novelraw Chapter 145 Old Teeth Gnawing on a Cucumber Button
Chapter 145 Old Teeth Gnawing on a Cucumber Button
Zhao Xiulan, who was eager to hear the news, rushed over to see Hou Jiu before she had even wiped away her tears.
"Aunt Xiulan, this is Hou Jiu, we all call him Xiao Jiu."
Zhang Changyao poked Hou Jiu's armpit with his finger.
Hou Jiu, who hadn't stopped laughing, twisted his waist and laughed again.
"Suck, suck, suck..."
This young man is so handsome and charming, he's really adorable.
It's just that your clothes are a bit worn out. I'll find your dad's new clothes for him to wear tomorrow.
"This child looks like a completely different person after changing his clothes."
Zhao Xiulan smiled with her eyes narrowed, her gaze lingering on Hou Jiu's face.
"Pretty auntie, don't just talk the talk, walk the walk."
"Let me know when you're going to give me my new clothes, preferably today, so my crotch doesn't get drafty."
When Hou Jiu heard that he was being praised and offered new clothes, he immediately stopped laughing and pretended to look at Zhao Xiulan seriously.
"Okay, come home with me now, and I'll find you some new clothes right away."
Zhao Xiulan smiled so much that the wrinkles on her face piled up, and her eyes curved into crescent moons.
He couldn't wait any longer and waved to Hou Jiu from the ground, wanting to take him home.
"Brother Changyao, did you hear that? It wasn't me who wanted it; this pretty auntie insisted on giving it to me."
Hou Jiu was even more anxious than Zhao Xiulan. He jumped down and followed Zhao Xiulan out of the house.
"That kid, always trying to get something for nothing. If I'd known it would turn out like this, I shouldn't have gone to him."
Zhang Changyao spread his five fingers apart and combed his hair back.
"Zhang Changyao, what do you have to regret? Hou Jiu was taking the blame for you."
"Just you wait and see, that woman Zhao Xiulan is going to gnaw on a young girl with her old teeth." Yang Wuni laughed gleefully from the side.
"Wu Ni, you're right. I think that old woman Zhao Xiulan knows some beauty secrets."
"Otherwise, someone in their fifties wouldn't be able to speak in such a high-pitched, affected voice." Liao Zhi echoed Yang Wuni's words.
"You two are talking more and more irrelevantly. What kind of trouble can an old, decrepit woman cause?"
Even if Hou Jiu wasn't that kind of person, that kind of person would never have done that.
Who would be so shameless as to talk nonsense with a woman like my mother?
Zhang Changyao went down to the field, picked up two sickles, and walked away defiantly.
"Hou Jiu, you have a big frame, you look good in anything."
Take this outfit back with you in a little while, and keep it to wear when you go out.
I'll sew up your tattered crotch so your parts don't freeze.
As Zhao Xiulan watched Hou Jiu take off the clothes and pants he had just put on, she was about to pull off his tattered pants underneath.
"Auntie, auntie, this won't do, I'm not wearing anything underneath..."
Hou Jiu gripped his waistband tightly with both hands, his previous smugness turning into fear.
"Xiao Jiu, have you eaten? Let's hurry up and leave after you finish eating." Zhang Changyao pushed open the door to help Hou Jiu out of the predicament.
Zhang Kaiju, standing to the side, had a cold face and hugged the two children, preventing them from seeing.
"Brother Changyao, we've eaten, we've eaten, let's hurry up and go!"
Hou Jiu felt like he had met a savior, so he tied his scarf back around his waist and went out of the house.
The two of them went to Zhang Changyao's house to hitch up a donkey cart. Just as they were about to leave the hospital, they saw Zhao Xiulan already waiting at the door.
"Aunt Xiulan, you don't need to go. Hou Jiu and I can manage on our own."
"A donkey can't pull too much; you and Dad can just stay home and cook."
Zhang Changyao felt a deep-seated aversion to Zhao Xiulan and tried his best not to let her come along.
