บท 8: Chapter 7: Mending and Repairing, Another Year Goes By
Xu Zhiqiang thought Xu Niannian was deliberately messing with him again. His face looked awful, as he pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.
Xu Niannian hadn't expected that push to send the boy tumbling to the ground.
She hurried to help him up, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
Xu Zhiqiang was still fuming and hadn't expected Xu Niannian to apologize, so he looked at her in utter amazement.
Xu Niannian thought he had gone mad with anger and apologized once more, "Really, I'm sorry, it wasn't on purpose."
Xu Zhiqiang eyed Xu Niannian suspiciously, and she didn't notice his scrutiny.
As she helped him up, Xu Niannian said helplessly, "In the future, you don't need to bring me water for washing my feet; I'll wash outside by myself."
Perhaps it was the sincerity in Xu Niannian's gaze, but eventually, Xu Zhiqiang didn't say anything at all.
When Xu Zhiqiang returned to the room and lay down on the bed, Xu Zhicheng came over to him while Xu Duoyu was already asleep.
"Brother, did Sister pick on you tonight?"
Every time Big Brother brought foot-washing water for Sister, he would return with a sulky expression, and Xu Zhicheng knew he must have suffered her bullying.
However, Sister seemed a bit different today, and Xu Zhicheng wondered if she hadn't given Big Brother a hard time today.
Having never felt the love of a father or mother, and cherished only by his brother, Xu Zhicheng viewed Xu Zhiqiang as a fatherly figure in his heart.
Xu Zhiqiang pursed his lips, "Just go to sleep."
Thinking of Xu Niannian's uncharacteristic behavior throughout the day, Xu Zhiqiang wondered if she really couldn't remember the past?
Of course, this thought could only be suppressed in his heart.
If Xu Niannian really had forgotten the past and would no longer bully the three brothers, then he hoped she would never remember it.
The next day, Xu Niannian got up bright and early while Yang Cuihua and Xu Zhiqiang had already gone to work.
Xu Dawei had also gone out to gather firewood, and apart from her, only Xu Duoyu and Xu Zhicheng were at home.
When Xu Niannian came out of her room, Xu Zhicheng was washing Xu Duoyu's face.
At just nine years old, Xu Zhicheng was still a child, but he took care of Xu Duoyu like a little adult, displaying remarkable maturity.
Xu Niannian sighed, "The children of the poor take on responsibilities early in life."
"Sister, you're awake?" After washing Xu Duoyu's face, Xu Zhicheng looked up to see Xu Niannian standing at the door watching him.
It was baffling; when did this lazybones ever wake up before the sun was high in the sky? Why so early today?
Of course, he didn't dare speak these words out loud.
Still young, Xu Zhicheng couldn't hide the emotions in his eyes. Xu Niannian saw at a glance what he was thinking.
The original host was lazy, sleeping for more than ten hours each day, but she wasn't like that, accustomed to waking up early, feeling uncomfortable with just a few extra hours of sleep.
With only the three siblings at home, Xu Niannian found herself bored.
Xu Duoyu was young and unable to do any chores, simply sitting on the threshold watching Xu Zhicheng feed the chickens.
Xu Niannian decided to also grab a small stool and sit in the yard.
She hadn't had the chance to observe the house properly yesterday, but today she finally took the opportunity.
The house was a clay structure with wooden boards, smeared on the outside with a layer of cement. Inside, it was simply three bedrooms and a hall.
All together, it amounted to about seventy square meters. The yard, however, was much larger than the house itself.
The yard was enclosed by a low earthen wall, which just encompassed the entire clay building. There were some leafy greens planted behind the house.
In the front yard, a path led to the doorway, with bamboo poles forming two small enclosures on each side.
On the left side were two laying hens, clucking away, and Xu Zhicheng tossed a few cabbage leaves into their pen.
This became possible only after the reform and opening-up policy of the previous two years, when families dared to grow vegetables and keep two laying hens.
Before the reform and opening-up, peasants weren't allowed to reclaim land privately, nor could they grow crops on their own. Even the number of hens was regulated; every family could only keep one.
Any family that dared to keep more would be accused of practicing capitalism and subjected to public shaming and struggle sessions.
After feeding the chickens, Xu Zhicheng pulled Xu Duoyu over to the nearby well to draw water.
