Chapter 2 Hard Life
As soon as Aunt Li took out the money, Zhao Juan immediately understood her intention and stepped forward to grab Aunt Li's hand that was holding the handkerchief, refusing to let go.
"Aunt Li, I know you mean well, but your family isn't wealthy either and there are several children to raise. I still haven't paid back the money I borrowed from you before, so no matter what, I couldn't possibly take any more of yours this time. I'll think of a way to deal with Wu Huaihua's money, just take it back quickly."
"What's the solution? I still don't know you, where's the way to make money, just relying on a few work points is enough to do what, Wu Huaihua won't let it go easily, take this money and hurry up and return it to her, our family isn't in a hurry to use it, quickly take it." Li Auntie was a kind-hearted person.
This money Zhao Juan was determined not to want, but Aunt Li insisted that she take it back. How can we let Wu Huahua come home and make trouble like this? How can we live in the future? The two of them tore and pulled at each other, and finally, Zhao Juan had no choice but to accept the money.
She held the cloth containing money with red eyes, her back bent a few points, as if this money had pressed her spine.
To Aunt Li and her family, she truly doesn't know how to repay them. Nowadays, farmers are all in a state of warmth and fullness, where is there extra money? From this, it can be seen that Aunt Li's kindness is precious. In the past, she was also spoiled and grew up, if not for taking her brother's place as a educated youth, she wouldn't have understood the hardships of human life.
Aunt Li saw Zhao Juan's eyes redden and also sighed: "Don't be sad, the hard days will pass eventually. Didn't the doctor say that Ni Ni was in a bad condition before? But she got through it, didn't she? These are all blessings from heaven, we must cherish them well and we'll get over this hurdle."
After hearing this, Zhao Juan's recent unhappiness was alleviated a bit. Well, wasn't she still blessed with a lovely and adorable daughter? What more could she be dissatisfied with?
The sky was dark, Aunt Li bid farewell, Zhao Juan insisted on giving her a few sweet potatoes before leaving, and sent Aunt Li all the way to her doorstep.
Back in the house, the dim oil lamp cast a faint shadow. Zhao Juan sat on the stool, dazed for a moment, looked at her still sleeping daughter, and quickly cleaned up the rice in the pot.
Zhao Juan walked to the front of the kang, gently pushing Song Jie, "Nini, Nini, don't sleep anymore, let's eat."
Upon hearing the noise, Song Jie suddenly sat up, rubbed her eyes with her small fists that resembled meatballs, and then said in a sweet voice: "Mom, what's for breakfast today?"
Looking at her daughter's adorable appearance, Zhao Juan was deeply in love and rubbed her little face, saying: "How about eating sweet potatoes and drinking rice porridge today?"
"Great, I love sweet potatoes the most! Mom is so good, muah!" Give mom a kiss.
Dressed up and came to the table, on the table there was a plate of salted vegetables, several sweet potatoes, several steamed buns, and a small bowl of rice soup.
After arriving here, Song Jie couldn't bear the most is wowotou, because it's made of corn flour, eating people loudly, making her who grew up eating white noodles almost unable to swallow. Fortunately, there are still sweet potatoes to fill hunger, and every day's meals are these few dishes, with almost no change, not even a single drop of oil can be seen.
Zhao Juan picked up a sweet potato and carefully peeled it, handing it to Song Jie. Song Jie took the sweet potato that was as big as two fists and bit into it with big mouthfuls, savoring its sweetness.
Although she could only eat sweet potatoes, in her heart it was happier and more satisfying than eating a butter cake in the orphanage. It was because of the person in front of her. As long as she thought that there was someone who would love her unconditionally, care about her, her heart would be filled with happiness. That's all she asked for in two lifetimes.
Zhao Juan saw that her daughter was eating a lot, and she was truly happy. In the past few days, Nini had been listless and couldn't eat, which was really worrying. Now it's all better, and whatever hardships she herself suffered were worth it.
