Captain Yu and the two people who followed him calmly put down their things and walked out of the yard. As soon as they left the yard, the three of them had strange expressions on their faces; their faces were distorted. No matter whether Comrade Zhong had a big appetite or other people had a big appetite, they didn't need to go into it too much. They just needed to know that their group of people really had a big appetite.
At the dinner table, Mr. Wang and the old lady slowly wiped their mouths. Mr. Wang said, "Comrade Zhong, we are full."
"Are you really full?" Zhong Yuxiu was skeptical. They really wanted to eat the two old people first; they only ate two big steamed buns each and rarely touched the vegetables.
"Really? You and the two comrades should eat quickly. My wife and I will go back to our room to rest for a while."
Gu Lingguo said promptly, "We have heated up some water in the kitchen. I see there are two buckets of water there. Please take a break and fetch some water to wash. Go to bed early tonight."
"Okay, I understand. Enjoy your meal."
Mr. Wang stood up and carried the old lady on his back. The old lady, who had been bedridden for many years, was very light and did not gain weight even though she ate well. Mr. Wang carried her very easily, and when they returned to the room, the old lady held his hand.
"Did we eat too much tonight?"
Mr. Wang was stunned, not knowing how to respond. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Not much. Just look at Comrade Zhong and the others and you'll know it's not much."
"In the past, we would not want to eat after drinking a bowl of porridge at home. But here, there are meat and vegetables, and white flour buns. We can't help but eat a little more. We don't want to leave a bad impression on others." The old lady was worried.
"It's okay. What we eat is nothing." Mr. Wang chuckled and sat down beside the bed to comfort her. "Look at Comrade Zhong's appetite, and then look at ours. It's nothing. Besides, haven't you noticed?"
The old lady was stunned. "What?"
"Comrade Zhong and the others were being very considerate of us and barely even put their chopsticks into the meat and vegetable dishes."
When Mr. Wang said this, the old lady thought about it and realized that it was true!
"Now that you mention it, it's true. This girl has a really kind heart!"
"I'm afraid you can tell that we haven't cooked much at home." Every time we just make do with a bite of meat and vegetables cooked in porridge, which at least fills us up.
In the past, when we stayed in the cowshed, we were lucky to have something to fill our stomachs, let alone porridge. At that time, the old lady's legs were broken and she couldn't walk. She could only sit in the cowshed. She couldn't even take a step, let alone cook.
After returning to the city, the old lady's mobility became limited, and Mr. Wang, reluctant to burden his wife, who had shared his joys and sorrows, with any burden, took over the cooking chores. But he didn't know how to cook at all! At best, he could cook everything or add meat and vegetables to porridge. At least it had everything, was nutritious, and filling, and wouldn't break down.
The old lady felt relieved and shook her head, "She is a good girl. We can rest assured if we hand over the family land deeds to her."
Details reveal a person's character.
When you can't tell a person's character from the big picture, you can definitely tell from the details.
"We're a burden walking all the way here, and she doesn't even despise us," the old lady sighed solemnly. "If it were in the past, when our family still had some money, I would have given her more gifts as a thank you. But when our house was ransacked, everything was confiscated, and I don't even have anything to give away."
Mr. Wang was thinking the same thing. When he saw the big package being brought out from the corner of his eye, an idea came to his mind.
"We can give away the calligraphy and paintings we collected later. Not many people like those things now. But these antiques from the prosperous times are antiques."
I really don't want to give it away.
The old lady waved, "Bring the package here, I'll choose a pair."
Okay.
Mr. Wang took the bundle and placed it beside the bed, watching the old lady open the package with great interest. Inside were ten paintings and calligraphy and some antique toys. The old lady picked out the oldest painting, but did not read the signature. Then she selected a strip of 108 red jades from the antique toys.
What was called red jade in ancient times was later called southern red.
Mr. Wang recognized what the old lady took out. It was a piece of ruby with a patina, belonging to the Baoshan Jinhong variety. It was worthless at the moment, and was just a small thing that could be given to others, but he could foresee that this string of ruby must be priceless.
There are 108 pieces, each of which is perfectly smooth, with very few cracks, and those that do appear are hidden; they are the best of the best.
"I already have the red jade and the collectibles. I'm going to see if there's anything else suitable for a girl's home." The old lady rummaged through the items and pulled out two plump round beads. She held them in her hands and examined them. "They're brushed and red. When did you get these things?"
Mr. Wang said helplessly, "I put it away when I saw it. It looked quite old. You know I like these things. I was planning to take them out and clean them up when I have time."
"Give it to Comrade Zhong. This thing is not worth much."
Mr. Wang: That's a Dzi bead! It's not worth much, but it still has value.
According to legend, spiritual Dzi beads can protect their owners from disasters and villains. Mr. Wang doesn’t really believe it, but he likes it anyway!
Dzi beads are made from natural agate that is then enshrined and blessed.
"I'll give it to you." The old lady was very generous and took out two more items with a wave of her hand; one of them was an old beeswax peace locket with a very deep and simple color, about five centimeters long and wide; the other was a Hetian jade seed material peace pendant.
Heartache!
Mr. Wang clutched his chest, silently bearing the pain. The Hetian jade seed material he had collected from the countryside was extremely dirty, and he had spent three days carefully cleaning it, fearing it would be damaged. In the end, he had to watch it being given away. What a heartbreaking realization!
"Can you leave me some goodies?"
That’s right, all the nice-looking items in the package were given away.
The old lady glanced at him and said confidently, "You are an old man, do you need these? Comrade Zhong is a girl, so she can wear it. Although this piece of Hetian jade is not top-grade material, it is still presentable."
Mr. Wang is still very heartbroken.
The old lady said disdainfully, "Okay, if you really like it, let's continue collecting it when we get to Shangjing. We have our pensions and the subsidies we received before, and the money from selling the house is enough for us to live on. These things are not expensive nowadays, so as long as we are willing to pay a little more, who is afraid of not being able to get them?"
Instead of being comforted, it hurt even more.
"We had so many good things in the past, but they were all wasted by that unfilial son." That's right, they blamed the unfilial son for reporting their parents; this led to the house being raided and all the valuables being lost. Who can return them after they are rehabilitated?
Mr. Wang agreed with this. He took another look at the things in her hand and nodded resolutely. "Forget it. Let's collect them after we get to Shangjing. I'll have more time after we settle down. I'll find someone to take care of you and I'll go out and collect some good things."
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