Chapter 12

Watching Li Fengxian enter the room, Lei Wen shook his head helplessly, “Another person who is not easy to mess with. This year, the Youth Academy is bustling.”

On the other side, Jiang Yule and Meng Wanshu returned to the newly bought small courtyard with food.

“Yu Le, let’s clean up the room first, and then clean up the yard together, what do you say?”

“Okay, but have you decided which room you want to stay in?” Jiang Yule put the suitcase in the main room and looked at the things in the house as he spoke. It had only been two years since the previous owner left, and the furniture in the house was in good condition. It only needed a simple clean and could be used.

“I’ll live in the west room of the main hall. You are the host, so the big room in the east is for you.” Meng Wanshu smiled at Jiang Yule and consciously carried her suitcase to the west room.

Jiang Yule raised her eyebrows slightly, and she agreed with Meng Wanshu’s suggestion.

Go back to your own room and take a closer look

There were not many pieces of furniture in the room, just a kang, a table, a dressing table, a chair, a double-door wardrobe with a mirror, and a chest of drawers. Apart from these, there were no other items scattered around. For this era, the room was considered to be well furnished, but in Jiang Yule’s opinion, it was still a bit empty…

Looking at the layer of dirt on the table, Jiang Yule rolled up his sleeves, took a newly bought enamel basin and went to the well.

The well was on one side of the kitchen. When Jiang Yule came out, Meng Wanshu seemed to have been studying it for a long time. At this time, she staggered up half a bucket of water. With her thin arms and legs, she stood by the well carrying the bucket. Jiang Yule was terrified.

“Be careful.” Jiang Yule stepped forward quickly, grabbed her arm with one hand, and pulled the bucket up with her with the other hand.

“Whoosh!” The bucket fell to the ground with a thud, and Meng Wan let out a long breath.

“Life in this village is really not easy.”

“That’s right. Next time you go to fetch water, call me. The well is very deep.” Jiang Yule reminded him worriedly.

“Okay, I understand. I’m just doing some research,” Meng Wanshu said, pouring half of the bucket of water for Jiang Yule and half for himself.

Just as he was about to say something to Jiang Yule, Qi Bai’s voice rang out at the door.

“It’s really you two. I just heard from my grandma that the captain brought two very beautiful girls here. I was still wondering if it was you.”

“Brother Qi Bai, Yule bought this yard, and we will be neighbors from now on.” Meng Wanshu was immediately happy when she saw Qi Bai coming over. Although she had only known them for a short time, Qi Bai’s personality was really to her liking and very interesting.

“Really? That’s great. My house is right across the street. Hey, are you going to get some water? Let me do it. You girls can’t do that. Is the water tank not cleaned yet? Go clean your own things. I’ll do this.” Qi Bai saw that the two girls were cleaning up such a large yard, and there was still a lot of physical work. Anyway, he had nothing to do, so he simply took the job. Without waiting for the two girls to say anything, he went straight to the kitchen to find the water tank…

“Um, thank you Brother Qi Bai for your help then.” Meng Wanshu looked at the enthusiastic Qi Bai and exchanged a glance with Jiang Yule. They both thanked him gratefully and then went back to their rooms to sweep the floor and clean the place.

When they were almost done and came out to change the water, they saw Qi Bai was already clearing the weeds in the yard. The sickle… seemed to be taken from someone else’s home.

“Brother Qi Bo, you take a break. We can handle these slowly.” Jiang Yule felt a little embarrassed. They didn’t even give them water to drink, and they made them work for such a long time under the scorching sun.

Hearing Jiang Yule’s voice, Qi Bai stood up, wiped the sweat off his face with a towel placed aside, revealed his big white teeth, and smiled heartily, “This is nothing, Comrade Jiang. When we were in the army, the intensity of our training was much greater than this.”

“That’s so embarrassing. We haven’t cleaned up anything yet. We don’t even have water to drink.”

“It’s no big deal. In our village, we don’t care about those things. Everyone has problems. You help me today, and I will help him tomorrow.”

“Okay, thank you for your help today. After we finish cleaning up here, Wanshu and I will treat everyone to a meal together.”

“Okay, Comrade Jiang, you need water, right? I’ve cleaned the kitchen vat and filled it with water. There’s still some water in the bucket. If you want to use it, just use the water in the bucket first.”

