Three men were chatting in the main room, and in the inner room, several children were playing together. Xinxin looked at Yao Xiuhe's eldest sons He Jun and He Wu, put her hands on her hips, and asked unhappily.
"Cousin He Jun, cousin He Wu, why don't you call me cousin? My parents said that if you don't greet people, you're not a good kid!"
He Jun was stunned for a moment, and before he could speak, he saw his younger brother He Wu running to Xinxin and calling sweetly, "Cousin..."
Seeing this, he also hurriedly spoke, "Cousin..."
Xinxin was very happy to see this. She first rubbed He Wu's head, and then stepped forward to rub the head of He Jun, who was not much shorter than her. "My dear cousin, you are so good. I brought you some delicious food..."
As she spoke, she took out a small bag of hawthorn balls from the small bag she was carrying. It was the hawthorn balls that Chu Tian brought back from Beijing City and distributed them to the brothers and sisters present.
Pingping looked at the two hawthorn balls in his hand and looked at Xinxin in surprise, "Sister, you haven't finished eating these hawthorn balls yet?"
He clearly remembered that his father said he didn't buy many, only four or five pounds in total. In addition to giving more than thirty pieces to each of his three siblings, the rest were distributed to his cousins at home during the Chinese New Year.
Xinxin was watching Xiao Huihui and Huaiyu eating hawthorn balls. Upon hearing this, she glanced at Pingping and said indifferently, "Do you think I'm like you and Lele, the little dog that can't keep leftover steamed buns in its kennel and can't keep anything to eat? When Dad shared some with me, I thought my cousins must have never eaten it, so I thought of saving some for them when we got back to grandma's house."
Pingping said "Oh", looked down at the four hawthorn balls in her hand, then looked up at her cousins, thought for a while, and gave the four hawthorn balls in her hand to He Jun, He Wu, Huaiyu and Xiao Huihui, one each.
"These four are for my cousins. We ate them all when we were at home."
He Jun and He Wu quickly waved their hands and said no. Xin Xin saw this and said, "Take it. We have already eaten it before."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Pingping and said, "Pingping, don't give it to Huaiyu and Xiaohuihui. Mom and Dad said that too young children can't eat too much. Just let them taste it. Give the ones that were meant for them to He Jun and He Wu."
Pingping nodded and gave all four to He Jun and He Wu. Seeing this, the two brothers thanked them embarrassedly.
"Thank you, cousin..."
"Thank you, cousin..."
Pingping grinned and said, "You're welcome. My dad said we're all family, so there's no need to be so polite."
Lele saw that his brothers and sisters had no hawthorn balls in their hands. After thinking for a while, he gave the four hawthorn balls in his hand to Pingping and Xinxin, two each. Facing their puzzled expressions, he said in a baby voice, "Sister and brother have them. Lele won't eat any..."
Xinxin smiled so much that her eyes curved when she heard that. She only took one hawthorn ball and gave the remaining one back to Lele, "Sister, just eat one. Lele, you can eat this one yourself."
Pingping returned a hawthorn ball to Lele and stuffed the remaining one into Lele's mouth, saying with a smile, "Lele is so good. You know to give hawthorn balls to your sister and brother."
Lele stuffed a whole hawthorn ball in his mouth, blinked his innocent eyes, and said vaguely, "Mom said that family members should learn to share and not eat alone. Children who eat alone are not good children..."
Xinxin was delighted to hear this and praised him generously, "Our Lele is so well behaved. Sister likes Lele so much."
There were several people busy in the kitchen, but because some dishes were not enough, Yao's mother asked Liu Jiali and Yao Xiuli to go down to the cellar with her to get some more dishes, so only Yao Xiujuan and Yao Xiuhe were left in the kitchen.
After they left, Yao Xiujuan walked over to Yao Xiuhe and looked at her silently, struggling in her heart about how to ask.
However, before she could speak, Yao Xiuhe stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Yao Xiujuan helplessly.
"Sister, if you have anything to say, can you just say it directly? You staring at me like this makes me feel uncomfortable..."
Yao Xiujuan smiled and said, "I just feel that you have become different from before..."
Yao Xiuhe picked up the kitchen knife again and continued chopping vegetables while asking in a very calm tone, "What else? Am I going to have to live my life in self-pity?"
"Sister, I've been living in a daze for the past few years, but since the day of my divorce, I've been reborn. I told myself that even if it's not for myself, but just for Xiaowen and Xiaowu, I have to cheer up. I want to raise them well, pay for their education, see them get married, see them have children, and I also want..."
Listening to Yao Xiuhe's thoughts, Yao Xiujuan was stunned for a moment, then reacted, patted Yao Xiuhe's shoulder, and remained silent. She admitted that she was not as strong as Yao Xiuhe. If they switched places, she would definitely not be as open-minded as Yao Xiuhe...
Yao Xiuhe turned her head to look at Yao Xiujuan again, pursed her lips and smiled, "Sister, you don't have to worry about me, I'm fine. I feel that my life is very good now. I have my son by my side and I can also be with my parents..."
Yao Xiujuan nodded and said, "Well, don't force yourself. If you need help, just tell us. Don't forget, we are all family..."
Yao Xiuhe chuckled, "I know, don't worry, big sister. I have the money I took with me during the divorce, the compensation from the He family, and the work points I earn every year. As long as I spend frugally, it's enough to get by..."
"How much did the He family compensate you at that time?"
She knew that when Yao Xiuhe and He Jianjun divorced, they took away the only thirty or so yuan in the family. As for how much compensation the He family paid, she didn't know.
"I lost more than two hundred..."
"What? How come it's only over 200? Xiaojun and Xiaowu are still young. They need to go to school, build a house, and get married. What can they do with that money?"
"You worked like a slave for the He family back then, and when the family split up you were kicked out with nothing. No matter what, you can't just pay a little over two hundred..."
Yao Xiujuan grew angrier as she spoke. At the time, she only knew the He family had paid compensation, but neither Yao's parents nor Yao Xiuhe had said how much. She didn't ask, thinking they should have paid a few hundred yuan. Who knew they'd only paid this little?
Yao Xiuhe didn't think it was a big deal. She smiled and said softly, "At that time, as long as I could escape from that home, I didn't care how much money it was. I saved it for my child if I had more, and it didn't matter if I had less. I had my own hands and feet, and I could work to support the three of us, mother and child."
After a pause, he continued, "Besides, Xiaojun and Xiaowu are both very sensible. Before his father and I divorced, Xiaojun would go to the fields to help me every time after school. Now that we're divorced, he's even more sensible. Now that it's slack season and he doesn't have to work in the fields, he helps me with some housework within his ability..."
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