Grandma Meng is old and not in good health. On the way back to the village, she has to rest for a while after walking for a while before she can continue.
In the past, it took them two or three hours to walk, but today they didn’t enter the village until it was almost dark.
By this time, the villagers had finished their dinner and were gathered under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village to chat.
Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Chen and a few other old ladies were chatting under the big banyan tree, gossiping about all sorts of things in the neighborhood. Their laughter could be heard from outside the village.
On the main road at the entrance of the village, I saw two figures coming towards the village from afar. Only when they got closer could I see clearly who they were.
Mrs. Wang cried out in surprise, "Hey! Auntie, you're back."
Grandma Meng replied calmly, "Yeah, I'm back."
Seeing that Grandma Meng's arm was hanging around her neck, Old Lady Chen asked again, "Old sister, are you feeling better? Is your arm okay?"
Everyone kept asking questions, and Grandma Meng sighed, "With my old bones, how can I be any better?"
Old Lady Chen asked, "Why are you back so late? Have you had dinner yet?"
Jiang Baige said, "We came back a little late and haven't eaten yet."
"Okay, this walk is a bit tiring. You guys chat while we go."
Grandma Meng was a little tired and didn't want to talk to them. These people had never spoken to her like this when they were young, and even now that they were old, their tempers would not change.
Hearing Grandma Meng say that she was tired, Jiang Baige hurriedly said, "Grandma Meng, let's go back!"
After the two walked away, the old ladies under the banyan tree started talking again, and the topic changed to Grandma Meng and the young educated youth.
Jiang Baige has been in Chenjia Village for some time, but this is her first time visiting a villager's home.
When he arrived at the door, he found it was locked.
A few days ago, they were in a hurry to send Grandma Meng to the county town, and Zhou Xiuying used the lock from our house to lock the door.
Hearing that they were back, he hurried over with the key to open the door.
As he walked, he said, "Auntie, you are back. Are you feeling better?"
"You left in a hurry that day, and I couldn't find your key, so I locked it up with my lock."
Grandma Meng forced a smile and said, "If a mouse gets in, it will leave crying. It won't lose anything."
Zhou Xiuying laughed out loud after hearing this. "Look at what you said. Okay, go inside and rest."
Seeing that the village chief's wife was helping so much, Jiang Baige smiled at Zhou Xiuying.
Zhou Xiuying looked at the young educated youth in front of her and said, "Comrade Jiang, you've worked hard these past two days. You should go back to the compound soon! I can leave Aunt Meng to me."
"How can this be possible?"
Jiang Baige waved her hands quickly, "No, no, no, Grandma Meng was injured because of me, I should be the one taking care of her."
"Besides, Grandma Meng is not in a good condition right now. It's not something that happens every few days. No matter what happens during this period, I should take care of her."
Hearing them vying to take care of themselves, Grandma Meng said, "I'm used to living alone, you all go back!"
Zhou Xiuying asked, "Auntie, you haven't eaten yet! It's so late. Come to our house and have something to eat. We haven't eaten either."
Grandma Meng held the door open and said as she walked in, "I'm tired from walking. I need to lie down for a while."
Jiang Baige hurriedly supported Grandma Meng and followed her into the inner room, while Zhou Xiuying hurried to the front to open the door for them.
Grandma Meng's room is simply decorated, with only a cabinet and a bed in the bedroom.
The bed was covered with a black coarse linen mosquito net. The room seemed very clean, or maybe there was nothing in it at all.
Coming to the bed, Grandma Meng felt for the edge and slowly sat down.
She took off her shoes and lay down on the bed. Jiang Baige quickly covered her with a quilt.
Grandma Meng closed her eyes and said, "Okay, you all go back! I'm going to sleep for a while."
Zhou Xiuying said, "Okay, Auntie, you can take a nap first. I'll go back."
Jiang Baige put the bag she was carrying on the ground, took out the things inside and put them on the cabinet.
Before leaving, he said to Grandma Meng, "Grandma Meng, you take a nap first. I'll go back to the compound and come back to cook."
"Well, go ahead!" Grandma Meng replied with her eyes closed.
Jiang Baige and Zhou Xiuying closed the door and left Grandma Meng's room.
In the yard, Zhou Xiuying said to her, "Comrade Jiang, don't go back to the educated youth compound. They should have eaten dinner by now. Let's go to our house and eat something first."
Jiang Baige didn't want to disturb others, and they were not familiar with each other, so it would be too much trouble for them if she went.
She waved her hands quickly and said, "Thank you, Auntie. I'll go to the compound to pack some things first and stay here to take care of Grandma Meng tonight."
Zhou Xiuying thought to herself, "Comrade Jiang is very sincere and honest. His morality is much better than some of the educated youth."
Since they wanted to come and take care of her, Zhou Xiuying didn't force it. She smiled and said, "Okay, then next time you come home, I'll make you something delicious."
Jiang Baige returned to the educated youth compound. Several people in the yard were chatting. When they saw her come back, they all got up from their chairs.
They all started asking, "Comrade Jiang, how is that Grandma Meng? Did she blackmail you? Is your money enough to pay it back? How much did it cost?"
They asked her a lot of questions and she didn't know how to answer them, but she felt that they were also concerned about her.
I picked two questions to answer, "Where did you hear that old lady would blackmail me?
"No? The villagers said she had extorted money from them."
Jiang Baige smiled again and said, "Thank you for your concern. I really didn't blackmail you."
Wu Lili heard the sound in the yard, got up from the bed and walked to the door.
Looking at Jiang Baige in the yard, she folded her hands and leaned against the door frame.
He said unhappily, "We are out and about. If we want to go somewhere, we should find someone to go with us. The countryside is not like the city. You don't even know whether those people outside are human or ghosts."
"It's better to find someone to go with you next time, so that if there's trouble, we won't have to be together as a group."
Wu Lili remembered these words, which her mother had been nagging her to before she left the house.
What she said made sense. Jiang Baige really didn't expect Wu Lili to say these words to her.
Her disdainful expression seemed to be blaming, but it also showed concern.
This was the first time this girl said something like this to him. Jiang Baige smiled sincerely and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Li Yan asked, "Have you eaten? There's some porridge in the room. You can have some."
Jiang Baige shook her head and said that she had not eaten yet. She came back to get a quilt and pack some clothes. She would stay at Grandma Meng's house to take care of her at night.
When he heard that she wanted to stay at a fellow villager's house, Zhang Hongyang said, "We educated youth have a rule that we are not allowed to live outside unless necessary."
Jiang Baige frowned slightly. She had really forgotten about this.
"Then I'll go to the village chief's house later. Grandma Meng has a plaster cast on her arm. It's inconvenient for her to cook with one hand, and she can't see. I'm worried about leaving her alone."
Wu Juan then interrupted, "Comrade Jiang, they say Grandma Meng has an eccentric personality. I don't think it would be a problem if you moved in with her!"
Jiang Baige smiled and said, "I feel like she doesn't have a weird personality! Okay, you guys can chat! I'll pack up and go over first."
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