Chapter 14: The Accordion and the Red Book

The house was spotlessly clean. The furniture was old, but well-maintained and looked decent.

Two pots of orchids were placed by the window, adding a touch of color and beauty to the room.

I remembered these two pots of orchids were planted by my eldest brother. Although they were not rare varieties, they were quite beautiful.

The stems of the orchids were a vibrant green, and the flowers were pure white, like butterflies dancing among the flowers, incredibly charming.

Wu Xiuxiu entered the room, looked around, and examined her new home.

“Xiuxiu, come sit down and rest. Are you thirsty? Do you want me to pour you some water?”

Ding Hongjuan, with a glance at her daughter-in-law who was walking behind, gestured for her to close the door. She then turned to her daughter with a loving expression and said.

“I’m not thirsty, Mom. Don’t worry about me. You and my sister-in-law should sit down and rest too… After all the commotion earlier, you must be tired.”

Wu Xiuxiu shook her head and pulled her mother and sister-in-law to sit on the few chairs against the wall.

Although sofas were being mass-produced in the country, they were expensive. Only wealthy people and officials could afford them. Ordinary people couldn’t.

Even if ordinary people could scrape together enough money to buy a sofa, they wouldn’t be able to get one because they didn’t have the ticket.

Everything needed a ticket during this time, and naturally, sofas needed a ticket too. Sofa tickets were not issued to ordinary people, so it was difficult for them to obtain them.

Therefore, sofas were not seen in ordinary homes. People sat on chairs and stools.

“Speaking of earlier, Xiuxiu, you were amazing! You put those two old women, Shen Po and Mrs. Chang, in their place. Those two old women usually have such sharp tongues, but they were defeated by your little mouth.” Dong Xiaoye couldn’t help but laugh when she thought about what happened earlier.

Ding Hongjuan nodded and also laughed, “Yes! Xiuxiu, when did you become so good at this? Look at how you put Shen Po and Mrs. Chang in their place, it was so satisfying…”

“Right, speaking of Mrs. Chang, did you tell Yu Manman that you deliberately got sick by getting wet in the rain to avoid going to the countryside?” Ding Hongjuan looked at her daughter again.

Hearing this, Dong Xiaoye also immediately looked at her sister-in-law.

Wu Xiuxiu looked at her mother and sister-in-law and nodded, “I did…”

Dong Xiaoye frowned, “Then it seems like it was Yu Manman who told Mrs. Chang… Thankfully, Yu Manman didn’t say it was you who told her.”

“This Yu Manman is really not a good person. She’s lived in this compound for so many years, doesn’t she know what kind of person Mrs. Chang is?

She actually told Mrs. Chang that you deliberately got wet in the rain to avoid going to the countryside. Isn’t she trying to make everyone know and harm you?”

Ding Hongjuan also frowned, her face full of annoyance as she scolded.

“Yes!” Dong Xiaoye was also angry when she heard her mother-in-law’s words. She glared and scolded Yu Manman, “How could Yu Manman do this? You’ve always been so good to her, and she actually wants to harm you. She’s not human…

Stay away from her in the future, don’t be friends with her anymore!” Dong Xiaoye advised her sister-in-law.

“Yes, you can’t be friends with her anymore. You were friends with her before, and although she didn’t expose you and say it was you who said it, she told Mrs. Chang, clearly intending to harm you…

You can’t associate with this kind of person. Don’t let her harm you again in the future.” Ding Hongjuan also advised her daughter.

“I know. I’ve seen Yu Manman’s true colors today. I know what kind of person she is. I won’t be friends with her anymore. I won’t associate with her in the future.” Wu Xiuxiu nodded vigorously.

She wouldn’t be friends with Yu Manman, knowing that she was a poisonous snake and how bad she was. She wasn’t crazy.

Looking at Wu Xiuxiu, Ding Hongjuan and Dong Xiaoye exchanged glances, feeling relieved, and said nothing more.

Wu Xiuxiu suddenly remembered that her mother and sister-in-law had packed some of her daily necessities for her while she was in the hospital, and they had brought them back after she was discharged.

She had to take those things back to her room.

Thinking this, Wu Xiuxiu stood up and told her mother and sister-in-law.

“I’ll help you take them to your room.” Dong Xiaoye immediately offered kindly.

“No need. I can take them myself. I’m completely recovered now. I can carry these things.”

Wu Xiuxiu declined her sister-in-law’s kindness, picked up her things, and left for the room next door.

The Wu family was assigned two rooms. One was divided into three rooms: a large living room, a small kitchen, and a small bedroom behind the living room, where her mother lived.

Her mother’s bedroom was originally her eldest brother’s, but after he got married, her mother swapped rooms with him, giving him the larger bedroom to live in with his wife.

