Chapter 82 Avoiding the Rain
For good, Xiaomei was not in a dilemma for a long time. Seeing that the weather was not good, Xiaoxin quickly coaxed and persuaded Rong Haoxuan to get into the carriage and go home.
Xu Xinger packed up her things, carried the basket on her back, followed Xiaomei with Shanzi, and walked through several small alleys.
Xiaomei raised her finger and said, "My house is right in front of me. I'll be there soon."
Xu Xinger looked up and asked curiously, "This name is so strange. How can it be called Babu?" Is it that the alley is only eight steps long?
"The eight-step alley is too short. I heard from my master that there used to be a general who was injured when fighting here and was chased here. At that time, he could no longer walk, and there were closed door panels on all sides. Just when he was desperate, the family at the entrance of the alley opened a door crack. The person inside said, 'Walk a few steps quickly and come in to hide.'
"At that time, the general's footsteps were already unstable and very close. He took a total of eight steps to barely move into the door at the entrance of the alley, successfully dodged the pursuers, and waited for the officers and soldiers who came to rescue. Before he left, he said that he wanted to remember this place. When he was injured, he must come to thank him. At this time, he found that the small alley did not even have a name, so he split a board with his sword and wrote eight steps of alley, so that his men nailed it to the mouth of the alley.
After Xiaomei finished telling the story, several people had already walked to the door of her house. The unpainted wooden door seemed to have been around for some years. When they opened the courtyard door, there was a creaking sound, and then there was a slightly hoarse voice in the room: "Xiaomei, are you back?"
"Milk, I'm back." Xiaomei answered, and then let Xu Xinger and Shanzi into the courtyard.
The area of the yard is not large, and one side of the courtyard wall is full of mountain tigers, which are very green and energetic. There are unnamed dwarf trees in the corner, which are also lush. The rest of the places are basically placed with jars and jars, leaving only a path that only one person can pass through leading to the door.
As soon as the three people entered the room and put down their back basket, there was another thunder outside. The sound was much closer than the previous thunder. Soon, it rained heavily outside.
Xiaomei let the two people into the room, poured two bowls of tea and put them on the table and said, "There is nothing to treat at home. Drink some water."
Xu Xinger came in and saw an old woman lying in the upper half of the kang. She should be the person who was talking just now. She quickly said, "Grandma Xiaomei, let's come to avoid the rain and cause you trouble."
"No trouble, you can sit down quickly." The old lady's voice was hoarse, but she was still in good spirits, but it seemed that there was something wrong with her waist and legs. In summer, she still sat on a thin quilt and half leaned on the quilt.
Xiaomei scooped water from the jar, washed her face and hands in the stove, and changed clean water to ask Xu Xinger to go out to scrub. Finally, she gave Shanzi another basin and asked him to go out to wash his face.
Xu Xinger quickly looked at Xiaomei's home and could see that the family life was not rich. The house was low and dark and a little damp, and the furniture was also very old. There was also a bitter smell of boiling medicine all year round in the room. It seemed that Xiaomei's pickles were also forced to sell them out.
Xiaomei's grandmother listened to the heavy rain outside the window and said worriedly, "Your father went out to work, and I don't know if there is any place to hide from the rain."
"Milk, don't worry. Dad will help people unload rice today. Naturally, there will be a place to stay and won't get caught in the rain." Xiaomei climbed into the kang to help the old lady change her posture, patted the old lady on the back and comforted her mouth.
The old lady was relieved to hear this and nodded and said, "Well, rice is afraid of water, so naturally it can't be put in the open air."
Xu Xinger was a little helpless when she heard this. No matter what the world is, the survival of poor people at the bottom is always the most difficult, and even rice may be more expensive than gold.
It was still raining outside. Xiaomei was packing up in the stove. Xu Xinger couldn't sit still and went out to help her hand. The two of them could still talk.
"Sister Mei, who else is in your family?" Xiaomei was cleaning the dishes, and Xu Xinger brought a basin of water to help her clean them.
"I also have a younger brother who is studying in the school and won't come back until the evening." As soon as Xiaomei talked about her brother, the corners of her lips suddenly raised, and the smile on her face was particularly bright, and her eyes were full of relief and pride.
"It's strange to say that my family has never had a scholar in my life, but my younger brother is born smart. My grandfather can read a few words. When he was a child, he held him and taught him, and he can remember it immediately, and he will write again in a few days." Xiaomei said that there was some bitterness in her smile, and she lowered her head and continued to wash the dishes. "Later, my grandfather had an accident. Before he went, he took my father's hand and said that Xiaozhu is a smart child. Don't be delayed because our family has no money to delay, we must send him to school..."
Xiaomei didn't continue when she said this. Xu Xinger didn't ask any more, but directly talked about her own situation and said, "My three sisters, I'm the eldest of the family. My mother is not in good health. It happened that something happened to my cousin's family, leaving only the newborn boy, and my family was hugged and raised."
