On the way to fetch water, I saw a few people, but since we didn't know each other, we didn't say hello.
Lin Qingqing was very skillful in fetching water. Although modern people use tap water, many old houses in rural areas still have wells.
For example, although their old house has been renovated into a small country villa, the well has always been there. When eating watermelon in the summer, her grandmother likes to soak the watermelon in well water, so that the watermelon tastes cool, but it is different from the cold watermelon in the refrigerator. The watermelon soaked in well water tastes better.
When washing clothes and dishes, her grandmother also likes to use well water. Although it is more convenient to wash with a washing machine or a dishwasher, or to wash small items with tap water without using home appliances, the elderly are used to saving, or are used to a lifestyle and like to use tap water.
Moreover, Lin Qingqing grew up in the countryside, so there was nothing commonly used in the countryside that she was not familiar with.
Lin Qingqing was weak, and she had to use the small bucket more than ten times just to fill the large bucket of water in the kitchen. When the large wooden bucket was full, she found a rag and first wiped the square table in the living room clean. After wiping it clean, she wiped it dry, then carried all the clean clothes and quilts in the room to the square table and placed them there, and took out all the dirty clothes in the room and piled them in the corner of the living room, and finally cleaned the room.
She wiped the desk, three beds, and the floor in the room until the rag could no longer wipe out any dirt. Of course, the Lu family didn't have that many rags, so she tore up the original owner's clothes and used them as rags.
It was about 1:30 when they were discharged from the hospital and went to the family room. She didn't know what time it was now, but Lin Qingqing estimated that at least an hour had passed. She didn't touch the dirty clothes in the hall. She just threw them in the corner and washed them slowly. The quilt that the original owner had used had not been changed for half a month. She also felt it was dirty, so she changed it.
After cleaning the sleeping area at night, she was too lazy to clean the hall. She didn't know when Lu Cheng would come back. For her, the most important thing now was to prepare a bed in the next room to avoid embarrassment when Lu Cheng came back. Although there was a one-meter small bed here, there was no wardrobe, so if this bed was moved away, there would be no place to put clean clothes and quilts.
So, either a bed or a wardrobe, this is what she needs to prepare most. Comparing the two, it is easy to attract dust if clean clothes and quilts are placed in the wardrobe, so she decided to buy a wardrobe and put it in the room, and move the unused bed to the next room for herself to sleep.
"Xiao Haici, I want to go find your Aunt Qin. Can you show me the way?" Just now when she was cleaning the room, the little guy kept wringing out water and handing her a rag, busy all the time. Now that the room was cleaned, he stuck his butt out and washed his hands with soap.
"Hey." Lu Haici was washing his hands. When he heard his mother's words, he quickly stood up.
"Let's go." Lin Qingqing extended her hand toward him.
Lu Haici was stunned: "Hey." He responded again in a loud voice and obediently handed his hand to his mother.
The family compound is neither big nor small, but it takes several minutes to walk from the Lu family to the Yu family because the two families are located one at the front and the other at the back.
The family compound consisted of three courtyards connected together. The Lu family was the innermost, and there were two other families on the right. However, Lin Qingqing had been in and out of these two courtyards several times since she came back to fetch water, and she had never seen anyone in them. But when she walked to the outermost corner, she saw a few women sitting there. Some were mending clothes, some were peeling potatoes, and some were knitting.
Seeing Lin Qingqing coming over, one of the women asked, "Lu Cheng's wife, are you discharged from the hospital?"
Lin Qingqing thought carefully and found this person from the original owner's memory. Half a month ago, when Lu Cheng brought the original owner back to the army, he also met a few women on the roadside. Everyone greeted Lu Cheng, and Lu Cheng naturally introduced the original owner.
However, the original owner did not remember these people's names, so Lin Qingqing did not know how to address the person who greeted her. She thought for a moment and said, "Hello, sister-in-law. I was just discharged from the hospital this afternoon." It seemed that several families nearby knew that she had a fever of 41 degrees and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Woman: "You are so lucky. When Sister Yu came to ask us to take you to the hospital, we saw your face was red in your home, as if you were holding your breath. We were really scared."
Not to mention the women being scared, Lin Qingqing also felt a little scared when she heard her say that. At that time, she had just come from the book, and the original owner should have just had a fever. "Thank you so much, sister-in-law. To be honest, it's my own fault. When I first came here, I took the train for several days because it was my first time traveling far away, so I was a little unaccustomed. After arriving here, I felt dizzy. I thought I could just hold on and it would pass, but I held on for half a month, and then I became dazed and had no consciousness."
"If you don't treat minor illnesses, you'll end up with big illnesses that cost a lot of money," said a woman nearby.
Lin smiled at the other person and said, "That's right. Now I understand."
"Looking at your current condition, you have recovered quickly. After all, you are young and in good spirits." Someone said.
Lin Qingqing: "Thanks to the doctor... Dear sisters-in-law, I have something to do at Sister Yu's house. When I am better, please come to my house for a visit. I haven't recovered from the illness in the past few days, so I won't invite you all."
