339 Looking Deeply at Her Husband's Face, Saying Her Final Farewell

Zhou Linglan continued to pack up the things in the house. She packed up some old clothes that she couldn't take away and some leftover food, oil, rice, and flour and put them aside.

I also packed up all the things I could take into the car tomorrow and put them aside.

Dinner consisted of stir-fried chicken with sour beans and rapeseed with pork lard, followed by a pot of luxurious white rice.

She baked another pot of sugar cookies to take on the train.

Fu Yuanhang and Mumu came back just in time for dinner. Zhou Linglan had just finished her meal when they came back.

"Have you paid Uncle Niu's fare?" Zhou Linglan forgot to pay when she set out.

Fu Yuanhang nodded: "We have paid. Mumu also gave Uncle Niu a pack of cigarettes and asked him to take us to the station early tomorrow morning."

"Mumu, how much are the cigarettes? I'll give them to you." Although she felt sad that Mumu was so extravagant, Zhou Linglan couldn't say anything since she had already given him the child.

Mumu waved his hands and said, "No money is needed. No one in my family smokes. My father gave me two packs of cigarettes before he got off the bus. He said it was hard currency and could be used when asking people for favors. It was more useful than money. Uncle Niu was very happy to receive it."

Uncle Niu was worried that Mumu didn't know the seriousness of the matter and took the cigarettes from home and handed them out randomly. Uncle Niu was so scared that he didn't dare to take one. Normally, if someone handed him one cigarette, it would be a big deal, but this whole pack contained twenty cigarettes.

Mumu said that his father gets cigarette coupons every month, but no one smokes them at home. He uses the coupons to thank people for their help.

Uncle Niu accepted it with great trepidation and helped the two children throughout the whole process.

"Uncle Niu is a good person. Go wash your hands and have dinner." Zhou Linglan didn't want to be too formal. She treated Mumu as her own child.

When Zhou Linglan stir-fried the chicken offal, she also added some basil and green pepper to remove the smell. The already appetizing sour beans and chicken offal had more layers and was so delicious that Mumu couldn't stop eating it.

"Mother, you and Sister Taozi are really like family, and your cooking is delicious!"

Zhou Linglan picked up some food for him: "If it tastes good, eat more."

After dinner, the three of them took advantage of darkness to move the things they had packed to Xiaomei's house.

Mumu stood at the door of Xiaomeizi's house in silence for a long time.

His life since childhood was not luxurious, but at least he had enough food and drink.

He knew that Xiaomeizi's family was poor, but he didn't expect them to be so poor.

The yard was surrounded by a fence, and the house was built with yellow mud bricks. There was not a single complete tile on the roof, it was just patched up with thatch and mud.

It can be said that this is the most shabby thatched hut Mumu has ever seen.

The furniture in the room was either missing arms or legs; not a single piece was in good condition; the walls were blackened by smoke, and it was not much better than the cowshed he had seen before.

But it is very clean and everything is arranged in an orderly manner.

The three of them put their things down, and Xiao Meizi's grandmother thanked her profusely and even asked Xiao Meizi to kowtow to Zhou Linglan.

Fortunately, Zhou Linglan was quick to stop it.

Mumu lent twenty yuan to Fu Yuanhang and had thirty yuan left. He touched the money in his pocket and felt very uncomfortable.

The three of them walked a short distance away from the hut, and Mumu suddenly ran back.

"You guys go ahead. I want to talk to Grandma Xiaomei."

"Mom, you go back first. I'll go take a look." Fu Yuanhang was worried and followed her.

Back at the hut, Mumu stuffed ten yuan into Grandma Mei Zi's rough hands.

"Grandma, this is the pocket money I earned from working part-time during the summer vacation. It is not money given by the adults at home. It is for Xiaomeizi to study. When Xiaomeizi grows up and earns money, she can return it to me. Ah Hang and I will come back every year."

He didn't say give, he said borrow.

Mumu felt that if he told Xiaomeizi's grandmother about it, she would definitely not accept it.

They don't need charity.

Xiao Meizi's grandmother still refused to accept the money, so Xiao Meizi took it and stuffed it back to Mumu.

Mumu's eyes were dark and bright, and he looked at Xiaomeizi seriously:

"If you're worried, write me an IOU. Ah Hang knows that no matter how much money I have, I won't be able to keep it all. I'll spend it all. I can save some by lending it out.

