Qi Mengmeng followed Qi Huilan to a large yard at the east end of the village, where a middle-aged man was sawing wood.
Qi Huilan called out, "Fifth Brother?"
Li Laowu turned around and saw Qi Huilan, with a smile on his face: "Huilan, you are here? Is there no food at home? I will ask your sister-in-law to pack a bag for you later."
Qi Huilan first asked Qi Mengmeng to call him Fifth Uncle, then she shook her head and said, "There is food at home. I came here this time to order some furniture."
Qi Mengmeng obediently called out, "Fifth Uncle."
Li Laowu nodded, looked Qi Mengmeng up and down, and then said to Qi Huilan with a smile: "Your daughter is as pretty as you were when you were a child. Have dinner at Fifth Brother's place today. I can't say anything else, but I will definitely make sure you are well fed."
Qi Huilan shook her head: "Fifth brother, we just moved and have a lot of things to pack. We have to go back after we have decided on the furniture."
Li Laowu originally thought that Qi Huilan came to order furniture for Qi Mengmeng's wedding, but he didn't expect that she was moving. He immediately put down the work in his hands and asked about the situation in detail.
Qi Huilan told the story of her divorce with a little embarrassment.
Li Laowu's eyes widened, and he shouted, "This Ge Tiezhu, what did you promise me back then? I'm going to settle the score with him."
"No, Fifth Brother, you don't have to go. He has already been punished." Qi Huilan stopped Li Laowu: "Ge Tiezhu is having affairs with other women and will soon go to the Northwest."
"You deserve it." Li Laowu said bitterly, and then sighed: "If the old man hadn't forced you to marry him, you wouldn't have to suffer all these grievances."
"Fifth brother, the past is over. I'm fine now." Qi Huilan glanced at Qi Mengmeng when she said this.
Qi Mengmeng turned her head to look beside her and pretended not to hear.
Qi Huilan talked to Li Laowu for a few words, selected the furniture, and stayed for lunch at Li Laowu's strong invitation.
Before leaving, he left a roll of money and a bag of brown sugar on the table.
Qi Huilan told Li Laowu the address of her new home and asked him to deliver the furniture the next day. Qi Mengmeng would be waiting at home.
Li Laowu prepared a backpack for Qi Huilan, which was full of vegetables, and asked her to take it home to eat.
When she got home, Qi Huilan took out the dishes and found that there were more than a dozen eggs in them. Her eyes turned red.
Qi Mengmeng took the opportunity to ask about the relationship between Li Laowu and Qi Huilan.
Qi Huilan was silent for a long time before she said that the Qi family only had one daughter, Qi Huilan, so Grandpa Qi adopted five sons, hoping that they could take care of Qi Huilan more in the future. Li Laowu was of similar age to Qi Huilan, and the two had the best relationship.
Qi Mengmeng asked, "Where are the other uncles?"
Qi Huilan's face was filled with sorrow. "Back then, my brothers all joined the army. My eldest and fourth brothers died on the battlefield. My second brother is in the northeast. We have had very little contact over the years. Only my fifth brother has stayed here. He refused to leave."
Qi Mengmeng then asked, "What about the third uncle?"
Qi Huilan stared at Qi Mengmeng blankly, her eyes fixed on her with a vague look, and she said in a dry voice, "Your father is the third child. After I married him, he has been in the army. After I gave birth to you, you were not in good health. Later, he sent us back and said that he would come to pick us up after completing the mission."
"Later, some people said he had died. I had no news of him for two or three years. Your grandfather was seriously ill and was dying. The situation was getting more and more tense. I had no choice but to marry Ge Tiezhu. Unexpectedly, he came back."
Qi Huilan stopped, her eyes full of pain, her mouth twitching, her voice low: "He asked me to go with him, how could I go with him?"
"Meng Meng, if you meet your father in the future, don't hate him. He didn't do anything wrong. It's hard to say who was right or wrong about what happened back then. He was a soldier and was often on missions. He couldn't take care of you, so I had to let you grow up by my side. But he often sent money to me later, and he still sent money even after he remarried."
After Qi Huilan finished speaking, she quietly packed up her things and went back to the house to lie down.
She didn't want to tell Qi Mengmeng about these things, but today Li Laowu reminded her that since Qi Mengmeng was married to Gu Guizhi, she would meet Qi Zhijun sooner or later.
For Qi Mengmeng's own good, I still have to tell her about these past events.
No one was wrong about what happened back then, we can only say that life is unpredictable.
Over the years, Qi Huilan never mentioned Qi Zhijun, not because she hated him, but because Qi Huilan felt that she had let him down by remarrying.
Qi Mengmeng sensed Qi Huilan's attitude from her words and wanted to comfort her, but there was a knock on the door.
Ye Tao led Tian Tian to stand at the door. She looked at Qi Meng Meng who came to open the door with surprise in her eyes: "Sister, is it your family who exchanged houses with the Cui family? Did you come to see the house last time?"
Qi Mengmeng and her family moved in yesterday and left this morning without saying hello to the neighbors, so Ye Tao had no idea that it was Qi Mengmeng who moved in.
Qi Mengmeng smiled a little embarrassedly: "Sister Taozi, I found out that your family and the Cui family are neighbors when I sent Tiantian home last time, but the house exchange was not finalized at that time. I didn't hide it from you on purpose."
Ye Tao nodded in understanding. Changing houses is a big deal, and no matter who it is, one has to come and see how the neighbors are doing.
Tiantian ran to Qi Mengmeng, took her hand and called, "Aunt Qi."
Qi Mengmeng took out a piece of White Rabbit milk candy from her pocket and handed it to her. Tiantian took it, paused, and glanced at Ye Tao.
Ye Tao's face turned red, and she quickly asked Tiantian to return the candy to Qi Mengmeng: "You gave her several pieces of candy last time, you can't give her any this time."
Qi Mengmeng held Tiantian's hand and lowered her voice: "Sister Taozi, I think we are destined to be together, and I gave it to her because I like Tiantian. Please don't refuse it, otherwise it will be embarrassing for other neighbors to see it."
Ye Tao then stopped, glared at Tiantian, and said to Qi Mengmeng, "Sister, I'll pick some vegetables for you later. The vegetables in your yard have all been picked by the Cui family."
Qi Mengmeng waved her hand, but before she could say anything, Ye Tao went back to the next door to pick a basket of vegetables and brought it over.
After a while, Liu Dajiang also came over with a basket.
"Meng Meng, this is a chicken someone gave me. I have no place to cook it, so I brought it to you. Let your mother nourish you."
Qi Mengmeng was a little bit unconvinced. Nowadays, even if it was a gift, no one would give a slaughtered chicken, right? Liu Dajiang couldn't even make up a reason.
Liu Dajiang stood at the door and lowered his voice and said, "Mengmeng, is your mother not at work today? I didn't see her when I went to the hospital just now."
"My mother is off today, so the two of us are going to buy furniture." Qi Mengmeng glanced around the house.
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