The large bedroom and her own bedroom were separated by a storage room, which was separated from the other room.

The other room was divided into two bedrooms: a large one and a small one, plus a storage room.

Wu Xiuxiu entered her room, put down her things, and looked around.

This was her room! Not bad!

Wu Xiuxiu slightly raised the corners of her lips. The room was only about twenty square meters, not big, and there wasn’t much furniture, but it was quite elegant, and it was clear that it had been decorated with care.

Her mother had decorated the room for her, showing her love for her.

Wu Xiuxiu walked to the window, slightly raised her head, and looked at the wind chime hanging on the window. She reached out and touched the wind chime, and immediately the sound of “ding-ling… ding-ling” rang out, incredibly pleasant.

Of all the things in this room, she liked the wind chime the most.

In her memory, this wind chime was made by her brother, Wu Zhipeng.

Last year, she went to play at a classmate’s house, and she saw a wind chime hanging in her classmate’s room. It looked so beautiful, and she envied her classmate and really wanted one, but she didn’t know how to make one.

When her brother found out, he figured it out and learned how to make one, and he made this wind chime for her.

Her brother really loved her!

Oh, there’s a box there, I wonder what’s inside?

Wu Xiuxiu’s gaze wandered around the room again, and she suddenly noticed a box next to the desk. Her eyes flashed with curiosity, and she walked over.

She reached out and opened the box, her eyes lit up, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

An accordion!

The box contained an accordion!

Looking at the accordion, a memory of the original owner came to mind.

The original owner actually knew how to play the accordion!

The original owner was more loved by her family than she had imagined. When the original owner was a child, she saw her classmates go to the Youth Palace, and she wanted to go too. Her father sent her to the Youth Palace, and the original owner learned to play the accordion there.

The original owner had a lot of musical talent and played the accordion very well. To ensure that the original owner had an accordion to play every day, her father actually borrowed money to buy her an accordion, and he didn’t pay it back until he died.

The original owner was so lucky to have such a loving family!

Wu Xiuxiu sighed again in her heart, looking at the accordion, she couldn’t help but feel curious.

Hesitating for a moment, she took out the accordion and hung it in front of her, examining it carefully.

Because of her family circumstances in her previous life, she had lived a very difficult life from childhood to adulthood. Learning an instrument was something she dared not even think about.

However, she loved music. Every time she saw classmates who could play instruments discussing their instruments, she was envious and couldn’t help but eavesdrop. Whenever she heard music, she couldn’t help but listen attentively.

“This accordion is so beautiful!” Wu Xiuxiu reached out and gently stroked the accordion, her face filled with fascination.

She had only seen accordions on TV before. At the time, she thought they were beautiful. Now that she was seeing one in person, she realized that it was even more beautiful than it looked on TV.

She wondered if the sound it produced would be as beautiful as the one on TV, or even more beautiful…

Thinking about it, Wu Xiuxiu pressed a key on the accordion. Immediately, beautiful notes echoed in the air.

As soon as the notes sounded, Wu Xiuxiu’s body’s memory of the accordion completely recovered. Her slender, youthful fingers danced involuntarily on the keys, producing a beautiful, melodious music that drifted through the room.

Beautiful! It was truly beautiful, even more beautiful than what she had heard on TV.

Wu Xiuxiu quickly became immersed in her own performance. As she was lost in her music, a flash of red caught her eye.

“What is that?” Wu Xiuxiu stopped playing and looked at the pillow on the bed. She saw a red corner sticking out from under the pillow.

Wu Xiuxiu curiously walked over to the bed and reached out to remove the pillow. She found a small red book under it. Picking it up, she discovered that it was the famous Red Book of this era.

She flipped through it casually and noticed that the pages were worn. Suddenly, a memory flashed through her mind.

It turned out that the original owner loved to read the Red Book and also loved to sing its songs.

Thinking about it, she unconsciously opened her mouth and began to sing: “Our comrades, in times of difficulty, must see the achievements, must see the light, must raise our courage, must raise our courage…”

As she sang, her hand involuntarily reached for the keys again and she started to play.

This tune was so inspiring, so uplifting. The original owner’s favorite song to play and sing was “Raise Our Courage” because it always inspired her and gave her courage.

“This child really loves to play and sing. She started playing and singing as soon as she got back to her room.” A voice came from the next room, belonging to Ding Hongjuan.

“Xiuxiu plays so well and sings so beautifully! She’s almost like a musician, a singer… It’s a pity that the song and dance troupe isn’t recruiting now. Otherwise, we could let Xiuxiu apply. She would definitely get in.” Dong Xiaoye said.

“Yes, it’s a pity. Sigh… By the way, Xiaoye, why hasn’t your husband come back yet?

