After a lively meal, Chen Guifen and Tian Guihua helped collect the bowls.
Lu Miao took several children to wash up first.
At night, Lu Miao and Tian Guihua talked about themselves, and then took Ming Xia and Bai Chuan to sleep in the main room.
Across the main room, Fu Jingyou and He Er Ge led the three boys Shi An, Mingyi and Minjie to sleep in the side room.
The adults were talking in low voices, the children were squirming under the quilt, laughing and joking, and the rooms on both sides were very lively.
But he said that after the old couple of the He family finished cooking here, they walked back with a flashlight.
The courtyard was dark and quiet when they arrived. The old couple looked at each other and felt that something was wrong.
I usually yell and complain, but why is it so quiet today?
Then I thought again, it would be nice to just calm down a little bit during the Chinese New Year.
The old couple said nothing, bolted the courtyard door, and went inside.
At this moment, there was a "thud" in Brother He's room, and there was the sound of a chair being knocked over.
Normally, the old couple would definitely ignore it, but after listening for a while, there was a rustling sound, and after the chair was lifted up, there was no movement again.
He Hongjin felt strange and swung the flashlight over there.
In a flash, Minmin was seen lying on the window with disheveled hair, looking out with tears in her eyes.
He Hongjin kept vomiting the boss and his wife, and his chest was clogged, so he said nothing.
Chen Guifen felt distressed and couldn't bear it, and asked in a hissing voice:
"Girl Min, are your parents asleep?"
Minmin crossed her arms, wiped away her tears and said:
"Master, Po, my parents took my younger brother to Ga's father's house."
[Ga's father: dialect, meaning grandpa. 】
Chen Guifen was stunned for a moment, then took He Hongjin's flashlight and walked over to take a closer look, okay?
Minmin was the only one left in the room.
Chen Guifen opened the door and beckoned Minmin to her side:
"They left, why didn't you follow them?"
Minmin lowered her head and said nothing.
Chen Guifen could think of something and sighed:
"That's it, have you had dinner?"
Although it was a question, Chen Guifen had already led Minmin to the main room.
He Hongjin lit the lamp in the room and bolted the door. The old man and the young man went to the kitchen holding kerosene lamps.
Chen Guifen lit a fire and washed up, laying down two eggs and laying down a bowl of shredded pork noodles.
There was no small table in the kitchen, so He Hongjin brought a chair with a backrest.
Minmin sat on the small bench at the mouth of the stove, lying on the chair to eat.
The little girl's gown was thin, and the sleeves were dark and stained with grease.
The wrist of the hand holding the chopsticks is as thin as a vegetable stalk, but it is pulled quickly, as if it is afraid that someone will snatch it.
He Hongjin glanced twice, turned his face away and smoked a cigarette.
Chen Guifen blew her nose quietly, then went back to the front room to fumble around for a while, and brought over the washbasin and basin.
In addition, I also brought over the cotton-padded clothes I just took from the Fu family.
He Hongjin fetched water and took the bucket to the front room to soak his feet.
Chen Guifen secures the front and back doors in the kitchen.
I took a comb and combed Minmin's messy hair away, then filled up some water and rubbed Minmin's face and back.
I changed the water twice and barely gave Minmin a bath to make her look clean.
Chen Guifen asked Minmin to take off her dirty clothes and put her into a fat gown and cotton clothes.
The little girl is so thin that when she raises her hands to put on clothes, her ribs stand out one by one on both sides.
Let it go, Chen Guifen might still scold Brother He and his wife.
Nowadays, she is too lazy to scold.
Such heartless things cannot be heard no matter how harshly they are scolded.
Chen Guifen rubbed the end of her eyes quietly and asked Minmin with a nasal voice:
"Are you full? If not, I will cook you another bowl of noodles. ”
Min Min moved her mouth, smiled and stretched out her bulging belly:
"I'm full, so full! My cooking is so delicious." Chen Guifen burst into tears and smiled, touching her dry hair:
"You wash your feet, and after my mother-in-law has finished cleaning up, I will sleep with her tonight."
"Yes!"
Minmin was overjoyed and held up the small basin. Go to the mouth of the stove, warm yourself over the fire, roll up your trouser legs and step your feet into the basin.
The hot water wrapped around her feet, which were as cold as cold iron, and Minmin let out a sigh of relief.
So comfortable...
I haven't been this warm for a long time...!
Minmin grinned happily, then smiled and pursed her lips again, lowered her head and scrubbed her feet without saying a word.
Chen Guifen went out and brought a pair of cotton shoes.
The shoes are also Chen Guifen's own. The ones Minmin wears are inappropriate, but they are better than straw sandals anyway.
After Minmin washed, she changed to Chen Guifen.
When Chen Guifen was soaking her feet, she saw Minmin sitting on a chair, her feet hunched back and forth in her shoes. Occasionally she would bend over and stretch out her little hands to touch them, unable to concentrate.
Chen Guifen asked:
"What's wrong? Are the shoes too big and inappropriate? After a while, we went to bed and woke up."
Minmin shook her head, Truthfully:
"Po, my feet are itchy."
My feet are itchy?
Chen Guifen wiped her feet and put on her shoes, then took off Minmin's shoes to take a closer look.
The feet, which are not much bigger than the palms of hands, are bruised and purple, and the skin is swollen and broken in many places.
It’s frostbite.
After looking at Minmin's feet, Chen Guifen pushed back her sleeves and looked at her hands. Sure enough, there were varying degrees of frostbite on her hands.
Thinking of Minmin, Chen Guifen felt sad and silently put down her child's sleeves and trouser legs.
Chen Guifen said nothing.
There were still some charcoal sparks in the stove. Chen Guifen cut a few radish slices and heated them in the stove with tongs.
Afterwards, I held Minmin’s feet in my arms and used hot compresses with radish slices.
The itching of frostbite can be fatal. The swollen skin is so delicate and fragile that it hurts even with the slightest touch, let alone scratching.
The hot radish slices are even better when you stick them on them.
Minmin wailed and shrank her feet:
“I’m going to stop doing this, it’s so hot and painful!” The perm will be much better tomorrow..."
Minmin couldn't get away and cried when the carrot slices burned her.
Chen Guifen was not much better, she broke into a sweat within a few minutes.
Fortunately, the radish slices are no longer hot, so there is no need to continue applying them.
Chen Guifen poured the foot wash, patted Minmin and went to the front room to rest.
Minmin has frostbite on her hands and feet, and she always feels itchy when she sleeps at night.
After Chen Guifen permed it for her, she went to bed at night and found that it was no longer as itchy as before.
My hands and feet were quiet, and I slept in a warm bed for the first time in a long time. Minmin took a deep breath and felt so happy.
The little girl slept on the back side of the bed next to her grandma. She quickly fell asleep and snored loudly.
In the darkness, Chen Guifen pushed her wife beside her:
“Let’s be tougher. Can we keep this girl at home and raise her? She is already thirteen years old. I will watch during the day. The clothes are not as good as Shi An’s.”
He Hongjin scolded:
"You can stay as long as you want? It's not like you haven't stayed in the past. Don't you know what kind of person her mother is?"
Minmin had a hard time. In the past, the old couple Also said to keep people at home.
But Zhao Lanxiang disagreed. Every time she cried, made trouble and hanged herself.
The old couple are really at a loss. (End of chapter)