Chapter 6 Taking a Bath
It was lunch time for the villagers, and there were few people near the well.
Dalang skillfully tied the rope to the handle of the bucket, threw it into the well, shook it a few times, and the bucket fell into the water. Soon, it was full of water.
The bucket of water was very heavy, and the boy looked a bit tired. There was no jib or anything like that at the side of the well to give him leverage, it was just a bare well.
Qin Yao stepped forward to catch the rope, and with a little effort she lifted the bucket up.
Dalang looked at her in surprise as she lifted the heavy bucket of water, and a glimmer of light appeared in his numb expression.
The two clay jars that Qin Yao had drunk up in the morning were also brought over. Qin Yao poured the water in the bucket into the jars, filling the two clay jars.
He used the remaining water to clean the wooden barrel and threw it into the well. Then he shook it like Dalang had just done and got a full bucket of water.
Qin Yao held a bucket in one hand and a pottery jar in the other, and Dalang held the remaining one in his arms.
Perhaps it was the first time that he could bring so much water home, and the usually mature boy showed an innocent smile on his face.
Maybe because of the food he ate, he had more strength, and his steps towards home became lighter and lighter.
"Mother!"
Before Qin Yao and Dalang reached the door of their house, they saw a small figure standing on the hillside, shouting at them excitedly.
When he saw her, he immediately ran down and stumbled towards her.
"Slow down!" Qin Yao hurriedly reminded.
However, the children who grew up in the countryside are all strong. The skinny-looking Si Niang fell on the road, but got up by herself, wiped her face with her dirty little hands, making it even more dirty, and smiled foolishly, not feeling any pain.
Si Niang leaned against Qin Yao, next to her, and sensibly offered to help carry the bucket of water.
Qin Yao breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she was not injured. She did not ask her to lift her arm and told her to follow her and not to run as it was easy to fall.
Si Niang nodded obediently, and after taking two steps, she asked with concern, "Mother, is it heavy?"
"Mother, are you tired?"
"Mother, mother."
Qin Yao felt a little helpless, it turned out that this was just a little chatterbox.
She tried to answer every one of her questions as patiently as possible, "It's not heavy, and it's not tiring."
Erlang and Sanlang have already wiped the dirt off the empty water tank. The three brothers are not very strong and usually just use buckets to fetch water. This water tank has not been used for a long time.
Qin Yao signaled Si Niang, who was following behind her, to step back and pour the water in the bucket into the water tank.
A bucket of water plus two clay jars was only barely one-third full, and it took two trips to fill it up.
Looking back at the four Liu brothers and sisters standing in a row in front of her, Qin Yao began to assign tasks.
"The house is too dirty. Erlang and Sanlang, you two take the brooms and clean the two rooms. Dalang and I will continue to fetch water. Oh, and boil a pot of hot water so that we can wash everything later."
Dalang couldn't help but ask worriedly, "What about the land?"
Other people's wheat is almost planted, but they haven't started yet.
In Dalang's eyes, nothing is more important than farming. The weather these two days is just right. If you miss the season, the wheat will not grow well.
Qin Yao certainly knew that farming was important, but the current situation was that the family didn't even have wheat seeds, so what could they use to plant?
"There's no rush to farm. Let's first clean up the house where we'll sleep tonight."
After saying this, he filled the iron pot on the stove with water, picked up the empty bucket and clay pot, motioned Dalang to follow him, and then walked towards the village.
Seeing that her second and third brothers were still in a daze, Si Niang took a broom and started cleaning the house.
It would be right to listen to my mother!
Liu Erlang couldn't understand his stepmother's thoughts. The house had been the same for so many years, why did she have to clean it up?
Sanlang tugged at his brother's arm and said, "Second brother, if we don't obey, will our stepmother beat us up?"
The two brothers looked at each other, and couldn't help but recall Qin Yao's fierce look when she caught the knife with one hand just now. They shuddered together, and immediately boiled water, swept the floor, and wiped the table.
By the time Qin Yao filled the water tank, the floor of the house had already been swept clean by the three brothers and sisters who stayed at home, and the garbage swept out was thrown directly under the big tree behind the house.
A lame low table in the main room was also wiped clean, and the ground in front of the door was swept, leaving only the spider webs high up that were not cleaned due to height restrictions.
Qin Yao checked it and was quite satisfied. The water in the pot had just boiled, so she took out a heavy old wooden basin from under the bed, added hot water, and called Si Niang and San Lang into the house to take a bath first.
The sun is shining brightly now, so you won't catch a cold if you take a quick shower.
The twins' hair had not been washed for who knows how long, and it was all tangled together. If Qin Yao had a pair of scissors, she would definitely cut it all off.
Unfortunately not.
Qin Yao helped Si Niang take off her clothes and let San Lang take them off by himself. Although they were only four years old, they had no mother or father to take care of them since they were young, so they had learned to dress and put on shoes by themselves a long time ago, and could even help their brother work in the fields.
Si Niang happily jumped into the basin of water, while San Lang covered his clothes and hesitated.
Qin Yao was in a hurry, and the sun didn't always stay in the sky. She said in a serious tone, "Sanlang, hurry up."
She urged him on, moving her hands non-stop, pushing the baby into the water and rubbing it. It looked very ferocious, but she controlled the strength, and Si Niang didn't feel any pain at all.
But in Saburo's eyes, it was another horrifying scene.
The child was covered in a thick layer of mud. The water turned muddy after just one wash. Qin Yao immediately went outside and ordered, "Da Lang, add some more water to the pot!"
He urged the kid in front of him again: "Come in."
Sanlang's face flushed red, he covered his private parts with his two little hands, stepped into the basin, and looked like he was about to cry.
Qin Yao was helpless, "Why are you crying? I don't eat people."
Sanlang: Woohoo, my stepmother is so scary!
Qin Yao pulled up his arm and started rubbing the mud. She was sweating from the heat and only wanted to wash the two kids quickly. She didn't care about Sanlang's little mood. She finished the first wash for the two in no time.
The family was so poor that they didn't even have a towel. Qin Yao could only let them continue to wear their dirty clothes. She took the dirty water out to pour it out, quickly changed it for a basin of clean hot water, and washed them again before she was barely satisfied.
Although the clothes were still dirty, at least there was no strange smell on my body.
When it was the turn of the two older ones, Qin Yao helped them prepare the wooden basin and hot water and let them wash themselves.
Special reminder: "Rub your armpits and buttocks more often."
You don't need toilet paper here, there is no paper, and you can't afford it.
Villagers mostly use leaves and sticks, picking them as needed. Those who are more careful will break the bamboo into two-finger-wide bamboo pieces, slightly polish off the burrs, and break off a piece each time they use it. A long piece can be used for five or six days.
Of course, the Liu family couldn't use bamboo strips given their conditions. Just now, she helped the two children take a bath, and the scene was so sad.
Dalang and Erlang's faces turned red, and they responded in a mosquito-like voice, saying "I know" and going into the house to take a shower.
Seeing that there was still some water in the water tank, Qin Yao also used a wooden bucket to get some hot water, went into the house and wiped herself.
Although she couldn't take a bath, Qin Yao was satisfied just to wipe herself given the current conditions.
After wiping her body, Qin Yao took a hatchet and went to the mountain behind the house to cut a few branches to make a simple clothesline while the sun was still shining. She took out the caked bedding at home, knocked it, and dried it in the sun to remove the musty smell and moisture.
End of this chapter