Xu Anyan carried the new quilt out with one hand and draped it over the water jar in the courtyard. Then she went back into the room, brought out the new mattress, and spread it over the jar as well.
There was a clothesline in the yard, but she couldn’t reach it with only one usable arm, so she simply laid the bedding over the lid of the water jar to air it out in the sun.
Afterward, she went to the wardrobe and found a set of underclothes and a plain-colored ru skirt, then placed them in the side room.
There was no bathroom in the courtyard, so everyone usually bathed in the side room.
By now, Xu Anyan was panting from exhaustion. Relying entirely on sheer willpower, she managed to carry half a bucket of hot water into the side room.
There was a bathtub in the room, but there wasn’t enough water to fill it. So she found a wooden basin, mixed the water to a comfortable temperature, gave herself a quick wash, and changed into clean clothes.
It was only while washing her hair that she truly understood just how troublesome waist-length hair could be.
An hour later, Xu Anyan had finally finished everything.
Then she sorted out the clothes that Dabao and Xiaobao could still wear and placed them into a wooden basin, planning to wash them once she had enough water. As for the clothes that no longer fit, she tossed them, along with the old bedding, into the storage room.
Only then did Xu Anyan remember that the original host and Jiang Huan slept in separate rooms, and that the twins usually slept with Jiang Huan. Most of their clothes were probably in his room.
Thinking of this, she walked to Jiang Huan’s room and pushed open the door.
A cool breeze immediately greeted her.
The room was very tidy and had the same layout as hers. A wooden table and chair stood on the floor, and beside them was a cabinet.
Xu Anyan walked directly to the cabinet.
Sure enough, there were some of the twins’ clothes inside, but she found only two thick shirts.
At a quarter to six in the evening, Aunt Wu arrived with her son, Wu Lin.
Wu Lin was a typical burly man. He worked as a laborer in a rice shop in the county town and occasionally took odd jobs. Meanwhile, Aunt Wu and her daughter-in-law, Feng Qiu, did embroidery work at home to supplement the family income. Their life was modest but decent.
After exchanging greetings, Wu Lin went to fetch water.
Xiaobao moved closer to Xu Anyan and gently tugged at her sleeve.
“Mother, when can Brother and I come home?”
Looking at him, Xu Anyan asked softly,
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to stay at Grandma Wu’s house anymore?”
“It’s not that.” Xiaobao pouted. “I want to sleep with Mother.”
Beside him, Dabao nodded his little head.
“I want to sleep with Mother too.”
The two little ones were simply too adorable.
Xu Anyan’s heart softened.
“In two more days, Mother will come and bring you home, alright?”
The twins’ eyes immediately lit up.
“Really?”
“Of course it’s true.”
Xu Anyan rubbed their little cheeks.
Dabao looked at her seriously.
“Mother, you must come pick us up soon.”
“Alright.”
Just then, Xiaobao suddenly remembered something and tugged on his brother’s sleeve.
“Mother, Brother and I are going to sleep now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled Dabao and ran out.
Watching their retreating figures, Xu Anyan couldn’t help but laugh.
This was definitely a flimsy plastic mother-son relationship.
Dabao thought to himself:
Mother doesn’t dislike my brother and me anymore. I like Mother now. As long as I sleep two more times, she’ll come take us home.
Xiaobao happily thought:
Mother doesn’t scold Brother and me anymore. I’m so happy. As long as I close my eyes and open them, then close them and open them again, Mother will come pick us up.
At that moment, Aunt Wu noticed the clothes in the wooden basin by the wall.
“Xiaoyan, leave those clothes. I’ll wash them tomorrow.”
Xu Anyan quickly refused.
“Aunt Wu, I’m feeling much better now. I’ll wash them myself tomorrow.”
“Why are you being so polite with me? Your arm still hasn’t healed properly. Don’t hurt it again. Listen to me—I’ll come early tomorrow morning.”
Aunt Wu thought to herself that Chief Constable Jiang had given her one tael of silver. Since she had accepted the money, she naturally had to do the job well.
