go home
When Wang Shuitao returned home, it was already pitch black, and there was no one on the road, nor were there any lights.
Qian Lijuan and Sun Miao were both awakened by the knocking. They walked to the door, huddled together, and cautiously peeked through the crack. When they saw it was a woman, they asked tentatively, "Who is it so late?"
Wang Shuitao: "It's me, I'm back, open the door."
Qian Liju hadn't seen her daughter for several days, and she opened the door with a beaming smile.
Just as I was about to spend some quality time with my daughter, I saw her head straight for the kitchen.
Wang Shuitao knocked on the locked cabinet door, signaling her mother to bring out the key.
Qian Liju's face immediately burned. She wanted to curse loudly, but dared not; she wanted to beg for mercy, but refused.
He could only stand there, frozen, facing his daughter.
Just then, Sun Miao, who had just closed the gate and put on the valve, came over and said in a soft voice, "Taozi, it's too late today, let's rest first and talk about it tomorrow."
"Yes, yes, let's go to sleep first, we have to go to work tomorrow."
Qian Liju hurriedly echoed her sentiments.
Wang Shuitao already knew what was going on, but she didn't expose it. She nodded, said nothing, and didn't go back to her room. Instead, she went to her brother and sister-in-law's house to wait.
After coming out, his face was ashen, and he ignored his mother's ingratiating expression, falling asleep on his own.
When I woke up the next day, Qian Liju had already gone to the fields, and the kitchen cabinet door was still locked.
After searching every corner of the house without finding the key, Wang Shuitao went directly to her grandparents' house.
In this weather, the food won't spoil overnight. Keep one portion at home and take two portions to your grandparents' house.
There were four mud houses in front of them, all of them very large, each as big as two of Wang Shuitao's houses.
Grandma Zhang Tianfeng gave birth to two sons and one daughter.
Because the grandfather's name was Wang Dajin, the eldest son was named Wang Dayin, the second son was named Wang Datong, and the youngest daughter was named Wang Zhenzhu.
After kicking Wang Datong out of the house, Wang Zhenzhu did not marry out. Instead, she took in a man who had no food and had wandered here as her son-in-law.
Each of the three households has one room, and the remaining room is used as a kitchen.
A thicket of thorns grew outside, probably transplanted from the mountain. It was short and wide. Wang Shuitao didn't step inside; she just sat outside and waited.
Around noon, the first person to return was Aunt Wang Zhenzhu, who came back to prepare lunch.
She had heard about Wang Shuitao's job in the county town, but her family felt it wasn't appropriate to get involved, so they pretended not to know.
Seeing her now, he had no idea what she was doing there, so he could only awkwardly greet her, "Shuitao's here. Have you eaten yet? Want to grab a bite?"
I heard in the last few days that my second sister-in-law is almost moving the whole house out. Wang Zhenzhu guessed that her niece probably hadn't eaten much, so she thought she could just make do here.
Wang Shuitao didn't stand on ceremony and even showed off the lighter box in her hand, saying cheerfully, "I haven't eaten yet. I got two servings of potato stew with pork from the cafeteria yesterday and brought them back. It'll be a good extra dish for lunch."
"Ah!" Wang Zhenzhu exclaimed in surprise, not expecting her niece to bring meat.
Farmers expend a lot of energy during busy farming seasons, which is when they need to replenish their strength, but there's hardly anything to eat during this lean season.
Those who could afford to eat dry food had to rely on buying grain on credit from the production brigade, let alone meat; their families hadn't seen any meat in ages.
After hesitating for a moment, she couldn't bring herself to refuse. However, when Wang Zhenzhu poured the stewed potatoes and meat back into the pot to heat it up, she also chopped up a lot of radishes and new potatoes and put them in as well.
He said, "Pack another box to take back later. Your mother and sister-in-law are still at home, aren't they?"
She didn't mention her second brother, acting as if he didn't exist.
The bubbling bubbles released a delightful aroma. Wang Shuitao took a deep breath and casually replied, "We saved some for my sister-in-law at home. You can eat these too."
Wang Zhenzhu hummed in agreement. Since her niece didn't mention it, she didn't ask her mother what to do.
During the two or three hours of the hottest midday sun, everyone stays home for lunch instead of going to the fields.
Upon seeing Wang Shuitao, he could only awkwardly greet her while rubbing the mud off his feet.
We weren't very close, but they were the closest people to us besides our parents, so we should have lived together.
Only Wang Zhenzhu's youngest daughter, who was twelve years old, had no time to care about other people's affairs, but she smelled the aroma of meat wafting from the kitchen.
She tugged at her mother's clothes, looking pitiful, and asked, "Can I eat now? I'm so hungry."
She was originally attending the village primary school, and she brought her own lunch there, but they specifically asked her to come home.
Grandpa Wang Dajin then said, "Eat."
To prevent everyone from fighting over the meat and causing unhappiness, Grandma divided the new potato and radish stew into individual bowls, giving each person a spoonful.
Wang Shuitao, who brought meat, was given half a spoonful of meat, while the others only had one or two pieces in their bowls.
The newly added potatoes and radishes were already cooked, and Wang Zhenzhu didn't want to waste too much firewood.
Wang Shuitao didn't mind at all. She could swallow a large piece in just a few bites. The meat was stewed until it was very tender by the canteen, and it slid down her throat smoothly.
After dinner, everyone was feeling a bit sleepy. Wang Shuitao didn't plan to talk about family matters for the time being, but mentioned that the sugar factory needed a type of wooden box.
She remembered that her uncle had studied carpentry with the village carpenter for a few years, so she came home to ask if he could help make one.
Wang Shuitao said with a smile, "The factory gave me a whole yuan. If you're willing, Uncle, make me two. One with a rainbow carved on it, and the other with a simple flower carved on it."
One dollar!
Lean meat is only one yuan per pound these days!
We can still get two points back.
Wang Dayin immediately agreed.
Moreover, he said he was taking leave from work this afternoon and made a firm promise that Wang Shuitao would definitely be able to get it before she left.
After all, although it was a custom-made item, the patterns he wanted were simple, and he didn't even need to carve the wooden box himself, as the carpenters in the village certainly had them.
He remembered it was Sanmao.
He could earn four cents for free with just a couple of swipes; he couldn't believe such a windfall had fallen into his lap.
Wang Shuitao then slowly brought up her family matters: "We're all relatives, so there's no need to hide my family's affairs. My parents are getting more and more outrageous. Putting aside everything else, if you encounter them, just say a few words for me so that my sister-in-law can have a better life."
Grandma Zhang Tianfeng readily agreed without hesitation.
Anyway, since her second son turned against the family because of a widow, she just considered it as a waste of twenty years of raising him. Now that her granddaughter is willing to spend money to find them and scold her own father, she can consider it a return on her investment.
She also understood that although it was a new era, filial piety still had to be upheld, and it was not good for a daughter to face her own father.
It's alright, her own mother will naturally block the door and scold that shameless little beast.
Having received confirmation, Wang Shuitao didn't linger. After saying goodbye, she didn't go home but went to the home of the widow Feng Shuiyun.
She wanted to ask her sister-in-law what she had said last night, that they were using the fact that she had run away from home to threaten her.
So she didn't dare to say a word when the food was taken away, is that true!
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