The little girl was carrying two boxes, one in each hand, and she went to the next room. Gu Xi said embarrassedly, "I'll take one. How embarrassing."
The little girl smiled innocently: "It doesn't matter, I'm strong, I can carry a large bundle when I go to the mountains to collect firewood."
After saying that, he helped Gu Xi move her luggage to the door of the room: "Gu Zhiqing, are you staying in this room?"
This question stumped Gu Xi. She quietly opened the doors and took a look. All three rooms were quite large. One was obviously occupied, while the other two were not. So Gu Xi moved her luggage to the middle room.
He grabbed a handful of fruit candies and a handful of milk candies from his bag and put them in the little girl's hand: "This is for you to eat. Thank you for helping me carry my luggage. What's your name?"
The little girl quickly pushed the food back: "I can't accept this, it's quite expensive, even my brother rarely eats it. My name is Tian Wangdi."
Gu Xi heard that this was a name given by a son-centric family. Then she looked at the girl's clothes, which were made of old coarse cloth. She was tanned and had small cuts on her hands. She touched the girl's head distressedly and said, "I'll call you Tiantian. I'll live here from now on. I'll keep these candies with me. Come and get them when you want to eat. I'll come to your house for dinner later. Please cook more."
Tiantian nodded happily after hearing this: "Okay, Gu Zhiqing, I'll go make some more pancakes."
Gu Xi smiled and said, "Just call me Sister Gu. Go and get busy."
Gu Xi simply looked around the house, but still felt a bit like a thief sneaking into the house. She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Will I really not be beaten?"
With a nervous mood, Gu Xi took out a towel from the box, wet it with water in the yard, and then wiped the room carefully twice.
Seeing that it was almost ready, he took out the prepared sheets and made the bed, then put the blanket and pillow on it without tidying up anything else.
He took a bag of fruit candy and went to the next door: "Auntie, I haven't had time to go to the village to exchange food today, so I need to eat at your place. This bag of fruit candy is for you to sweeten the children's mouths. This is one dollar for rent, please keep it."
Auntie Tian's real name is Yao Cuilian. Seeing Gu Xi being so forthright, she knew that this was a chance to make money: "Oh, Gu Zhiqing, you are too polite. This fruit candy is very expensive in town, and you need a ticket. We didn't cook anything at home, so just eat a little. Next time if you plan to eat at home, just tell me in advance so that Auntie can cook more dishes."
Gu Xi smiled: "Thank you, auntie."
This means just a casual meal, and the dishes are indeed simple, corn grit porridge, cooked thinly. The man's bowl has more rice, while the woman's bowl is especially full of rice soup. A lot of rice is served to Gu Xi, and coarse grain cakes are made with mixed coarse grains, as well as fried eggs with ground vegetables, stir-fried greens, and cabbage and tofu. The dishes are all salty and easy to eat with rice.
Seeing that Tian Tian drank most of the porridge in just a few mouthfuls, Gu Xi poured half of her own bowl to her: "I haven't eaten it before, so I can't eat so much. I'll give you some. Eat more as you grow."
Tiantian nodded: "It doesn't matter if you have eaten it, I don't dislike you."
No one else said much, the girls in the city were all weird.
Then he picked up a whole-grain cake and took a bite. It was rough and dry, and it made his throat hurt. Gu Xi had a bit of effort to eat it. After eating half of it, he felt like not wanting to eat anymore, so he drank two mouthfuls of porridge to soothe his throat.
Yao Cuilian watched her eat slowly and said, "Girls in the city are so delicate. They eat slowly, unlike us rural girls who wolf down our food. My youngest son is going to play at my mother's house for two days and will be back tomorrow. He is cute and smart."
Gu Xi smiled without saying anything, just kept chewing hard: Chew faster, you idiot. Swallowing with difficulty.
I ate a few more bites of the cabbage. The cabbage grown in the north is quite delicious and sticky.
After finally managing to finish a whole-grain pancake, Gu Xi put down her chopsticks and drank the remaining porridge to moisten her throat.
Seeing that she only ate so little, Yao Cuilian thought it was a good deal, as she earned a lot of money but ate little. She could then educate her and do more work. Unfortunately, her son was too young, so it would be nice to introduce her to her nephew from her mother's side.
After Gu Xi thanked him again, she went back to her room to continue sorting out her things. The room was quite well-equipped with things. It was probably Wang Xu's mother's room. There was a large wardrobe. The wardrobe was empty, but there were two locked boxes in it, which were very heavy.
Gu Xi thought about it and decided not to sort it out for now. She would wait for Wang Xu to come back and see the situation. She might be kicked out tomorrow. If things really don’t work out, she would just go and squeeze in with Lin Ling.
After a busy day, Gu Xi was tired and sweaty. She wanted to boil some water for a bath, but she was in trouble when she went to the kitchen. She didn't know how to light firewood, what to use to boil water, and she didn't buy a basin. She could only go next door to find Tiantian.
Tian Tian was happy when she saw Gu Xi: "Sister Gu, do you need any help from me?"
Gu Xi: "Do you know where to buy a new washbasin?"
Tiantian shook her head and said, "The basins are only available at the supply and marketing cooperative in town. Ordinary families don't have new basins. They are shared by the whole family."
When Gu Xi heard about sharing, she knew that she couldn't ask for a loan, so she could only give up: "Okay, it's okay, I'm just asking."
Gu Xi returned to the house, thought about it, and went to find Lin Ling to see how she took a bath.
Following her memory, she found Lin Ling's residence. The gate was open. The family had just finished their meal. Aunt Chen was washing the dishes, and the old lady was standing aside watching to help digest her food. Aunt Chen saw Gu Xi and said, "Girl, are you looking for Lin Ling? She's tidying up her room."
Gu Xi didn't bother her aunt from working, and just said hello: "Sorry to bother you, Aunt Chen, I want to talk to Ling Ling."
Lin Ling was very happy to see Gu Xi: "Why are you here? Have you eaten? Aunt Chen's cooking is delicious. To welcome me, she even made noodles for me. They couldn't bear to eat them themselves, so they made multi-grain porridge. They said that Grandma Chen wanted to drink porridge at night, which is easier to digest. Well, it's actually just to save money."
Gu Xi saw that she was quite happy living there: "It seems that you are quite happy living here. Aunt Chen and Grandma Chen look very kind. The house I live in is a long story. It is the home of Wang Xu who you said was very fierce this afternoon. He is not at home. His stepmother asked me to stay there. I don't know if he agrees or not. I will stay here for one night. If he doesn't agree, I will come and live with you."
Lin Ling couldn't help shaking when she heard Wang Xu: "His fierce look can stop the child from crying. If not, you can just move in. I'm happy to live with you."
Gu Xi sighed, "It's because the environment there is what I like best. The toilet can be flushed with water, unlike other houses where people have to collect it regularly to sell it as fertilizer. There is also a special room for taking a shower, so there is no need for moisture in the room. How great. And he is not usually at home, so I am free and easy by myself.
By the way, how are you going to take a shower today? There’s nothing in my basin, only a towel. "
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