Just then, Wu Lin called out from the courtyard,
“Madam Xu, I’ve filled the water jar. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back.”
Xu Anyan nodded gratefully.
“Alright. Thank you, Brother Wu.”
Aunt Wu was just about to leave when Xu Anyan suddenly remembered something.
“Aunt Wu, please continue looking after Dabao and Xiaobao for another two days. Once I’m feeling better, I’ll bring them home.”
“What’s there to trouble me about?” Aunt Wu waved her hand repeatedly. “Don’t worry. The two children get along very well with my Xiaohu. Just focus on recovering. You don’t need to worry about the children.”
By then, the sky had already begun to darken, so Aunt Wu said goodbye and left.
The courtyard became quiet.
Then Xu Anyan’s stomach growled loudly.
Aunt Wu’s family lived frugally. They ate thin porridge for breakfast and dinner, and even the noodles at noon were made from coarse grain flour.
Her poor stomach had suffered these past few days.
She was truly hungry.
For now, all she could do was endure it.
She slowly returned to her room and lay down on the kang.
The freshly changed bedding had been warmed by the sun and felt especially comfortable.
Her stomach continued to rumble.
Xu Anyan began counting sheep to lull herself to sleep.
After a busy day, she hadn’t even counted to a hundred before falling into a deep sleep.
The next morning, at seven-thirty, Xu Anyan got out of bed.
She casually washed her face with cold water, which finally woke her up a little.
There was no toothbrush, so she simply rinsed her mouth with salt water.
After her hair had dried yesterday, she had only loosely tied it with a ribbon.
Now, looking at her waist-length hair, she felt troubled again.
Just as she was worrying about it, Aunt Wu arrived right on time with breakfast.
A bowl of thin porridge, a small plate of pickled vegetables, and a coarse-grain steamed bun.
To Xu Anyan, she looked like a savior.
“Aunt Wu, could you braid my hair for me?”
“Of course.”
Then Aunt Wu paused and added,
“How about I style it into a bun? It would look so pretty.”
“Just braid it. It’s simpler that way.”
She felt that wearing a bun was troublesome. She would have to undo it before sleeping, and she couldn’t keep bothering Aunt Wu to do her hair every day.
Seeing that Xu Anyan had refused, Aunt Wu didn’t insist.
A short while later, her messy waist-length hair had been turned into a neat braid.
“Oh my, look at this pretty little girl,” Aunt Wu praised.
As she spoke, she handed Xu Anyan a small copper mirror.
Taking it, Xu Anyan looked inside.
Reflected in the mirror was a delicate and lovely young woman with cherry-red lips and large, sparkling eyes.
Who needed cosmetics with a face like this?
Nothing about her appearance suggested she was already a married woman.
Xu Anyan had to admit that this face was indeed younger and prettier than her original one.
The two only resembled each other by about fifty percent, but the original host was definitely more beautiful.
Hadn’t she struck gold?
Not only had she become more than ten years younger, she had also become prettier.
Seeing her grinning foolishly at the mirror, Aunt Wu shook her head and went outside to wash the clothes.
Coming back to her senses, Xu Anyan quickly called after her.
“Aunt Wu, the weather is getting cold. Don’t wash the clothes with cold water.”
Hearing this, Aunt Wu stopped and turned around.
“Alright. I’ll boil some hot water first and mix it with cold water.”
Only then did Xu Anyan feel at ease enough to eat.
After breakfast, the hot water was ready.
After searching around, Xu Anyan finally found some soap pods in the side room.
Working together, the two women spent half an hour washing the clothes.
By then, the sun had slowly risen in the east.
“Mother! Brother and I are here! Where are you?”
Xu Anyan had just taken her purse from the cabinet and was planning to go out and buy some daily necessities when she heard Xiaobao’s voice from the courtyard.
She had barely turned around when the two little ones came running to the doorway.
Dabao spoke first.
“Mother, Brother and I came to keep you company.”
Xu Anyan asked,
“Mother is going out. Do you two want to come?”
As soon as Xiaobao heard this, he nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes! Yes! We’ll go with Mother!”