Chapter 7 Warmth
"Little boy, try this. It's the rice flower that was just made before the New Year. I added sugar to it. It's sweet and fragrant."
The village chief's wife placed the bowl on the table next to Shi Xiaoai. After she saw her pick it up and take a sip, she continued with a smile, "Xiao Xiao, your uncle came back and told me about what happened this morning. Hey, what does this have to do with anything? Guiquan's injury is just bad luck. What does it have to do with you?"
However, being able to return to the city is always a good thing. If you can leave, you might as well leave. It's not easy for you to raise two children by yourself. There's no need to argue with their family."
It can be seen that the family is headed by a woman. Ever since his wife spoke, the village chief has been smoking in silence and has not said another word.
Shi Xiaoai quickly said, "Thank you, Auntie. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."
"No trouble, no trouble, this is what I should do." The village chief's wife waved her hands repeatedly.
Because both sides were anxious, they quickly got down to business without much talk.
The village head's wife didn't act pretentiously. She said directly, "Little boy, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. Our family really doesn't have much money right now."
Seeing the old man suddenly raise his eyes, the village head's wife glared back at him angrily before continuing, "You may not have money, but we are not the kind of people who take advantage of others! Auntie knows you are short of money, and there is no other way you can come to us. So, how about this?"
"Aunt, you say."
"We can scrape together some money here and there, and have Erjun go to his grandmother's house tonight. We can probably scrape together 150 yuan, maybe even more. Whatever it is, take this money for now, and leave your address and we'll pay you back later with the rest."
You should know the character of your uncle and me as we have been together for so many years. Neither of us is the kind of person who would do anything against our conscience. I will definitely pay you back if you say you will. We will write you an IOU when you pay me.
Also, Erjun has already gone to buy you train tickets, so don't give us the money for the tickets. We can settle the bill together later. Is that okay?"
After hearing what his wife said, the old village chief finally stopped smoking his pipe. He raised his head and looked at Shi Xiaoai. It was obvious that he also agreed with this proposal.
This was a solution that Shi Xiaoai had never dared to think of before she came.
You have to know that her original intention was to exchange as much as she could. If she couldn't, she could save a train ticket and exchange it for some food so that she wouldn't lose money.
So, after hearing the proposal of the village chief's wife, she naturally agreed immediately.
Since both parties had reached an agreement, the atmosphere in the room naturally became much more relaxed.
The old village chief was no longer embarrassed and directly discussed the house price with Shi Xiaoai.
Shi Xiaoai's family was originally in business, so of course she knew when to quit, not to mention that she needed help from others at the moment.
She generously asked the old village chief to quote her price again, and she would take whatever he offered.
The old village chief was naturally very satisfied with this trust.
He had no intention of taking advantage, so he immediately quoted a price of four hundred yuan. To be honest, this price was enough to buy materials to build a new house.
It’s just that when building a new house, it is impossible to use the same solid wood as the old one.
Shi Xiaoai did not talk much about the price with the old village chief. She just proposed that in addition to taking cash this time, she wanted to use mountain products or grain to pay off future repayments.
After hearing this proposal, the old couple were stunned.
"When we were little, there weren't many wild animals on our mountain. We only had a few wild vegetables and fruits. How much could they be worth? And after paying the public tax, there wouldn't be much left for our own families."
The village chief's wife was the first to express her disapproval.
"Aunt, I don't want our family's food rations. After we get our household registration, we'll have food rations every month. Whether it's good or not, it shouldn't be a problem to have enough to eat.
I mainly want to order some mountain mushrooms, black fungus, wild tea, and the like. You may know that in the city, any food needs a ticket. These things are everywhere in the mountains here, but in the city, you may not be able to buy them even if you have money."
"Your family can't eat so much." The village chief still felt that he was taking advantage of others and said unhappily.
"If I can't finish it, I can exchange it with others!"
Shi Xiaoai smiled and said, "Besides, we have no relatives or friends when we go back, so we can always ask for help from others. This money can also be used as a gift."
"Okay, then I'll start packing now. We still have a lot of mushrooms, wood ears, and yellow flowers at home. My brothers from my mother's family like to drink wild tea, so I guess we have some in stock before.
Don't worry, I will definitely arrange it for you before you leave. At least I can make sure you bring enough to give to others this time.
As for other things besides mountain products, I will plant more peanuts in my own plot next year when I sow the seeds. I will then mail them to you for oil pressing! You need tickets to buy oil in the city too!"
With the help of the village chief's wife, a straightforward person, Shi Xiaoai had a good chat with the couple and soon solved the problem of the house.
The next morning, early in the morning, before daybreak, the Second Army came with the village's mule cart and knocked on the door.
There was also a big sack in the car.
Erjun already knew that this house would soon be his wedding house, and he couldn't help but look around secretly after entering the door.
When he saw that the furniture in the whole house was almost unmoved, and that Xiao Ai and her two daughters were each carrying a package with a large travel bag at their feet, he suddenly became anxious.
"Sister-in-law, you're not going to take anything from this room? What are you going to cook with when you get to the city? What are you going to use to cover yourself?"
As he said this, he was about to go into the room and pull out the mattress on the bed.
"I got it, I got it." Shi Xiaoai pointed helplessly at a roll of bedding on the bench outside: "I got a quilt."
"Will that be enough?"
"I can't carry more than that!"
After hearing this, Erjun really didn't know what to say.
He also heard that Shi Xiaoai and the others were returning home to attend a funeral. They had no relatives at home, and it was estimated that there would not even be anyone to pick them up.
What's more, they have to change buses on the way.
There are really too many things to carry.
He pursed his lips, reached into his pocket, pulled out a roll of money and an envelope, and handed it over: "Sister-in-law, this is 180 yuan. This is all the money my family can give you right now. In the envelope is your migration certificate and the IOU my father wrote. The train tickets are also in there."
He pointed outside and said, "In that bag is a bag of wild tea, a bag of wild vegetables, and two strips of homemade bacon. Take them back and eat them."
Finally, he took out a cloth bag from his pocket and stuffed it into Mingrui's hand, smiling: "Take these eggs with you to eat on the road."
Looking at Erjun's honest smile and the bulging cloth bag in his son's hand, Shi Xiaoai felt the warmth from the outside world for the first time since she traveled through time.
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