Chapter 8
"Dad, you're back. I shot a rabbit in the mountains this morning. I'll give you something to eat later." Du Wei saw his father coming back and hurriedly came out of the house to greet him. He said with a smile, and then he wanted to help unload the ox cart as usual.
Who knew that his father, who would be so happy when he heard that there was rabbit meat to eat, ignored him today, unloaded the cart alone, and drove the cows to the cowshed? Then, he walked to the yard with his hands behind his back and found a chair to sit down.
"Ah..." Lao Du, who had just sat down, began to sigh.
Du Wei: What's the matter? He has a problem with me again. He was fine when I came back last night! How come he became like this after going out?
"Dad, what's the matter with you?" Du Wei asked cautiously.
"I'm old and useless, alas..." After Lao Du finished speaking, he glanced at Du Wei.
Du Wei: Huh???
Du Wei was a little confused by what his father said.
"Dad, you are not old at all. You are just a little over fifty." Du Wei replied.
"They say that people know their destiny at fifty and they are in their prime at sixty. I don't even know if I can live to sixty." Lao Du glanced at his son again and said.
"Don't even mention sixty. You can live to eighty." Du Wei was happy. The old man was going to do something new today.
"Eighty, I can't see your grandson before sixty." Lao Du glared at his son and said pitifully.
When talking about grandsons, Lao Du thought of Xiao Zihao again. He was so fair and tender and was raised well by his mother. Lao Du had seen the young wife of the Niu family several times and felt that she was as gentle and considerate as his own wife. He envied how Niu Da had such good fortune. If his son married such a daughter-in-law, Lao Du would laugh in his dreams.
Du Wei: Here it comes, here it comes, it's time to urge me to get married again.
Du Wei knew what his father was going to do as soon as he heard what his father said.
"Dad, don't worry, I promise you will see your grandson before you get old." Du Wei started to coax his father again.
When Lao Du heard his son's words, he knew that he was coaxing him again. It has been so many years, and the father and son have fought so many times, and they know each other well.
"Am I, your father, not old now? You have been saying this for so many years. Let alone grandsons, I haven't even seen the shadow of my daughter-in-law. You should marry a wife first!"
"You are not at home all day, and I am the only one at home. If I accidentally have an accident one day, no one will know. Oh, my life is so miserable! My son, who I raised with great difficulty, doesn't listen to me now." Lao Du slapped his legs and howled.
Du Wei looked at his father, who looked like a shrew scolding in the street and was simply confused.
Where did his father learn this from? Could it be that he learned it by watching too much in the village?
"Dad, dad, dad, don't do this. How about I go talk to Aunt Cuihua tomorrow." Du Wei hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the hand that his father used to pat his legs.
Ouch! He patted so loudly; wasn't he afraid that his legs would hurt later?
"What does it have to do with your Aunt Cuihua?" Lao Du was somewhat puzzled by his son's words.
"Didn't you say you were alone at home? I think Aunt Cuihua is very good and takes good care of our family. Besides, she doesn't have a man, so I will be relieved if she takes care of you." Du Wei said to his father with a serious look.
"You stinky boy." Lao Du was immediately angry when he heard it. He turned his head to look for something and then saw a wooden stick on the side, so he stood up, picked up the wooden stick, and chased Du Wei to beat him, saying while chasing, "I have been a widower for so many years for your mother, and you still want me to break my promise to your mother when I am old. I will beat you to death today."
Du Wei had already started running when his father was carrying the wooden stick. But he didn't run far; he just turned around in the yard.
"Dad, Dad, you also said that my mother has been dead for many years, maybe she has found an old man in the underworld!" Du Wei said while running.
Of course, he didn't dare to run too fast. He just coaxed his father and turned around.
When Lao Du heard that his son dared to say this about his mother, he waved the wooden stick in his hand faster.
"I told you not to talk nonsense. Your mother is not such a person."
"Dad, Dad, be careful, watch your feet." Du Wei ran while paying attention to his father. "Okay, okay, okay, I was wrong, I was wrong. My mother loves you the most."
In this way, the father and son ran around the yard until Lao Du was tired.
"Chun Niang, I don't want to live anymore. You'd better come and take me away. Anyway, I probably won't see my son get married in this life." Lao Du was probably stimulated by Li Suniang and her son today, so he used all the methods.
Du Wei was dumbfounded. His father was going to cry, make a scene, and even hang himself today, using all the tricks of an old woman, just to force him to marry a wife...!
"Lao Du, what's the matter?"
Just as Lao Du was crying and Du Wei was dumbfounded, a woman came in from outside and asked anxiously.
"...My life is so miserable! Chun Niang...! I don't want to live anymore." Lao Du felt a little embarrassed when he saw the woman again and paused for a moment but soon began to cry again.
"This...this is..." The woman looked at Du Wei and asked in confusion.
"Aunt Cuihua." Du Wei called a little embarrassed.
This time his father was embarrassed.
"Dad, dad, don't cry anymore. I promise that this year, by the end of this year, I will definitely marry a wife." Du Wei leaned close to his father's ear and whispered.