“Okay, Brother Qi Bai, just call me Yule,” Jiang Yule said with a smile. I don’t know why, but Qi Bai has been calling Meng Wanshu by her name since he met her on the train. On the contrary, she has been calling her Comrade Jiang…

“Oh, okay.” Qi Bai scratched his head embarrassedly. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Jiang Yule, so he called her so politely. It was really because Jiang Yule was so good-looking, and at first glance, he looked very unapproachable, so he kept calling her Comrade Jiang. On the contrary, Meng Wanshu looked silly and straightforward, so he became a little closer to her.

“Then I’ll go clean up first.” Jiang Yule pointed to the kitchen, took the basin and went there, changed the water, cleaned the room, took a mattress and quilt from the space, laid it out, and hung his clothes in the closet…

After a long time of busying around, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the layout of the room.

Um

The curtain is a piece of light yellow plaid with small floral patterns, which doesn’t take up much space.

The white crocheted tablecloth on the table does not take up much space

Thin mattress, does not take up space

Thin quilt, does not take up space

Water cup, no space required

The pillows….take up a bit of space, but it’s acceptable…..

Clothes… not too many…

To sum up….her not-so-big suitcase can barely hold everything. I’ll buy the rest when the luggage arrives. Now I can only put these in…otherwise I can’t explain it.

The same idea….and Meng Wanshu next door…

The two of them cleaned up the room almost at the same time. After coming out, they cleaned a living room and went to the kitchen without taking a break.

But this time, just as I entered the kitchen, before I had time to do anything, I heard a somewhat old voice coming from outside the door.

“Xiao Bai, where are those two girls? Call them out to drink some water together.”

“Grandma, they are cleaning up in the kitchen.” Qi Bai stood up, wiped the sweat off his face, picked up the big teacup that grandma brought and started drinking.

Jiang Yule and Meng Wanshu rushed out after hearing this. They were busy in the middle of the day, and their faces were flushed, making them look even more charming.

“Hello, Grandma”

“Hello, Grandma”

Grandma Qi Bai looked at the two smiling little girls, and her heart was so warmed. She didn’t know if her grandson could win the hearts of such pretty and knowledgeable little girls…

It would be a relief to see such a pretty girl as her granddaughter-in-law.

“Hey, OK, hello, hello, drink some water to cool off. Grandma made mung bean soup for you and added sugar. It’s the most comfortable to drink in this weather.” Grandma Qi said as she poured a cup for each of the two girls and looked at them with a kind smile, as if just one word of love from them was the greatest satisfaction for her.

“Let me introduce you, this is my grandma”

“Thank you, Grandma Qi. I’m really sorry to bother Brother Qi Bo today. If it weren’t for Brother Qi Bo, we would have no idea how long it would take to clean up.”

“Hey, what’s the big deal? Men have all the strength in their bodies, they should use it when necessary,” said Grandma Qi, and she seemed to have thought of something. Her eyes suddenly lit up. Aren’t these two girls?

“Do you still have a lot to clean up? I see the kitchen is not clean yet, wait a minute, I’ll call Mu Chuan for you.”

“Mu…Mu Chuan? The Mu Chuan we know?” Jiang Yule glanced at the old lady’s trotting back, and looked at Qi Bai in disbelief.

Mu Chuan? That big iceberg came to work for them? It’s better to come here to cool down…

“Brother Chuan’s grandmother is my grandmother’s biological sister,” Qi Bai explained, confirming Jiang Yule’s guess.

“Brother Qi Bo, go and stop Grandma Qi. Comrade Mu doesn’t look like a workman, so let’s not trouble him…”

“It’s okay. Mu Chuan’s grandmother is also at home. Chuan listens to his grandmother and my aunt listens to my grandmother. There will be no problem.” Qi Bai didn’t understand what Jiang Yule cared about at all. He thought that the other party was worried that Mu Chuan would not listen to his grandmother and make the two of them unhappy…

Seeing Qi Bai, who had nothing to talk about, Jiang Yule and Meng Wanshu looked at each other, smiled awkwardly, turned around and went to the kitchen to continue cleaning.

Forget it, forget it, everyone has gone to shout, there is no way to catch up…

At the same time, next door to Jiang Yule’s house, Grandma Qi started shouting before she even entered the house, “Gaixian, gaixian, where is your Mu Chuan? Come out quickly. I have found a beautiful granddaughter-in-law for you. Come out quickly…”

Grandma Mu: Who is it and where is she? My granddaughter-in-law!

Mu Chuan, who was chopping wood in the backyard: Um….my name is not Mu Chuan

Fortunately, there is a road between the two houses, otherwise, with Grandma Qi’s voice, I’m afraid Jiang Yule and his toes would have already found a courtyard house…

“What? Who? Where?” The next moment, an old lady ran out of the house, without even having time to put on her shoes, and just ran out in her slippers.

