Boiled eggs with rice wine
Kim Hee-ro ran home and bumped into Kim Mi-ryung, who was also rushing home to get something.
"Grandma!" Jin Xilu rushed over as soon as she saw her, calling out once but thinking Jin Meiling hadn't heard her. She followed her into the kitchen, wanting to hold her hand, and called out again, "Grandma."
Jin Meiling didn't even notice her coming in; lately, she had been preoccupied with how to keep He Min alive.
Today, He Min suddenly said she wanted to eat the boiled eggs with rice wine that she made, so she immediately came back to find the rice wine she brewed, but couldn't find it in several places.
"Grandma, Grandma!"
Later, Jin Meiling did hear Jin Xilu calling her, but she felt that Jin Xilu should not be by her side. In her dazed state, she remembered that she had answered. Did she answer?
The sound escaped from her throat through her open mouth; her body was so exhausted that she felt like a balloon on a string, deflating; she was too tired.
I just finished making over 100 jin of tofu today, and my hands are so numb I can't lift them. But then I remembered that He Min finally wanted to eat something, so Jin Meiling was determined to deliver this bowl of fermented rice wine and eggs to her no matter what.
After thinking for a while, she realized that she had probably put the food she made for Xilu in the cabinet next to her last time. As she turned around, her arm hit something. She was stunned for a moment and looked down. Jin Xilu was covering her face with red eyes, her face contorted in a frown. Her voice was sharp and loud: "Grandma!"
Jin Meiling didn't know what she was angry about at the time. She was wrong to get to this point, with He Min lying half-dead in bed, Jiang Lianyin was wrong, and even Xin Xuan, who had been trying to stop her, was wrong. But the child was the only innocent one; she had been forced into this situation.
But in that instant, she lost control of her emotions. Her arm slid down and hit her thigh, the silver bracelet striking her bone. She yelled at Jin Xilu's helpless face, "What are you doing? Don't call me! You keep calling me, can't you see I'm busy?"
Jin Xilu had never been yelled at by her grandmother before. This was the first time. She stood there, her face still covered by her hands, tears welling up in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse: "Grandma, some people say that I am not your child, that you picked me up."
Her child is healthy, brave, and has the brightest and most beautiful eyes in the world.
Her voice was like a giant wave, instantly transporting her back to the past and pulling her away from feelings of frustration and irritability.
In an instant, similar scenes in the same kitchen simultaneously reappeared in the minds of the two people.
Before Jin Meiling could react, the sound of the man approaching gradually came from the doorway.
"Jin Meiling, what are you doing at home? Come out here, it's me, He Jiafeng."
Her head was about to explode, filled with the words He Min had said to her today: that if Jiang Yilin lived after He Min's death, the curse would continue.
These past few days, Jin Xilu has been frequently sneaking into the Jiang family. Jiang Lianyin couldn't possibly have not noticed. You are the ones he secretly approved of. So, he chose Jin Xilu?
Thinking of this, Jin Meiling's hands and feet turned cold, and she suddenly couldn't see the things in front of her.
Just then, He Jiafeng swaggered into the Jin family home, his voice echoing through the living room: "I didn't expect you to be living such a good life now. You have to thank the child I got for you back then."
Thump—
"Ouch, something hit my foot!" He Jiafeng cried out.
Kim Hee-ro didn't want to hear his voice, so she threw a bead, which he stepped on.
"Grandma, he's a liar, kick him out!" Jin Xilu put down her hand that had been touching her face and walked towards Jin Meiling, wanting her to hug her.
Jin Meiling blinked, her vision clearing slightly. She leaned back weakly against the cabinet door beside her, and vaguely saw a child stumbling towards her.
She could almost recall every detail of Kim Hee-ro's growth with her eyes closed. The first time she met her was on a cold winter day. Kim Hee-ro was like a snowflake, so light, so soft, so frightening yet so precious to her.
The sight of tiny Jin Xilu nestled in her swaddling clothes, her rosy cheeks, her slightly rough nose from the wind, and her innocent eyes smiling at her, melted her heart.
“Yes, he’s right.” Kim Mi-ryung dodged Kim Hee-ro’s embrace.
“I encountered some trouble back then, and I found you in the back mountain and brought you back with me.”
“Yes, that’s it.” Jin Meiling’s vision gradually cleared, but she avoided Jin Xilu’s eager gaze that demanded approval. She gripped the cabinet armrests tightly with both hands, her eyelids trembling, but she still couldn’t spare a single bit of care for the child she loved.
"I don't want to lie to you anymore, we really are not related by blood."
Jin Xilu couldn't believe her grandmother would say such a thing. She clenched her empty hands, feeling it was all that dirty old man's fault. If it weren't for him, if he hadn't come over and spouted nonsense, her grandmother wouldn't have become like this.
That's him!
It's all his fault. Thinking of this, Kim Hee-ro was almost frantic and embarrassed. She just wanted to grab the sprouted potatoes on the cabinet and throw them at the man, trying to drive him out.
But Jin Meiling misunderstood again. She grabbed Jin Xilu's hand, restrained her, and finally looked at Jin Xilu, but her words were particularly harsh.
"Jin Xilu, calm down. You used to always ask why I'm a grandma? Why do other people have mothers but you don't? Now I'm telling you the truth."
"Are those all fake? You're lying." Kim Hee-ro's hands were separated by Kim Hee-ro and she leaned against the cabinet door.
She stood there, and her grandmother squatted down at some point. Jin Xilu could clearly see the white hairs on her grandmother's forehead without even looking up.
