Yang Ruoqing warned Xiao An: "In the future, you should try not to express your own opinions on the affairs of Fourth Uncle and the others. After all, you are still young, you are not married, and you are still separated by generations."
"Some words you say are not strong enough, which will make people think that you are contradicting your elders, which will not be good for your own reputation, and will also embarrass our father."
Xiao An nodded, "Sister, what you said makes sense. If something like this happens again in the future, I won't say anything. If I have any ideas, I'll tell you in private, and you'll be responsible for conveying them."
Yang Ruoqing smiled happily.
Then he turned to discuss with Yang Huazhong: "Dad, tomorrow is the Laba Festival. You and Xiao An will go to my place to celebrate the festival."
Yang Huazhong nodded.
Yang Ruoqing continued: "My uncle said that the fish pond will be stocked in two days. Taking advantage of the lack of rain or snow these days, we can pickle the Chinese New Year's cured fish."
Yang Huazhong put down his chopsticks and said, "By the way, I also want salted fish. When your mother comes back after the Chinese New Year, they will love it."
Yang Ruoqing nodded: "Salted fish must be pickled, as well as bacon and the like. However, this year you and Xiao An come to my place and we can spend the New Year together."
Yang Huazhong said: "We just celebrated the Laba Festival together in the past, so we won't go during the New Year."
Yang Ruoqing said: "Why don't you come over? There are so many people and it's so lively."
Yang Huazhong said: "Daughter, your kind father and your brother appreciate this."
"But the New Year's Eve dinner still has to be cooked at home. It's not good to have a cold pot or a cold stove."
After hearing what Yang Huazhong said, Yang Ruoqing naturally wouldn't force it, because what her father said made sense and it was custom.
"By the way Qing'er, today I received a message from the security chief's entrustment, asking me to go to the town early tomorrow morning. I will go to every village in the ten miles and eight villages. It seems that some documents came down from the government, asking us all to Go listen to it!”
Yang Ruoqing said: "Well, I know, then let's go tomorrow."
"Do you have anything to buy? I'll bring it back." Yang Huazhong asked again.
Yang Ruoqing thought for a while and said, "Dad, I don't have much brown sugar over there. I only have one pound left. I want to go back and give it to Xiaoqin and Xiaoqin's children."
"You can help me bring a few kilograms of brown sugar tomorrow."
…
In the afternoon, Yang Ruoqing packed the remaining brown sugar at home and sent it to Xiaoqin.
When she first returned home, she came over to visit Xiaoqin and her son. During the time she was away, Xiaoqin was stimulated by being scolded by Daping Niang again and gave birth to a baby boy prematurely.
The baby boy is almost three months old now. Because the baby was born prematurely, he is relatively thin.
In addition, it was the twelfth lunar month of winter. Ever since Xiaoqin gave birth to her child, she had not dared to take her out for fear of the wind.
"Well, it's warm in here, like spring."
This was the first feeling Yang Ruoqing had when she entered the room.
Xiaoqin was sitting sideways on a stool to nurse her baby. There was a hanging basket next to her, with a small quilt spread in the hanging basket.
Hearing Yang Ruoqing's words, Xiaoqin smiled towards her and said, "Brother Damo is afraid of freezing us ladies. I heard that Mrs. .”
Following Xiaoqin's gaze, Yang Ruoqing really saw the warm bed over there.
Yang Ruoqing pursed her lips and smiled, "This heated kang isn't very big. I'm afraid your family of five won't be able to sleep at night."
Xiaoqin said: "I am sleeping on the heated kang with my three children, and Damo is sleeping in the room over there."
"That room over there? Isn't it very cold?" Yang Ruoqing said.
Xiaoqin said: "He said he is not afraid of the cold, but I know he is deceiving me. In fact, he sees that the eldest girl will be eight years old after the Chinese New Year. If his stepfather sleeps with his eight-year-old daughter, Zhang Kang,"
"Even if we are all here, we are still afraid of being overheard gossiping by those with ulterior motives, so if we should avoid suspicion, we should try our best to avoid suspicion."
Hearing Xiaoqin's words, Yang Ruoqing was momentarily surprised.
"You're only eight years old, what can others say? The night when Tang Yazi and I first came back, my daughter insisted on sleeping with us."
"I was still a little hesitant at the time because I didn't want her to go back to the way she used to be when she was younger,"
"But my Tangyazi agreed immediately. When I slept at night, the little girl was clearly lying in my arms."
"But when I woke up in the morning, I saw her head resting on my shoulder, and a pair of little feet on her father's face. Her father probably held her little feet in his sleep because he was afraid that she would get cold to her feet..."
Hearing the scene described by Yang Ruoqing, Xiaoqin felt full of warmth.
She sighed softly and said: "If Daping was still here, it would probably be like this,"
"Dama actually really cares about these two girls, but they are not biological ones after all. No matter how much he loves them, they have to avoid suspicion. There is no way."
"If we don't avoid suspicion, there will be too many people in this village who like to catch rumors and gossip. When the gossip comes out, we will be in big trouble."
"So Damo discussed with me that we should have a harder time in the past two years and save more money. When we are ready, we will demolish this thatched house and build a new small yard."
"When the time comes, let the two girls have their own houses. It doesn't matter how big or grand the yard is. As long as it is clean and spacious, and the family can live comfortably, it will be better than anything else. Qing'er, don't you think so?" Qin asked.
Yang Ruoqing nodded repeatedly: "Yes, this is a pragmatic plan."
Unlike Fourth Uncle and Xiaojuan, when they make a sound, they open their mouths, which is unbearable.
I sat with Xiao Qinna for a while, teasing her and Damo's son, and saw the child falling asleep with his eyes closed while holding the breast in his mouth.
Yang Ruoqing helped Xiaoqin tidy up the quilt in the cradle, put the child in the cradle, then tied the quilt tightly, and slightly raised the child's head to prevent him from blocking his mouth when he vomited milk. nose.
Then she gently rocked the cradle a few times, and when the child slept soundly and deeply, Xiaoqin went to get a plate filled with sunflower seeds and came over to greet Yang Ruoqing.
The two of them chatted quietly while cracking melon seeds.
While talking, the topic turned to Daping Niang.
Speaking of Daping Niang, Yang Ruoqing couldn't help but ask: "I came to see you mother and son a few days ago. I was in a hurry, and I didn't have time to ask in detail."
"What happened to you at that time? Why were you scolded by Daping Niang until you gave birth prematurely? Wasn't it peaceful for a long time before?"
Xiaoqin shook her head and smiled bitterly, "The reason why we were peaceful before was because I had been avoiding her and never met her face to face."
"When I meet her in the vegetable garden, all she needs to do is point her fingers at the mulberry trees and scold the mulberry trees, and I'll immediately turn around and leave. If she doesn't listen, that's the end of it."
"But last time, didn't it coincide with July and a half, the third anniversary of the Great Ping Dynasty?"
"It just so happened that Damo came back from escorting a batch of goods with the transportation team. Damo was attentive and could tell when he saw me that I was worried about something, so he asked me what was going on."
