Chapter 127 Picking Branches
After applying the face cream and soaking her feet for a while, she wiped her feet with a towel, then Xia Zhizhi scooped out a dollop of face cream and applied it to her toes, motioning Cheng Rong to join in.
After taking care of her personal hygiene, Xia Zhizhi took out a pack of egg cakes and two cans of food from the cupboard and called her, "Go get a pair of chopsticks."
Cheng Rong's eyes lit up and she happily went to the kitchen to get two pairs of chopsticks.
She had never been so greedy before. She had been hungry for three days and worked all day today. The morning and lunch were okay, at least she had the buns packed from the canteen. But she couldn't swallow the dinner at night. She must be greedy.
Xia Zhizhi also knew this, so she specially gave her some extra food.
You can't ask people to work and then make them hungry and thin.
Cheng Rong chatted with her while eating: "Zhizhi, you look nothing like what I imagined."
"What's wrong? I'm not good-looking?"
"You are beautiful! You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. The more I look at you, the more beautiful you become!" Cheng Rong stared at her face while eating cake.
Xia Zhizhi is an old demon, and she is very friendly to people.
The reason why Cheng Rong was willing to use her as a tree hole was because Xia Zhizhi never told her in her letters that "this is not okay" or "that is not right". She was not like some people who, relying on their age and experience, would point fingers and criticize others.
Even if I want to advise her, I use the method of giving indirect examples. She won't feel uncomfortable if she doesn't listen at the time. When she comes to her senses later, she will be very grateful to her in her heart.
"I thought you would look like Sister Youran or Sister Xiurong." Either gentle, intellectual or cheerful.
Xia Zhizhi was pretty, but when she put her hands in her lap, she had an indescribable feeling. She had only been in the Northeast for a short time, but after a while, she came to know the adjective "Qianerdeng".
Cheng Rong added: "But it's also good for you to be like this."
Everyone thinks that little girls will be excluded by other girls because they are pretty, but in fact this rarely happens.
Unless there are special circumstances, girls like to play with pretty girls.
Not only boys can't refuse the request of beautiful girls, girls can't refuse it either.
Cheng Rong felt happy whenever she looked at Xia Zhizhi's face, not to mention that Xia Zhizhi took care of her food and drink and spoke to her in a gentle and soft voice.
After eating, Xia Zhizhi asked her to go to bed.
The next morning, the sun came out. After breakfast, Xia Zhizhi stuffed another bag of biscuits into Cheng Rong's pocket, put her hands in her pockets, and said to her mysteriously, "Come on, I'll take you out to play."
Although it snowed heavily, it wasn't the coldest yet. The temperature outside was about minus 6 or 7 degrees Celsius. When it wasn't windy, wearing a thick cotton jacket could keep out the cold.
Cheng Rong was very happy. She made a snowball and held it through her gloves, skipping along the road.
After a heavy snowfall, many tree branches will be broken. Today the weather is good, so the children will definitely go to the woods to pick up branches. Xia Zhizhi took Cheng Rong to find Lin Beibei and asked Lin Beibei to bring some for her as well.
Lin Beibei and a group of children were about to set off. Xia Zhizhi went over and stuffed a candy in each of their mouths, and asked them to teach Rong to pick branches.
The children held the candies in their mouths and nodded.
"Don't worry, Xia Zhiqing, we will take good care of her!"
"We'll let her pick lots of branches!"
"right!"
The children took Cheng Rong to the woods by the river.
Although Cheng Rong felt a little sorry that Xia Zhizhi couldn't go with them, the children said that Xia Zhizhi was not in good health and couldn't go.
I don't know why it's bad, but children never lie.
The children were very enthusiastic and chattered around Cheng Rong, and she quickly forgot about Xia Zhizhi.
Picking branches was actually very fun. She was fully equipped, wrapped from head to toe, and didn't feel cold at all.
Picking up a branch here and a branch there, and seeing the children climbing up the trees to pull out the broken branches, I also climbed up the trees with them, feeling extremely happy.
At noon, when no one went back to eat, Cheng Rong took out the biscuits that Xia Zhizhi had stuffed into her mouth and shared them with everyone.
Because they ate her food, everyone took good care of her and didn't compete with her for the food. By the afternoon, she had picked up a lot of branches.
Lin Beibei lent her a hemp rope and helped her tie the firewood tightly. She then lifted the firewood up and said to her, "Sister, I'll hold it for you, and you carry it on your back."
The pile of branches was very heavy. Seeing that Lin Beibei's pile was no less than hers and she could carry it easily, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and carry it back, resting every three steps. It took her more than an hour to walk this short distance.
After finally reaching the educated youth point, Cheng Rong threw the firewood on her back and was about to straighten up to take a deep breath when she heard a "click". She turned her head and looked behind her. The tree branch had cut a big hole in the back of her clothes, revealing the white cotton inside.
Zhao Jinhua happened to see it, and Xin Xie said jokingly: "Wow, this is a new cotton shirt, and it has such a big hole after only two days of wearing it."
Cheng Rong touched the cut area, feeling a little overwhelmed.
She is no longer the naive Cheng Rong of the past.
She lives in too good an environment and has insufficient understanding of the concept of poverty. She always thinks that poverty means eating less delicious food and buying fewer new clothes.
Today I spent the day picking branches with the kids.
Everyone was wearing heavily patched, dry and skinny cotton coats that didn't seem to keep them warm, and cotton pants that were too short to show their ankles and necks.
The children looked at her with envy at the cotton blouse she thought was ugly.
When everyone was discussing going to a farther place to pick branches tomorrow, a few children said it was a pity that they could not go tomorrow.
Because it is not their turn to go out tomorrow, there are only one or two sets of thick cotton jackets for children at home, and the brothers and sisters take turns wearing them. Everyone takes turns to go out for some fresh air.
Looking at the indifferent expressions of others, Cheng Rong seemed to have some one-sided understanding of poverty for the first time.
With the comparison, she also realized how valuable the cotton shirt she was wearing was.
How could she accidentally break it?
Cheng Rong was so anxious that she almost cried.
Xia Zhizhi heard the sound and came out. Seeing her pitiful appearance, she said, "Hey, it's okay. Just take it off and let Sister Xiurong fix it for you."
Seeing her aggrieved look, Jiang Xiurong comforted her: "I have this patterned fabric. It won't be noticeable after it's repaired."
Cui Zijin watched them go into the house three times, and then he wisely carried the bundle of branches in the yard to the firewood pile and placed them there.
Cheng Rong turned around and looked at him: "Don't be fooled by the fact that this educated youth doesn't talk much, he is a very nice person."
After dinner, everyone washed up, and Jiang Xiurong took the needle and thread frame to Xia Zhizhi's room to help Cheng Rong mend her cotton quilt.
Fearing that she would strain her eyes, Xia Zhizhi asked Cheng Rong to light a few more candles.
Cheng Rong lit the candles, grabbed a piece of chestnut cake, and walked over to Jiang Xiurong, asking her in a low voice: "Sister Xiurong, does that male educated youth like Sister Youran?"
Jiang Xiurong looked at Cheng Rong with a little surprise.
Cheng Rong was a little proud, and squinted at Jiang Xiurong in a pretentious manner: "I saw him look at Sister Youran like this."