After another three-quarters of an hour's journey, the family of six finally returned to the village and saw their house in the distance.
Zhou Lang stood next to Wu Meili and said excitedly.
"Mom, you are so awesome. We are all back, and the wind is still blowing and it is not raining!"
Wu Meili smiled slightly and replied disapprovingly.
"It's nothing serious, you will know it later."
Laughing and walking forward, the family returned to the door of their home. Wu Meili took out the key to the courtyard from her arms with ease, opened the door of the courtyard, and gave instructions eloquently.
"Boss, you drive our big scalper into the cowshed, and feed him some water and grass to prevent him from starving. Second brother, I'll give you the key to the warehouse, and you can drive the car later." Go inside the warehouse, close the door tightly, and return the key to me later. Third brother, you are still young and are not so shy, so I will help your sister-in-law and send her to your eldest brother's room. . Luya, remember to pack up the clothes in the yard and send them to whose house they belong."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the courtyard opened. Wu Meili pushed open the courtyard door and walked in first. Then at a glance, he saw the clothes on the bamboo shelf in the yard that were blown by the wind.
Several sons and daughters-in-law agreed one after another and began to act according to the instructions of the head of the family, Wu Meili. Those who drive the cattle drive the cattle, those who pull the carts pull the carts, those who help the elder sister-in-law support the elder sisters-in-law, and those who collect the clothes gather the clothes.
Wu Meili was not idle either. She took the bucket and pole placed aside and walked directly out of the courtyard. Before leaving, she looked at her sons and gave instructions again.
"Boss, second, and third, after you have done what you have to do, remember to bring back some dry straw and tidy up our roof. In case the strong wind and rain destroy our roof, It’s raining on us again.”
After the three sons responded obediently, Wu Meili nodded with satisfaction, picked up two buckets and walked towards the entrance of the village.
Drilling a well is very expensive, and not many people in the village have private wells. Among them, Wu Meili's family is not included. Therefore, most people in the village, including Wu Meili's family, rely on the public well at the entrance of the village for water.
Before leaving home, Wu Meili met an acquaintance from the village. It was a middle-aged man, thin and frail, carrying two buckets on his shoulders.
"Sister-in-law Zhou, you are here to fetch water again!"
The man looked at Wu Meili, who was not tall, with a trace of pity and sigh in his eyes, and shouted enthusiastically.
Wu Meili nodded and replied equally enthusiastically.
"Uncle Gen, come and fetch water! It's going to rain heavily soon. I'll fetch some well water and fill up my big water tank. I don't know how long it will rain. I guess we won't be able to fetch water in a short time." ”
Uncle Gen responded with a smile and replied.
"Yes, Sister-in-law Zhou, I think so too. No, my mother-in-law specially asked me to come out to fetch water, just to fill up the water tank, so as not to run out of water when I need to use it. Although rainwater is also water, but It needs to be left for a day and a night before it can be used, and I don’t know why.”
"Uncle Tagen, I once heard that rainwater is not clean."
Wu Meili said something casually as she walked forward.
Uncle Gen nodded and asked in confusion.
"Why isn't the rainwater clean? It looks quite clean to me!"
Wu Meili laughed dumbly, shook her head, and answered casually.
"Uncle Tagen, you ask me, how do I know? But I heard that someone in the village next door drank the rainwater that just fell last year and died in pain for several days."
Uncle Gen couldn't help but shudder when he heard this. He touched the goosebumps on his arm with one hand and said with some fear.
"If you don't listen to the old people, you will suffer the consequences. We people still have to listen to the old people. As expected, we still have to be taboo."
"yes!"
Wu Meili agreed and continued to move forward with her head held high. After walking for a while with Uncle Gen, I met a young man carrying a big bucket.
"Stone, come and fetch water too!"
Wu Meili and Uncle Gen said hello in unison.
The dark-skinned young man nodded, hummed softly, and called someone.
"Aunt Zhou, Uncle Gen."
After the three met, they continued to move forward at the same speed as before. During the rest of the journey, Wu Meili didn't meet anyone who went to fetch water like them.
On the contrary, I saw many people either carrying buckets or carrying buckets, either slowly or hurriedly from the entrance of the village to their homes.
When they arrived at the well at the entrance of the village, the three of them saw a large group of villagers from the same village queuing up. They didn't jump in line or anything, and fell directly to the back of the line.
There were many people in line, most of them were men, and only a few were women. Wu Meili arrived by chance, and the person standing in front of her happened to be a woman.
"Sister-in-law of the Meng family, your wife is still working outside and hasn't come back?"
Wu Meili put down the bucket on her shoulder and asked with a smile while moving her body.
Meng's sister-in-law nodded and said helplessly.
"Yeah, he didn't come back. I don't know if he will come back in time today. I don't think I have any hope."
Wu Meili smiled and said comfortingly.
"It would be a good idea for the one of your family to stay in the town, so as not to stain his clothes when he comes back."
Meng's sister-in-law nodded and asked curiously.
"Brothers and sisters of the Zhou family, where are the boys in your family? Why don't you let them come to fetch water? Don't spoil them."
