There are some firewood piled at the door, and it is pitch black inside. Jiang Jiang took her parents into the cave where she slept.
There are two cement vats in the corner. These two cement vats are not used to store water, but to store things. There are some sundries inside, including the wooden car that Jiang Jiang rode when he was a child, Jiang Jiang's old toys, short and discarded chair legs, and beautiful stones that Jiang Jiang picked up outside. Jiang Jiang liked picking up stones for a while, and he brought home all kinds of pebbles, weathered fossils, and fish scale stones. There are probably hundreds of them.
Jiang Jiang followed her father's instructions and cleared out all the debris in the cement tank on the right. She tried to push it but found that it couldn't be pushed, so she had to ask Lin Youqing for help.
"Dad, can you help me push this tank open?"
Although Lin Youqing didn't understand what his daughter was doing, he still went forward to help his daughter push the cement tank open. After pushing the cement tank open, he found a hole more than one meter deep underneath.
Under the dim light, it seemed very deep. Lin Youqing and his wife looked at each other, and each other's faces showed some surprise.
This was dug by her father when he was building the kiln. In order to protect the house from thieves, he dug this hole in the kiln after the kiln was built to store the valuables in the house. There was nothing in the hole except a paper package wrapped thickly in yellow paper. Jiang Jiang opened the paper package, and inside were six pieces of Lao Yuantou and a silver bracelet.
This silver bracelet was the only thing her mother left her. The old Yuan head was saved up bit by bit by her father, who said that when she reached school age, he would sell the old Yuan head to buy money for her tuition.
"Is this left by Jiang Jiang's mother?" He Guijuan asked.
This bracelet looks like one of those old-fashioned silver enamel bracelets with figures and floral patterns. It doesn't look like a product of recent years, but more like an old item from decades ago.
Jiang Jiang nodded, "Mom, please help me put it away."
Jiang Jiang handed Old Yuan and the silver bracelet to He Guijuan. She definitely couldn't keep these things well by herself.
"Okay, then mom will keep it for you and give it to you when you grow up."
He Guijuan put the silver bracelet and Old Yuan's head into her bag.
"Is there anything else you want to pack? Do you want to take all of this to the county town?" He Guijuan pointed at the debris she had cleared out.
Jiang Jiang shook his head and said, "Just stay here."
Lin Youqing restored the cement tank to its original state, and He Guijuan walked out with her arm around the child's shoulders. Jiang Jiang looked back, suddenly stepped on a stool, and took down the enamel tank on the top of the cabinet.
The paint on the surface was knocked off, and a bright red peony pattern was printed on it. Jiang Jiang held the enamel pot and suddenly missed her father. When her father was still alive, he liked to drink water from this ceramic pot.
"Be careful." He Guijuan's heart trembled and she hurriedly held on to the stool.
Jiang Jiang jumped down from the stool, brushed off the dust on the enamel pot, looked around the empty room, and found nothing else to take.
"Ahem..." The dust was a bit choking. "We've packed up everything. Let's go out, Mom."
The family was really poor. If it had been two years earlier, more items could have been collected. However, her mother died when she was just born. Her father was a farmer and had only a daughter, so he didn't leave anything behind. All that could be collected were Old Yuan's head and the silver bracelet hidden in the cave, and this enamel pot.
After they went out, Jiang Jiang put the simple cage containing the old hen on the ground and locked the door with the help of Lin Youqing.
The sun suddenly turned dark, and Jiang Jiang looked at the locked door with mixed feelings.
She is now Lin Jiangjiang and is about to start a new life.
"Let's go." Lin Youqing patted his daughter's shoulder.
Jiang Jiang came back to his senses, nodded, and picked up the chicken coop on the ground.
On the afternoon of the third day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Youqing secretly went to the Jiang family cemetery without telling his wife and daughter.
Jiang Jiang's parents were buried here. The two tombs were connected, and the grass on the graves had grown to a height of ten feet.
Lin Youqing cleared the weeds around the grave and lit two incense sticks.
"Brother Fusheng, don't worry, Jiang Jiang will be my daughter from now on."
"Guijuan and I will take good care of Jiang Jiang and raise her to adulthood."
——
Zhou Fugui's family's private plot is under the road leading to the county town, not far from the village.
Zhou Fugui carried a hoe to his private plot, and first hoed the ground. Then he went to the creek below and scooped up muddy water to water the ground. Not many people were working at this time of year. The wife at home and the neighbor's wife were arguing fiercely over a trivial matter, and the two children had turned the house upside down. Zhou Fugui simply hid outside to hoe the ground, so that he wouldn't be bothered if he didn't see it.
"Uncle Fugui."
A little girl's voice came from the road. Zhou Fugui looked up and found it was Jiang Jiang.
She was wearing a maroon cotton-padded jacket and brand new black shoes. Her hair was neatly combed into two shiny black pigtails. Her face was fair and clean. When outsiders looked at her, they would never have imagined that she used to be dressed in rags and look pale and skinny. She looked like she had been reborn.
"Jiang Jiang? I heard that you were adopted by Secretary Lin and his wife. How are Secretary Lin and his wife? Are they good to you?"
"They are all very kind to me." Jiang Jiang jumped from the road to the private plot, "Uncle, my parents said they will go back to the county town tomorrow. I want to kowtow to you before I leave."
"this……"
Having said that, Jiang Jiang took a step back, knelt down earnestly and kowtowed to Zhou Fugui.
"Uncle Fugui, thank you for taking care of me over the past two years. I will always remember your kindness."
"Hurry up and get up..." Zhou Fugui felt bad, and touched the child's head with a clean hand. "When your father was alive, he took good care of you. It's because of my uselessness and incompetence that you didn't even have a full meal at your uncle's house, and you suffered a lot."
"Uncle Fugui, please don't say that. You've been very good to me. If it weren't for you, I would have starved to death."
Although Zhou Fugui's wife only gave her stale rice to eat every day, drove her out of the kitchen to live in the yard, and scolded her for stealing, Jiang Jiang hated her and didn't like Yinhua and Jinbao who bullied her, but Uncle Fugui was a good man. When she had no cotton clothes in winter, Uncle Fugui used his own cotton clothes to make it smaller for her to wear, and he also gave her sorghum steamed buns to eat.
"Good child, you will follow Secretary Lin and his wife to the city in the future. You must be obedient and sensible. Secretary Lin and his wife adopted you, and they are your parents. Next year, you will be old enough to go to school. You must study hard. Only by studying can you have a future..."
Zhou Fugui brushed the dust off the child's clothes and said, "Well, you've been out for so long, your parents must be worried, go back now."
Zhou Fugui looked at Jiang Jiang and couldn't help crying. He was really happy for Jiang Jiang. If brother Fusheng was still in heaven, he should be able to rest in peace.
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