"Thank you, mother. I'll make a trip tomorrow." Ms. Qi nodded.
It’s been a while since I’ve been back to my parents’ home, so it’s time to go and visit.
If her parents want to coax something from her, they have to provide it to her, and they don't have to worry about being looked down upon.
As soon as he thought of his parents supporting him and suppressing him, Qi's desire to go was greatly reduced.
"Well, I have a lot of food stored at home these days. Let's take them all."
"You don't need to bring them all, just enough for one or two meals." Mrs. Qi said quickly, she didn't want to feed her mother-in-law's appetite.
When the daughter-in-law said this, Mrs. Hua understood what it meant as soon as she heard it, and she didn't say much when she thought about the character of her in-laws.
After breakfast the next day, she packed up a basket of vegetables, a bag of pastries, added ten eggs, and was stuffed with half a catty of fat and ten catties of whole grains by her mother-in-law, and Mrs. Qi was ready to leave for her parents' home.
My natal family is in Xiaohe Village, a dozen miles away from Huajia Village. It is a small village with only a few dozen households.
"Mother, I'm going too." Seeing that mother was about to set off, Hua Jin quickly took Qi's hand. He only had some vague impressions of his maternal grandfather's home, Hua Jin, so he took this opportunity to go over and have a look.
Xiaosi didn't originally want to go, after all, every time he went to his grandfather's place, it would be worse than home. But when he heard his sister say this, he quickly came to his mother's side.
Well, it’s good to go out for a walk. Thinking that the little cousins’ hands seemed to be a little itchy, Xiao Si smiled evilly.
"Girl, I really want to go!" Mrs. Qi originally didn't want her child to go with her, as she was worried that her mother's mouth would pollute her delicate and fragile daughter.
"Yeah, Mom, I'm too bored at home, so just let me go." Hua Jin nodded quickly.
Mrs. Qi thought about it and nodded. She wouldn't be used to her mother's family, and the child's father would also go with her, so her mother's family should still be considerate.
Seeing that her mother had promised her sister to go, Xiaosi also hurriedly clamored to go. Mrs. Qi also nodded and agreed. It would be too lonely to go with her daughter by herself. The younger son followed her and it happened that her daughter also had someone to keep her company.
As for the nephews and nieces from her mother's family, none of the Qi family can take a fancy to them, and they are afraid that they will lead their daughter to evil.
Brother Hua Yun'ao on the side saw that his younger brothers and sisters had gone, and they were worried that their younger brothers and sisters would suffer a disadvantage at their grandmother's house, so they also offered to go with them, but this time the Qi family did not agree.
The main reason is that the two children are not young anymore. Seeing that they have reached the age of marriage, Qi's heart trembles when she thinks of the way her parents and sister-in-law look at the two children. Generally, she will not let the two children go unless necessary. Returning to my grandfather’s house.
My mother didn't agree, and the two brothers couldn't be as stubborn as their younger siblings. In addition, my father also went along, so I nodded after thinking about it.
They were already preparing to leave, but because their son and daughter were going, the Qi couple made some extra preparations. They also put an extra shabby quilt in the ox cart, added a basin of charcoal, and wrapped the wheels of the ox cart with charcoal. I made a circle of hemp rope and set off.
The distance of more than ten miles would have taken less than half an hour in the past, but now there is thick snow everywhere, and the ox-cart is actually not much faster than walking.
There was a carbon basin in the bullock cart, so it wasn't too cold. Hua Jin and Xiao Si sat on the tattered quilt, with the other half of the quilt covering their legs.
"Mom, please tell me about my grandfather's family." Hua Jin leaned against Qi's body and said softly.
There are too few things about my grandfather's family in my memory. I only know that my grandfather's family seems to have a strong preference for boys over girls. I can't remember more. Even everyone's appearance is vague.
When the daughter said this, Qi understood that the child could not remember the affairs of his maternal grandfather's family clearly. Thinking about it, he really should talk about it, which happened to make the daughter aware of it, so he immediately spoke.
"Mom has three brothers and two sisters... You... Grandpa and grandma are a bit patriarchal... My eldest uncle's family has two sons and one daughter, my second uncle's family has three daughters and one son, and my younger uncle's family has two sons... As for those cousins, if you can get along with them, just go with them. If you can't get along with them, don't force yourself and don't spoil them, you know?"
"Yeah, don't worry, mother." How could Hua Jin be the one who forced herself? She has always been a person who doesn't offend others, but Hua Jin will never get used to it if she takes the initiative to find trouble.
"Mom, there's still me here, I'm here to protect my sister." Xiao Si quickly interjected, straightening her relatively thick chest and touching the slingshot on her lower waist.
"Well, your sister will be left to you." Mrs. Qi cast an admiring glance at her youngest son. Although the child is young, his desire to protect his sister must be encouraged.
"Don't worry, mother." Xiao Si was a little excited to be trusted by his mother so much. If he hadn't stood up boldly in the bullock cart, showing off his little manhood with great arrogance.
"Of course we, the fourth lady, can do things with peace of mind, but don't forget to help your sister recognize someone later." Ms. Qi suppressed a smile and reminded her old son, thinking of her daughter's missing memory.
The time passed quickly as the three mothers chatted and laughed. When the bullock cart slowed down and Hua Chengtian's voice came outside, the three mothers realized that they had arrived.
When she opened the door, she saw a small village not far ahead. Xiaohe Village had indeed arrived. Qi glanced at the village ahead with a complicated expression.
In her memory, there seemed to be nothing that made her happy in this village.
Ever since she can remember, she has been working non-stop, or she has been indoctrinated by her parents that her mother's family will be their supporter in the future. Only by maintaining the relationship with her mother's family can the brothers of her mother's family support them. That is to say, she is good at thinking and is not like her two younger sisters. They were also brainwashed by their parents. Even after they got married, they still put their parents' family first and moved all the good things to their parents' family. The eldest sister even had her legs broken by her husband's family because of this. However, this still couldn't stop them from focusing on their parents' family and living a good life. That's a lot of fun, Qi really doesn't like it.
"Mother..." Feeling her mother's mood swings, Hua Jin held Qi's hand.
The warmth in her hands brought Qi back to her senses. She looked at her caring daughter warmly, smiled slightly, and said it was okay.
The ox cart slowly walked towards the village.
"Hey, isn't this the uncle of Lao Qitou's family? Are you coming to see your father-in-law and mother-in-law?" A woman who came out to collect firewood recognized Hua Chengtian on the bullock cart and happily came forward, looking at her eagerly. Looking inside the bullock cart, unfortunately the door is closed and nothing can be seen.
When Hua Chengtian smiled and nodded in agreement, Qi quickly opened the car door and exposed half of her body when she heard the voice. She saw a smile on the face of the person who spoke.
"It's Aunt Sun, your old body is still as strong as ever. You are carrying firewood. Auntie said that the family is too busy and she has not been here for some days. No... I want to give my mother-in-law some fresh things at home. Bring it here and try it.”
As she spoke, Mrs. Qi grabbed a large handful of vegetables from the basket in the oxcart and handed them to Aunt Sun.
If other people, Mrs. Qi, were not so kind to give gifts, Mrs. Sun was a good person. She had protected her several times when she was a child and secretly gave her some cornbread. Mrs. Qi was still very grateful to Aunt Sun.
So every time I come, I go to Grandma Sun’s house to sit there, and sometimes I bring something with me. The thing is not expensive mainly because of my mood.
(End of chapter)
