Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

When the captain's mother saw him nod, she thought he would express something, but after waiting for a long time, she still didn't see him speak. She couldn't help but feel upset. She didn't know whether he had any thoughts of remarrying or not, and why didn't he even say a definite word.

At night, she secretly talked about this with her eldest son.

The captain was stunned by my idea, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that these two people were indeed a good match.

However, he still advised his mother not to mention this matter for the time being. "Xiuhua is now obsessed with finding her nephew. If you mention this to her now, she will think that Jianguo is helping her in order to marry her. If she disagrees, you will owe her a favor. It is better to wait until they come back, and then you can help them get together."

If the captain thinks about it carefully, it makes sense.

The next day, Zhang Xiuhua handed the two children over to Zhang Wangcai and took some food rations for the two children. She even took some extra food because she was afraid that Jin Sufen's two children would be hungry.

When Jin Sufen learned that she would be gone for ten days, she shook the food bag and finally said with satisfaction, "Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of the child for you."

No matter what she thinks in her heart, Jin Sufen always behaves in a way that is impeccable to the outside world.

Zhang Xiuhua didn't believe that she would truly treat the two children well, so she secretly fried soybeans for the two children so that if they were not full, they could sneak back home during the day.

As for the remaining food, Zhang Xiuhua locked half in the cabinet and took the other half to the grain station to exchange for food coupons.

When you go out to eat, you can't carry a bag of food with you, as that would be inconvenient.

But before she left, she still made two pancakes and some pickled vegetables, which she ate when she was hungry. Eating on the train was expensive and inconvenient these days. Most people brought their own food.

Because the weather was hot, she didn't dare to bring too much. After wrapping the things with gauze and packing a few more clothes, she carried the cloth bag and set off with Li Jianguo.

Also traveling with them was the captain's second brother, Zheng Ping, who was sent here by the captain.

The captain was not worried that Li Jianguo would do something bad, but it was a good thing to do from the beginning. Other villagers were unwilling to go to Muxi County to look for someone, and the captain was worried about Zhang Xiuhua going so far alone, so he sent his second brother to help. However, the captain repeatedly told his second brother not to personally participate in stealing the child. If Xiuhua was caught by the villagers, he could go to the police station to call the police and get her out. This was also to ensure Xiuhua's safety.

The three of them waited at the train station for more than half an hour, and then took another fifteen hours to reach Muxi County. The train was moving very slowly at this time, but there were many people, and the sound of passengers talking and chewing was everywhere.

Zhang Xiuhua took out the baked pancake and gave half to each of them. She had a small stomach and was full after eating only one-third of it.

If the food is too choking, drink boiled water. Zheng Ping and Li Jianguo both have military canteens, and they use one, while Zhang Xiuhua and she each use one.

Because of the two men protecting me on both sides, I didn't encounter any strange things on the road.

After getting off the train station, they checked into the guesthouse.

Zhang Xiuhua originally wanted to ask the other party about Meihua Village, but the language in the south varies every five miles. She found that she could not understand the local dialect at all, so she couldn't start even if she wanted to ask others.

Li Jianguo planned to find a place to eat first, and then he would call his comrades to ask about the situation in Meihua Village before making the next plan.

Zhang Xiuhua and Zheng Ping didn't have any good ideas, so they agreed to follow his arrangements.

The three of them went to a nearby state-owned restaurant and ordered a bowl of green noodles. Zhang Xiuhua paid for her and Zheng Ping's meals, while Li Jianguo paid for himself. Zhang Xiuhua was poor now, so she didn't pretend to be rich.

Because they were busy, the three of them didn't enjoy the food properly. They ate in a hurry and left.

Li Jianguo quickly learned about the situation of Meihua Village from his comrades. It was not far from here, and it only took 40 minutes to walk there.

The three of them found a secluded place and told Zhang Xiuhua that Meihua Village was an ancient village where everyone had the same surname and was very xenophobic.

If they rashly went to Meihua Village to look for the child, it would definitely arouse the other party's vigilance.

The best way is to buy the child back with money. But where would Zhang Xiuhua get so much money? Even if she had money, she would not give it to such an evil buyer.

As for calling the police? Don't even think about it. This is not the information disclosure that will happen 30 years later. The quality of the police at this time is worrying. What if there are villagers from Meihua Village among the police? If they hide the child again, she will have nowhere to cry.