When we took Xiuxiu out of the hospital earlier, didn’t you borrow the hospital’s phone to call your husband’s factory and ask someone to call him and tell him that Xiuxiu was already well and would be discharged this morning?

Didn’t he say he would talk to the leader and leave work early to pick up Xiuxiu and take us to the canteen for a good meal to celebrate Xiuxiu’s recovery and discharge?”

Hearing her mother’s words, Wu Xiuxiu stopped playing and singing and looked towards the wall of the next room.

Her older brother had worked the night shift for his friend last night and wouldn’t be able to rest today. He had to work his own day shift. Originally, his friend was supposed to cover for him, but his friend’s family had something happen, so he couldn’t come to the factory to cover for him today. He had to work his own shift.

“Looking at the time, he should be back soon.” Dong Xiaoye said.

“Mom, I think we should find all the jars at home now. When Zhipeng comes back, we can go to the canteen with him for lunch and we’ll have something to put the food in…

I remember we have three jars at home, just enough for you, me, and Xiuxiu. We can each have one.”

“Okay, let’s go find the jars now. We’ll also grab three pairs of chopsticks and three spoons.” Ding Hongjuan said.

“Zhipeng has his own jars, chopsticks, and spoons for getting food. He keeps them at the factory, so we don’t need to prepare anything for him.”

Listening to her sister-in-law and mother’s conversation, Wu Xiuxiu remembered that people at this time liked to use jars to store food, like dumplings, noodles, and even meals.

Thinking about how her brother received his sister-in-law’s call this morning and said that he would pick them up after work at noon and take them to the factory canteen for a good meal to celebrate her recovery, her heart felt warm. Once again, she felt that her brother was a good person.

This brother was truly good. Her mother and sister-in-law said they could go to the fertilizer factory themselves, but her brother insisted on coming home to pick them up.

Her brother said that the fertilizer factory was far from here and they would have to take a bus through many stops. He was worried that they might be in danger if they went alone.

Her mother, her, and her sister-in-law all thought that her brother was overthinking things. Although there were quite a few stops on the way to the fertilizer factory, they were all adults. How could they be in danger?

But her brother insisted on picking them up, and they had no choice but to agree…

Footsteps!

Wu Xiuxiu suddenly heard a sound of footsteps coming from the courtyard. The footsteps were familiar, and a smile appeared on her face.

It was her brother’s footsteps. Her brother was back.

Sure enough, she soon heard Wu Zhipeng’s voice coming from the next room…

“Mom, Xiaoye, I’m here to pick you up.”

“Zhipeng, you’re finally back. Mom was just wondering why you hadn’t come back yet.”

“Where’s Xiuxiu? Why isn’t she here?” Wu Zhipeng noticed that his sister wasn’t there and asked about her.

“She went to her room. I’ll go get her.” Ding Hongjuan said.

“I’ll be right there.” Wu Xiuxiu quickly called out to her family in the next room, then hurriedly took off the accordion hanging around her neck, carefully put it back in its case, and ran out of her room to the living room next door.

“Brother, Mom, sister-in-law.” Wu Xiuxiu entered the living room and immediately greeted her family members politely and enthusiastically.

“Xiuxiu, how are you feeling? Are you completely well now?” Wu Zhipeng saw his sister and immediately walked towards her, asking with concern.

“I’m completely well now. I have so much energy that I could even go up a mountain and fight a tiger.” Wu Xiuxiu joked.

“Zhipeng, how are you feeling? You worked all night last night and couldn’t even go home to sleep for a while before going back to work this morning. Can your body handle it?” Ding Hongjuan looked at her son with worry.

Hearing this, Dong Xiaoye and Wu Xiuxiu also looked at Wu Zhipeng with concern.

Wu Zhipeng waved his hand and laughed: “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I’m much stronger than Xiuxiu. I’m fine now, no aches or pains!”

The three women in the Wu family were relieved. Ding Hongjuan spoke again, saying to her son: “Xiaoye and I have already found the jars for us and Xiuxiu to get food. We’ve also put the chopsticks and spoons together. Let’s go.”

Wu Zhipeng nodded and looked at the three jars his mother and wife were holding.

Wu Xiuxiu also looked at the three jars in her mother and sister-in-law’s hands.

All three were large jars, clearly capable of holding a lot of food. They were all made of enamel and had slogans printed on them, such as “Working day and night, racing against time, ensuring progress,” “Cultivating civilized rural customs, building a harmonious new village,” and “Real action makes dreams come true.” These were very popular slogans of the time.

“Find a bag to put these jars in. It will be easier to carry.” Wu Zhipeng suggested.

“Okay.” Dong Xiaoye responded, immediately finding a bag to put the three jars in. Then, the family left the house and went to the fertilizer factory…