Huo Shichu went up the mountain with Aunt Zhou, because there was nothing at home, and he could pick some wild vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and fungus when he went up the mountain. Huo Shichu thought about it and borrowed an ax from Aunt Zhou to chop a few A tree makes small kitchen utensils such as wooden bowls and plates. She can't stand the rags that the Wei family distributes.
Aunt Zhou was talking to Huo Shichu about the situation in the village while taking her up the mountain.
"Aunt Zhou, who is this girl following you? Why haven't you seen her before?" A middle-aged woman carrying a basket of vegetables looked at Huo Shichu curiously and asked Aunt Zhou.
Aunt Zhou replied: "This is from Wei Dalang's house. She has just arrived and doesn't know anything. I will help her get familiar with it."
"From Dalang Wei's family?" The middle-aged woman's eyes widened in surprise, and then her voice became louder, "Is she the girl that the old lady from Wei's family bought back with a bag of corn yesterday?"
Hearing her say this carelessly, Aunt Zhou was a little embarrassed. She was afraid that Huo Shichu would be unhappy after hearing this. She looked at her cautiously, but found that she didn't seem to hear her at all. There was no look of sadness or embarrassment at all.
Aunt Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, nodded to the woman, and said vaguely: "It's her, it's getting late, we have to go up the mountain early, so I won't talk to you..."
After she finished speaking, she motioned for Huo Shichu to follow her quickly, but the loud voice of the woman just now made everyone around her know that Huo Shichu was the wife that Dalang Wei had replaced.
"Tsk, tsk, it's so pitiful. Both of Dalang Wei's legs are broken. He is destined to be a useless man in the future. This young lady has to serve a useless man at such a young age. It is really a crime..."
"Why would she be willing to follow a useless person if she didn't have a way to survive? I heard that she came here as a refugee to get some food for her mother and younger brother. She has been saying this for the rest of her life..."
"I heard that she didn't want to do it herself. She was still thinking of seeking death. Unexpectedly, she followed Aunt Zhou up the mountain now. She seemed to have accepted her fate."
"Dalang Wei is lucky. Even though he is a cripple, he still has such a beautiful wife..."
"Do you want this kind of blessing..."
"Bah! Don't curse me!"
Huo Shichu heard all the whispers of those behind her. She became Wei Dalang's "daughter-in-law" in such an embarrassing way. Naturally, she became the material for after-dinner chats among the three aunts and six women in the small mountain village who lacked entertainment. Let's take a look. Watching the development of things like a drama, it is inevitable to point fingers.
"You're from Dalang's family, don't take what those people say to heart. People live their lives. Although Dalang's leg is injured now, he will be able to walk with a crutch after he recovers. Even if he can't do heavy work, he can still do it. Other things are fine. Dalang is a gentle-tempered person and will definitely treat you well.
Think about it, he has difficulty moving, but he is better than those people who beat their wives when they are drunk, right? Better than those gamblers who sell their sons and daughters and lose all their wealth, right? As long as you are diligent and capable, you can always get by..."
Aunt Zhou kept nagging Huo Shichu to comfort her, for fear that she would dislike Dalang Wei.
Huo Shichu felt a little emotional that Aunt Zhou, a neighbor, had done much better than Wei Dalang's family members. As neighbors, they could sincerely consider Wei Dalang, but the Wei family were so cold-blooded that they did not want him to die.
"Aunt Zhou, don't worry, I don't mean to dislike him. I have a place to stay here and have food to eat. If I continue to flee with my neighbors, I might starve to death. I have no unwillingness or resentment. ." Huo Shichu said very sincerely.
Aunt Zhou looked at Huo Shichu in surprise. She had not forgotten that Huo Shichu hit the wall and sought death the day before yesterday. How come she had figured it out and accepted the fact today? Have you really accepted your fate?
Aunt Zhou couldn't understand why she changed so quickly, but since this change was good, she didn't have to pursue it, so she said happily: "It's great if you think so."
Huo Shichu smiled and said: "By the way, Aunt Zhou, you should call me Shichu from now on, or Xiao Huo. My father gave me this name. If no one calls me, then I won't even call me The last thing worth remembering about my mother’s family is gone…”
At the end of her speech, her expression became sad, as if she was sad about being abandoned.
After hearing what she said, Aunt Zhou felt a little pity for her, and nodded in agreement: "Okay, then I'll call you Xiao Huo."
Huo Shichu smiled with satisfaction. She didn't like titles such as "from so-and-so's family", "so-and-so's mother", and "so-and-so's family".
After a woman gets married, basically no one will call her by her name. It seems that when a woman gets married and has children, she becomes someone else's vassal. She is either the mother-in-law of someone else, or the mother-in-law of someone else, and her real name disappears. After death, one can only have "So-and-so" engraved on the tombstone.
"Xiao Huo has studied at home?" Aunt Zhou asked, "You sound different from the rude and savage people like us, and you also have a nice name."
Huo Shichu thought about it and found that the original owner had not read books, but her brother had attended a private school and had books at home.
In order not to be illiterate in the future, Huo Shichu lied: "I also studied with my brother when he was studying, and I know some words."
Huo's father is dead, and Huo's mother and brother don't know where they will flee. In this era of inconvenient transportation and backward communication, it is probably impossible for them to see each other again in their lifetime, so Huo Shichu's panic No one will expose it.
"So you can really read, this is really amazing!" Aunt Zhou was surprised, because in this era few men were literate, let alone women, but everyone knew that being able to read and recognize people was a rare skill, so Only then would Aunt Zhou take a new look at Huo Shichu.
"It's okay, you can still read the letter." Huo Shichu said.
The two of them were chatting and had already reached the mountain. Because it had rained recently, the fungus and mushrooms came out. Aunt Zhou told Huo Shichu not to go too far, and then they separated.
Huo Shichu walked far away and found a secret cave, then entered his companion space, took a good bath, filled his stomach, and took some broken silver before coming out.
Although she is willing to stay, it does not mean that she will be harsh on herself.
After Huo Shichu had eaten and drank enough, he started to work. He chopped down a tree as big as an adult's head and dug it into wooden bowls. Making such bowls did not require any skills and relied purely on strength.
What Huo Shichu lacked the most was strength. It didn't take long for her to dig out five large, deep and wide wooden bowls, which could be used to hold both rice and vegetables.
After doing this, she wanted to meet Aunt Zhou, but when she returned, she saw some familiar herbs. Thinking of Wei Dalang's injured leg, she decided to pick them back. At least he could save some money on medicines without having to think about it. I know that Wei Dalang doesn't have much money on him now.
