Chapter 239 - Helping Old Aunt Xu and Her Family
Chapter 239: Helping Old Aunt Xu and Her Family
Xu Huang stood up again and bowed to the Guan family to express his feelings. Then, he went forward to help Old Aunt Xu up and bring her home. “Grandma, I’ll carry you home. I’ve caused trouble for Mother Rong and her family… I can go down the mountain to work after spring. I’ll return the porridge Grandma ate to your family…”
As he spoke, Xu Huang wanted to carry Old Aunt Xu on his back.
Since Old Aunt Xu’s youngest grandson had returned, it was only right to bring her back.
“Sigh… don’t be in a hurry to carry your grandmother back immediately.” Mother Rong quickly reached out her hand to press Old Aunt Xu down. “Your grandmother’s body is weak now. Your family doesn’t have a heated bed. Your grandmother’s body can’t take it anymore. We have to let her recuperate at our house first. Furthermore, your family doesn’t have anything…”
Xu Huang was stunned and his face almost turned green from holding it in. The corners of his lips were pursed tightly. Mother Rong was right. Their family was poor and had nothing…
“I’ll go and cut firewood now.” Xu Huang clenched his fists and said, “There was firewood at home originally. Grandma was actually sick for a while during the new year. I had to take care of her so I didn’t go out to cut firewood. The firewood at home was used up… As for food, I… I’ll go into the mountains again.”
Xu Huang hesitated. When he went up the mountain previously, there was thick snow everywhere. He only dared to search the periphery but did not find anything.
However, he thought that if he wanted to find something to eat, he could only enter a deeper mountain to take a look. He might be able to find something…
Xu Huang was still very ashamed of his poverty.
Mother Rong sighed and said, “Your grandmother is old and her body is too weak. She just fell and needs to recuperate carefully for a while… Xiao Huang, why don’t you stop being so polite? Isn’t your grandmother more important? Go and find firewood now and heat up the bed at home so that at the very least, you can live there. Otherwise, how can Old Aunt Xu go back to your house?”
“It’s not even the end of winter yet, so it’s very difficult to find food. I’ll cook porridge from my house and send it to you guys first… Don’t decline. After spring, you can return the grains. No matter how poor our family is, we still have this little bit of porridge. We have to prioritize Aunt’s health.”
Old Aunt Xu lay on the bed, feeling extremely powerless. She sighed with tears in her eyes.
Xu Huang also felt his face heat up… His fair face flushed red. However, when he heard Mother Rong use Old Aunt Xu as a topic a few times, Xu Huang could not reject her. He tensed his back repeatedly and could only agree.
He gritted his teeth tightly. Although he felt extremely ashamed, Grandma Xu was the most important. Xu Huang agreed…
Xu Huang left the Guan family to cut firewood first. The men from the Guan family were idle and followed him out to help Xu Huang cut firewood. There was strength in numbers.
It wasn’t that there was no firewood in winter. Their Yunwu Village was near a mountain, so when had there ever been a lack of firewood? It was just that it was snowing heavily in winter, so it was cold and no one wanted to go out. As such, they prepared firewood before winter and weren’t willing to go out at the last minute.
Now, Xu Huang and the men from the Guan family had gone up the mountain and cut down a few trees in the forest at the outermost area. They could even find withered trees and cut them down to bring them back.
They dragged the trees back to the Xu family’s house and cut the firewood in a short while. Xu Huang heated up the bed. Second sister-in-law Guan and the rest even brought over an extra blanket and bedding from the Guan family to lend to Grandma Xu.
Fortunately, the Guan family had earned money from doing business. There were many things at home, so there were many old blankets and beddings this year that could be used to support Grandma Xu and the rest.
When Xu Huang saw that the Guan family had even given them their blanket and bedding, he did not say anything else and only silently accepted it. He would wait for the next spring when he could work and return everything to the Guan family…
When he returned, he carried Grandma Xu over and personally placed her on the heated bed. The house was already warm and people could live in it.
Grandma Xu’s eyes were moist.
“Xiao Huang, stop going up the mountain to look for food. You can’t find much to eat there. Besides, Old Aunt needs someone to stay at home to look after her. You have to take care of her. You have to do everything, so you can’t leave, understand?”
Mother Rong still remembered to remind Xu Huang.
Xu Huang had indeed not considered this before and nodded silently.
The Guan family went back just like that. They had already done their best to help Old Aunt Xu. After all, it was too difficult for the lonely elders in the village to survive in winter.
Furthermore, for some reason, winter this year was longer than in previous years.
It was almost the end of the new year, but it was still so cold. The snow was also falling heavily as if nothing had changed.
Mother Rong also mumbled that this was unusual.
Guan Chibei’s eyes flickered. There was no change in his expression and he did not say anything. Of course, there was something strange this winter. He, the God of the Netherworld, had descended from the sky and brought with him strong yin energy. There were also three of his children who were born into the world. Just this phenomenon alone had made the winter long.
There was another reason for this. They carried yin energy and liked the cold, so in order to welcome them, the winter in the world unintentionally lengthened.
Most people in the world would only feel that this year’s winter was a little long. There were a few snowstorms, but this was not considered too strange.
When they returned to the Guan family, Ye Lulu stayed behind to take care of the three babies, so she did not go out. When she saw them return, she asked them about Old Aunt Xu.
Mother Rong replied that they had settled Old Aunt Xu down and she would deliver all three meals a day to the Xu family’s house. Ye Lulu did not have any objections and nodded.
If their family had the ability, they should help if they could.
Ye Lulu returned to the house and Guan Chibei followed her in.
Ye Lulu was still thinking about some things. After thinking about it, she couldn’t help but say, “Xu Huang is fifteen or sixteen years old this year. He’s not as strong as the other young men, so he wouldn’t have the advantage to work at the docks. If he’s an errand boy in Yuan City, he’s not familiar with the city and isn’t smart enough. It’s not good either…”
“However, he looks very energetic. Although he’s not the strongest, he’s not weak either. Since we helped Old Aunt Xu and he wants to repay our family, why don’t we just let him… do things for me…”
In fact, Ye Lulu had been thinking about the business she was going to do after the new year. Originally, after such a long period of experimentation, she had pretty much decided on making food like Shandong pancakes. Her goal was actually bigger, but it was very far away for the time being. The Guan family’s assets were too weak, so she had to earn the first sum of money no matter what. Therefore, in the beginning, she had to set up a stall.
However, after seeing Xu Huang today… Ye Lulu thought that perhaps if she helped Old Aunt Xu, she might as well let Xu Huang work for her. Wouldn’t that be very suitable?
Just as she was about to ask Guan Chibei for his opinion, she suddenly heard Guan Chibei say calmly—
“Xu Huang, Xu Huang… are you very interested in him? You were quite focused in the kitchen just now. Do you like young men like Xu Huang?”