I will come to you every summer or winter vacation to borrow some money. If I save it for a few years, maybe it will be enough for me to get married."

Xiao Meizi, Xiao Meizi's grandmother, and Fu Yuanhang: "..."

What else could Fu Yuanhang say? He had no choice but to nod his head. "He worked part-time in my sister-in-law's factory to earn pocket money. His brother and parents also gave him pocket money regularly, but he spent most of it."

Xiao Meizi looked into Mumu's sincere eyes, thinking about how her grandmother, in order to support her schooling, was reluctant to spend the money on eggs at home and took them to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange for money.

She doesn't have to eat it, but as she gets older, it's good for her to eat eggs as a supplement.

Xiao Meizi held the money in her hand and said, "Then shall I write you an IOU?"

Mumu smiled and nodded: "Go ahead, I'm not in a hurry to use it. The longer you save it for me, the better. Do you know that?

Sister Taozi's factory is recruiting workers, and many positions give priority to high school graduates. The monthly salary is several dozen yuan, so you don't have to rush to pay me back. You will need money to buy books and stationery in the future. When you graduate from high school and pass the examination to become a worker, you can pay me back when you make money."

Xiao Meizi knew that Mumu was helping her, including Zhou Linglan and Fu Yuanhang, they were all helping them.

Xiao Meizi did not refuse their kindness. With tears in her eyes, she smiled and nodded: "Okay."

…

Mumu walked backwards, holding the IOU and flicking it at the moonlight:

"This little girl's handwriting is quite beautiful. Why do I feel it looks familiar? Hey, it looks a lot like your handwriting. Wow, you have a good ability to imitate."

"I'll give you the money when we get back," said Fu Yuanhang.

"Why are you giving me the money I lent out?" Mumu asked in confusion.

"How are you going to explain this to Aunt Zhong when you get back?" Fu Yuanhang asked.

Mumu grabbed Fu Yuanhang's neck and said, "Are you stupid? How could Miss Zhong know about my father's private money? She didn't even know that my brother gave her money. She still didn't know that it was my own pocket money. She thought I had spent it all.

Don’t think our daughter Zhong is stingy, in fact, she is quite generous sometimes. She gave pocket money to my father, and when my father asked her about it, she gave it back again, and she didn’t even remember giving it. Otherwise, how did my father save up his own money?”

Mumu's family is very nice. Fu Yuanhang smiled and said, "Okay."

Mumu looked serious for the first time: "Ah Hang, before I came to Xiaomeizi's house, I really didn't know people could be so poor. My father's relatives in his hometown weren't rich either, but at least they had a roof over their heads. This is the first time I've seen such a shabby house."

Fu Yuanhang looked at the mountains in the distance and said, "Actually, many people in the village live like this, they just live in slightly better houses. If I didn't have my brother and sister-in-law, I wouldn't be much better off than her."

Mumu tightened his arms: "Hey, hey, you sound so pitiful. Who is the one who spends dozens of dollars to buy clothes for my sister Taozi?"

Fu Yuanhang smiled and didn't respond to Mumu's words.

The kindness of a sister-in-law cannot be measured by money.

…

When I get home at night, I still pack up everything and reduce the amount of things I bring to a minimum.

There was still some food left, so Zhou Linglan asked Fu Yuanhang to deliver it to the cowshed at the back.

As a result, no matter how many times Fu Yuanhang knocked on the door, there was no response.

But the neighbor behind me said, "No need to knock. The people inside left early this morning."

"Gone?" Wasn't Teacher Cao demoted and unable to leave Qinglian Village?

He went back and told Zhou Linglan the news.

Zhou Linglan didn't say anything, but asked him to give the remaining food to Xiao Meizi.

The next morning, the three of them boarded Uncle Niu's tractor and headed to the station.

Before leaving, Zhou Linglan brought Fu Yuanhang to Fu Lei's portrait.

She used Fu Lei's favorite Duan inkstone to press the note with the address and contact information, looked deeply at her husband's face, and said her final farewell.

After getting in the car, Zhou Linglan looked at the small mountain village where she had lived for nearly thirty years, which was getting farther and farther away. She was reluctant to look away until it was completely out of sight...