Under Wang Futang's supervision, Wang Lianqi, Wang Lianfa, Wang Lianzhong, Wang Lianhua, and more than a dozen young laborers from the East Court worked together to cut the overgrown weeds and the mud around the house. They repaired the roof, painted the inner and outer courtyard walls, and refurbished the kitchen.
It was a dry and windy spring. The doors and windows were left open for a day and a night to dry out the paint. Two days after the announcement of Wang Liansheng's family's separation from the East Court, Ling Chengyan moved out of the old residence with her two children and moved into the Zhi Qing District.
Ling Chengyan was about to make milk for Xiao Tian when she heard a knock on the door. She turned around and saw two young women standing at the door.
She quickly stepped forward to greet them, "Are you two perhaps Xiao Juan and Cui Yi? Come in and have a seat."
There weren't even any tables and chairs in Ling Chengyan's main hall, so she directly invited the two of them into her room to sit down.
After pouring two cups of water, she took out a few biscuits from a box and served them to the two of them. "In the future, we'll be staying in the courtyard. I'm taking care of a baby, thus he'll most likely cry and make a fuss every day. I ask for your patience."
She picked up the bag of milk powder that had only a little bit of powder left and poured it into the bottle to feed Xiao Tian.
Xiao Juan was quite young, only 21 years old this year. When she saw Ling Chengyan feeding Xiao Tian the milk, she asked, "Sister Chengyan, do you not have any milk?"
Ling Chengyan nodded. "We haven't had enough milk recently. We ran out a few days ago, so we had no choice but to ask a few friends of mine to feed Xiao Tian if they had any extra milk. If we really end up not having any, I'll just have to go and buy some again with whatever funds I have."
Cui Yi was slightly older, around 24 years old this year. When she heard this, she said, "It's not easy to buy milk powder nowadays. It's in pretty high demand."
"Sigh, I know. I went to the county hospital to get a certificate, but that only got me one bag of milk powder."
Xiao Juan looked at Cui Yi and said hesitantly, "We saw that you even brought a dog..."
Ling Chengyan immediately understood the purpose of the two people's visit and quickly called Xiao Xing "Xiao Xing, bring Big Yellow in and introduce him to the aunties."
"Alright!" Xiao Xing immediately agreed and called out to the Big Yellow dog. It was only then that Big Yellow wagged its tail and entered the central room.
Xiao Xing fed Big Yellow a small piece of a biscuit as she said to Xiao Juan and Cui Yi, "Aunties, please don't be afraid. Big Yellow is very intelligent, he never bites people he's familiar with."
As she spoke, she broke off two small pieces of a biscuit and gave them to the two women.
Xiao Juan and Cui Yi looked at each other. Building up their courage, they threw the biscuits to Big Yellow.
Big Yellow didn't eat the biscuits and stared at Xiao Xing, as if waiting for permission.
Xiao Xing patted the dog's head. "Go ahead and eat it. These two aunts will live with us in the future, so we'll be a family from now on."
Only then did Big Yellow lower its head to eat the biscuits.
Xiao Juan's eyes widened and she laughed. "This dog really does behave like a human being."
Ling Chengyan smiled but didn't say anything. Xiao Xing led Big Yellow to the courtyard, pointing at a shed built by the east wall.
There were two sheds here, one big and one small. The big one was sandwiched between the courtyard walls and a stove, which was used for cooking during summer. The smaller shed was located beside the rice shed, and it was just a simple shed with some hay placed inside it. This was the kennel Xiao Xing and her uncles had built for Big Yellow.
Xiao Juan and Cui Yi sat down for a short while and left without eating the biscuits.
Xiao Juan and Cui Yi had signed up for this year's college entrance examination, which was in three months. Due to this, they didn't go out and buried themselves in books to study for the exam every day.
After they left, Ling Chengyan put the cups and biscuits away. She asked Xiao Xing to watch over Xiao Tian as she had things to settle outside. Afterward, she left the house.
Not long after, Qu Cui came over with Zhao Er'ni and Li Xiaoxia. The three of them were carrying baskets.
