Chapter 70 Neighbors
With the help of Gu Xiang and her mother, Grandpa and Grandma had a very relaxing Chinese New Year.
Hygiene was taken care of by Gu Xiang and her mother, while her grandmother only took charge of the stove. Her grandfather helped with some miscellaneous tasks.
My grandma's house has a cement floor. No matter how much we sweep and mop the floor, it always looks dirty.
Gu Xiang thought of the paper on the floor in the store and wondered if she should also lay some down over here.
But there are more things at Grandma and Grandpa's house than in the store, and it's not very realistic for just Gu Xiang and Gu Mama to move all the things out of the house.
Gu Xiang wanted to propose that her uncle's family return earlier, after all, both of them work in the factory and have a long holiday. However, thinking about it again, it's not possible, as Gu's aunt has such a personality, every time she waits until New Year's Day to eat dinner before rushing back, just to avoid trouble.
My grandparents heard it would cost money again and didn't agree to get these things, saying they're not suitable for the countryside.
But thinking about it, after all, my grandparents' house is an old house that has been around for many years, and even if they put down new flooring, it's still old.
Gu Xiang privately asked her mother if she had ever thought about bringing her grandparents to live in the county. Gu's mother said that he and his younger uncle had mentioned it before. Although his younger uncle is a bit dull, he is very filial.
Gu's mother also said that she was willing to pay a portion of the living expenses every month for Xiao Shu Shu, so that Grandma and Grandpa could live with them.
But my grandparents refused to go to the county seat, saying they were used to living in the countryside.
But spending the Spring Festival in the countryside is indeed very festive. Two days before the festival, no matter who cooks delicious food in the village, they will give some to their neighbors.
The village happened to have a family who slaughtered a pig and set up a banquet, and they informed every household the night before. The next morning, those who wanted to buy pork all went there.
Buying in the village is two or three yuan cheaper than buying at the market outside. Moreover, every household eats meat during the Chinese New Year.
Gu Xiang wanted to follow her grandfather to see, Gu's mother said: "Slaughter a pig, have you seen it? Turn the pig over, one knife cut open... The cry was so miserable."
Gu Xianglian didn't even dare watch her grandma kill a chicken, but after hearing her mom say that, she behaved herself.
Grandfather bought seven or eight catties of pork ribs, all for making fried pork ribs.
The bloody meat was brought back, and Gu Xiang took one glance before feeling like vomiting.
It's good I didn't follow him.
Before dinner, Xiao Hei brought a big bowl of pig's trotters, which was considered a return gift for the dishes that Gu Xiang had sent over earlier.
Gu Xiang looked at the pig's trotter soup that was as big as a washbasin and didn't know where to start.
Grandma saw Little Black bringing so much and insisted on him taking half of it back.
Xiao Hei Pang said there's still some at home and ran away in a hurry.
This pot of pig's trotter soup was divided into three bowls by grandma and still only half full.
The dish was too generous, Gu Xiang took the pig's foot soup to cook rice, and paired it with stir-fried snow cabbage and pork strips to finish a bowl of rice.
Because they were given too much, everyone drank a bowl of soup after dinner, and only then was the basin washed out.
Gu Xiang took the large basin back.
That little black fatty, they haven't eaten dinner yet. Gu Xiang took a look at the table and saw a bowl of pig's feet soup, a stir-fry of dried tofu, and a stir-fry of cabbage with shredded meat.
Xiao Hei Pang's dad took one look at Gu Xiang and said: "Yaya, bring the basin back, just put it on the stove."
Gu Xiang let out an "ah" and went into the kitchen by herself.
She has been helping her grandmother clean the house these days. Just by looking at their kitchen, you can tell that it hasn't been cleaned. The stove is covered in a layer of oil and the fire pit is filled with accumulated ash.
Gu Xiang put down the basin and shouted outside: "Uncle, use your family's toilet downstairs."
"Alas, it's true."
She took a rag from the stove, dripped some dish soap on it and wiped down all the ceramic tiles on the stove. She also wiped down the nearby cabinets at the same time.
She was busy inside for over ten minutes, and no one from Xiao Hei's family came in to see what she was doing.
After going back, Gu's mom saw her sweating and found it strange, asking if she had run on the way.
Gu Xiang just said no, Chen Hao's house was too dirty, really couldn't bear to look at it, so she wiped it twice.
Gu's mother sighed after hearing that, "A family without a woman is always a bit worse off, and life is harder."
"Didn't you think of finding a stepmother for Chen Hao?"
"It's definitely hard to find someone here in the countryside, and it's not like there are many options like in town. Moreover, his dad will definitely be reluctant to let Hao Hao have a stepmother."
"Just because she's a stepmother doesn't mean she'll abuse the kid."
