Chapter 413: Settling Down in Someone’s House
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
No matter how you hear it, the story could be summarized in just one word: miserable.
Han Qiao and Heng Yi still decided to give it a try.
“Thank you, Auntie. Let’s go and give it a try.”
The road to the valley wasn’t easy to walk. Fortunately, Heng Yi was used to walking around the mountain roads, and he had good eyesight He used a wooden stick to scout the way, and soon they arrived at the mountain. When they saw the farmhouse not far away, Han Qiao and Heng Yi looked at each other silently.
This was their last hope.
If they were still rejected, they would have to resort to their other plan: chop wood to build a shed.
Ah-Yao’s two cheeks were flushed from the cold. He was eating some pastries but was still a little unhappy and wanted to go home.
Their home was warm and comfortable, and he had many brothers and sisters to play with.
“Mother, go home! Go home!” Ah-Yao shouted.
He wanted to throw the pastries in his hands away, but he didn’t dare to.
The last time he threw food, he was severely punished by Han Qiao. Now, he didn’t want to eat it and didn’t dare to throw it away. So he stuffed it into his father’s mouth.
Heng Yi didn’t say much to his son, but his heart ached for him, so agreed to everything his son did.
Seeing Ah-Yao’s hand hovering near his mouth, Heng Yi opened his mouth and ate it.
Ah-Yao pouted.
Han Qiao patted his head, “Ah-Yao, be good now.”
“Mother will hug you later.”
Hearing this, Ah-Yao instantly laughed.
He nodded his head vigorously, “I want to sleep next to Mother tonight!”
“Alright.”
Don’t be fooled by his sweet smile.
There was a huge difference between sleeping next to a fragrant mother and sleeping next to a stiff father.
When they arrived at the valley, the thatched huts in the col were not very noticeable. After all, the surroundings were all white.
Then a big yellow dog in the yard started barking.
Han Qiao and the others had just reached the door when the courtyard gates opened.
The gray-haired old woman with a miserable face looked at the four people in front of her.
“Who are you looking for?” she asked.
She was old and her teeth had almost fallen out, there was a certain stench coming whenever she opened her mouth.
“Granny, we were passing by and wanted to ask you for some help. If it’s convenient, can you take us in for a few days?” Han Qiao said.
She was ready to be rejected.
That was she just directly asked the old lady about taking them in.
The granny’s surname was Gu.
Granny Gu looked at the family of four in front of her. After thinking for a while, she said, “Where did you come from? Do you have a household registration or a custom clearance document?”
“Yes,” Han Qiao immediately took out Sister Hu’s invitation and handed them over.
Grandma Gu did not take it.
She asked again, “Are you hiding from your enemies? Or did you flee here?”
“Neither. We just made an agreement with someone to wait for him in this village. Our hometown is in Chenzhou.” Han Qiao said.
She couldn’t tell Granny Gu anything else.
Granny Gu didn’t look at the household registration card, nor did she look at the customs clearance document.
She looked at the beautiful Han Qiao, the tall Heng Yi, Ah-Yao, who was smiling at her, and Zeng Qin’er, who was standing beside them.
Granny Gu let out a soft breath, “I can rent the house for you. You can use whatever you want in the kitchen, but you have to take care of us. We have two meals a day. You can leave whenever you want.”
In other words, living in this courtyard meant that they had to care about what Granny Gu and her great-grandson had to eat.
“Alright. But how much is the rent for a month? Well only stay for a month and when the time comes, well dig up another piece of land in the village to build a house. When the house is built, well move out”
Granny Gu opened her mouth and finally made up her mind. “Three hundred copper.”
“Alright.”
Granny Gu heaved a sigh of relief.
“Come in.”
She had no choice. She was old, and her great-grandson was still young. All the money she had saved up earlier had been stolen by that bastard.
If she didn’t plan well, what would happen to her great-grandson if something happened to her
The courtyard was not very big, but it was very clean.
