"These mugwort and calamus belong to three families."
"Our family, your mother-in-law's family, and the old Luo family."
"Qing'er, are you full?"
"I am full."
"Then you can send your Uncle Luo's share over there," said Sun.
"By the way, I want to tell you, Uncle Luo, that during this holiday, Tang Yazi will not be able to come back from the military camp."
"Uncle Luo, please come over to our house for dinner at noon, and we can celebrate the festival together!"
Holding a bundle of calamus and mugwort in her arms, Yang Ruoqing hurriedly entered the village and hurried towards Old Luo's house.
Think about your loved ones more than ever during every festive season.
Last night, she dreamed of Tang Yazi.
I dreamed that he was back, and I was so happy in the dream.
I just stretched out my hand to take his hand, but it came to nothing. I woke up and barely slept after that.
It has been more than two months since he left. During this time, he sent two letters to report that he was safe.
This Dragon Boat Festival, I don’t know if I have time to come back?
Forget it, if you haven't come back, it must be because you are busy with military affairs and can't get away.
There are always moments of reunion.
After calming down her mood, Yang Ruoqing's pace became brisk.
It's the Dragon Boat Festival today, and Uncle Luo is alone at home, which must be deserted.
I will invite him over later no matter what, and celebrate the festival together.
Soon, she entered the courtyard of Lao Luo's house.
There was no one in the yard, the door of the main room was open, but voices came from the kitchen.
There are men and women who are deliberately kept low.
Yang Ruoqing was surprised. She had never seen any women visiting Lao Luo's house before.
What's going on?
She hugged the calamus and walked lightly to the back of the kitchen.
There was a small window there with wooden bars on it.
She put her eyes over it...
In the poorly lit kitchen, two figures stood beside the pot.
One is naturally Blacksmith Luo, and the other...
It turned out to be Widow Wang Cuilian from the south end of the village!
Yang Ruoqing was secretly surprised.
The moment she heard the woman's voice, she subconsciously thought of Ma.
Why is she Widow Wang?
Speaking of Widow Wang, not only in Changping Village, but also in the surrounding villages, almost no one does not know about her.
She was brought back by a man named He Laoliu from Changping Village for a few cents from a local nanny.
He Laoliu came from a poor family. It was said that his mother died when he was born, and his father died when he was two years old.
I grew up eating hundreds of meals.
The six He Lao people are not bad. I heard that they had a good relationship with Blacksmith Luo and the others in the past, and they even forged iron together when they were young.
This Wang Cuilian is ten years younger than He Laoliu.
After following He Laoliu, He Laoliu gave birth to a fat son named Maomao.
The couple took care of the crops together, shining under the stars and the moon, which made their lives easier.
But at this moment, He Laoliu suddenly contracted the cold.
In this day and age, if treated improperly, wind-cold can be fatal.
He Laoliu was ill intermittently, survived the winter, and ushered in the spring.
The weather is getting warmer, and He Laoliu's illness is getting better.
That day I went out to dig trenches all day long, and it was very hot when I came back.
After drinking half a bowl of cold tea, I was suddenly touched.
I had a fever all night, and by the afternoon of the next day, there was no one left...
He Laoliu had no brothers or sisters. From then on, Wang Cuilian, a woman, lived with her two-year-old Maomao.
It took a lot of effort to get Maomao to be four years old.
That winter she went to the mountains to collect firewood and took Mao Mao with her.
She fluffed up her fur and let Maomao sit on a big rock to play with a rattle. She glanced at Maomao every now and then.
She heard that she had held back her urine, so she left for a while.
When she picked up her pants and stood up, where was the child on the big rock?
She panicked and chased after him, and saw the back of a wolf flashing past.
When word of the incident reached the village, Li Zheng, who was still young at the time, immediately took the young adults in the village and went up the mountain with hatchets to look for it.
They found it in the middle of the night, and when they found it, all that was left of the child was a bloody shoe.
Wang Cuilian fainted immediately and was carried down the mountain by the villagers.
She fell ill when she returned to the village. She was ill for more than a month and everyone thought she was going to die.
In the end, he came back to life, and he instantly looked ten years older.
From then on, Wang Cuilian felt as if her soul had been drained out of her.
I never saw her joking with the villagers anymore, she was like a zombie by herself.
"It's strange, Widow Wang doesn't deal with people, so why did she come to Uncle Luo's place?"
Yang Ruoqing was even more surprised and looked inside the kitchen again.
In the kitchen, Wang Cuilian was holding a bowl in her hand and was pushing and shoving it with Blacksmith Luo.
"Brother Luo, why are you so polite to me?"
"Isn't it just a bowl of mung bean cake? I made it myself. It's a big holiday, so just accept it!" Wang Cuilian said.
Blacksmith Luo said: "Sister Cuilian, your family is in a tight situation. How can I ask for your mung bean cake?"
Wang Cuilian said: "Brother Luo, no matter how poor our family is, we can still afford these pieces of mung bean cake."
"Besides, compared to the care you have taken for me over the years, what do these pieces of mung bean cake mean?"
Blacksmith Luo was still refusing, and it seemed that he really couldn't bear to accept it.
Wang Cuilian's voice was a little anxious.
"Brother Luo, if you keep doing this, you will look down on me, Wang Cuilian."
"Sister Cuilian, I, I didn't mean that..."
"That's not what I meant, then just take it!"
"I'm a widow. I can't stay here too long. Others will gossip about me."
Wang Cuilian put the mung bean cake and the bowl on the pot table, turned around and ran out of the kitchen.
Blacksmith Luo wanted to chase him, but he stopped again when he reached the door of the kitchen.
…
"Uncle Luo, are you at home?"
Yang Ruoqing's voice sounded at the door of the courtyard.
"Here he is, he is!"
Blacksmith Luo's voice came from the kitchen, and people came to the yard immediately.
"Qing'er, why are you here? What's going on?"
Blacksmith Luo asked.
Yang Ruoqing smiled and said: "Uncle Luo, my mother sent me to bring you calamus and mugwort."
Blacksmith Luo smiled and came over to take the thing from her hand: "Your mother is interested. I am about to cut it. It really saves me a lot of trouble."
Yang Ruoqing added: "My parents also asked me to say hello to my uncle and go to my house for lunch at noon."
"Okay, okay, I'll definitely go there!"
…
Yang Ruoqing ran home in one breath, where Sun and Yang Huazhong were killing fish by the well in the backyard.
"Qing'er, why are you smiling? What happened to you?" asked Sun with a smile.
Yang Ruoqing shook her head, "Nothing, nothing."
Mrs. Sun said: "There must be something, tell me quickly."
Yang Ruoqing thought for a moment and asked Mrs. Sun, "Mom, how is the widow Wang Cuilian in the south of our village like?"
Mrs. Sun was stunned for a moment, "Why did you suddenly ask about her?"
Yang Ruoqing knew that her parents were not the kind of long-tongued people who caught wind and shadows.
So, she told them what she had seen in Luo Blacksmith's kitchen.
After hearing this, not only Sun was surprised, Yang Huazhong, who was squatting there scraping fish scales, also raised his head in surprise.
Mrs. Sun looked at Yang Huazhong: "That Widow Wang, she has not interacted with anyone in the village these years, how come she is so close to Brother Luo?"
Yang Huazhong said: "In the past, when He Laoliu was here, the two families had a good relationship."
"Brother Luo gave the money for the coffin for He Laoliu's burial."
