After eating and drinking their fill, there was still no time to rest.
“Xiaogu, let’s grab the water buckets and head to the river to get some water for washing. Tomorrow, when we go dig for wild greens, we’ll take the clothes along to wash there.”
The river was too shallow now—doing laundry there was pretty inconvenient.
Taking it to the pool over by the mountain would be much easier.
“Okay, let’s hurry then. We don’t want it to get dark before we’re done.”
By the time the two of them reached the river with their buckets, quite a few people were already there drawing water.
They were using their own rice bowls to scoop up the clearest water from the very surface.
After a few scoops, the water turned murky, so they’d move to a new spot and start again.
By the time one bucket was full, the water had become noticeably cloudy.
“Sis, do you think there’ll be any clean water left by the time it’s our turn? I’m not so sure.”
Xiaogu pouted. “When we came a few days ago, wasn’t the water level higher than this?”
Lin Xiaohe nodded. “It wasn’t this low back then. The water level drops a little every day. Who knows how much longer it’ll hold out.”
“Let’s go back.” There were still quite a few people waiting to draw water. If they stayed, they’d be waiting till the cows came home.
Might as well head over to the mountain pool while it was still light and get water there instead.
By the pool
Lin Xiaohe splashed cold water on her face and felt instantly refreshed.
She filled two buckets and set them on the ground.
“Xiaogu, hold onto the bucket handle—no need to lift it.”
The water was too heavy—her little sister probably couldn’t carry it.
Carrying one bucket in one hand and holding her sister’s hand with the other, she blinked once, and suddenly they were back in their familiar home, still holding the same positions.
The weather was still pretty warm—the tail end of autumn heat was strong. Since it hadn’t rained in so long, it was much hotter than usual for this time of year.
Lin Xiaohe heated some water in the clay pot and mixed it with cold water until it was warm enough to wash with.
A bigger pot was becoming an urgent necessity.
Nothing was convenient right now.
She didn’t let the youngest wash up—afraid she was too young and frail, and might get sick from it.
With a big pot, she could heat up a good batch of warm water for her to wash properly.
After getting everything tidied up, they were ready to settle in for the night.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Xiaohe, come open up! I’ve brought your uncle along—he’s here to help your dad get cleaned up and moved around a bit.”
Wu Xiang stood at the door with her husband.
“Coming!”
The bedboards their parents lay on had a hole around the hip area—if they needed to use the toilet, they could do it right there, with something underneath to catch it.
But they still needed to be wiped and washed.
The sisters could help Liu Yuexiu, but it wasn’t really appropriate for them to help Lin Cai. Wu Xiang had thought of this too, which was why she’d brought her husband along. The kids were still so young—how could they be expected to wash away their father’s waste?
Lin Xiaohe told her sister to quickly hide anything that shouldn’t be seen, then went to open the door—deliberately slowing her movements. Only when she saw Xiaogu nod at her did she pull it open.
“Auntie, Uncle! I’m so sorry to put you to so much trouble.”
“What are you saying, child? It’s no trouble at all. Distant relatives aren’t as good as close neighbors—and we’ve been neighbors for so many years! Your uncle and your dad grew up together, bare-assed as kids.
Now that you’re in a tough spot, how could we not lend a hand?”
Wu Xiang ruffled the girl’s hair. This child was so sensible it broke her heart. She stepped inside first, leaving her husband to wait outside for a moment.
She exchanged a few words with the children, then went over to tend to the person on the bed.
“I’ve brought hot water with me, so don’t you go fussing. That little clay pot of yours can’t heat up much water at once anyway.
We don’t have an iron wok either since we split off—we’re using a clay pot for now. Otherwise, I’d have lent you one.”
Wu Xiang’s family hadn’t split up until both the elders had passed away, and even then, they had no choice but to divide. Still, her relationship with her sisters-in-law was decent.
Even though they’d split, there was only one iron wok, and they all shared it.
No one in the village could afford to get their own big iron wok either—iron was a rare commodity these days, and getting your hands on a wok was no easy task.
Sometimes, when they wanted to cook something small on the side, they’d use a little clay pot.
“If there’s anything you’re not managing well, just come get me. Don’t hold back. No matter how tough things are at my place, it’s still better than yours.
Just get through these days—that’s what matters most.”
Liu Yuexiu’s eyes reddened. Sometimes, neighbors were far more reliable than relatives.
“Oh, don’t cry! Let me tell you something cheerful—over at your old place, all hell’s broken loose.
Qian Sancao got so mad she fainted. When she came to, she said she needed to eat something good to build up her strength. But Old Fourth’s wife wasn’t having it—they even started pulling each other’s hair out.”
Lin Xiaohe perked up her ears—this she was interested in.
“Serves her right, really. She spoiled Old Fourth rotten, then married him to a wife just as useless. In the end, she’s the only one who suffers for it.”
Wu Xiang lived right next door to the old homestead, so she knew all the gossip—and she never stopped chattering.
The two little ones listened with rapt attention too.
Once Yuexiu was all cleaned up, Wu Xiang went outside and called her husband in. She stayed out herself—it wouldn’t be proper for her to go back in—and chatted with them through the window.
Lin Deshan came in and got straight to work, saying very little.
He finished tidying up in no time.
“Xiaohe, it’s so dark out you can’t even see the moon. We’ll head back now. When you go to sleep tonight, make sure you bolt the door from the inside.”
After seeing them off, Lin Xiaohe sat cross-legged on the bed.
“Mom, Dad, Aunt Xiang has been so good to us, and I want to help them out too. But how are we supposed to get our things out to them?
I can slip some food to Sister Daya, and as long as I don’t say anything, she won’t ask questions.
But Auntie’s an adult—it’s harder to fool her.”
Liu Yuexiu frowned in thought. “That really is a problem.”
“What if we say I got it through my connections? Back when I used to go to the black market, Old Shan knew about it. We can say someone from over there noticed I hadn’t come in a while, came looking for me, and found out about our situation.
They wanted to look out for me and trade me some supplies. What the Laoshan family needs is goods, not money—Xiaohe, you can take a little money from them just to keep up appearances.”
Liu Yuexiu agreed with this. “Don’t be fooled by your Aunt Juan’s family—they keep a low profile, but they’ve got quite a bit stashed away.
It’s just that these days, what matters isn’t money—it’s ration coupons.”
Lin Xiaohe nodded. “Alright, that’s settled then. I’ll go check out the coarse grains tomorrow and see what the prices are like.”
Even though rice was already pretty cheap, if there was even cheaper grain available, that’d be even better.
“Everyone get some sleep now. I’ll wake up early tomorrow.”
With that, she lay down and got ready to sleep.
They’d been chatting in the dark anyway—no need to blow out a lamp. They just lay down and drifted off.
…
At the Lin Deshan household
When their parents got home, the two kids immediately crowded around.
They were neighbors, and the children from both families were close.
“Mom, Dad, how’d it go? How are Xiaohe and the others doing?”
Wu Xiang sighed and pushed the two clingy little monkeys aside. “They seem alright—their faces actually looked better than they did a couple of days ago.”
“That’s great!” The two kids cheered happily.
“Enough, enough—both of you get to bed. Think we’ve got food to spare? Stop moving around so much and go lie down, now.”
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