Chapter 71: Deciding to Adopt Dayi

The next day, snowflakes were flying outside the window.

The earth was covered in silver overnight.

Jiang Degui suspected that he was a reincarnation of a prodigy, he said it would snow, and it snowed. If it weren’t for the current propaganda against the Four Olds, he would have gone to the temple to pray for a lucky fortune.

The snow was about an inch deep, and it was still getting heavier.

Lin Meiru looked at the dark sky and advised her daughter, “Take a day off today, don’t go to work.”

Jiang An’an nodded obediently, she was happy to be a couch potato at home for once.

The charcoal fire in the brazier was burning brightly, to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, they had opened half of the window, but even so, the house was still warm and cozy.

Jiang An’an grabbed a handful of corn kernels and put them close to the ashes, after a while, the brazier made a crackling sound, the popped popcorn was hard and had a dusty taste, but she and Duobao were having a blast playing with it.

They soon had two big smudged faces.

Jiang Degui was disgusted, “What’s so fun about popcorn, come on, Dad will take you to catch sparrows.”

“Are we going to use a bamboo sieve to catch sparrows?” Jiang An’an’s eyes lit up, she quickly pulled Duobao up and brushed the dust off him.

The aunt and nephew pulled Jiang Degui out to play, one on each side.

The common method in the countryside was to sweep a clear space in front of the door, scatter a few grains of sorghum, and use a small wooden stick to prop up a sieve, with a rope tied to the stick. Then they could squat far away and wait for the sparrows to fly into the trap.

Jiang Degui was cold, he pulled a long thin string along the windowsill into the house, the three of them sat in the warm room, staring intently at the open space without blinking.

After about twenty minutes, two clumsy sparrows actually flew in to eat the sorghum.

Jiang Degui pulled the string sharply, the bamboo sieve instantly fell to the ground, one sparrow was startled and flew away, the other, a clumsy one, was caught. It flapped its wings and struggled, making a lot of noise.

“We caught one!” Duobao jumped up excitedly, pulling Jiang An’an out to check the results.

“Duobao is introverted, he doesn’t like to play with the village children, he only acts like a child when he’s with his aunt.” Jiang Shulan said as she sewed shoes, complaining to her mother, “His father has been gone for so long, he doesn’t even ask about him, he’s so sensible and considerate, like an adult.”

Lin Meiru had three grandsons, she loved Duobao the most because he grew up in front of her. Hearing this, she was also a little worried, “When your baby is born, Duobao will have a companion.”

Jiang Degui poured cold water on them, “When the little one can jump around, Duobao will be going to school, he won’t want to play with little kids anymore.”

“Yeah, what are we going to do then?” Jiang Shulan frowned, she made several mistakes in her stitches, she had to use scissors to cut the thread and start over.

Seeing this, Lin Meiru glared fiercely at her husband.

Jiang Degui was close to tears.

He had discovered that women loved sweet talk, telling the truth was a sin.

Being a man was really hard.

“Mom, if you want to find a companion for Duobao, I have someone in mind.” Outside, Jiang An’an lifted the curtain and came in, she deliberately sat next to Lin Meiru and affectionately pulled her arm.

Lin Meiru rolled her eyes, “Spit it out.”

Jiang An’an smiled ingratiatingly, “Do you remember Dayi, the girl who helped at Uncle Yu’s house? She’s quick-witted and hardworking.”

Lin Meiru hummed in response, indicating that she remembered.

“She was an orphan picked up by her grandmother, her grandmother committed a crime, her home is gone, and the police are going to send her to the orphanage.” Jiang An’an felt a little guilty, but more so, she felt sympathy.

Because she herself had come from an orphanage, she knew how difficult it was for children to live there.

Her voice was a little low, “If I hadn’t meddled, Dayi might still have a home. The orphanage is in bad condition, they don’t have enough to eat or wear, and the weaker ones get bullied. Mom, can we adopt Dayi? I’m making money now, I can support her.”

The room suddenly fell silent.

For a moment, only the crackling sound of the charcoal fire remained.

From their perspective, Jiang An’an’s lowered eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes were slightly red.

Lin Meiru and the others were a little confused, although their younger sister was full of justice and passion, she wasn’t someone who would give out sympathy indiscriminately, but she was moved by the fact that a little girl she didn’t know was going to be sent to an orphanage.

It was as if…

It was her who was being sent to the orphanage!

Jiang Shulan was thoughtful, she thought that Jiang An’an was connecting with her own past and sympathizing with Dayi, so she begged her mother to plead for her sister, “A little girl won’t eat much, my body is getting heavier, she can be a companion for Duobao.”

As a daughter-lover, Jiang Degui couldn’t bear to see his precious little daughter cry, he chimed in, “Didn’t you say yesterday that your back has been hurting? That little girl is quick-witted and hardworking, she can help you with a lot of work.”

The father and daughter took turns speaking, and the little daughter, who was ashamed and didn’t dare to look up, they were both her flesh and blood, Lin Meiru was so angry that she pinched her husband’s waist, “What? In your eyes, I’m a heartless person?”

“Ouch!”

Jiang Degui howled in pain, he had a will to live and praised, “How could that be, everyone outside is praising you as a new-age woman, you’ve made those men less prejudiced against women.”

However, in fact…

Lin Meiru led all the women in the village to rebel. They recited legal articles at home every day, not only making the men feel stifled, but also making the evil mothers-in-law treat them with respect.

If anyone was stubborn and dared to commit crimes, well, they wouldn’t even get a hot meal at home, no one would clean their house, and if they wanted to beat their wives, all the women in the village would block them in the corner and criticize them.

Therefore, the status of women in Nanxi Brigade improved rapidly!

Jiang An’an looked up in surprise, her arms tightly wrapped around her mother, she buried her head in her mother’s neck, “Mom, if I were an orphan, I would definitely want you to adopt me.”

She hadn’t been able to wait for that in her previous life, thankfully, she could make up for the shortcomings in this life.

Lin Meiru felt the dampness in her neck, her body stiffened slightly, then she raised her hand and slapped her daughter’s butt hard, scolding her, “What kind of nonsense are you talking about, I’ll be your mother in my next life too, don’t even think about escaping from my clutches.”

Inside the house.

The family was filled with warmth, but suddenly, a loud knock on the door interrupted them.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

The force of the knocking was so strong that it almost broke the door.

“An’an, something’s happened, open the door!”

The voice was heart-wrenching.

It was cold outside, Lin Meiru confidently instructed her husband, “Isn’t that Liu Ergu’s voice? What are you standing there for, go open the door!”

Jiang Degui sighed like a henpecked husband, he obediently ran out.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Liu Ergu, wearing only a thin coat in the middle of winter, her face was blue with cold, and her body was swaying, she looked like she was about to faint.

He was so scared that his heart skipped a beat, he jumped back a meter, his voice cracked with excitement, “In broad daylight, are you trying to extort money from us?”

Liu Ergu was startled by his shout, her dazed head cleared for a moment, she quickly explained, “An’an, something happened at my house, my old man, my daughter-in-law, and my grandchildren all collapsed, and so did the two new members of the inspection team.”