"Then let's go help them with the harvest this afternoon. Chen Hao's dad has to go to work, so we can lend a hand."
Although Gu Xiang was a bit tired these two days, she still accompanied her mother.
In the afternoon, Gu's mother called out to her grandmother and took Gu Xiang with them to Xiao Hei Pao's home.
Little Black Fat Grandpa is taking a nap upstairs, Little Black Fat is in his own room.
Although there was no one in their house, just like ordinary rural households, the doors were all ajar.
Grandma and Auntie Guo were doing laundry, while Gu Xiang helped wipe the windows and change the water.
They didn't come out until they finished sweeping, and Xiao Hei's family was gone.
The three of them finished their work, put away the rags and basins, locked up again and left.
At night, Xiao Hei's father came over to thank us and Grandma packed another bowl of dishes for them to take back.
Gu Xiang stayed in the countryside for a few days and really envied this lively atmosphere of the countryside. It's like they're all one big family.
Unlike in their hometown, Gu Xiang still doesn't know who lives upstairs and downstairs until now.
On New Year's Eve, Grandpa went to town and bought a cake for Gu Xiang.
Gu Xiang actually thought that at her age, it didn't matter whether she ate cake or not. What was important was that the family was together to celebrate the new year, and that was already very happy.
But grandma and grandpa, even her mom didn't think so, what's a birthday without cake?
The cake in town is a bit cheaper than Gu Xiang's place, Grandpa bought a big one for only 60 yuan.
It looks similar to the one Mom bought before, but the taste is quite different. This buttercream is particularly sweet and greasy, Gu Xiang didn't even finish a piece. Fortunately, the cake won't go bad after being left out for a few days, so we kept eating it until the third day of the new year before finally finishing this big cake.
This year, my elder aunt surprisingly said she would come back to pay New Year's greetings in several more days.
Gu Xiang guessed that it was probably because Chen Wen's exam results were too poor, and her aunt felt embarrassed.
But have to say, without this everywhere squeezing and pushing big aunt, the New Year's celebration is more enjoyable than before. It's really annoying to be stepped on and talked about everywhere during the New Year.
Gu Xiang and her mother will be leaving on the fifth day of Chinese New Year.
The day before yesterday, Xiao Hei Bao brought her winter vacation homework to ask her.
Gu Xiang felt superior when looking at the winter homework for first-year students and could finish it with just one glance.
Xiao Hei Pong's learning foundation is average, but his comprehension ability is still quite strong. Many things only need to be said once and he understands them.
Xiao Hei Pang was taught by Gu Xiang and asked her with some shyness what learning methods she usually had.
Gu Xiang shared some of the programs and experiences she had been reviewing with him, but in the end, she still reminded him that learning methods should mainly be tailored to one's own needs, and blindly copying others may not necessarily be useful.
Xiao Hei Pao nodded along, "My dad bought me several books on learning methods and memory enhancement techniques, but I think they're all useless."
"What's wrong? Are you having trouble keeping up with your studies?"
Xiao Hei Pang shook his head, "My dad wants me to have the opportunity to be promoted to Class 2 before I enter junior high school. Now, my current class ranking is not even in the top 10, and my English score was only 88 points."
Gu Xiang suddenly thought of Chai Zi Yu, "There's a boy in our class who also couldn't memorize his lessons, now he's come up with a set of memory techniques. He's going to be the top scorer in our class at the end-of-term exams."
Xiao Hei Pang heard this and clicked his tongue: "Actually higher than your score? How many points does that need to be increased by?"
"Uh, he was originally going to take second place anyway. This time he took first. I'll ask him about it later and if it's useful, I'll tell you again. Although it's not possible to suddenly make you the best in your age group, you should make quite a bit of progress. How about this, if he has any books, I'll borrow them for you first and you can take a look. If they're useful, then you can buy them yourself."
"That's not good, this kind of book is hard to find, what if they don't want to lend it."
Gu Xiang thought of Chai Zi Yu's usual appearance and didn't think he was the kind of person who wouldn't even lend a book, "Let's ask him first, maybe it'll work."
Xiao Hei Pang said: "Alright, thank you for your trouble."
"What's wrong?" Gu Xiang looked at Xiao Hei, "You're my little brother, after all."
In her previous life, Gu Xiang and Xiao Hei Pao's family had a very distant relationship, although they would see each other during Chinese New Year.
But at that time she was still a little girl who clung to her mother and threw tantrums, quite unreasonable. She didn't get along with these rural relatives whom they rarely saw once a year.
Instead, she was reborn and infected with the harmonious atmosphere of the countryside where distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. Seeing their simple and kind nature makes her feel affectionate. Little Hei Pang is no different from Chen Wu to her.
