Chapter 72
The next day, He Qiming indeed took the children into the mountains to hunt. However, they did not go as far as yesterday. They were not far from where Ye Qingzhi had picked mushrooms and only caught two pheasants, but the children had a great time.
“Mama, look, a wood ear,” Yangyang said, holding a wood ear, his eyes shining as he looked at Ye Qingzhi.
“Yes, a wood ear. Put it in your small basket. Mama will stir-fry it for you when we get home,” Ye Qingzhi said, stroking his head and digging out the Gastrodia she had found.
This time, she was not selling it. She was preparing to keep it for herself to eat. It could be stewed with chicken or duck.
“Ma, look, what a big mushroom,” Ye Anmin said, no longer pretending to be a little adult, his smile bright as he pointed to a large mushroom.
“Oh, you’re so amazing. How did you find it?” Ye Qingzhi did not skimp on her praise.
“I just found it,” Ye Anmin said with an embarrassed smile.
Ye Qingzhi smiled and stroked his head, continuing to look for mushrooms. If she came across any useful medicinal herbs, she would also put them in her bag.
Today, there were only two pheasants. They were placed at the bottom of the basket, with some mushrooms and wild vegetables on top. No one could find them, so they took the path through Houxicun.
“Qingzhi, I heard you were back a long time ago. I was going to look for you, but we knew you must be very busy recently. Are you picking wild vegetables in the mountains today?” Wei Fifth Aunt asked, seeing Ye Qingzhi’s family from afar. She threw down her hoe and hurried over to chat.
“Hello, Fifth Aunt. We haven’t been up the mountain in a long time. We’re just taking the children for a walk,” Ye Qingzhi said, seeing a string of people following behind Wei Fifth Aunt. She knew that they would not be able to leave for a while.
“Qingzhi, you’re back? Oh my, I haven’t seen you in a year. You’ve changed so much. Are these Anmin and Anjie? They’ve grown so tall,” Big Sister Li said, a hint of envy in her eyes when she saw Ye Qingzhi.
Now that she was a regiment commander’s wife, she was indeed different. Look at how tender her face was, fair and rosy. And her hair, dark and shiny. You could tell at a glance that her life was very good.
“Isn’t that the truth? If we had met in another village, we really wouldn’t have recognized you,” Big Sister Wang said, paying more attention to the two children.
The change was really big. Besides being taller and fatter, the main thing was their spiritual outlook, which was completely different.
Sure enough, a child had to have a father.
“Really? I don’t feel it myself,” Ye Qingzhi said, touching her face with a faint smile.
“Qingzhi, I’ve heard about what happened to your dad. It’s really… sigh… my condolences,” Auntie Lin said suddenly.
The originally lively atmosphere suddenly became very heavy. Many people in their hearts blamed Auntie Lin for not knowing what to say.
What could Ye Qingzhi do? She could only continue to pretend to be very sad and lower her head. In any case, she could not cry.
“My dad was only in his fifties. I really didn’t expect this to happen to him.”
Ye Qingzhi rubbed her eyes.
“Yes, who could have expected it? It was a disaster. Sigh, Qingzhi, where did you pick so many mushrooms? How come I can’t find any?” Big Sister Li asked, picking up a mushroom and changing the subject.
“Just in the back mountain. I went a little deeper because Qiming was with me. It’s better for you not to go,” Ye Qingzhi reminded them.
Beside her, He Qiming took over the conversation. “I saw wild boar tracks and droppings. You’d better not go.”
Hearing that there were wild boars, the few women quickly waved their hands and said they would not go. No matter how good the mushrooms were, their lives were more important.
Just then, Auntie Ye came over. She looked Ye Qingzhi and the two children up and down. Seeing that their clothes and complexion were very good, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter how well it was written in the letter, it was not as good as seeing it with her own eyes. She had been the matchmaker for Ye Qingzhi’s marriage. Of course, she hoped that they would live a happy and harmonious life.
“Qingzhi, have you eaten? How about you come to my house for lunch?” Auntie Ye said with a smile.