Xu Dawei had dug the well himself before he got injured, which saved them the trouble of carrying water.
Watching Xu Zhicheng press down on the iron bar above the well a few times and water came out, Xu Niannian couldn't help but feel curious.
She had never seen such a thing before.
"Zhicheng, what are you doing?" Xu Niannian asked curiously.
As soon as Xu Duoyu saw Xu Niannian coming over, he was so scared that he hid behind Xu Zhicheng, making Xu Niannian seem like the Tiger Auntie.
Xu Zhicheng didn't like his sister, but she was the local tyrant of the family and no one dared to offend her.
Upon hearing her question, Xu Zhicheng pursed his lips and said without much heart, "Washing clothes."
"Washing clothes?" Xu Niannian blinked, "Where are the clothes?"
No sooner had she asked this than she saw Xu Zhicheng take off his clothes and throw them into the basin. Then he also helped Xu Duoyu take off all his clothes and trousers, leaving Xu Duoyu standing there naked.
Xu Niannian was somewhat stunned. Was this how they washed clothes?
Where were the clothes to change into?
As she thought this, Xu Niannian couldn't help but ask out loud.
Then she saw Xu Zhicheng looking at her with a weird expression, somberly saying, "There's only one set of clothes." Did she really not remember?
With his reminder, Xu Niannian finally remembered that her three younger brothers, apart from Xu Zhiqiang who had two sets of clothes, Xu Zhicheng and Xu Duoyu each only had one set.
And they were all hand-me-downs that Xu Niannian had worn when she was little. Throughout the year, in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, by patching and mending the same thin set of clothes was all they had.
It was fortunate that it was summer now, so the cold wasn't an issue.
But what about in winter? Wouldn't they freeze to death?
Thinking of the clothes she had in her room that she couldn't wear, Xu Niannian felt a lump in her throat.
Although their family was poor, because Yang Cuihua and Xu Dawei doted on her, they would use all the household's cloth coupons every year to get fabric to make clothes for her. So in those days, Xu Niannian had quite a lot of clothes by comparison.
And those clothes had been saved from the rest of the family.
For instance, her three brothers, aside from Xu Zhiqiang who had two sets of clothes, Xu Duoyu and Xu Zhicheng only had one set each for the whole year, and it was worn for several years at that.
Even Xu Dawei and Yang Cuihua only had two sets of clothes. Thus, in the memories that Xu Niannian had received, the family was always wearing patched clothes.
Her family really was very poor.
Because Xu Niannian was there, Xu Zhicheng felt it wasn't appropriate to take off his pants.
After washing the clothes, Xu Zhicheng hung them on the surrounding wall. It was hot, and they didn't take long to dry.
Xu Niannian went back to her room, took out the clothes she couldn't wear, and based on her estimation, cut them to sizes suitable for Xu Zhicheng and Xu Duoyu.
She planned to sew them up in the evening, and give them to her two brothers the next day.
Xu Niannian, in her previous life, had gone from an orphan to a multimillionaire through her incredible cooking skills and genius for fashion design.
Modifying clothes was a small matter for her; she had learned to do it back at the orphanage.
The morning passed quickly, and while Xu Niannian was still pondering in her room at noon, Xu Zhicheng had already finished cooking lunch.
Yang Cuihua and Xu Zhiqiang came back from the fields, hurriedly ate their meal, and then continued with their work.
Before leaving for work, Yang Cuihua pulled Xu Niannian aside into the room and stuffed a cornbread into her hand.
"Mom, where did you get this?" Wasn't she supposed to be working? Where did she find time to make cornbread?
Hearing her daughter's question, Yang Cuihua's face lit up with pride, "I met your grandmother on the way; she told me to bring this to you. Hurry up and eat it, look at how thin you've become."
Holding the cornbread the size of a palm, which still had some mud and ash on it because Yang Cuihua had kept it in her pocket all morning,
Xu Niannian felt a bit upset, "Mom, I'm not hungry, you eat it."
The old lady, though she had quirky ideas, loved her daughter deeply.
As Yang Cuihua hurried off to work, tears threatened to spill from her eyes upon hearing Xu Niannian's considerate words, "My dear, I'm not hungry, you go ahead and eat it before the kids come hankering after it."
With that said, Yang Cuihua didn't wait for Xu Niannian to respond and walked away, swinging her hips.
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