Grandma didn't deny it. Her narrow shoulders were tightly closed, but her arms were loose and drooping lower and lower. Her hand holding Jin Xilu slowly fell down and then clenched again.
"You've grown up, I don't want to lie to you anymore."
"You always say it's too boring here. Do you want to leave? I'll send you away..." Jin Meiling's voice grew hoarse as she spoke, as if the sound was being squeezed out of her throat.
The sunlight still shone in through the same window, but this time Jin Xilu didn't listen to her grandmother's words. She shook off her grandmother's arm, bared her teeth at her, and looked at her with teary eyes.
"You're just like that man; you only brought me back to make money!"
"Since you wanted to send me away all along, you might as well have just let me die by the roadside and be eaten by wolves. Anyway, nobody wanted me."
As she spoke, Jin Xilu cried and ran outside. She tripped over the man's cane as she went out, and the glass beads in her pocket fell to the ground.
Thump, thump—
The sound of marbles colliding, growing louder as they approached, was accompanied by Kim Hee-ro's sobbing.
As she ran, Kim Hee-ro racked her brains and blurted out all the wicked things she knew: "Why did you bring me back? You're such a bad person."
"You've been lying to me all along, and I never want to see you again."
When Jin Meiling heard this, her arm was so numb that she couldn't lift it, but she still subconsciously wanted to grab her, but she forgot.
The little girl who stumbled and struggled to learn to walk has grown up.
She has boundless energy every day, rarely gets sick, loves to laugh and play, and the neighbors all enjoy teasing her.
No one can stop her from living the life she wants.
"Xi Lu." Remember to go home.
Then someone rushed in, calling Jin Meiling's name: "Meiling, Meiling! Have you found your family's fermented rice yet?"
Jin Meiling sat on the ground, pushed her legs forward, and moved forward a few steps with difficulty. She then slowly stood up, holding onto the edge of the cabinet.
"Ouch, what happened to you? Are you alright after falling?" The person who ran over was the Jiang family's kitchen helper.
"It's nothing, I just accidentally stepped on a bead. I found the fermented rice wine and I'll make it right away." Jin Meiling dusted herself off and then heard the kitchen helper ask.
"Huh? Meiling, is this man a relative of yours? He looks so unfamiliar, I've never seen him before."
Jin Meiling, fearing the man might reveal something, preemptively confirmed his identity: "Yes, he comes from a faraway place, is broke, and wants to learn how to make tofu from me."
After listening, the kitchen helper chuckled and teased, "Then he's found the right person. Our Meiling is a well-known tofu beauty; everything she makes is delicious."
"Alright, hurry up, He Min is waiting for the fermented rice wine to be delivered." Jin Meiling's mind has been in turmoil all day. She's very worried about Xilu, who just ran out crying.
Now all she wants to do is quickly cook the brown sugar rice wine and then go find her child.
This is the background story of why Kim Hee-ro ran away and no one could find her.
Kim Hee-ro hid in a persimmon tree far from the town, watching the sunset. She didn't find it beautiful at all; it was a boring view and a quiet hillside.
But she didn't dare go back. She was really afraid that her grandmother would suddenly stop loving her and send her away, and then she would never be able to go home again.
The conversation between the two of them kept repeating in her mind, and it was only then that Kim Hee-ro realized what she had said.
She actually said that her grandmother was just like that man, only after money, and that she never wanted to see her again.
The more Jin Xilu thought about it, the heavier her heart became. She hugged the trunk of the persimmon tree tightly and said sorry to her grandmother a thousand times in her heart.
She kept telling herself that if she counted to one hundred, she would jump down from the tree and apologize to her grandmother. Tadpole had lost dozens of hundreds, but she still didn't dare to jump down from the tree and go back.
Her arms were so stiff from hugging the tree trunk that she could feel ants and small flying insects crawling all over her arms, which made her a little itchy. She looked down and tried to blow the insects away.
But then she saw someone she never expected to be there.
Jiang Yilin's laughter came out before he spoke.
His tone was unhurried: "Ha, so you finally realized you should look down, or are you just used to climbing over walls and have no intention of coming down from the tree?"
"Oh! Did you come looking for me?"
"There's nothing I can do. Someone would rather stay in the tree like a savage than come down and go home, so I had no choice but to come and look for him." Jiang Yilin said this with his hands on his hips, looking old-fashioned, completely unlike his previous arrogance.
"Wait a minute! Weren't you supposed to be forbidden from coming out? How did you get out? Did you climb over the wall too?"
Kim Hee-ro hooked her arm around the tree trunk, her bangs hanging down. She had just cried, and her eyes were red. She pouted in confusion, revealing a tiny dimple.
Jiang Yilin did not deny her words. Instead, he coughed a few times, silently turned his head away, and then urged her in a gruff voice: "Hurry up and come down. You know I sneaked out. If you get involved and scolded, I won't help you."
"No way, haha, Jiang Yilin, you really did climb over the wall."
"Hurry up." Jiang Yilin urged a few more times, but when he couldn't get through to him, he awkwardly said what was on his mind, "I, we... go home together."
Hearing the words "Let's go home together" gave Jin Xilu strength. Even Jiang Yilin said that, so someone like him was willing to sneak out for her sake.
Even if her grandma tries to get rid of her, she won't leave; she'll just stay by her grandma's side forever.
"Okay! I've decided to be your friend!" As soon as she finished speaking, Jin Xilu jumped down from the tree and handed Jiang Yilin the persimmons she had just picked.
Let's go home together!
But none of them returned home that night.
Because He Min died.
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