However, Zhang Xiuhua was well-informed and soon came up with a good idea.

She saw some farmers secretly going to the city to sell vegetables. She could easily go into the village under the pretext of collecting vegetables.

"We don't want fresh vegetables, we only want dried vegetables."

There is a lot of rain in the south, so vegetables grow fast. Before one crop is eaten, another crop will grow. The vegetables that cannot be eaten will be made into dried vegetables and saved for winter.

Li Jianguo's eyes lit up. "Good idea. Let's just say we're from the north. Our accents will match."

But he glanced at Zhang Xiuhua and said, "You are a woman. It would be too eye-catching for you to go far away to pick vegetables. It would be better for me to go with Zheng Ping."

Zheng Ping was a little hesitant, "Harvesting vegetables? Isn't that speculation? If someone reports you, you'll go to jail."

Seeing how timid he was, Li Jianguo knew why the captain sent him here.

Seeing Zheng Ping unwilling, Zhang Xiuhua did not force him, "I'll go anyway. I'll make my face look uglier. No one will want to take advantage of me."

Young women who venture out into the world will indeed arouse suspicion and even covetousness, but older women have lost their reproductive value and no one would target them.

Li Jianguo thought she wanted to learn a classic scene from a model opera - a woman smearing soot on her face to avoid being killed by the Japanese devils. He thought it was feasible and nodded in agreement.

The next morning, when they saw Zhang Xiuhua, Li Jianguo and Zheng Ping almost didn't recognize her.

I don't know where she got them from, but she actually has more than ten white hairs on her head. She didn't deliberately use soot to blacken her face, but instead sharpened a pencil and made some foam to create dark circles under her eyes, and then added a few folds as wrinkles, making her look like she was in her forties or fifties.

Both Li Jianguo and Zheng Ping had to call her aunt.

The three of them bought six steamed buns from the state-owned restaurant. The buns in the south are smaller than those in the north, and two of them are only half full. Zheng Ping stayed in the town and waited for them to come back. Zhang Xiuhua gave him money and tickets, and he would help buy food.

Li Jianguo and Zhang Xiuhua ate as they walked. When they passed a village, they turned into the village and bought a load.

Due to language barriers, the two could only use gestures, and finally spent one yuan and thirty cents to get it done.

They walked along the road and finally arrived at Meihua Village.

Zhang Xiuhua only knew that her nephew was in Meihua Village, but she didn't know which family he belonged to.

She knocked on every door and asked if they had any dried vegetables.

This knock on the door alarmed the entire village, and they all came over to ask her how much money she gave.

Zhang Xiuhua's purpose was not to buy dried vegetables, so the price she offered was not high. She only offered three cents per pound. Nowadays, green vegetables are two cents per pound, and she only offered three cents for dried vegetables. You have to know that it takes ten pounds of green vegetables to dry one pound of dried vegetables, so the price is ridiculously low.

Seeing everyone shaking their heads in disgust, Zhang Xiuhua didn't care and could only repeat in Mandarin, "We are just earning some hard-earned money."

Fortunately, these people can understand Mandarin.

Zhang Xiuhua was afraid that the villagers would suspect her purpose, so she did not dare to look at the child. She just went along the alley and knocked on every door, asking if they wanted to sell dried vegetables.

At that time, farmers were very timid and dared not go to the city easily. Many families planted vegetables to keep for the winter. Now when they heard that they could sell them, they did not mind the low price and really sold them.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiuhua brought most of her savings with her, otherwise she might have to borrow money from the team.

At the end of the day, she knocked on every door and took a quick look at the children, but she didn't see Jidong.

She remembered that Jidong once told her that in addition to working every day, he also had to take care of his younger brother at home.

How can she find Jidong?

On the way back, she kept thinking about this question.

Li Jianguo saw her expression and guessed that she hadn't found it, so he immediately comforted her, "We'll find you if we come a few more times. Don't worry. Children love to play, so if they didn't come out today, they will definitely come out next time."

Zhang Xiuhua smiled bitterly, "I heard that Jidong's adoptive parents have their own children, so they treat him badly. He may have to stay at home to take care of his brother."

Li Jianguo was stunned. His sight stopped at a rice field not far away, where a little girl was bending over to cut grass for pigs.

Zhang Xiuhua immediately understood what he meant, "Wait a minute, I'll go ask her."

There may be a language barrier, but there is no other way but to give it a try.