Chapter 8: Household Matters
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The mule cart backed up the train,and the train backed up the car. Three days laterally, Shi Xiao Ai and a pair of children arrived at Yuncheng.At this time, the three mothers were already staggering from exhaustion and could hardlywalk, not to mention how miserable they looked since they had not washed themselves for several days.
In this image, the three of them appeared at the Yunhexiang Subdistrict Office. Usually, many women work in offices, and most are older women, like aunts.
The most embarrassing case for these people is that mothers and children were wronged.
So when they saw the three of them, almost everyone gathered around them.
After Shi Xiao ai held out the letter she had received, a woman who looked to be in her early fifties squeezed in from behind the crowd, held her hand, and said in a loud voice, “You are Xiao ai; you must not remember me; I am your Aunt Liu; I hugged you when I was a child!
I haven’t seen you for so many years, and I don’t recognize you at all. You were still the little girl in my arms, but your child has grown so prominent in the blink of an eye! “
The woman wiped away her tears as she spoke. “If your grandpa were still here, he would be so happy to see you!”
Hearing what she revealed, Shi Xiao Ai knew that she had met an acquaintance, and this person seemed to have a good relationship with her family, so she felt relieved.
She called out, “Aunt Liu.”
Then she smiled and said, confused, “I was young when I left home, so I don’t remember.”
Shi Xiao Ai has always been a beautiful girl. Although she is not flashy, she is very delicate and pretty. She is beautiful. And the longer you look at her, the better.
Though she was too thin because of malnutrition and suffered a lot along the way, she still looked a little haggard.
But because of this, when she smiled and exposed the pair of small pear dimples at the corners of her lips, it made people feel more pity for her.
Moreover, this kind of beauty is not offensive; even if people of the same sex look at her, they will only have affection for her.
This is how Liu Guiyun felt at this moment.
Looking at Shi Xiao Ai’s pale, almost bloodless face, she didn’t much know why, but tears couldn’t help but want to flow down, and she felt that her heart hurt.
The last time she appeared this way was when her daughter returned to the city.
“No trouble, no trouble. I am responsible for the work in our alley, and your home falls under my jurisdiction. Xiao Ai, you are back home. It is a great thing to be home! If you have anything to do in the future, tell Aunt Liu. If your aunt is not here, report the other aunts in our office, and we will help you if we can!”
Liu Guiyun said this and glanced at the surrounding people.
“That’s right, it’s a wonderful thing to return home. It’s great to be back.”
“Xiao Ai, you may have forgotten me. I am Aunt Wang, who lives behind your house, just two doors down from your house. Go back and take a look. If you need anything, come and tell Auntie if I can help you. Your aunts are here to support you make it together.”
“Yes, with two children. This child is so sleepy that she can’t even open her eyes, looking at the poor kid. Sister Liu, stop chatting and quickly take the girl to the house.”
“Here, give you a candy; haven’t you had breakfast yet?”
…
One person helped, and the others naturally agreed, expressing goodwill to the three mothers and daughters.
Shi Xiao Ai stopped speaking. The two babies had never received such attention from anyone before. They all opened their eyes wide in surprise and kept saying thank you.
Twins are almost all aware. Even though the two babies look different, their expressions and movements when they stand together and talk are the same. They are both cute, well-behaved, and polite.
My heart warmed when I saw these aunts and grandmothers.
So when we went into the office, a family of three came in, but when we came out, there were many people.
Everyone gathered around the three mothers, carrying their luggage and sending them home in a lively manner.
Shi Xiao Ai’s grandfather was Shi Peifu. Before democracy, his household ran a modest restaurant and had a modest income.
Fortunately, he is an intelligent person who can assess the situation.
After democracy, he was the first to hand over all his family’s restaurants and property to the state, leaving only a modest yard and a job as a cook in a state-owned hotel.
Such behavior allowed him to suffer a lot less in the years to come and protected his family.
The older man was shrewd all his life but gave birth to an infatuated child, Shi Xiao Ai’s father, Shi Yunchuan.
When Shi Yunchuan was a child, his household was in good condition, and he was the eldest child, so his folk had high hopes. So, instead of helping at the restaurant, he went to school.
In school, he also met Xiao Ai’s mother, Ai Muqing.
The Ai clan is a prominent capitalist, and their conditions are many times better than the Shi clan’s, but the young people don’t want that much. Their childhood sweethearts grew up together and got married.
When there is a problem, the Ai family members run away and die, and only Ai Muqing is left.
The folk wanted Shi Yunchuan to sever ties with her, and Shi’s father also promised to send his daughter-in-law to his friend’s house in the countryside to avoid the limelight.
But Shi Yunchuan firmly disagreed.
It was so troublesome that he wrote a certificate severing ties with his family, moved his wife and daughter to the slums, and rented a temporary house under the roof of a household.
My father was so furious that he lay in bed for a week!
Though the older man was enraged, he did not stop this approach. After all, he still had his second son and his household to save.
But he would never have thought that his beloved eldest son would be hit on the head with a stick and die just two months after he left home!
This time, the older man really fell ill. The illness lingered for a long time, and he almost died with his son.
At that time, the movement had reached its peak. Even if he felt sorry for his daughter-in-law, who brought her little granddaughter, he could not get them back because of the certificate of severance of relations at that time, so he could only help them secretly.
Later, Xiao Ai went to the countryside.
In the second year after she went to the countryside, her mother also passed away.
Failure to protect his eldest son and his family was the biggest problem in the older man’s heart, and he has been grudged against it for many years.
Before he died, he decided to leave the small courtyard where he lived to his granddaughter so that she could take this opportunity to return to the city.
“Your grandfather has put a lot of thought into this matter. Fearing potential disagreement and trouble from your second uncle’s family, your grandfather took precautions. He contacted the directors of our office, your second uncle’s chemical plant, and the state-owned hotel. Together, we crafted the will, and with numerous witnesses, your second uncle and others were left disgruntled, eventually ceasing their disruptive actions.
After sending everyone away, Aunt Liu stayed behind to talk to Shi Xiao Ai.
She sighed: “Xiao Ai, don’t bear grudges against your grandfather. There was really nothing he could do at that time. The old man did his best for you.”
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