bookrebus Chapter 270 Not Full Again
Chapter 270 Not Full Again
Zhou Guo listened carefully. Before the old lady spoke, he thought she was a taciturn person, but after she started talking, it seemed like she couldn't stop. She even knew the situations of the other two families in the village.
There was a family with two old people and a little grandson. Many years ago, their son and daughter-in-law were going to the county town to sell some mountain products. However, before they entered the city, they encountered a group of bandits coming down the mountain. They chopped down anyone they saw and robbed anything they saw. Both the son and daughter-in-law were gone, leaving only the two old people and the little grandson.
The other family is a young man, about 30 years old, with a limp and pockmarked face. His parents died a few years ago, and he is left alone. His family is poor, and he has not yet married. He did not want to leave when he fled, so he stayed.
Three families lived in this small valley, working from sunrise to sunset. After paying various taxes every year, there was little grain left, so they could only make a living by digging wild vegetables, picking wild mushrooms and mountain products.
The old woman said that fortunately she was old and could not eat much, so she could still barely survive the year.
Zhou Guo sighed in his heart. He wanted to buy some dry food at his grandmother's house, but it seemed that it was impossible. After all, who among the common people has surplus food at home nowadays? What little food there was would be gone long ago because the people above would come down to plunder it from time to time.
Dinner was ready and Zhou Guo helped to serve it on the table.
A pot of black-flour wild vegetable steamed buns, a bowl of pickles, and a bowl of boiled winter melon. The winter melon is cooked until it is soft and looks delicious.
The old lady came over with three sets of bowls and chopsticks and said, "Eat. My youngest son always asks someone to send some food once a year. I am old and can't eat much. This little bit will last me a long time. You guys eat."
Zhou Guo helped to set the table, looked at the bowl of boiled winter melon and said with a smile: "This melon looks delicious, soft and tender."
The old lady smiled, "I am old and my teeth are not good, so the food I cook is inevitably a little soft. You kids may not be used to it."
Zhou Guo smiled and said, "How could that be? Winter melon is still delicious when it's soft. It melts in your mouth after you put it in your mouth."
It was already dark at this time and the farmers had no lights.
The three of them ate their meal in the dark, and half of the bowl of steamed buns was left.
Zhou Guo couldn't bear to eat more, so he ate only until he was 60% full. If he had eaten too much, there would be nothing left in the bowl of steamed buns.
After eating, I cleaned up the dishes consciously.
The old woman said nothing and turned back into the house.
When they had put away the dishes, the old woman had already made the bed. She pointed to a room to the west and said, "You can live in that room. It was where my sons lived before. My youngest son would come back and stay for a day or two every year. I clean it every few days. It's cleaner than the other room."
As he said this, he went out to close the fence gate, drove the chickens back into the coop, came back to plug the gate with a wooden bolt, and then propped it up with a large piece of wood. Then he turned around and went back to the house without saying anything to the two of them.
Zhou Guo looked at her, not knowing if it was her illusion, but she always felt that the old lady's expression was a little bad at this time.
Zhou Dacang led her into the house and said, "Okay, go to sleep. We have been sleeping outdoors these past few days and haven't had a good sleep. Tonight you have a bed, a quilt, and a room. Have a good sleep."
Zhou Guo climbed onto the bed and covered herself with the quilt. Perhaps the quilt was often turned out to dry in the sun, so it was still warm after not being used for such a long time. The smell after being exposed to the sun made her yawn involuntarily. She thought she would not be able to sleep after listening to so many stories from the old woman and not having eaten enough, but as usual, she fell asleep soon after touching the pillow.
I had a deep sleep.
They got up before dawn to practice martial arts. Just after they sat down for a while, there was a noise coming from the old woman's room in the east room. Not long after, the wooden door creaked open, and the old woman, still wearing the same clothes, walked into the yard with a hunched back.
Seeing Zhou Guo and Zhou Dacang, one sitting cross-legged doing something and the other waving his fist vigorously, he was stunned for a moment, then simply went back to the house, moved a small stool and sat in the yard to watch.
There was one more person in the yard, but the two men didn't feel anything and continued to practice their own skills.
When they were at home, by the end of the practice, everyone in the family would get up. Sometimes, I would see the two of them practicing their moves while the whole family would sit on the side and watch. They had long been used to it.
The old lady next to her watched very seriously, and her eyes became red as she watched.
The sky gradually brightened, and the yard became visibly brighter.
Zhou Guo opened his eyes and stood up.
I found a wooden stick in the yard and started dancing with it.
The body moved gracefully and the stick was chopped, stabbed and cut. Even an old woman who knew no martial arts could feel the compelling aura from this stick technique. It was murderous intent!
After practicing several times, the two began to practice their moves without fail.
The old woman became more and more silent as she looked at him.
A quarter of an hour later, it was time for today's practice.
Zhou Guo wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the old woman sitting next to him, and said with a smile: "Grandma, you got up so early?"
The old woman twitched her lips and said, "I'm old now, I don't sleep as much, I wake up when the time comes."
Then he looked at the two people who were sweating profusely, "Where did you learn all these skills? They look really amazing. If my two sons had such skills, they would not have lost their lives in vain."
At the end of the conversation, he only sighed and looked at the two of them with complicated eyes.
Zhou Dacang didn't know what happened to the old woman's two sons, and looked at Zhou Guo in confusion.
Zhou Guo squatted in front of her and comforted her, "Grandma, didn't you say that your eldest son was just taken away to serve in the army? There has been no news of his death in so many years. No news is good news. He is still alive. You still have to wait for him to come back. You have to take good care of yourself. Even if not for your eldest son, you have to take good care of your youngest son. Doesn't he come back to see you every year and give you some food and money? If something happens to you, he won't even have a thought or a family to think about. In this big world, he has no family. How pitiful he is!"
The old lady was already stunned, sitting on the stool motionless, and after a while she said: "You are right, I have to live well for them."
Then he looked at Zhou Guo and the other two and said, "You two are good kids, you have great abilities and good hearts. God bless you, and everything will go smoothly for you."
Zhou Guo and Zhou Dacang expressed their gratitude sincerely.
The old lady stood up and went into the kitchen with a hunched back.
The two men looked around the yard. There was a pile of firewood on the west side, including bundles of dead branches picked up from the mountains, some rotten tree roots, and round logs more than ten feet long. There were not many of them, about seven or eight.
Zhou Guo looked at the wood and exclaimed, "I don't know how she brought it back from the mountains. It must be difficult for her to even lift it up, as it's so big and long."