"What's inappropriate? It's not like you don't have a wife. My sister-in-law is not alone either. She has a lot of children at home."
Li's Xu Xu is good at tempting.
"Don't they all say that a sister-in-law is like a mother? We treat her as elders and respect her. Who dares to talk nonsense?"
Besides, before we were separated, we all lived in this back room, across the hill from each other, and no one was talking nonsense.
Isn’t that how everyone in the village lives?
"Isn't there an old man there?"
Li Benshan still felt it was inappropriate. After all, his sister-in-law was a widow, so she had to avoid suspicion.
"Oh! It's so frustrating to be separated from this family. Now that I see the people in front of me, I'm feeling very worried."
Seeing that his man couldn't explain anything, he knew that it would be impossible for him to take advantage of the excitement of the newly separated family to stick to his sister-in-law.
Mrs. Li couldn't help crying.
Obviously, my mother-in-law left more than ten acres of land, but when the family was separated, it all became the dowry of my step-mother-in-law.
The father-in-law is even more partial to his armpits, and he is like the stepmother's yes-man.
Besides, I only have one acre of thin farmland at home, but there are more than 20 acres there!
The sister-in-law is gone, there is some kind of job over there, but you can't beat them hard?
Thinking of this acre of land again, Ms. Li became even more angry.
Don't be such a bully.
Whose big family will be given one acre of land when the family is divided?
Isn't it the case that Mrs. Zhao is using dowry as an argument, and the father-in-law is using filial piety to oppress others?
No wonder they say that if you have a stepmother, you will have a stepfather.
My father-in-law is not as good as my father-in-law.
You want us to give you twenty acres of land to work for free, hum! Just wait!
And my brother-in-law is not a thing either.
It is said that my brother-in-law is the hope of the old Li family and will shine brightly in the future.
Pooh!
My brother-in-law's eyes are higher than his head, and he usually doesn't look at them seriously. No matter how good his knowledge is, his own family won't be able to take advantage of them after high school.
Not to mention my sister-in-law, she is just a eldest lady. She doesn’t do anything and doesn’t talk about anything. She is so vicious that she even dares to harm her niece.
The more Ms. Li thought about it, the angrier she became. The angrier she became, the sadder she became. The sadder she became, the more aggrieved she became.
From red eyes, to tears, and finally to sitting on the ground and crying.
Li Benshan was also very depressed. Seeing his wife crying so sadly, he didn't know how to comfort her.
"Stop crying, if it doesn't work out, let's rent a house and move out."
Ms. Li paused and said, "Forget it, renting a house still costs money."
After crying enough, Mrs. Li got up and fetched water to wash her face. Then she squatted in front of her man and said solemnly:
"Anyway, we are separated. From now on, no matter how they call, you will ignore them and you can't take care of them. Even if we are idle, we won't do anything for them."
Li Benshan sighed and nodded: "Okay, I won't do it."
He stood up suddenly.
"I'll find someone to help. We'll pull up the courtyard wall overnight. You go buy a pot and I'll build a stove."
As Li Benshan said this, he strode out. Mrs. Li also told Xiaodao to keep an eye on Sanshun, and then she went to buy pot with her head held high and aggressively.
Li Benshan led people to build the courtyard wall overnight, and Mrs. Song also led the children to dig the cellar overnight.
The cellar was dug at night, and during the day the soil dug out from the cellar was mixed with wheat straw to paste on the roof, and then covered with reeds to create two more layers to keep out wind and rain.
Dazhu's body is just right. Although he is a boy, he is still too small.
Therefore, Mrs. Song did the work of repairing the roof alone.
When the second uncle's family rushed over to help, Mrs. Song had already repaired the roof.
Aunt Lihua, our neighbor to the west, always praises everyone she meets: "Dazhu's mother is really capable, she can do any job."
Some people exclaimed: "Really? I really didn't see it."
Someone else said: "There is no man in the family, so what can she do? This woman can do it, but she was forced out."
Some people also said: "There are still people who can do it. Widow Liu can't do it."
"Hey! Widow Liu has a delicate skin and tender flesh. If you wave her hand, someone will come up and rush to work. Why is it so hard?"
Laughing and laughing, the gossips are getting farther and farther away...
Xiaomian and her family didn't know the gossips of the villagers. They worked behind closed doors for half a month before the family finally looked like something.
Damai is thirteen years old and can already make decent clothes and shoes.
After breakfast that day, Xiao Mian walked around but didn't see Mrs. Song and her brother.
I asked my sister who was sewing clothes: "Where has mother gone?"
"I went to chop firewood. The weather is getting colder and colder. Mom said I would chop some firewood and exchange it for wheat straw."
Xiao Mian was puzzled, "Why are you changing the wheat straw? Isn't the house repaired?"
"It's getting cold, so it's time to install grass on the floor."
The thirteen-year-old Damai sighed as if he were a grown-up, and said: "My master has two big piles of wheat straw. I have to share them, but my mother is very strong and is not willing to use them."
Xiao Mian said: "Mom is not only trying to be strong, she is hiding from the old house."
Whether it was splitting up, severing ties, or moving to this east end, my mother was deliberately drawing a clear line between her and her old home.
But what is this "grass paved floor"?
Xiaomian asked if she didn't understand.
As a result, Da Mai looked at Xiao Mian like a monster.
"Have you forgotten all about the grass paving? We use wheat straw to cover it so thickly every winter, why don't you sleep on it every day?"
Xiaomian was speechless.
But from what Damai said, she also understood what "grass paving" meant.
As the name suggests, it is a mattress filled with grass.
Most of them are made of burlap sewn into a quilt-like shape, filled with a thick layer of wheat straw, and spread on the bed as a mattress.
Dry wheat straw can block moisture and wind, and is not brittle when rolled. It is very warm to sleep on in winter.
It is commonly used in rural areas, and the main reason is that it is cheap and cost-effective.
While Xiao Mian was praising how smart the people were, he was thinking about how much wheat straw would be used to install the "grass paving" at home.
My brother is eleven years old and already has a separate bed.
Then install at least two beds. It is cold in winter, and the thicker the "grass paved floor" is, the better.
Then we have to use a lot of wheat straw.
"Sister, why don't I go steal the wheat straw from my grandfather's house? We have a share anyway, right?"
Xiao Mian thought that she had space, and when the time came, she would steal the wheat straw and put it in the space without anyone noticing...
Damai suddenly put down his work and glared: "How dare you!"
"My parents have taught us since childhood: steal needles when we are young, steal gold when we grow up, and steal back and forth to get into the government office. If you dare to do anything random, I will beat you if my mother doesn't."
Xiaomian said quickly: "No, sister, I was just joking."
Oh my God, the eldest sister is always gentle and gentle, but she was quite scary when she got angry.
"Then I'll go help my mother chop wood."
Since stealing is not allowed, let’s cut more firewood and exchange it for wheat straw.
Xiao Mian left the house and headed up the mountain.
The dirt road at the entrance extends east for a hundred meters and then turns south. Keep walking along the south road and you can see a village in the distance. I heard it is Linhe Village.
From the corner, go straight east and you will find the path into the mountain.
Daqingshan stretches for hundreds of miles, with deep forests and lush foliage.
After walking not far, I saw my mother and brother approaching with a cart full of dry firewood.
Xiao Mian quickly ran over to help push.
"Mom, whose frame car is this?"
"It belongs to your Aunt Lihua's house. While we have a car now, let's cut down more hardwood, which is heavy and resistant to burning."
The three of them cut and pulled it back and forth several times. They piled the branches and branches in the yard and let them dry naturally.