“Alright. We were just about to go to your house,” Ye Qingzhi nodded and followed behind Auntie Ye with He Qiming and the children.
Looking at their backs, Wei Fifth Aunt ground her teeth. If she had not grown distant from Ye Qingzhi back then, she would be the one with such a good relationship with her now. Then if her child wanted to join the army, it would just be a matter of a word from He Qiming.
Auntie Lin and Big Sister Li also sighed with emotion. If they had had a good relationship with Ye Qingzhi back then, would they also be able to benefit now?
When they arrived at Auntie Ye’s house, Juzi was hanging clothes to dry. Seeing Ye Qingzhi’s family, she quickly and enthusiastically greeted them and invited them into the house, making them tea.
“Sister Qingzhi, have some tea,” Juzi said, pouring the tea. She then sensibly took the children to another place, leaving this place for Auntie Ye and Ye Qingzhi and the others.
In fact, what needed to be said had already been said in the letter, but Auntie Ye still repeated some things, just in more detail.
For example, Wei Youliang. He had his eye on Ye Qingzhi’s private plot and had been looking for the Brigade Leader, wanting to get it back.
“He even went to find Fang Xiaomei, wanting to get back together. She’s now wearing new clothes and new shoes, and has meat to eat every day. She only has to wash clothes and cook, and doesn’t even have to work in the fields. How could she leave Old Niu the Third and go back to the countryside with him to live a hard life?” Auntie Ye pouted.
Although Old Niu the Third was not good-looking, his qualifications were indeed not bad.
She had heard that he gave Fang Xiaomei ten yuan a month for groceries. The meat was brought back by Old Niu the Third himself. How much could you spend on just vegetables? The rest all went into Fang Xiaomei’s pocket.
“He even went to find Fang Xiaomei?” Ye Qingzhi sneered. He was really overestimating himself.
Wei Jiancheng was good-looking, so of course his father, Wei Youliang, was not bad either. Otherwise, he would not have been able to get involved with Fang Xiaomei. But at Fang Xiaomei’s age, money was more important than looks.
“By the way, your brother came to find me. It was Wei Youliang who instigated him. Qingzhi, you have to take this seriously. He’s not getting any good from Fang Xiaomei, so he will definitely come to find you, Anmin, and Anjie,” Auntie Ye said seriously.
Ye Qingzhi understood what she meant. Fang Xiaomei and Wei Youliang were just living together. Now that she had married someone else, Wei Youliang really could not do anything to her.
As for her son, Wei Haibo, no, now he was called Niu Haibo. When he had come to the Wei family, he had already been in his teens and was not related by blood. At most, outsiders would say he was ungrateful, which was useless.
Anmin and Anjie were different. They were Wei Youliang’s biological grandsons after all. Even if they had already split the family, and even if Wei Youliang had not raised them for a single day, if Wei Youliang was really determined to latch onto them, if the two children did not care, they would definitely be drowned in saliva.
But she was not afraid. The two children were still young. Wei Youliang could not possibly ask a seven-year-old child to support him in his old age.
In a dozen or so years, who knew if Wei Youliang would still be around? Even if he was still alive, if their whole family could not deal with an old man like Wei Youliang, then they would be too pathetic.
As for Ye Qingzhi, she was a remarried daughter-in-law. For Wei Youliang to ask her for benefits? He would be the one to be drowned in saliva.
“It’s fine. The children’s household registrations have already been transferred, and their surnames have been changed. And they’re still young. Wei Youliang can’t possibly ask them to support him in his old age now,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile, taking out a pheasant from her basket. “Qiming and the children caught it this morning.”
“Keep it for yourselves. Why are you giving it to me?” Auntie Ye asked, pushing it back.
“Take it. Qiming and I already went up the mountain yesterday and even got a muntjac. We were worried about being seen, so we didn’t go through Houxicun. We were originally planning to come and see you yesterday,” Ye Qingzhi said. Seeing Juzi glance at the pheasant from time to time, she knew that Auntie Ye’s family had not seen meat in a long time. “Auntie Ye, if you keep pushing it back and forth, I’ll get angry.”
