Rebirth Era: After the Beautiful Sister-in-law Refuses to Open Business

"Thank you, old man!"

Chen Changqing thanked him again, and then followed the old man side by side with Chen Changzheng.

"You city people are particular."

He was just showing the way, and the comrades in the city thanked him again and again. The old man leading the way in front of them put his hands behind his back and shook his head helplessly.

-

Before they knew it, they arrived at the gate of Uncle Song's house. The old man who led the way said, "We're here. The gate is open, so there must be someone home. Go in!" Since people hadn't finished work yet, there were few people on the village road, and not many people came to watch outside Uncle Song's house.

When the old man turned and left, Chen Changqing said thank you again.

So does Chen Changzheng.

The old man who had turned around waved his hand casually, and after a while, he walked away with his hands behind his back.

Chen Dongxu helped Old Mrs. Chen get out of the car, and walked to the gate of Uncle Song's house with Old Man Chen.

"Dad, uncle, why don't you go in?"

Chen Changqing was about to speak when he heard footsteps coming from the courtyard gate.

For a moment, several people looked in the direction of the sound and saw Grandma Song walking towards the gate of the courtyard.

“You are…”

Grandma Song stopped two or three steps away from Grandma Chen and the others, with obvious confusion in her eyes.

But Old Mrs. Chen's eyes were filled with tears. She vaguely recognized from Grandma Song's face, which was full of traces of time, that this was the sister Huaihua whom she had entrusted to take care of her second son when he was still in his cradle.

The corners of her mouth trembled, and Mrs. Chen's voice trembled slightly. She took two quick steps, grabbed Grandma Song's hand, and said, "Sister Huaihua! Sister Huaihua, I'm Xiao He, do you still remember me?

I had just given birth that year, and because I had to catch up with the main force, I entrusted the child to you to take care of..."

Old Mrs. Chen was very excited and slowly recounted the past. As she spoke, Grandma Song's expression froze involuntarily, and her thoughts were suddenly pulled back to many years ago...

It was August in Songjiagou Village.

It was still dark outside the window. In a mud house some distance away from other residents in the village, a man looked at his wife, who was sitting on the kang holding her baby son who was only a few days old and wiping her tears. His eyes were wet. He said:

"You just came out of confinement, take a good rest at home, I will find a good place to bury the third child!"

The son held in the mother-in-law's arms was the third child in their family. He was born prematurely and was weak from birth. His cry sounded like a kitten. I thought that as long as I took good care of him, he should...should be able to survive...

As expected, the baby stumbled every now and then during the confinement period, but managed to survive. However, just five days after the full moon, the baby suddenly had a high fever at night, leaving the couple no time to react. The little guy twitched for a moment, and then... he stopped breathing.

"No, I want to go and see San'er off by myself."

The woman got off the kang as she spoke.

"Huaihua...you are weak, I'd better go!"

The man stretched out his hand, trying to take the swaddling clothes from the woman's arms.

"I'll go. I want to send San'er off in person..."

The daughter shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. She said, "It's all my fault. I knew I was pregnant but I was not careful when I walked. I fell and had a premature birth. My third child was born at seven months old, and... and she still didn't make it until now. It's my fault that my third child was born!"

"It's not your fault, Huaihua. You went to the fields pregnant just to bring me food. Who could have thought that it would suddenly rain heavily, causing the road to quickly become muddy, causing you to accidentally slip and fall to the ground. It's not your fault. In the final analysis... in the final analysis, San'er and we are not destined to be parents!"

The man advised the woman not to blame herself, but his advice had no effect on the woman.

"Head of the family, stop talking. It's my fault and I have to admit it. You stay home and take good care of the eldest and second sons. I'll be back after I've settled the third son."

With tears in her eyes, she tidied up the lifeless baby in the swaddling clothes. The woman hugged the swaddling clothes tightly and rubbed her face against the baby's face. Then she said to the man, "Don't follow me. Take good care of the eldest and the second child. I don't want anything to happen to them."

The man had to put his raised foot down. In addition to the third child, the couple had two other children, the eldest and the second, one less than five years old and the other less than three years old. If he and his wife were not at home at this moment, there was no guarantee that the two children would suddenly wake up and not be able to find their parents, and something might happen to them.

However, when the woman walked out of the door holding the swaddling baby, the man couldn't help himself and followed her to the gate of the yard, watching her walk away in the dim light.

On a slope where she could see the entire Songjiagou Village, the woman found a spot and dug a hole in the earth with her hoe. She then covered the hole with a thick layer of dry straw. Then she carefully placed the swaddling clothes in it, repeatedly saying sorry to the child who had died young.

The family was so poor that they could barely afford clothes and food. Even with so many people in the family, they would often go hungry. This was all caused by natural disasters. As farmers who made a living from the land, they had no other way to improve their family's lives except by farming.

Therefore, let alone preparing a decent coffin for a premature child who died after only a month... The more the woman thought about it, the more heartbroken she felt. She scooped up soil and slowly filled it into the pit until a small mound of soil appeared in front of her, and then she stopped.

An unknown amount of time had passed before the woman stood up and saw a hint of paleness gradually appearing in the east.

She walked down the slope in a trance and passed through a woods. Suddenly, she heard two female voices, and soon after, she heard a baby crying.

"Comrade He, what should we do next? It's not easy to catch up with the main force with the child, and it's hard to take care of the child's comfort if we move with the main force."

"I know what you mean. Let me think about it."

"How about this? We can find a family in a nearby village and entrust the child to the care of the locals. We can also leave a token behind. Then, when we have the chance in the future, Comrade He, you can come here to find that family and recognize the child.

I just so happen to have a few silver dollars on me, I'll leave them with my fellow villagers. After all, their lives are also not easy right now, and we can't let them raise the little guy for nothing."

"Okay, let's do as you say, An Xiaolin."

Hearing the conversation not far away, the woman walked over without any hesitation.

"...fellow countryman?"

"My name is Huaihua, and I live in a nearby village. I heard what you just said. By the way, don't get me wrong, I just happened to pass by and overheard it. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"Don't be nervous, fellow. We don't blame you."

"I'll call you Sister Huaihua. This is Nurse Lin. She's right. We don't blame you. Now I have something to ask of you..."

"No need to ask for help. I know what you are going to say, comrade. I promise. I will teach this child as long as I have something to eat."

"Thank you! Sister Huaihua, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you!"

Not long after the birth, the wrapped baby was handed to the woman.