sbdcsierra Chapter 10 A House with Bare Walls
Chapter 10 A House with Bare Walls
Gao Mengli was fast asleep when she was woken up by the sound of chopping things under the eaves of the courtyard.
Lying in bed, she mumbled sleepily, "Xixi, please be quiet while you're chopping vegetables, you're disturbing my sleep."
Lin Xi, who was sleeping on the floor, rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Wife, I didn't chop any vegetables."
Gao Mengli was getting annoyed by the "clattering" sounds coming from under the eaves, so she simply sat up.
Seeing his best friend's grumpy face and her movements as she was about to get out of bed, Lin Xi quickly rolled to the side, really not wanting to be "groped" by her feet again.
Gao Mengli ran out, about to shout, when she saw Da Niu chopping chicken and eating it under the eaves.
She immediately woke up from most of her sleepiness and became fully awake.
Good heavens, she almost forgot that she had transmigrated to this place and had a "good son".
He quickly swallowed the words that were about to come out, composed himself, and asked, "Oh, Da Niu, why are you cutting this?"
Da Niu raised his head, looked timidly at Gao Mengli, and obediently replied, "Mom, I'm chopping chicken feed to feed the chickens. I haven't fed them all day."
He had just seen his mother storm out, her face contorted with rage, and his heart had been pounding in his chest. But then, to his astonishment, she suddenly became all smiles and spoke to him gently; he almost couldn't keep up with her sudden change of expression.
"Oh? A chicken?"
Gao Mengli then remembered that there were three hens at home!
It's just that the sun is a bit too strong in the yard, so everyone is hiding in the corn stalks next to it to avoid the direct sunlight.
Looking at the three half-grown hens, he gave them a look of disgust. Well, he couldn't even get eggs, and there wasn't much meat to be had.
Mother hen: I urge you to have some decency; we're still children.
Gao Mengli looked up and saw that it was still early, so she prepared to clean the house.
"Xi... Honey, bring out the duvet cover and sheets, and take them all out to wash while the sun is shining."
Gao Mengli called out to the house, then turned around, picked up a large basin, placed it by the well, and prepared to draw water to wash things.
Da Niu looked up at the sky. It was already afternoon. Did his mother have something wrong with her eyesight?
However, he quickly put down the knife and placed the chicken feed in the stone trough of the chicken coop. Then he ran to Gao Mengli and said, "Mom, let me do it, let me wash it."
He washed all the clothes and belongings in his house; he wouldn't even dare to dream of washing clothes for his mother.
If his mother finds him lazy and gives him an excuse to beat him, that would be bad.
This is called being prepared for danger in times of peace and taking precautions to nip any potential reasons for "beating him in the bud."
"I don't need you. Stand further away; you won't get it clean."
Looking at Da Niu, who was clearly ten years old but had the frail body of a seven or eight-year-old, Gao Mengli thought to herself, "This original owner of the body really committed a terrible sin."
However, no matter how much Gao Mengli disliked Da Niu for not washing clothes properly, she was thoroughly humiliated when she started washing them herself.
She looked at the "human-shaped" stain on the bed sheet, which she couldn't get clean no matter how much she scrubbed.
There's no soap, no laundry detergent, how the hell can we even wash?
No wonder the clothes in this house aren't exactly dirty, but they're far from clean either.
Seeing Gao Mengli's dark face and the way she looked like she wanted to tear the bedsheets to shreds, Lin Xi quickly squatted down next to her, carrying the clothes he had collected.
"Honey, let me do it. You rest here for a bit."
Lin Xi quickly freed the sheet from her hands and began scrubbing it vigorously on the side.
This scene was like a bolt from the blue for Da Niu. His father would actually wash things on his own initiative?!
But the thought that his father could cook immediately put his mind at ease. After all, a prodigal son's return is priceless, and he had a tiny bit of faith that these two genuinely wanted to change.
"Da Niu, what do you usually use to wash your clothes?" Lin Xi scrubbed for a long time, and the water in the basin became extremely murky.
However, the "human figure" on the bed sheet was still terrifyingly clear!
Da Niu snapped out of his daze and quickly replied to his father, "Oh, Dad, I usually use that, that wood ash."
"Wood ash?" Lin Xi was stunned. That stuff could indeed be used for washing, but he was a bit of a germaphobe and was reluctant to use it.
"Aren't there any others?" Gao Mengli asked again, unwilling to give up.
Da Niu shook his head, his eyes flickering slightly. "Besides wood ash, there's only soapberry, but there wasn't much left from last year's drought..."
Da Niu was genuinely worried; the soapberries were probably ruined. Once they were used up, they'd be gone from bathing and washing his hair. He'd have to wait until autumn, when the soapberries were older, to harvest them again.
"Okay, Da Niu, find the soapberries, I'll take them to the kitchen to boil water and wash them!"
Lin Xi was instantly happy, but in Da Niu's eyes, this was no different from "spending money recklessly".
In previous years, when things were better, the family was quite well-off.
But in the last two years, his parents got into gambling and "went bankrupt" to pay off their debts. What's more, his grandfather decided to separate his family from the family.
Without the old house to support us, if we continue to squander money like this, how will we survive...?
Da Niu reluctantly and slowly walked into the kitchen.
He dug out five large soapberries from the very back of the pile of firewood, feeling it was a bit wasteful, so he silently put two back before turning around and handing them to Lin Xi, "Dad, here you go."
Lin Xi quickly took it, skillfully rinsed it, took it into the kitchen, broke it into pieces, put it in a pot, and added water.
Theoretically, the soapberries should be soaked overnight to soften them before being boiled in a pot.
But I need it urgently now, so I have no choice but to break it into pieces.
The effect will be greatly reduced, but as long as it's usable after cooking, it's fine.
Gao Mengli looked at the poor house, where there were no daily necessities or even toilet paper.
That day, having eaten and drunk his fill and regained his strength, he sat down and pondered how to make some money.
Farming is out of the question; all the land has already been sold.
Those chickens didn't have much meat, so they wouldn't sell for much.
She had 120 coins in her hand, and after giving 30 coins to her adopted son to buy flour, she had 90 coins left.
"Sigh, even a hero can be brought down by a single penny..." Gao Mengli sighed softly.
I glanced at Da Niu, who was squatting at the kitchen door, looking at his father's "wasteful spending" with a pained expression.
It must have been tough for this child; he must have suffered a lot for this family.
If I were to be reborn, I would definitely want to enjoy freedom and life to the fullest.
Thinking of all the supplies she'd collected in the apocalypse, he felt a pang of regret. He should have just eaten them all instead of hoarding them. It was all for naught; all that hard work had benefited someone else.
I truly experienced firsthand that money is something you can't take with you when you die.
She was filled with deep regret.
She stood up, intending to pick some elm seeds. According to Da Niu, she could make some steamed buns with white flour, which should be able to sell.
Gao Mengli turned to ask, "Da Niu, how long does it take to get from our village to Pingyao County?"
“Oh, Mother, it would take more than an hour to walk here, but half an hour by oxcart.”
Da Niu's heart skipped a beat. Was his mother going to gamble in the county town again?