Old Qian's wife stared at Qian Qi with her eyes wide open and her mouth open, as if she didn't expect her to ask this question.
"Mom, will you remarry?" Qian Qi repeated the question.
"Mom, please don't remarry." The fourth child Qian Meng held her mother's hand and begged in a low voice.
"Xiao Meng, let mom make the decision on this matter." Qian Qi held Qian Meng, preventing her from interfering with the decision of Old Qian's wife.
"Of course I won't remarry. You four haven't gotten married yet, and Jiabao is still so young. How can I remarry?" Old Qian's wife finally found her voice.
Qian Meng breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good thing that her mother didn't remarry, so she wouldn't become an unwanted child.
Qian Qi touched Qian Meng's head, looked at the expressions of his other two sisters, gritted his teeth, and looked into his mother's eyes.
"Mom, if you don't remarry, the four of us will take care of you in your old age and help raise Jiabao. If you remarry, your job will be given to Xiaopan."
Qian Qi is seventeen years old this year, which is barely old enough to work, but Qian Pan is only fifteen, not yet old enough to work. Qian Qi hopes her mother can hold on for two or three years and wait until Qian Pan is older before remarrying.
Qian Pan's tears started to flow again when she heard her sister's words, but Qian Qi grabbed her hand and prevented her from interfering with the decision of Old Qian's wife.
Old Qian's wife looked at her eldest daughter blankly, then looked at Old Qian who was staring at the hospital bed.
"Qiqi, I really don't want to remarry, please don't say this in front of your father."
Qian Qi was raised by Old Qian's wife. She knew that Old Qian's wife had a hard life, but she also knew that once Old Qian's wife remarried, it would be difficult for her to support her four younger siblings. Therefore, she had to ask her biological mother to guarantee by her biological father's bedside that she would raise her four younger siblings.
"Dad, I will work hard to support my three sisters and brother. If my mother wants to remarry, I won't stop her, but her job must be left to Qian Pan."
Qian Qi lay in front of the hospital bed, looking at Old Qian, feeling extremely sad.
There was pain and guilt in Lao Qian's eyes, but more of it was relief. With his eldest daughter's words, he felt at ease when he left.
Old Qian's wife quickly assured: "Qiqi, I really won't remarry."
Qian Qi believes that what her mother says now is true, but what if?
What if her mother can't hold on any longer after two years and remarries with her job?
Finally, at Qian Qi's insistence, the family wrote an agreement and waited for Lao Qian's comrade to come the next day to act as a witness.
When Gu Guizhi was asked to be a witness, he felt a little strange. But after hearing the content of the testimony, he sighed inwardly.
The agreement clearly states that if Lao Qian’s wife remarries, the job will be left to Qian Pan.
Whether it is Qian Qi or Qian Pan, if they get married, they have to take half of their salary back to their parents' home until Qian Jiabao gets married.
Old Qian's wife and four daughters all signed the agreement. Even Old Qian put his fingerprints on it. The ignorant Qian Jiabao also put his fingerprints on it while being held by his sister.
With this agreement, whether Mr. Qian's wife remarries or not, or whether Qian Qi and Qian Pan get married or not, it will not affect the lives of his two daughters and Qian Jiabao.
Gu Guizhi was certain that Qian Qi was a promising child.
Old Qian hasn't been home for years, his wife is weak, Qian Qi has no future, and their family can't survive in their hometown.
Witnessed by several comrades, the agreement officially came into effect. Lao Qian finally couldn't hold on any longer and slowly closed his eyes.
Lao Qian's wife and children all cried their hearts out, and the funeral was organized with the help of several comrades-in-arms.
After the funeral, the work arrangements for Old Qian's wife and Qian Qi were finalized. Both mother and daughter went to the cotton mill. In order to take care of them, the mill allocated two rooms to them.
Lao Qian's five children are all minors, and each of them receives a subsidy.
With this calculation, the financial pressure on Old Qian's wife and Qian Qi was much less.
However, without a man to support the family, their lives would not be easy, and Qian Qi and Qian Pan’s marriage would be a bit difficult.
Gu Guizhi's health has not recovered yet, so he will go back after Lao Qian's affairs are settled. Several other comrades will help Lao Qian's wife move and settle down.
When Lao Qian's wife and Qian Qi started working, the weather had turned cold.
Qian Qi chose a Sunday and brought Qian Pan to visit Gu Guizhi. On that day, everyone in the family was there.
"Aunt, I heard that my brothers and sisters are doing well, so I made a hat for each of them. Please don't dislike it." Qian Qi handed two small hats to Qi Mengmeng.
"You have just settled down, you should take care of yourselves first."
Qi Mengmeng looked at the thin Qian Qi and quickly made a cup of malted milk for each of the two sisters.
"It's cold outside, come drink some water and warm yourself up."
Qian Qi took the cup, took a look at it, and immediately put it on the table: "Aunt, is this malted milk? Save it for your brother."
Qian Pan had already taken a sip and was still savoring the sweetness of the malted milk. When he heard Qian Qi's words, he immediately put the cup back on the table.
"This is for you to drink. If they want to drink, I'll make them more." Qi Mengmeng put the cup back in Qian Qi's hand and reminded Qian Pan to drink it while it was hot.
Qian Pan looked at Qian Qi's eyes and didn't dare to drink.
Qian Qi looked at An An and Kang Kang, both of their eyes were focused on the hat that Qian Pan brought. She hesitated for a moment, thanked Qi Mengmeng, and took a sip.
"Sister, did you make this yourself?" Kang Kang couldn't help but step forward and take the hat from Qian Qi's hand.
"Yes, I made it with scraps of cloth." Qian Qi nodded. She didn't have much money, but wanted to express her gratitude to her uncles, so she bought some scraps of cloth from the factory, put together a few hats, and gave them to the children in her uncles' families.
Kang Kang picked up the hat and put it on his head. Qi Mengmeng tried to stop him but failed.
"It's a little small." Kang Kang said with a little regret.
"You never wear a hat when you go out. Why are you joining in the fun now?" Qi Mengmeng took the hat from Kang Kang's hand and asked him to go out and play with An An.
Qian Qi moved a little uneasily and said, "Aunt, I'll make one for each of my two younger brothers later."
"No, they both have winter hats." Qi Mengmeng quickly refused.
The Qian family had just settled down in Beijing, so they must have a lot of things to do at home. Plus, they had just started working at the textile factory, so there was no way they could afford to spend so much money.
Kang Kang wanted to say something, but Qi Mengmeng said directly: "If you still want a new hat, your old hat will be given to An An."
An An nodded in agreement: "Okay, I like Kang Kang's hat."
Kang Kang immediately said, "I don't want the hat anymore. I like my original hat."
Qian Pan watched the interaction between Qi Mengmeng and An An Kang Kang with some envy. Her mother rarely spoke to them like this, and they didn't dare to make a fuss like this.
After Qi Mengmeng took care of Kang Kang, she asked An An to take Kang Kang out to play.
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