Grandma Mu and Grandma Qi are so similar that you can tell at a glance that they are sisters. They have the same smiling faces, are equally kind, and both like pretty girls. When they heard their elder sister, who always has the final say, say this, they were so happy that their eyes and eyebrows were curved.

God knows how worried she is that she won’t be able to see her grandson get married in her lifetime. She gave birth to two sons and one daughter in her lifetime. The eldest and second are both sons. She has lived a life of obedience and kindness.

The eldest son has been a good boy all his life, and is the secretary of the brigade. The second son retired from the army and was assigned to a steel plant as a small leader. He usually lives in the town. Only the youngest daughter is her favorite daughter. She went to college in Beijing and married in Beijing. She is the most promising one, but now she is in the most difficult situation. Otherwise, why would this most capable only son return to the countryside alone…

“It’s across from my house. It used to be the yard of Old Wang and his wife. I heard that the team leader sold it to an educated youth. Xiao Bai has been helping out there this afternoon. I just said that they just moved in and have nothing, so I went to give them some mung bean water.” Grandma Qi said, and suddenly slapped her thigh, getting excited.

“You know what? I went in and took a look! That girl was just like someone from a painting. She was so pretty, with a rosy little face. She called me grandma as soon as I saw her. She was so sweet that my heart almost melted.”

“Are you exaggerating a little? There were educated youth here before, but you didn’t do anything.” Seeing Grandma Qi talking so excitedly, Grandma Mu’s expectations inexplicably faded a little.

“How can they be the same? I heard from Xiao Bai that Comrade Jiang, who bought the yard, wanted the prettiest girl. Her parents were martyrs, and she was the only child in the family. How could a girl from such a family be comparable to those educated youths who spoke in a sarcastic tone in the educated youth team? I guess the team leader was willing to sell the yard to that girl because of this.”

“Oh, it’s not easy for this child. Let’s go. I have some fruits that Mu Chuan brought back at home. Let’s take them to the children. They have been tired all afternoon and there is probably nothing to eat.” When Grandma Qi heard this, she put on her shoes, went to the kitchen, picked out a few good-looking fruits from the basket, washed them and put them in a large bowl.

After walking out of the kitchen, he called out to Mu Chuan in the backyard, “Mu Chuan, go, go, follow grandma.”

There were still bursts of sounds of chopping wood coming from the backyard, but no words were spoken…

Mu Chuan: Grandma, what did you say? I can’t hear you…

Grandma Mu didn’t get a response from Mu Chuan for a long time, so she stuffed the bowl into her sister’s arms and quickly went to the backyard.

“You little brat, do you want to chop wood? Come on! Take the axe and go! Comrade Jiang’s family also has wood! Go over there and chop wood!”

Mu Chuan: Grandma, do you think I look like a big grudge?…

“Grandma, it’s not appropriate for me to go there. It’s the yard of two little girls. What’s my business to go there?” Even if Mu Chuan was usually cold and icy, he didn’t dare to disobey his grandmother who loved him so much.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s really inappropriate for you and Qi Bai to be alone together,” Grandma Mu muttered.

Seeing that he had convinced his grandmother, Mu Chuan felt relieved. Just as he was about to go back to chop his own firewood, he heard his grandmother shouting into the house:

“Little Ai, come on, follow grandma, grandma will take you to play.” Xiao Ai is just 7 years old this year. She is the little girl of the old family. It is just right to take her with her at this time.

Mu Chuan looked at his grandmother who was holding onto his arm and refused to let go, and a thousand horses were running through his mind… How could he not get around this…

Thinking of Jiang Yule’s pretty little face, Mu Chuan sighed slightly in his heart and followed his grandmother out of the yard helplessly…

“Why did you bring Xiao Ai along? Wouldn’t this child just cause more trouble?” Grandma Qi asked as she watched Xiao Ai running ahead.

“Isn’t it inappropriate for Qi Bai and Mu Chuan to be alone in the yard of two female educated youth? With Xiao Ai here, there won’t be gossip.”

“Yes, yes, you are right. Let’s go!” Grandma Qi and Grandma Mu supported each other. Grandma Mu also pulled the reluctant Mu Chuan with one hand. The group appeared at the door of Jiang Yule’s house and bumped into Jiang Yule who came out to pour water.

“Are you the beautiful sister-in-law my grandma talked about?” Xiao Ai jumped up to Jiang Yule and asked innocently with her little face tilted up. Grandma Mu behind her didn’t even have time to cover Xiao Ai’s mouth.