Chen Guifen didn't dare to go into details because she was afraid that He Hongjin would get angry thinking about these things and his health would be in trouble if he turned around.
The night passed with worries and sighs.
Brother He and Zhao Lanxiang left at a strange time yesterday. Chen Guifen guessed that the couple would not spend time together at home this year.
After breakfast at home, Chen Guifen called Minmin and said that they would go to her uncle's place together.
Minmin's stomach was full, her eyes lit up when she heard this, but just after she got off the table, she sat back:
"Po, I'm not going. I want to stay at home."
"Why aren't you going? Your father and I won't come back at noon, how will you eat lunch? Hurry up and come with us. Warm the stove for your uncle and aunt.”
Minmin shook her head and ran to her parents' house:
"I'm not going, I'll just stay at home!"
Chen Guifen coaxed Minmin for a long time and said to Lu Miao I bought her new clothes and she can see this in the past.
Min Min was indifferent, so Chen Guifen had no choice but to give up and told her not to run around at home and bring her food back at noon.
Minmin agreed.
Today is New Year's Eve, and we will start posting couplets and worshiping ancestors at four or five o'clock in the afternoon.
After reaching that point, people in the village stopped visiting each other.
But before that, you can still visit us.
The Fu family has been lively since morning.
As expected by the two elders in northern Beijing, people from the county came to visit.
In addition to those cadres, Yu Hao from the team also came over.
Yu Hao was afraid that they would not have firewood to burn when they came back for the New Year, so he sent two bundles of firewood and also brought a chicken.
Lu Miao said that you can keep the firewood, but not the chickens.
Yu Hao refused to take it back and walked away quickly with the pole in hand.
As soon as Yu Hao left, Tianzao, who was married to the brigade, also brought some things and came to visit.
Tian Zao had a job in her eyes. When she was chatting, Lu Miao repeatedly stopped her, but she still helped to clean the front door. She even brought linen cloth and helped Tian Guihua clean the table in the main room. The chairs were wiped out.
Lu Miao felt embarrassed.
I couldn't win any of the jobs at home, and she really didn't do anything when she came back.
Lu Miao packed some nuts and snacks for Tianzao as a return gift. She drank the orchid tea that she found particularly good and also wrapped a small bag for Tianzao.
Then I took out the paper-cut window grilles I brought back from the bottom of the box and gave some to each family.
Every daughter-in-law praised her and repeatedly asked how she cut such a delicate thing.
Tian Zao even said with a straightforward smile:
“My sister-in-law taught me how to read and write in the past, and I even said that I would come here to express my feelings! How can this be good? What I get back is better than what I took. There are so many people coming, doesn’t this mean I’m taking advantage again?”
The daughter-in-law of another grassroots cadre next to her smiled and said:
"Comrade Lu regards you as one of his own. Don't show any outsiders, otherwise you will look unfamiliar!"
Lu Miao nodded with a smile:
"That's the truth."
"Hahahaha..."
The women in the room burst into laughter.
While chatting in full swing, Chen Guifen came over.
When Lu Miao heard that Chen Guifen said that Brother He and Zhao Lanxiang were not here, he asked why Minmin was not brought here.
Chen Guifen told the situation truthfully. Lu Miao put the things away and said with a naughty smile:
"My aunt must have said something wrong. Minmin has been with me since she was a child. If it were me, She appointed it.”
While talking, Lu Miao asked Tian Guihua and Tianzao to help entertain the wives and daughters of cadres from the town and county, while she went to He's house.
In half an hour, Lu Miao brought Minmin over as promised. The women in the county all came here with their men.
I just came over to visit and say hello, but those on New Year’s Eve couldn’t stay long, and they all left after greeting each other for a while.
Lu Miao sent the person away, then turned to look at Minmin who was picked up by her.
Minmin's condition is very bad.
Even though Chen Guifen had just dealt with him last night, Lu Miao couldn't stand it when she saw it.
The little girl’s hair is a mess and it has lice.
A short man, wearing an old lady's baggy cotton coat, he looked like a bucket from top to bottom.
Both hands are dark and covered with frostbite. The malnourished face has white patches here and dark patches there. The skin color is extremely uneven...
If you say he is a little beggar, some people will probably believe him.
If Lu Miao can bring people here, he will definitely not let Minmin go on like this.
Finding a pair of undressed gowns, Lu Miao asked Chen Guifen and Tian Guihua to change them for Minmin to wear.
Lu Miao carried the stove and kettle to the backyard. All the benches and basins were ready. Then he turned back to get shampoo and led Minmin to the backyard.
Taking advantage of the sunny weather in the morning, Lu Miao put a towel around Minmin's neck. He first combed Minmin's hair with a comb, and then used a grate to comb it.
Lice are not like fleas, they can jump around.
But every time he grated, looking at the densely packed lice crawling on the grate, Lu Miao still felt his scalp tightening.
After slapping the lice into a basin filled with water and combing Minmin's hair until no lice could come out, Lu Miao took the water to the ditch outside the backyard door and poured it out, then came back and mixed it again. Minmin washes her hair.
"If your parents don't come back in the next few days, you and your grandma will come over to your little aunt's place. Do you hear me? If grandpa and grandma are too busy, you can come over by yourself."
Lu Miao ordered while lathering Minmin's hair.
Minmin was silent for a while and said dullly:
“I’m not coming.”
Lu Miao turned to look at her and asked with a smile:
“Why not coming? "Auntie doesn't love you enough?"
Minmin pursed her lips and lowered her head in silence.
Minmin knew that she was dirty and her mother disliked her, but her aunt did not.
If this doesn’t hurt her, then what does?
Minmin looks thin, but after all, she is thirteen years old and she still understands some things.
She knew in her heart that it was because her aunt was good to her that she couldn't come.
But she is still young after all.
Lu Miao coaxed her and said it didn't matter if she didn't want to come, but if there was no one at home to cook and it was dinner time, Minmin had to come over to eat.
If her parents are not at home, she should come over for dinner and then go back quickly, and nothing will happen.
Minmin thought for a moment and nodded lightly.
Lu Miao patted the foam on her head, led her to stand up and bend her waist, slowly rinsed away the foam, then reapplied shampoo and washed it twice, and changed the water three or four times before giving up.
Lu Miao and Tian Guihua took the children to eat lunch in the backyard. It was cold, but the best thing was that the weather was good and the sun felt comfortable on their bodies.
After Minmin dried her hair, Lu Miao combed it and styled it, then took a hairband and tied it into a playful little tug at the back of her head.
Minmin quietly raised her hand and touched it several times. It was surprising that it still looked the same as when she was a child.
But this is not the end.
Lu Miao moved the stove and kettle into the front room, set up a bathtub and called Minmin to take a bath.
Minmin was embarrassed, but she had no choice but to put it on the shelf.
Lu Miao felt uncomfortable when he saw her this time. When he saw that she was so thin that she was only a skeleton, he felt even more uncomfortable.
It was the New Year's Eve, and in front of the children, Lu Miao didn't say anything, just silently and together with Tian Guihua, rubbed Min Min's body clean. (End of this chapter)