Auntie Ye accepted it with embarrassment. “Then I won’t be polite.”
They had lunch at Auntie Ye’s house. When they were leaving, Auntie Ye gave them a lot of vegetables to take with them.
From Auntie Ye’s house to the village entrance, they ran into many acquaintances on the way. They enthusiastically gave her vegetables they had grown themselves, but Ye Qingzhi refused them all.
“I once heard a saying: when you stand in a high position, everyone around you is a good person. I’m only now truly experiencing it,” Ye Qingzhi said with great emotion.
Before, when there was no news from Wei Jiancheng, and she was left in the village with her three sons, never mind the ordinary villagers, even those uncles, they all wanted to distance themselves from them and would take a detour when they saw them.
And now? They had all appeared again, and they were all very friendly, as if their relationship had been so good before.
“Don’t be angry for irrelevant people. In any case, we’re leaving tomorrow night. Is there anyone else you want to see? We’ve seen them all today,” He Qiming said, holding Ye Qingzhi’s hand and telling her not to worry.
“I know. I’m not angry. I’m just a little emotional,” Ye Qingzhi said, looking back at Houxicun. Coming back again, the feeling was completely different.
Back in Dayangcun, the people on the road were also enthusiastic. Ye Qingzhi sighed softly. In just a few days, she was already missing her home in the family compound.
There was still a lot of meat left at home. Ye Qingzhi dried some of it and made some into diced meat sauce.
The next day, they started to pack, preparing to have lunch, tidy up the kitchen, and then set off for the city to wait for the train.
Ye Qingzhi wrapped three pieces of meat in pumpkin leaves. The largest piece was for her granduncle, the second largest for her aunt, and the smallest for He Fourth Aunt, as a return for their kindness.
After a moment’s hesitation, she took out an even smaller one with a heartache and gave it to He Qiming and the children to take to the old house.
She couldn’t just give some to her granduncle and fourth aunt and not to her own parents. It wouldn’t sound good if it got out.
Seeing their family, Yang Fuzhen had originally wanted to mock them for still knowing to come to the door. But thinking of He Dali’s warning, she swallowed her words and just asked indifferently, “You’re here?”
“Yes, Ma. This is the wild rabbit meat Qiming caught in the mountains. It’s not much. It’s for you to add to your dishes,” Ye Qingzhi said, putting down the meat. Seeing Yang Fuzhen’s dissatisfied look and Tian Xiuhua’s not-so-good expression, as if they thought it was too little, she deliberately asked, “You don’t like it? Or you don’t eat rabbit meat? Since you don’t like it, then I’ll take…”
Before she could finish, Yang Fuzhen snatched the rabbit meat. “When did I say I don’t like it? Alright, I’ve received your good intentions. Is there anything else?”
“Nothing else. It’s just that our train is tonight. We came to let you know,” Ye Qingzhi said with a faint smile.
“What, your train is tonight? You’re going back to the base so soon?” Yang Fuzhen’s face darkened. “Why are you only telling us now?”
“It’s not too late for us to say it now, is it?” Ye Qingzhi asked, looking at her in confusion.
Yang Fuzhen took a deep breath, looked at He Qiming, and forced a smile. “Qiming, I thought you could stay for a few more days. Don’t cook for lunch. Just eat here. Don’t you love the big noodles I make? I’ll make you some for lunch.”
“No need. We still have a lot of food left at home. We can’t waste it. Dad, Ma, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be going now,” He Qiming said. He knew them quite well. To be so nice all of a sudden, they must be asking for something.
Sure enough, Yang Fuzhen pulled He Qiming, who was about to leave. “Qiming, your younger brother didn’t really mean to deceive us. The job he found is real. Although it’s a temporary worker, it’s still better than nothing. Your dad and I have discussed it. We both think it’s a pity to miss it, so we want to buy it.”
He Qiming looked at them and said indifferently, “You can decide for yourselves.”