There were many different fruits in the basket that Qu Cui carried. Zhao Er'ni and Li Xiaoxia didn't come empty-handed, either. Zhao Er'ni had brought half a catty of lard and a handful of eggs, while Li Xiaoxia's basket contained scallions and gingers, various spices, and a number of dried vegetables.
When Ling Chengyan was separated from the main family, the elders had given her justice, thus she didn't suffer any losses in terms of money. However, there wasn't much food to eat. Ling Chengyan was only given a few sweet potatoes and carrots from the cellar. She didn't even get a single vegetable.
When her Eldest Aunt and two sisters found out about this, they took some food from their own residences and sent it over to help her out.
When the three of them entered the house, they only saw Xiao Xing who was watching over her brother in the room. When Qu Cui asked where Ling Chengyan had gone, Xiao Xing said that Ling Chengyan had gone out with a basket and she didn't know where her mother was headed to.
Qu Cui sized up the two rooms. There were a few simple household items, a clean pot, and a cold stove. It was quite a miserable sight.
Qu Cui asked Zhao Er'ni to help clean up the mess around the house, and then asked Li Xiaoxia to call a few children at home to bring over a few baskets of grass.
When Ling Chengyan parted ways with the family, the elders ordered Wang Guitang to give Ling Chengya some grass for burning, and it was to be retrieved from the pile of firewood in the old mansion. However, Ling Chengyan had to travel far with her two children to get the grass herself... Qu Cui secretly complained that Wang Guitang was not thorough in his work. Why didn't he ask someone to bring the grass over for Ling Chengyan and her children?
Before Qu Cui and the two other women could finish their work, Ling Chengyan arrived back. As soon as she entered the door, she saw a small pile of firewood in the corner of the courtyard. She saw Qu Cui and two of her sisters sitting in front of the stove.
She suddenly remembered what she had once heard from a comrade. Every time she missed home, she would recall that her mother would always be cooking at home. Thus, she would call her mother whenever she stepped into the house!
However, she was aware that she'd never see her mother again. In this life, Ling Chengyan had also lost her mother a long time ago, and even her father and brother had gone to a faraway place without any news.
Xiao Xing saw her mother standing at the door and ran out to welcome her. "Mother."
Ling Chengyan's mind wavered for a moment, then she saw Xiao Xing and smiled. She had lost her mother, but she was now the mother of two children. There was still someone at home waiting for her return.
After rejecting Xiao Xing's offer to take the basket, Ling Chengyan held Xiao Xing's hand and entered the house. She smiled and called out, "Eldest Aunt."
"Ah, Chengyan is back!" Qu Cui smiled and stood up. She opened the lid of the cooking pot in front of her and said, "Your sisters and I made some porridge for you, along with a few steamed eggs and some salted vegetables."
As Qu Cui said that, she rummaged around her pockets and took out a few food tickets along with 100 yuan, handing them to Ling Chengyan. "Your Eldest Uncle asked me to give these to you. It's only a few food tickets and some money. If you're still lacking anything, don't be shy to go back to the main house and get what you need. Even though the three of you have already separated from the main house, don't be estranged from our family. If there's anything you need, just call us. We'll always be there to help you..."
As Qu Cui went on and on, Ling Chengyan felt warmth in her heart. She didn't refuse and took the money and tickets. She smiled and said, "Many thanks for Eldest Uncle's and Eldest Aunt's concern. In the future, I will have to trouble you two, along with my cousin brothers and sisters."
"Tsk, we're family. How could you say anything about troubling us?" Qu Cui liked Ling Chengyan's straightforwardness. She waved her hand with a smile and left without delay.
Ling Chengyan sent Qu Cui and her two sisters off. Before they left, she handed a basket to Qu Cui. "I set up a trap last night, and I didn't expect to get two. Eldest Aunt, please take one back to the main house to satisfy the children's cravings."
Qu Cui opened the basket and was surprised to see that there was a fat rabbit inside it. It seemed to be around five or six catties.
"Sigh, Ling Chengyan, you... Forget it. If you give it to me, I'll take it." Qu Cui wanted to decline, but was stopped by Ling Chengyan. She simply accepted it and smiled. "The boys at home will be extremely happy when they see it."