Chi Sanhe, a street vendor, was burning charcoal in a brazier. He sat next to him, his hands tucked into his sleeves, looking timid and like an old man.
Nobody paid any attention.
"Sanhe, where are your father and the others?" Aunt Chi asked as she walked over.
Chi Sanhe looked up, exclaimed "Ah!", and then replied, "Oh, my dad and the others went to East Street to ask which shop sells charcoal."
The people living on East Street are all wealthy and can afford charcoal.
"So, it sold but was useless?"
Although it's not market day today, precisely because of that, those who come out to shop today are all people with spare cash.
Chi Sanhe shook his head, grinning, and said, "Nobody even bothered to ask. I even lost four coins."
His tone was somewhat aggrieved.
Sister-in-law Chi was puzzled: "Can you even pay for this?"
"Oh, the sweet potatoes roasted by the old man next door smelled so good, I couldn't resist buying one," Chi Sanhe said with a grin, then stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, as if savoring the taste.
Seriously, eating roasted sweet potatoes in the dead of winter is so delicious.
Ordinary people cannot resist such temptation.
"You spendthrift!" Aunt Chi was so angry that she didn't even bother to talk to him anymore.
You've got a really big heart!
They didn't sell anything, but instead spent money to buy food?
Chi Sanhe shrank back, not daring to look at his mother. After asking a few questions about Chi Dashan's situation, he said, "Mom, you should go back quickly. It's too cold. I think it's going to snow. Let's go out and sell some more when it snows."
This business is really tough.
After discussing it, the mother and her children bought some things and went home.
The charcoal business is a complicated matter...
"...I didn't sell them. Later, I saw two homeless people and felt so sorry for them, so I gave them two basins of charcoal." After drinking a bowl of hot water, Old Man Chi felt like he had come back to life.
"You took care of a homeless person? Don't you think I'm pitiful?"
Aunt Chi clutched her chest, feeling like she was about to be driven mad by the father and son.
What kind of living conditions do they have? Why are they still living like pitiful homeless people?
Old Man Chi kept smiling obsequiously, appearing resigned to being scolded or beaten, but he disagreed, saying, "It's something that didn't cost any money; I was just trying to accumulate good karma..."
"Let me tell you, our daughter is too amazing. I'm always worried that she'll use up all our good fortune... and An'an too... So, let's do some good deeds whenever we can."
Just as Chi Tang was drifting off to sleep, she opened her eyes with some surprise and looked at her father, who was unremarkable in appearance and honest to the point of being unremarkable.
Old Man Chi is only in his forties, but his hair has turned quite gray, and his skin is dark and wrinkled. There are deep frown lines between his sparse eyebrows, and his eyes are small with droopy corners.
There were some sunspots around her nose, and her lips were dark and thick.
By all accounts, he appears to be an honest farmer with little knowledge or distinguishing features.
But now Chi Tang realizes that he underestimated his father.
So what if he's not good-looking?
He has a kind heart.
So what if it has no special features?
He makes people feel at ease.
That's probably why my mother and father have been able to live together for so long.
"Sigh. I'm worried too. Our daughter is so capable, while the two of us are just scraping by in the fields with no skills at all. Will we be able to protect her in the future?"
Aunt Chi walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat down, reaching out to tenderly stroke her daughter's soft, flabby hair.
If my daughter is born into a good family, she will definitely be pampered and cherished.
Where is it like now?
And they still have to worry about making a living for their families?
"So I've been thinking lately about whether I should go to the capital and get closer to Chenyi... I know that would be a bit of a stretch."
"But the more Chenyi and the Princess like Tangtang, the more they will help her if she needs anything in the future..."
Old Man Chi's words were clearly the result of careful consideration.
If it weren't for his daughter, he would never have gone to the capital and relied on others for a living.
But now...
No! Chi Tang wanted to shout it out loud, but her mind was getting more and more drowsy, and she fell fast asleep in less than ten seconds.
She even rolled over and kicked the blanket off.
Aunt Chi looked at her daughter's exposed white belly, which was bulging, and quickly covered her with a quilt.
The woman looked down at her daughter tenderly, as if she couldn't get enough of looking at her, tracing her daughter's appearance with her eyes again and again...
She understands the principles.
But……
How could I bear to part with it?
"Snap!"
Tears fell onto Chi Tang's fair cheeks, quickly sliding down and evaporating...
It was as if it had never existed.
Old Man Chi glanced around cautiously, and seeing that his grandsons were all asleep, he reached out and pulled his daughter-in-law into his arms, offering her his not-so-broad embrace.
"Be good, listen to me."
He hadn't said those words to his wife since she gave birth to their eldest son.
Because they are elders, parents, how can you be so dramatic?
These three long-lost words, piercing through the weight of history, come rushing towards us.
In a daze, Aunt Chi seemed to have returned to the year she got married...
Intimate yet shy.
Beautiful and peaceful.
"Waaaaah..."
Aunt Chi couldn't help but lean against the man's chest and cry softly.
Now that I'm a grandmother, I can only sob quietly when I cry; I don't dare to have a good, hearty cry.
This is the tragedy of adulthood.
"It's okay, it'll all pass."
Just as the sun will rise sooner or later, all sadness and loss will be hidden in the darkness of night.
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