13
Moving House
Gu Wenshu emerged from behind the house holding two chickens, with Chen Hongzhen chasing after her. Chen repeatedly tried to snatch the hens from Gu Wenshu’s hands but was deftly avoided. Fuming, she cursed and grumbled the entire way, while Gu Wenshu walked on without wasting a single word on her.
Seeing this, Granny Li flew into a rage and rushed forward to seize the hens from Gu Wenshu. “You already slaughtered a big hen yesterday, and now you’re taking more? You really are a wicked little wretch, here to ruin my family!”
“You black-hearted little wretch! I’ll report you to the brigade for your disrespect!”
As Granny Li lunged for the chickens, Gu Wenshu sidestepped and stuck out her foot, tripping the old woman.
“Ah!”
With a sharp cry, Granny Li tumbled into Chen Hongzhen, and both of them fell into a pile of dry hay behind them.
Ignoring the shouts from the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law duo, Gu Wenshu walked over to Li Xiuran and said, “Let’s go.”
The cousins who had come to help were stunned. Was this really the same Gu Wenshu who usually endured insults without fighting back or even retorting?
Li Xiuran didn’t even glance at his mother and sister-in-law lying in the haystack. Falling into soft hay wouldn’t hurt them—their dramatic cries were just a ploy to make him leave the chickens behind. He had no intention of indulging them. Taking the two hens from Gu Wenshu, he urged everyone to leave.
As for his mother and sister-in-law’s yelling, he paid no attention.
Call him heartless, call him cold.
In the past, he was too far away to protect his wife and children. Now that he was here, he wouldn’t stand by and let them be bullied.
He would fulfill his responsibilities, but Gu Wenshu had no obligation to endure his mother’s anger.
As a mother, Gu Wenshu had been far from adequate in the past—she had even owed the children a great deal. But that debt was to the children, not to the Li Family.
In fact, it was the Li Family that owed her.
Gu Wenshu walked slowly beside the children, chatting with them while stealing glances at Li Xiuran. When she went to catch the chickens, she had been worried he would insist she leave them behind. After all, that was his mother. To her surprise, not only did he not demand it, but he even helped carry the hens.
She asked, “Aren’t you angry?”
Li Xiuran glanced at her calmly. “You were the one who raised all the chickens at home. It’s already generous of you not to take all four.”
He conveniently overlooked the large hen the family had eaten the night before.
The leftover chicken broth was still in the pot on the cart.
Xiao Ni’er, hearing her parents’ conversation, chimed in, “Mommy fed the big chickens! And Mommy fed the big pig too!”
Li Xiuran suddenly remembered the fat pig raised behind the house. Puzzled, he wondered why, given how she had insisted on taking even the two chickens, she had overlooked the pig.
Though the question crossed his mind, he didn’t voice it. Instead, he looked at his daughter and smiled, nodding. “Daddy knows. So we’ll take all the big chickens Mommy raised to our new home and keep them for eggs for Xiao Ni’er and your brother.”
Sanbao glanced at his mother. “Mommy should eat them too.”
Li Xiuran nodded. “Okay, Mommy will eat them too.”
Xiao Ni’er quickly added, “Daddy should eat too! If Daddy doesn’t eat, Xiao Ni’er won’t eat either.”
Gu Wenshu listened to the children’s conversation, her heart warming. The newly risen sun shone upon her, enveloping her entire body in a comforting warmth, as if even the gloom accumulated over two lifetimes in her heart had been somewhat dispelled.
She curled her lips into a smile and looked toward the conspicuous Qingzhuan house at the end of the village—it was her home.
In her heart, it was the first home she’d had in two lifetimes.
Simply because two children were there.
The Li Family cousins helped move their belongings into the house before hurrying off to work. Li Xiuran turned to Gu Wenshu: “I had someone come clean it up last night. You just need to arrange everything.”
Gu Wenshu nodded and inspected the place inside and out. Beyond the courtyard was the main hall, with passages on both the left and right sides leading to rooms. There were two rooms on the left, and one room plus a kitchen on the right. The bathing area was inside the kitchen, which also had a small door for entry and exit.
She took a closer look and realized the kitchen was quite spacious. If properly organized, a dining table could be placed inside, allowing their family to eat meals in the kitchen.
While arranging the rooms, she shared this idea with Li Xiuran. Without asking further questions, he said, “We can eat in the main hall for the next couple of days. I’ll go get some lumber in a few days and make a table myself.”
Gu Wenshu looked at him curiously: “You know how to make one?”
Li Xiuran nodded: “Yes.”
He planned to make a lower table suitable for the children to sit and eat at, unlike the previous night when they had pushed two wooden crates together to serve as a makeshift table.
“I’ll also make two small stools for the children.”
Upon hearing this, both children turned to their father. Xiao Ni’er asked, “Daddy, can you make one for Gousheng Ge too?”
It wasn’t the first time Li Xiuran had heard the name Gousheng from his children. He raised an eyebrow slightly, crouched down to meet his daughter’s gaze, and asked, “Does Xiao Ni’er like Gousheng Ge a lot?”
Thinking of Gousheng Ge, Xiao Ni’er’s eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly: “I like Gousheng Ge.”
Seeing this, Li Xiuran felt a pang of sourness in his heart. So she likes her brother, but she likes Gousheng too? Where does that leave her own father in her heart?
Sanbao added, twisting the knife: “I like Gousheng Ge too. He’s the best.”
When Dabao Ge and Erbao Ge hit them, Gousheng Ge would protect them. When their mother hit them, Gousheng Ge would also step in. So Gousheng Ge was the best brother in the world.
Alright then. Li Xiuran instantly lost the desire to ask anything more: “Okay, Daddy understands. I’ll make a stool for your Gousheng Ge too.”
It was just a stool—it wouldn’t take much time. Still, his heart felt bittersweet.
While organizing their belongings, Gu Wenshu overheard their conversation and glanced at Li Xiuran. There he was, a man over 1.8 meters tall, crouching before his children, listening to them praise someone else with such a wronged expression that she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Whenever someone bullies them, Gousheng always protects them,” she said.
In her heart, she added silently: Including when their previous mother hit them.
Hearing this, Li Xiuran nodded. Since he protected his children, making a few extra stools was no trouble at all.
The only thing to consider was the source of the lumber. Nowadays, one couldn’t just go up the mountain and chop trees freely. He would have to check the town’s scrap collection station to see if there were any discarded wood materials. As long as there were, he could turn trash into treasure.
Gu Wenshu spent an hour tidying up the house before starting to cook.
The old house had allocated them very little grain, but the kitchen in the new home contained several dozen pounds of rice in the storage bucket, along with a bag of flour, some peanut oil, a jar of salt, and a piece of cured meat hanging from the beam. When she first entered the kitchen, she was somewhat surprised to see these supplies—they must have been acquired by Li Xiuran after the complete division of the family.
This man truly had his ways, managing to procure so much rice and flour in such a short time.
She wouldn’t ask where these provisions came from. Since they were here, she would use them without hesitation.
She cooked a pot of rice, reheated last night’s chicken soup, made pancakes, and sliced a small portion of the cured meat to stir-fry with greens.
When Li Xiuran came in to help carry the dishes out, he was taken aback by the aromatic and visually appealing stir-fried greens with cured meat on the stove. He couldn’t help but glance at Gu Wenshu a few more times.
Since when had this woman’s cooking skills become so impressive?