Double Life: My whole world is you

The three of them worked together to carry the two baskets back home. They smiled at each other. It usually took them 30 to 40 minutes, but today it took them nearly two hours. They arrived home at 4:30. It was not easy. Cheng's mother urged the two to change their rain boots. Seeing that their socks were wet, she quickly found socks to help them change. As soon as Cheng Zhu changed, he shouted, "Mom, I'm so thirsty. I want to drink some water."

Cheng's mother looked at the dusty table, holding back tears, and turned to the kitchen, "Okay, I'll go get some water and boil some for you to drink."

"Mom, let's go too." Cheng's mother came out of the kitchen. Cheng Qiao and Cheng Zhu had already changed into their rain boots. Cheng Qiao found a small bucket and Cheng Zhu found a basin. Cheng's mother smiled and shook her head, "Then you guys come with me! It's a good opportunity to go to your aunt's house to drink some hot water."

The three of them passed through the tile cellar, then two small roads, and finally passed two families and arrived at the aunt's house. The aunt's house was two or three hundred meters away from Cheng Qiao's house. The uncle and Cheng's father had the same grandfather, so they were relatively close in the clan. But the uncle died early, and he also passed away the second year after Cheng's father died. The aunt's family had an eldest cousin, and the two children of the eldest cousin were about the same age as Cheng Qiao. There were three cousins. The eldest nephew of the eldest cousin's family was the same age as Cheng Zhu. The eldest cousin's wife died of a conflict with her family and drank medicine the year Cheng's father died. The eldest cousin married another cousin's wife and gave birth to another nephew, so this nephew has been with the aunt. The other two cousins ​​should have been married at this time.

Auntie was the only person in the tribe who had given them warmth. When they were still more than ten meters away from their house, Chengzhu shouted from afar, "Auntie, we are back!"

Hearing Chengzhu's voice, the auntie hurried out. She was tall and kind in a crimson cotton coat. She was followed by a boy, the eldest cousin's nephew, named Kaiyang. Since he had been with Chengzhu for only one year, they had a very good relationship. When he saw Chengzhu, Kaiyang jumped and pulled him, "Let's go to my house to play."

Cheng Ma walked up to Auntie and said, "Sister-in-law, we are back."

"You just got home! Come in and have a seat. We'll have dinner at my house tonight." The old lady pulled Cheng's mother enthusiastically.

"No! We have to go back to clean up the house today and come to play in two days." Cheng's mother refused with a smile.

"I'm going to cook some noodles. It'll be quick. You guys come back and prepare after I'm done." The old lady still held Cheng's mother's hand.

"Auntie, we just came back from having New Year's Eve dinner at grandma's house. We are not hungry at all." Cheng Qiao explained with a smile.

At this time, Cheng Zhu came out and said, "Auntie, I'm so thirsty, I want to drink some water."

"Okay, if you don't want to eat, come in and have a glass of water." The aunt pulled everyone in to sit down. The entrance was the kitchen. The aunt went in and got a bag of sugar. She added sugar to each glass of water. The three people drank three glasses of water with satisfaction. Cheng's mother talked to the aunt for a while and then got up to fetch water from the well. They didn't have running water at home yet, so the household water came from the wells in their homes. Cheng Qiao's family didn't have a well, so most of the time they went to the aunt's house to fetch water.

This well is also very old. As far as Cheng Qiao can remember, this well has been here. It is said to have a history of hundreds of years. The pond outside and the place to scoop water were added later. Cheng Qiao looked at the two collapsed houses next to the pond and pondered. These two houses were the houses where Cheng's mother got married. She was still young at that time. She only remembered that there were only two rooms, one for sleeping and the other which was the living room with an earthen stove. The house was very dark. She never dared to be alone at home, let alone go home alone. The house was already very old when Cheng's mother got married. The year Cheng's father passed away, Cheng's mother and Cheng's mother discussed rebuilding a house. Unfortunately, Cheng's father passed away forever that autumn. Cheng's mother took Cheng's father's compensation and planned to demolish the old house and rebuild two new houses on the foundation of the old house. Her uncles and aunts disagreed, and the uncles and aunts in the clan did not allow it, saying that the foundation still belonged to this family or that family. They did not think that other people had large foundations and larger houses, while his family only had these two shabby houses. But what could Cheng's mother do? She was an orphan and a widow with two children, one five or six years old, and the other less than two years old. She thought that she would still rely on them in the future, so she did not demolish the house in the end, thinking that there was still a foundation closer to her uncles and aunts. Her aunt disagreed and said that she would leave it to her third cousin. In the end, they chose the foundation of their current house. It's not that the foundation was bad, it's just that it was a little far away...

Cheng Qiao was lost in her own thoughts. At this time, Cheng Zhu had already filled the scoop with water and was ready to go back. The old lady came out with two bags. She introduced, "The two pieces of meat in this bag, one was sent by their great aunt, and the other was sent by their eldest sister to say goodbye to the old year. I have salted it for you. This bag contains some roasted nuts that I made myself, some fried radish balls, a few radishes and greens that I grew myself, and two cabbages."

Cheng's mother took the bag and thanked him sincerely, "Thank you, sister-in-law, and sister and brother-in-law, thank you for still thinking about our family."

Cheng's mother was carrying two large buckets. Cheng Qiao took the bag from Cheng's mother and handed it to Cheng Zhu. Cheng Zhu poured out the water in the basin, put the bag in the basin, and the three of them walked towards home.

There are several uncles and aunts in the family who share the same grandfather as Cheng's father. The year Cheng's father passed away, the aunts seemed to have agreed not to come to her house to say goodbye to the New Year (PS: Saying goodbye to the New Year is a custom in their area. Married girls return to their natal family to say goodbye to the New Year before the New Year), nor did they come to her house to wish her a happy new year, except for this aunt who is directly related to her aunt's family. This aunt has always been in contact with their family. Although they were still young and did not return the gifts every New Year, they were still in contact until she passed away in the last life. At that time, the aunt and uncle were already old, but their eldest cousin came to say goodbye to the New Year and wish her a happy new year at the end of every year. In the third year after Cheng's father passed away, a cousin in the family got married and did not take them in. From then on, their family only interacted with their own uncles and aunt's family in the big family, and no longer interacted with others.

Cheng Ma was walking in front carrying water and sneezed twice. Cheng Zhu was walking in the middle carrying a basin. Cheng Qiao was following behind tremblingly with a bucket of water. She had never done any heavy work and was indeed not physically strong.

After the three of them got home, Cheng's mother urged them to change their shoes, and she hurried to the kitchen to clean up. Cheng Qiao found her shoes and handed them to Cheng's mother, "Mom, you change your shoes too."

Cheng Ma took the shoes and sneezed again. She smiled and said, "I guess your grandma is talking about me."

"Mom, change your socks too." Cheng Qiao didn't believe her and handed her the socks.

"I'll clean up the kitchen first. You take your brother to clean the table in the living room and take out the things." Cheng's mother said while changing her shoes.

"Okay, Mom, I got it." Cheng Qiao walked out of the kitchen and came to the living room. The house had three bedrooms and a living room, and there was no toilet. The kitchen was in a low house built next to the stairwell, but the stairwell was the same as the house. Cheng Qiao walked through the stairwell and came to the living room. The living room was right at the entrance. The living room was not big, less than ten square meters, with only a table and four benches in the middle. The white paint on the table had fallen off, and one of the benches was missing half of its leg.