"Changyao, don't you even look around? Where on the mountain can you find any grains left?"
Your father and I are so anxious we're practically on fire, and you're saying you're not worried?
With one more person working, wouldn't we reap the rewards sooner?
"You just pull them back, and Xiao Jiu and I will cut them."
Zhao Xiulan jumped into the car angrily, nudged Hou Jiu's butt, and told him to move over and make room for her.
"Hou Jiu, here you go."
Zhao Xiulan took out two still-hot eggs from her coat pocket and handed them to Hou Jiu.
Hou Jiu's heart pounded with emotion.
The disgust I felt for Zhao Xiulan that morning vanished without a trace in an instant.
"Brother Changyao, here's one for you." Hou Jiu sensibly handed an egg to Zhang Changyao.
"Xiao Jiu, I don't want it. You can keep it and eat it when you get hungry while working later."
Zhang Changyao felt a pang of guilt; he regretted bringing the child along to work for Zhao Xiulan and Zhang Kaiju.
"Brother Changyao, you're so kind. I've been wondering how to fill my stomach these past few days, and you've come."
No wonder my eighth sister said you're a good person and encouraged me to spend more time with you.
Hou Jiu couldn't wait and peeled both eggs, stuffing them into his mouth.
"Xiao Jiu, how's your eighth sister? Did that family give her any compensation?"
It was only after Hou Jiu mentioned it that Zhang Changyao remembered Hou Liping's affair with her man.
"What compensation? That man went to jail, and the woman is making a huge fuss about dying every day."
Eighth Sister also figured it out and decided not to get involved in that trouble.
The egg yolk made Hou Jiu choke, and he stretched his neck. Zhao Xiulan patted his back a few times before he swallowed it.
It's always easier to get things done with a large number of people. In just a few days, a few people brought back both the whole grains and the stalks of barley.
In comparison, Hou Jiu's firewood stack was taller than Zhang Kaiju's.
Zhang Kaiju dared not speak out in anger, but Ma Pengsheng was the one who got angry.
It is said that Zhao Xiulan treated Hou Jiu better than her own son.
Hou Jiu didn't care. Whenever he had time, he would go to Zhao Xiulan and ask her to mend his clothes.
Since then, Hou Jiu's dilapidated house has been completely transformed.
Even the floor of the house was spotless, without a speck of dust.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Zhao Xiulan. As soon as she entered Hou Jiu's house, people began to calculate the time.
I wish my eyes could grow two legs so I could sneak over to Hou Jiu's house and see what's going on on the kang (heated brick bed).
After finishing the autumn harvest, Wang Ga's family's flour mill officially began preparations.
Hou Jiu, working for free, was the first to be called over to do the work of chopping wood.
Zhang Changyao and Wang Ga did some technically demanding work.
Set up the frame and attach the No. 8 wire, according to the height required for drying the powder.
Zhai Qingming personally did everything from building the stove and mopping the floor to putting in the large vat.
Sun Liudi and Li Mentou, those two pointy-headed guys, decided at the last minute not to participate.
Hou Da Yanjing followed behind Zhai Qingming as a laborer.
The potatoes that were harvested were all covered in mud, like walking sticks.
Hou Jiu washed himself repeatedly, getting covered in mud from head to toe, looking like a mud monkey.
Wang, the powder maker, walked between the inner and outer rooms with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowing from time to time.
Grinding potatoes with a stone mill is a time-consuming task.
Zhang Changyao's donkey and Wang Ga's donkey took turns spinning around without stopping, and the blindfolds were changed several times.
Seeing that everyone was working hard, Wang Ga gave each of them a piece of the settled starchy gluten.
Hou Jiu's pink dumplings were naturally moved from his house to her own by Zhao Xiulan.
Yang Wuni made some slurry-filled noodles for Liao Zhi, who ate four or five bowls of them, enjoying the slippery texture.
A short while later, Wu Ni said, "I feel nauseous and uncomfortable. Can you please check my stomach?"