A thin boy of five or six years old stood under the eaves and looked at them nervously and curiously.
“This is my great-grandson, Gu Shun. Just call him Shun Zi.”
There were a total of three rooms in the small courtyard. There was a central room. Then on two sides of the central room was a small room and the other was a kitchen. There was a brick bed on top of it, and the two of them were currently standing in the small living room.
On the other side, a straw was built. There was a lot of firewood piled under the shed. They were all small sticks and twigs and were tied up in small bundles.
Granny Gu led Han Qiao into the central room and pointed to the room on the right.
“This room is for you.”
Pushing open the door, they could tell no one had lived inside for a long time. There was a brick bed and a dining table. It was dusty and had a musty smell.
There were a few holes in the window. No matter how one looked at it, it looked quite shabby.
Even if they wanted to stay, they had to clean it carefully and fix the windows.
“Alright,”
In the yard, Heng Yi put Ah-Yao down.
The little boy’s eyes were fixed on the big yellow dog that was tied up. He wanted to play with it, but Shun Zi stopped him.
You can’t pet him. Big Yellow will bite.”
Ah-Yao wanted to say that he wasn’t afraid.
However, he also knew that this was someone else’s territory.
“Oh,” He said and didn’t move to approach the dog.
Heng Yi put the burden he was carrying at the door, and Zeng Qin’er put down her little basket. Ah-Yao ran over and hugged Zeng Qin’er’s leg. “Sister, candy” “You just ate one. If you eat again, Mother will scold you.”
Ah-Yao pointed at Shun Zi, “Give it to him.”
“Alright.”
Zeng Qin’er responded but only gave Shunzi two.
Shun Zi took the candy and stuffed one into her mouth, and then narrowed his eyes in happiness.
It was cool and sweet. It was a good taste that he had never tasted before.
“Is it good? Is it sweet?” Ah-Yao asked in a low voice.
He looked at the candy in Shun Zi’s hand, then turned to look at Zeng Qiner, “Sister…” He smacked his lips.
He wanted to eat one.
Zeng Qin’er saw Han Qiao talking to Granny Gu in the room, and Heng Yi walked in as well. She quickly stuffed a candy into Ah-Yao’s mouth.
“Shh.”
Ah-Yao hurriedly covered his mouth and pursed his lips.
He nodded vigorously to show that he understood. He wouldn’t let his Mother know that he ate another candy.
Meanwhile, inside the house…
Han Qiao didn’t care about whether there was a wardrobe or not. She was only staying for a while and would move out when they recovered.
By then, it wouldn’t be too late to look for a carpenter to make one for them later.
“Granny, can we use the firewood in the yard?”
“Well, it’s for you to use. However, you have to return it to me after the snow melts.” Granny Gu said.
“Alright.”
Han Qiao thought that none of them had eaten lunch yet.
First, she had to fill their stomachs.
They had no money in their pockets, but they had brought a lot of food and spices, as well as a jar of pork fat.
Although Granny Gu is old, the kitchen was quite clean.
Han Qiao planned to cook some porridge and make two fry pancakes.
She washed the pot and Zeng Qin’er lit the fire.
Heng Yi fetched water to clean up the room.
Ah-Yao stomped into the kitchen. His sharp eyes saw the eggs on the shelf. “Mother, eggy! Eggy!”
He thought he could eat whatever he wanted just like at home.
Han Qiao looked over to him.
She also wanted the child to eat better food than this, but this was someone else’s house. “You can’t have eggs today. Mother will make it for you tomorrow,”
Tomorrow, Heng Yi could go into the mountains and hunt some wild animals to exchange for food with the villagers.
They were penniless, and they couldn’t buy anything even if they wanted to. Granny Gu followed behind into the kitchen, “I can lend you three eggs. You can pay them back when the time comes. I can sell them to you if you have the money.”
Before Han Qiao could speak, Ah-Yao immediately became happy, “Mother! Mother, fry eggs! Cook noodles!”