After dinner, Song Jie was so sleepy that she nodded off directly. Children always sleep a lot. Zhao Juan put her daughter to bed, cleaned up the table, and added a few pieces of firewood to the pot before coming to sleep.
The winter in the north is bitterly cold, and although there was a kang, the room was still so chilly that people shivered with cold. Zhao Juan covered herself and her daughter with two quilts and they slept together in one bed, barely managing to fall asleep. Before falling asleep, all she could hear was the howling of the northern wind outside, as if it wanted to drill into the house.
The second day was a sunny day, although the air was cold, but the wind had stopped, it was rare good weather.
As soon as she opened her eyes, Song Jie felt the long-awaited sunshine shining on her. She stretched and smiled wryly to herself, thinking that her wish of sleeping until the sun shone on her butt had finally come true.
He stretched out his short arms and legs with difficulty, put on several layers of clothes, and came to the edge of the pit like a ball. He turned around and suddenly jumped down, completing a series of high-difficulty movements.
Putting on her shoes, Song Jie walked into the courtyard with short legs. She had wanted to take a look around the courtyard for a long time, but she was always weak from illness and Zhao Juan wouldn't let her go out. Now that Zhao Juan had gone to work, she finally had a chance to sneak out and had to act quickly.
The door was pushed open, and a small head appeared inside, looking left and right like a little hamster stealing food. Seeing that there was no one around, it quickly pushed the door open and came out.
Away from the somewhat dim indoor environment, the yard is a bit empty, and there's actually nothing to see, just an empty yard of about 20 square meters, not even a chicken feather in sight, only a lonely salted vegetable jar standing there.
Behind them were two bedrooms where they lived, with two stoves in the middle separating what was considered a kitchen. Next to it was a flat house for storing miscellaneous items, and there was a toilet in the corner.
At first glance, it's really a bare house with nothing inside. The green-tiled house looks even more desolate against the backdrop of winter.
Arriving at the flat house, several tools were placed in the corner, and there were several large vats. Using all her might to lift the wooden vat cover, inside was half a vat of corn flour, and some sweet potatoes. Although the two women didn't eat much, Song Jie also knew that this was their entire food supply from now until next year's wheat harvest.
When she arrived at the gate, Song Jie thought of pushing the door to take a look. After trying for a long time without opening the door, she knew that Zhao Juan had locked it from the outside.
When she came out, her mood was high-spirited, but when she returned, she was disheartened. The little bun hung her head low, sighing and returning to the house with a thud. She plopped down on the stool, propping up her head with her hand, scrunched up her small eyebrows, and lay on the table. From afar, it's really adorable.
Song Jie doesn't have any beautiful mood now, her little brain is wrinkled so tightly, starting to worry about the country and the people, food will definitely not be enough to eat, always eating sweet potatoes will make you fart, no extra money left, how can people live? Why didn't she bring some golden fingers when she was reborn just like others.
In my past life, Song Jing was a mystery. After crossing over and reincarnating, I've seen a big pile of main characters with golden fingers, saving the earth, saving the world... But when it's my turn, I'm not that awesome. Even eating is a problem, why don't I have a portable storage space? It would be great if I could just farm and have all sorts of delicious food...
No, no, just thinking about the delicious dishes, braised shrimp, red-braised pork, sweet and sour ribs, Song Jie felt her mouth watering, she wiped her mouth, big eyes darting around, as if afraid of being seen by someone, like a little mouse that had done something wrong.
Whenever she thought of the space, Song Jie would think of a piece of jade pendant on her body, which was said by the aunt in the orphanage to have been picked up with her when she was young. It didn't look like any good jade, but she had always worn it.
Now she's wearing it on her body, Mom said it was passed down from Grandma, only worn by girls and not passed to boys. It's obviously a piece of jade pendant, how could she possibly tell them apart? Is there really some kind of hidden meaning in this jade pendant?