"Uh? Really?" Lao Du stopped crying immediately after hearing this and asked his son with a squint.
"Really, really, definitely." Du Wei nodded again and again to assure.
As long as his father didn't embarrass himself anymore, even if his father said he wanted stars at this time, he would immediately find a way to pick them.
After seeing Du Wei nod his head again and again, Lao Du stopped howling. Facing Aunt Cuihua, who seemed to have a little understanding, he said, a little embarrassed.
"Aunt, I really made you laugh, sit down."
'I'm sorry for the trouble. What were you doing just now? You're howling so hard, aren't you afraid of being laughed at by others?' Du Wei muttered in his heart.
"No, I won't sit down, I was listening next door, and I thought something happened in your family!" Aunt Cuihua said with some amusement, looking at Lao Du.
Then she persuaded him, "Lao Du! Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, and the fate of children is destined to be good. What is supposed to come will come. You can't force it like this."
"Isn't it! Aunt Cuihua is still right." Du Wei nodded and said.
"Get lost." Lao Du turned his head and glared at his son.
Then he turned around and said to Aunt Cuihua embarrassed, "Aunt, I am just worried about him! Look at the people in the village who are about his age, they already have two or three children, but look at him..."
Aunt Cuihua glanced at Du Wei and sighed, "Ah."
Come to think of it, if it was her own son, who was already old and still not married, she might be more anxious than Lao Du.
"Du Wei! Don't blame your father, he is also worried about you, afraid that you will be old and have no one to take care of you."
"You should pay more attention to it and marry the girl you like as soon as possible. It will save your father from urging you all the time."
"Aunt Cuihua, I know." Du Wei nodded.
"That's enough, I'm leaving. You two should talk about it properly if you have something to say, don't make people think something is wrong. Lao Du, you are a grown man, don't act like an old woman anymore." Before leaving, Aunt Cuihua lectured the father and son again.
Lao Du and Du Wei were a little embarrassed by Aunt Cuihua's words.
After Du Wei sent Aunt Cuihua out, he turned around and saw his father with his hands behind his back. He no longer looked like he was howling. He walked into the house with a sense of pride, saying, "When the rabbit meat is cooked, remember to wake me up to eat. I got up a little early this morning, so I'll go lie down for a while."
Du Wei looked at his father's proud look and couldn't help shaking his head.
"Oh, by the way, when the rabbit meat is cooked, send a bowl to your Aunt Cuihua." Lao Du, who had already entered the house, stepped out again.
"Got it."
And he also said that he didn't like Aunt Cuihua. Every time the family cooked something delicious, his father always asked him to send some over. He was really stubborn.
Du Wei couldn't help muttering in his heart.
In fact, Du Wei really misunderstood his father's attitude towards Cuihua. It was because Cuihua and Chunniang had a good relationship when she was alive. Lao Du didn't have any relatives in the village, so he treated Cuihua as a sister.
Cuihua is actually a poor person. She didn't give birth to a son when she was young, so she was always bullied by her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law at home, and she almost died. In the end, her husband felt that he couldn't live like this anymore, so he took her and her two daughters and separated them from the family. Since they asked for the division themselves, nothing was given to them from the old house. Cuihua, who had just been separated, was so thin and dull, and even her two daughters were seriously malnourished.
Their family of four lived in a shabby house in the village, not far from Lao Du's house. But winter was about to come, and their family had nothing. It was thought that their family would not survive that winter. Fortunately, Chunniang reached out and helped them through that winter.
After the spring, Cuihua and her husband began to reclaim the wasteland and farm. Gradually, they were able to make a living. Cuihua began to have hope in her eyes, and the two children gradually became lively and cheerful.
Of course, there were also people from the old house who came to make trouble during this period, but they were all driven back by Cuihua's husband. Cuihua once said that she was able to survive thanks to Chunniang's help.
She can live like a human being now. First of all, she should thank Chunniang. If she hadn't helped her, she would not have survived that winter even if she had escaped from the old house.
Second, she should thank her man. Although her suffering was caused by his relatives, at least he still had a conscience and did not watch her being tortured to death. And after she escaped, all the troubles were blocked by him. She did not regret marrying him. If there was another afterlife, she would still choose him. Although life was a little poor, she felt comfortable in her heart and didn't have to live in fear every day.
After Chunniang passed away, Cuihua's family also helped Lao Du a lot. Although the two families had different surnames, they got along better than siblings.
Now Cuihua's two daughters are married, and each has two children. Both in-laws are very kind, and the sons-in-law are also very filial to her. The only thing that makes Cuihua sad is that her man died two years ago.
Cuihua often said that her husband was a miserable man, and he did not have a good life when he was in her parents' home. Now he seemed to be living a better life, but he did not get to enjoy that blessing and passed away early.
After her husband passed away, her two daughters wanted to take her to live with them, but Cuihua refused. She said that she was still able to move, and she was not too old to move and that she needed someone to take care of her.
In fact, she did not want to cause trouble for her two daughters. Although her in-laws were very good, they had not yet separated and the whole family lived together. As long as her two daughters could come back to see her often, she would be satisfied.