Aunt Wang Suzhen knew that Chen Dong was in police station by the next day. Seeing that Chen Dong did not come back all night, she became more convinced of the news.
The next afternoon, when the village captain returned to the village, he was chased and asked about the results of the lottery. Fortunately, their village captain had drawn the third right to use the rice harvester.
The news he brought caused cheers from the whole village, and they were extremely grateful that the village chief was not asked to draw the lottery.
During this period, Tian Xiaolan read books at home and did not go out.
An aunt came to see her, carrying a basket covered tightly with floral cloth. "Xiaolan, you said you've been well for so long and I didn't come to see you. Today I have nothing to do, so I came to see you. What are you holding in your hand?"
The words were so obvious, how could Tian Xiaolan not hear them?
It's not just her. Several waves of people have come before, and now there are still people wandering around outside her yard, unwilling to give up.
Tian Xiaolan pulled up the corners of her mouth and smiled: "A book, what else could it be."
"What book is it? Can you lend it to my child? It's not for free. I have five eggs in my basket. Please don't be disgusted." Dongmei spoke awkwardly with her cracked lips. Her voice trembled unconsciously. She forced the eggs into her hands. She borrowed these eggs from other families.
My aunt's family is poor, and their child dropped out of school early because they had no money. Her teacher had good grades and once came to persuade the family to change their minds, but her father beat her out and called her a "money-loser." Her husband was always drinking and playing cards and was not at home. When he came home, he would abuse both mother and daughter.
Aunt Dongmei and Guihua are from the same village. Her family was in a difficult situation over the past ten years and they could not even afford to eat. They married her off to Goudan's family with a few bags of grain in order to marry off his younger brother. In the end, they told her not to go home unless necessary, as there would be no food for her.
Life at her husband's house was difficult. Her husband and mother-in-law treated her like a slave. Even when she was pregnant, she still had to work in the fields, unable to avoid being lazy for a single day. After she gave birth, her mother-in-law said she couldn't even give birth to a son, so what was the point of having her? All the food she had previously spent was a waste! She couldn't even hold her head up in front of the neighbors! Her husband also said it was all her fault. He would beat and scold her whenever he got upset. Even when the women's department director came to intervene, he still refused to give her face.
When Tian Xiaolan thought about this, she could understand her difficulty. She had already finished reading it. "If you like it, take it and read it. If you don't understand it, you can ask me."
Then take the eggs and put them in a bowl in the kitchen.
Liu Dongmei picked up the book carefully. She knew that the villagers were coveting the book, so she hid it in a basket.
"Oh, you are such a good person." Liu Dongmei really felt that she had changed, but she couldn't tell what was different.
Tian Xiaolan saw a figure and looked closely to see that it was Aunt Suzhen who was eavesdropping under the bamboo fence again. Her voice was too quiet and she couldn't hear anything.
Wang Suzhen ran over when she saw her come out, blocked her way and asked, "What are you doing at her house?"
"I'm out of firewood at home. Come and borrow some." Liu Dongmei pulled open the curtain to show her.
Wang Suzhen didn't even look at it. She looked at the basket of thick branches and rotten leaves with contempt and said without thinking: "Dongmei, has your husband allowed you to come out? Who are you looking for? It's not about that book, is it? If I were you, forget it. Your husband is not that kind of material."
Wang Suzhen didn't believe her. She had never seen her visit anyone's house on her own initiative. Today, she went to Fang Guihua's house with a basket, clearly wanting to ask her for something. "Is she not going to give it to you? She's just very stingy. I used to think she was a good person!"
"Yes, I'd better go back early to prepare dinner for them, otherwise my husband..." Liu Dongmei agreed, but she only said half of the words and knew the rest.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go." Everyone who had left Tian Xiaolan's house before was her, but she was avoiding her like a mouse seeing a cat. Something was wrong.
Dongmei walked away quickly with the book. The book was under the base of the basket. She used her arms to lift it up to prevent it from falling.
I walked back home and closed the door before I dared to take it out. This book was once called the cancer of capitalism by some people, but since the resumption of the college entrance examination, it has become a book that many people find difficult to buy.
What's more, they lived in a remote and poor village, and they couldn't buy anything even if they had money. When they returned home, the thatched roofs on the fence were exposed, and there was not even a dining table, chairs, or bed in the house, as they had all been sold. If she hadn't been there, the child would have died long ago.
When I got home, I saw white smoke coming out of the chimney. I quietly walked into the kitchen and saw my daughter squatting beside a small pot hanging from the beam. I heard the gurgling sound of water boiling. The pot was about a palm's distance from the ground, and there was a fire burning underneath.
"Xiu'er, look what your mother brought you." She hurriedly pulled out the book in her hand.
Although Liu Dongmei didn't understand, when she saw Xiu'er running over and flipping through the book with surprise, she felt that everything was worth it.
"Thank you, Mom." Wang Xiu's eyes were slightly red as she gently stroked the pages of the book over and over again.
She hadn't read a book for a long time. Her father had taken away all the books in the house and sold them to buy alcohol, leaving her with nothing.
When I saw the title of the book, my eyes widened in surprise, "Mom, how did you get this book?"
"Mom borrowed it from Tian Xiaolan. She said I could ask her if I didn't know anything."
In fact, Liu Dongmei got the news when she heard them chatting while hoeing the fields.
"Is she so good?" Wang Xiuer expressed her doubts in disbelief.
"She is really easy to talk to, not as fierce as people say." She was originally worried that she would not lend her the money, but she didn't expect that she would not look down on her and even talk to her with a smile. She hadn't felt respected for a long time.
"Yeah, I understand." Wang Xiuer believed her mother's eyes and turned to the first page to read.
I didn't quite understand the structural maintenance section after reading a few pages. When I raised my sore neck, I heard Wang Goudan coming in cursing.
Liu Dongmei guessed that he was angry outside again and came back to go crazy.
He opened the lid of the pot and found wild vegetables again. "You two spendthrift women, if I hadn't raised you, you would have died! Where are the eggs? You only feed me wild vegetables and won't let me eat them, right? Don't even think about having a good life!"
He staggered over in a curve and was about to slap Liu Dongmei, but Wang Xiuer came around behind him and kicked him in the butt. Wang Goudan fell and bumped into the small pot, and the boiling hot water splashed on his legs.
The burning pain sobered Wang Goudan up instantly. He rolled on the ground and wailed, "Ouch! My feet! It's murder!"
"Kill the pigs! It's so noisy! I'll sew your mouths shut with a needle later!" The mother-in-law was woken up from her sleep and came over quickly without even having time to put on her shoes.
Seeing her big son lying on the ground and the other two standing motionless nearby, Lu Zhaodi angrily scolded, "What's the point of raising you? You caused my son to be scalded. I will settle the score with you later."
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