"You're welcome. It's more important that you recover."
"That's right. There will be plenty of opportunities to visit your house in the future."
Lin Qingqing chatted with them for a while and then parted ways with them.
As soon as Lin Qingqing left, several women looked at her back and started talking again.
"This girl is really pretty, very fair and clean. I have never seen such a fair girl."
"Yes, you can tell at a glance that you are blessed."
"I wanted to introduce my niece to Deputy Commander Lu."
"Come on, your husband is just a battalion commander. Is it appropriate to introduce your niece to Deputy Colonel Lu?"
"This girl looks so young, how come she became someone's stepmother? It's too weird." Some people also said something bad about Lin Qingqing.
"Come on, if you can marry the deputy head of the group as a stepmother, would you be willing to do that?"
"That's right. Captain Lu is so handsome, and his son is only five years old. He can be raised well. Why can't he get married?"
"Speaking of which, have you ever seen the wife of Deputy Commander Lu?"
"His previous wives never followed the army, how could he see them?"
"Isn't it? I heard that Deputy Commander Lu got married only nine months ago, and his ex-wife gave birth prematurely due to poor health. That's why his ex-wife also passed away early. His son was also born prematurely, so his health was not very good, and he had been raised in his hometown. It was only last year when he recovered that he was brought here to attend kindergarten."
"Look at this new daughter-in-law, she is so gentle and polite, she should be good to the child."
"No matter how good she is, she's still a stepmother." The person who just said that Lin Qingqing was out of tune spoke again, "How can a stepmother be good? Only time will tell if someone is a good person."
"Captain Ji's wife is also a stepmother. She is a well-known virtuous wife in the military camp."
The woman thought about it and wanted to find fault with the virtuous military wife, but she couldn't find anything bad. Finally, she could only grit her teeth and said, "Time will tell. It's only been half a year. She doesn't have a child, so she hasn't revealed her true colors."
Lin Qingqing naturally didn't know that these people were talking about her and her stepmother. She and Lu Haici had already arrived at Yu Xiuyao's house. Yu Xiuyao was drying clothes at this moment. She brought food to Lin Qingqing in the morning, and stayed in the hospital until noon before returning. She brought her food again at noon and waited until she was discharged from the hospital. She hadn't been busy all day, and only now was she free to do the housework. Seeing Lin Qingqing and Lu Haici holding hands and coming home, she hurriedly said enthusiastically: "Sister Qingqing, why are you here?"
Lin Qingqing said: "Sister-in-law, it's like this, I want to buy some cabinets for my home, but I don't know where to buy them."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiuyao said: "Let's go to the nearby village. There is a carpenter in the village. Just buy it from the carpenter's house. When you are better, I will take you there." The army is close to the county town and is located in the suburbs of the county town, so it is also close to the countryside and villages.
It was 1963, and the free trade measures had just begun, so carpenters would take jobs privately. When the ten years of hardship came, various organizations such as the Little Red Soldiers emerged, and such private transactions were labeled as speculation, and all kinds of free trade became cautious.
Lin Qingqing said gratefully: "Thank you, sister-in-law. I feel much better now. Are you free tomorrow? If so, would it be convenient for you to take me there tomorrow? I also want to buy some food and vegetables for the family so that I can cook for myself."
Yu Xiuyao listened and said, "You can cook for yourself? That's great, I have vegetables at home, you can just come and get them." Her yard is planted with green vegetables, eggplants, and cucumbers. Although the yard is small, it has everything and is full of greenery.
Lin Qingqing looked at the vegetables in the yard and said, "Sister-in-law, can you lend me some rice, eggs and vegetables? I'll buy them tomorrow and return them to you." There was nothing at home, and I had to eat in the cafeteria tonight and tomorrow morning. It was indeed not as convenient as cooking at home. Lin Qingqing actually liked to cook delicious food.
When Yu Xiuyao heard this, she didn't hesitate to say that she didn't need to return it. She asked cheerfully, "Okay, what exactly do you want to borrow? Let's see if I have it."
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "I want to borrow two kilograms of rice, four eggs, some potatoes and green vegetables, and two cucumbers." I'll have fried rice with eggs in the evening and mashed potatoes tomorrow morning.
Yu Xiuyao said, "All of these are here. I'll get them for you." She put down the clothes that were half hung out to dry.
Seeing this, Lin Qingqing put away the clothes that she had half hung out to dry.
When Xiuyao came out, the clothes were already dried. Yu Xiuyao didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You..." She originally thought that this girl was well-fed and might not be suitable for work, but looking at this, she should be diligent. Yu Xiuyao put down the basket and picked a handful of green vegetables and four cucumbers in the yard. "Our yard is small, and we can only grow these things."
"Thank you, sister-in-law. By the way, sister-in-law, I see that the yard on your side is raised, while our yard has a low wall. Can you raise it yourself?" Lin Qingqing also likes the raised yard, which provides more privacy.