Xu Ning hurriedly stopped him and said, "Grandpa Wang, I won't go in.
I bought a few pairs of defective cotton shoes from the supply and marketing cooperative, and bought one pair each for you and Grandma Wang.
I don’t know what size you two wear, so I bought it based on what I saw. Do you think it’s correct? If it’s not right, I’ll change it,” and then took out the cotton shoes he bought for the two of them.
Grandpa Wang took the shoes gratefully, looked at them and said, "Yes, yes, this is the size. These shoes are really warm. Thank you, Xiaoning!"
Xu Ning smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Grandpa Wang, why are you being so polite to me? You should go back soon. I'm leaving too. I'll come to see you and Grandma Wang again later." After saying that, he got on his bike and left.
Grandpa Wang returned home and pushed the door but it didn't open. He wondered why the old woman had locked the door.
He called out twice outside, and when Grandma Wang heard it was him, she quickly opened the door to let him in, then locked the door again.
Uncle Wang put the firewood in the woodshed, and then he entered the main room carrying two pairs of cotton shoes.
Seeing his wife pickling pork, he quickly walked over and asked, "Where did you get all this meat?"
Grandma Wang said, "Xiao Ning brought it here. He not only brought meat, but also duck eggs, peanut oil and grain." She pointed to the pile of things next to her.
Seeing his wife holding two pairs of cotton boots, he asked, "Where did you get these boots?"
Grandpa Wang sighed and said, "I met Xiao Ning at the entrance of the alley. She gave it to me and said that it was a defective product bought at the supply and marketing cooperative. She bought a pair for each of us."
The old couple were silent.
Grandpa Wang said, "Now that the children have been brought here, just put them away. I'll go open the cellar and put the grain in. Just leave a few pounds outside," and then he walked into the inner room.
Grandma Wang saw him walking inside and asked, "Old man, is the grain stored in the cellar?"
"Put it in there. Even though no one has come to our house to cause trouble in the past two years, we still have to be careful. Everyone knows about this cellar outside, so put the coarse grains there. Let the pickled meat dry outside for a few days and bring it in when the time comes."
After saying that, he walked into the inner room and moved a box next to the bed.
After pressing an inconspicuous mechanism on the wall, the stone slab on the ground moved away, revealing a stone staircase.
The old couple walked downstairs holding a kerosene lamp. The cellar was not big, only about seven or eight square meters, and there were several boxes in it. Grandma Wang opened a small box and
Touching the jewelry inside, she said, "These are the only things left of the dowry I gave you when I married you and the betrothal gift you gave me."
Grandpa Wang opened several other boxes as well. One box was filled with large and small yellow croakers.
One box contained silver dollars, and the other two boxes contained calligraphy and paintings, and various antique vases.
Grandpa Wang sighed and said, "It's good to be able to keep these. If we hadn't donated the factory and the house on this street early on, we wouldn't even be able to keep these and this yard."
Grandpa Wang put the flour, rice and peanut oil that Xu Ning brought today in the cellar.
He said to his wife, "Take a few more small yellow croakers and hide them separately."
Grandma Wang followed his instructions and took four small yellow croakers up. She knew that the old man was afraid that someone would come to the house and find the cellar.
Grandma Wang put the pickled pork away, and put the cabbage and radishes that Xu Ning brought into the cellar in the yard.
I locked the peanut oil and sugar in the cupboard, found an inconspicuous rotten jar, pickled 40 duck eggs, and left ten for the old man to cook and eat.
On his way back, Xu Ning encountered Old Chen's ox cart. Aunt Dashuan, who was sitting on the cart, saw that it was Xu Ning and hurriedly called out, "Xu Zhiqing, we are going to buy pears this afternoon. Do you want to go?"
Xu Ning hurriedly braked his car and walked side by side with the ox cart, and asked, "Aunt, I want to go. I'll wait for you at the entrance of the village this afternoon."
Aunt Dashuan said, "Xu Zhiqing, there's no need to wait. Let's walk. You can ride a bicycle faster. Go buy it first. Let's go to the same place as last year. Don't go the wrong way!"
"Okay, auntie, I won't wait for you this afternoon."
After saying that, he greeted the people on the ox cart, rode his bicycle past in a flash, and disappeared in a moment!
The aunts on the ox cart laughed and said, "It's been almost two years since Xu Zhiqing went to the countryside, but he hasn't grown any taller. He's still about the same height as when he first came."
Xu Ning didn't know that the aunts were discussing her height. She was also speechless. She ate so much every day but didn't grow taller. Xu An was almost taller than her now.
Xu Ning returned home, Xu An had not finished school yet, and Xu Mo had been in the cowshed since yesterday.
She first lit up the kang, and when the room was warmer, she put the cotton boots and salt she bought for the others into the backpack, and also put two bunches of bananas in it.
She has eaten part of the apple in her space, but has not touched the banana yet? Never had the chance to take it out.
I stood at the small gate and looked out. Seeing no one around, I went to the cowshed with my backpack on my back. As soon as I reached the main road, I saw Grandpa Qi and Xu Mo standing at the door of the cowshed wearing cotton hats and cotton gloves.
Xu Ning wondered, what are they doing standing at the door in such a cold day? Just as she was about to go over and ask, Xu Mo saw her, ran over and said mysteriously,
"Sister, you're back. Did you buy salt? Mom and Aunt Lu are pickling the meat. Grandpa Qi and I are keeping watch here."
Xu Ning thought to himself, who would come to the cowshed on such a cold day? What are they looking for? Suddenly, he remembered that Old Chen would come over to deliver the ox cart.
I said to Grandpa Qi, "Grandpa Qi, I ran into Grandpa Chen when I came here. He was halfway there driving his ox cart. Maybe it was because of the bad weather today, so he came back a little early. Please let my mom and Aunt Lu pack up, and I won't go in."
After saying that, he handed the backpack to Grandpa Qi and said, "The backpack contains salt and a pair of cotton boots I bought for each of you. Today, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative and saw bananas that had just been brought in from the south, so I bought some and brought two bunches for you. Remember to eat them. Bananas cannot be kept for too long or they will rot." After saying that, he took Xu Mo back.
Grandpa Qi quickly took the things back and asked Aunt Xu and Aunt Lu to clean up and marinate the meat later, as Old Chen was about to come over to release the ox cart.
Xu Ning and Xu Mo returned home and broke off a banana for Xu Mo to eat.
She took out two large bones from the basin, chopped them in half, cut a piece of meat, put it in the pot, cut some pickled cabbage, cooked some blood sausage, and put some pancakes on it.
Xu Mo went to bed early yesterday and didn't get to eat the pig-killing dish. Xu Ning planned to make a simple version for him to try today.
Xu Mo had just started to light the fire when Xu An came back from school. Xu Ning asked him to sit in front of the stove to warm up. He put cornmeal cakes in the pot and soon, a fragrant aroma came out of the pot.
Xu Ning and Xu An had just eaten yesterday, so they weren't that greedy yet. Xu Mo stood by the stove, sniffing around.
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