Xiaomei sighed faintly when she heard this and said, "There are difficult scriptures in every family."
"Yes!" Xu Xinger washed the bowl in her hand, raised her hand and stroked the broken hair behind her ear. She smiled at Xiaomei and said, "Anyway, the days are always on the run, and it will definitely get better and better in the future. When your brother gets a * name in the future, the good days of your family will come."
"Then I will accept your good words." Xiaomei also came out of the mood just now, shook her hand with a smile and said, "Where's your back basket?" Anyway, it's all in your hands. Take out your dishes and wash them together.
"No, I'll just take it back and wash it." Xu Xinger waved her hand repeatedly and said, "Otherwise, it might get dirty again!"
"You girl, you are really brainless." Xiaomei said anxiously, "It's okay if you didn't know each other before. Now that you know each other, can't you carry back all the dishes?"
"Sister Mei, do you mean...?" Xu Xinger looked up at her with some surprise.
"Of course it's at my house." Xiaomei said with a smile, "My house is not far away. In the future, just come to my house to pick them up before you come to sell radish strips."
"Sister Mei, thank you so much. You have helped a lot!" Xu Xinger is really happy. She is not close to the city. These dishes are really not light. If they can be placed at Xiaomei's house, it will definitely reduce a lot of burden, and she can bring more radish strips to sell in the future.
"You don't have to thank me so much. I can also benefit you." Xiaomei took out the dishes in Xu Xinger's basket and said while washing them, "Master Han came to talk to you today. No one will dare to bother you in this area in the future. I will be closer to you so that I can rely on the big tree to enjoy the cool in the future, right?"
"Sister Mei, it's boring for you to say that." Xu Xinger recognized that Xiaomei seemed to have some temptation. As she continued to wash the dishes, she said, "I remember clearly that you had come forward to help us before Master Han came."
"It's useless for me to get out of the siege. In the end, if Master Han hadn't come forward, I don't know how to understand this matter today."
"I'm even more grateful to you for standing up even when you know it's useless." Xu Xinger continued, "We are also here to sell pickles. Instead of crowding us out, you help maintain it. Sister Mei, I remember your friendship in my heart and feel that you are a friend worth making. If you don't mind, we will be sisters in the future."
"Okay, I remember what you said. We will be good sisters in the future." Xiaomei smiled sincerely at Xu Xinger.
"Don't be reluctant to say anything difficult. Although I don't have much ability, it's better for us to discuss and solve it with each other than to carry it alone." Xu Xinger looked at Xiaomei and said.
"Now the sad thing at home is that grandma's waist and legs are not good, and she can't go to the ground. At night, she can't even turn over when she lies down. After seeing several doctors and taking a lot of medicine, it has no effect..." Xiaomei's eyes faded in an instant, but she still forced her smile and said, "Look, what am I telling you about? The doctor is useless. What can we do?"
Xu Xinger heard this but noticed and asked, "Sister Mei, what's wrong with grandma's waist and legs?" Why was it bad at the beginning?
"I'm not very clear. At first, it seems that I twisted my waist, and then my legs began to hurt. Finally, it hurts so much that I don't even lie down. Now I have to take medicine every day, otherwise I can't eat and sleep." Xiaomei's voice was very low, as if she was afraid that the old lady in the room would hear it, but the worry and powerlessness in her voice were very obvious.
Xu Xinger doesn't know much about this, but after listening to what Xiaomei said, she always feels that it is similar to the appearance of lumbar disc herniation. Although this problem is not particularly easy to treat in modern times, she knows that some good orthopedic doctors can be cured by massage.
"Can you see the doctor of the bone?" She couldn't help asking Xiaomei.
"I have also gone to see it, but the doctors said that my grandmother is too old to treat it. A good doctor's medical fee is too expensive. Besides, even if he has money, he may not be able to get it." The more Xiaomei said, the lower she was.
Xu Xinger already had an idea in her mind at this time, but she couldn't do it alone. She had to ask Shanzi first to see if it could work.
"Sister Mei, don't worry too much. There must be a way. Let's figure it out together." Xu Xinger comforted Xiaomei a few words and pushed the door to see if it was still raining outside. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
Xiaomei put all the washed dishes into the cupboard to dry, then took some dry firewood and said, "It seems that the rain won't stop for a while. Let's eat some to fill your stomach in my house."
"I've been disturbed. Why are you embarrassed to eat here?" Xu Xinger was a little embarrassed and wanted to say that she was not very hungry, but there was a grunting sound from her stomach first, and she suddenly blushed.
Xiaomei couldn't help laughing, stuffed a few pieces of firewood into the stove, lit the stove, poured some water into the pot, brushed it, took it out the cupboard and steamed it and said, "Ok, don't be polite to me. Who just said you wanted to be a sister?"
Xu Xinger couldn't say anything more when she heard the words. She nodded and said, "Then I won't be polite to Sister Mei. I will have a chance to come to my house to play in the future."