Wu Meili smiled slightly and explained calmly.
"I left my boys in the house and asked them to help repair the roof. This will prevent the heavy rain from getting our house wet."
The Meng family's sister-in-law tucked the scattered hair behind her ears and said with a smile.
"What a coincidence. I also left my kids at home and asked them to tidy up the house."
"What a coincidence, isn't this just the norm?"
Wu Meili joked and looked at each other with the Meng family's sister-in-law.
Suddenly thinking of something, the Meng family's sister-in-law asked again.
"I saw your family of six going to the town earlier. What are you doing there?"
Wu Meili rolled her eyes and suddenly raised her voice.
"Today my eldest daughter-in-law was not feeling well, so I took people to the town to have a look. As a result, the old doctor at the hospital took a pulse and told me that my eldest daughter-in-law was pregnant. And the pregnancy was particularly stable. , I will definitely be able to give birth to a healthy child.”
When Meng's sister-in-law heard this, a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes, and she quickly congratulated her loudly.
"Brothers and sisters of the Zhou family, congratulations. It looks like there will be a big fat boy in your family next spring!"
The people around heard the conversation between the two and quickly congratulated Wu Meili. Just because it was the time to queue up for water, we didn’t get close.
With a smile on her face and a few words with everyone happily, Wu Meili proudly said to the Meng family's sister-in-law.
"Actually, it doesn't matter whether the child is a fat boy or a girl. It means he has a good life. As a grandmother, I will definitely enjoy his/her blessings in the future."
The Meng family's sister-in-law was stunned and asked in confusion.
"Brothers and sisters of the Zhou family, what do you say?"
Others also pricked up their ears, wanting to hear what Wu Meili had to say
Wu Meili looked around and said loudly and proudly.
"When I was in the town, I met a very effective Taoist priest. The Taoist priest told my eldest daughter-in-law's unborn child a fortune-telling and said that the child's life would be very good, and he would be blessed with great blessings. There are two more sentences that I don’t remember, but they are very good instructions anyway. If the child is a boy, he will probably become a very popular minister in the future, and he will be granted the title of Marquis and Prime Minister. If it is a girl, maybe She will marry into a good family and even become a member of the palace."
As soon as he said this, most of the people around him showed distrust. How could a little baby from a farm family have such a good life? Being able to pass the imperial examination and become a seventh-grade county magistrate is like smoke rising from the ancestral grave.
Sensing the little thoughts of the people around her, Wu Meili suddenly became anxious. She patted her thigh hard and quickly gave an example.
"Don't believe it, my child is destined to have a good life. You don't know that as soon as the Taoist priest finished telling his fortune, clouds suddenly appeared in the sky. There were also older people who looked at the sky and raised their eyebrows. Shouting that it’s going to rain.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone became a little skeptical. Could it be that the Zhou family really asked the Taoist priest to have their fortunes told, and it was a very good fortune? Such a comment is not something that just a small cat or puppy can get.
——
There were many families in the village, and Wu Meili waited in line for more than a quarter of an hour before it was her turn. And behind her, there was a long line of people fetching water.
Listening to the people around her discussing her unborn child, Wu Meili showed a satisfied smile and skillfully fetched two buckets of water.
Then, she bent over, straightened her back, and with difficulty picked up the bucket on her shoulders, and swayed home in the gloomy weather and strong wind.
The large water tank in the kitchen is actually still half full. But just in case, Wu Meili went to the well and came back with two buckets of water.
So, when the big water tank was full, there was still more than half of the water in the wooden bucket.
After dealing with the water problem, Wu Meili finally had time to deal with other things. The eldest daughter-in-law, who is pregnant with a precious child, has gone back and forth again. She is resting now and cannot be disturbed yet.
Although the second daughter-in-law, Lu Ya, was just married, she was also well-behaved and obedient. I packed up the whole family's clothes and worked hard on housework again.
As for the three sons, they ran all over the roof of the yard and worked hard to repair the roof. Fortunately, there are not many bad things, otherwise how long will it take to go there
Wu Meili has never been a person who can't rest, but now it's her turn to be lazy.
So, even though she was already in her thirties, she still deftly climbed up the ladder and climbed to the roof, helping with deft hands and feet.
"Mom, just rest and let us do it! We three brothers are not lazy guys, we can still do this little thing. And the wind is so strong, it is very dangerous."
The Zhou brothers stopped their mother and persuaded her in unison. Both the 12-year-old third child and the almost 18-year-old eldest child all disagreed.
Wu Meili shook her head, looked at her three sons with firm eyes, and said without any doubt.
"Your mother, I am a widow. I can raise you guys safely, so I am not an incompetent person. It's just a strong wind, and it can't blow me away. Don't stop me, we mothers will come together. . Finish the work early and rest early, so as not to run out of time."
The three brothers persuaded and persuaded while working. Seeing that his mother was unmoved and insisted on intervening, she had no choice but to agree.
The author has something to say: I wrote more than 14,000 words today, and I am almost exhausted.
Well, the other 10,000 words are actually from another article, Awkward Smile.jpg
Thank you Yifeng Love Letter for the nutritional solution, okay