inspire-indiana Chapter 5 Going to the County Town
Chapter 5 Going to the County Town
"Ooh ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh..."
The rooster has crowed three times.
As dawn broke, Zhao Zhaodi nudged Zhao Laidi.
"Get up."
As she spoke, Zhao Zhaodi quickly put on her clothes and climbed off the dilapidated wooden bed.
The door opened with a creak.
"Laidi, get up quickly."
Before stepping out of the room, Zhao Zhaodi urged Lai Di to get up again.
Lai Di struggled to sit up in bed, still clinging to her sleepiness.
She rubbed her eyes and slowly put on her clothes.
As she walked, Zhao Zhaodi quickly tidied her hair. She went to the main room, opened the back door, and took a bamboo basket to the vegetable garden behind.
"Laidi, get up quickly and come to the backyard to help me."
Before stepping out the back door, Zhao Zhaodi called out to Zhao Laidi again.
There was a thatched shed in the vegetable garden, which was a cellar used to store sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Zhao Zhaodi lifted the wooden plank covering the cellar and jumped into it.
Zhao Zhaodi took a few sweet potatoes from the cellar. Some of the sweet potatoes had already started to spoil. Zhao Zhaodi threw the completely spoiled sweet potatoes out of the cellar, but put the partially spoiled ones into the bamboo basket.
"Laidi, come and pull me up."
Zhao Zhaodi was shouting.
"Okay, coming right away."
Zhao Laidi was still slowly getting dressed, responding loudly from inside the room.
creak.
Zhao Yuan had already gotten up. Hearing Zhao Zhaodi's call, he walked towards the back garden.
It turns out that Zhao Zhaodi needed Zhao Laidi to pull her out of the cellar.
Zhao Yuan quickly went over, grabbed Zhao Zhaodi's hand, and pulled her out of the cellar.
Zhao Zhaodi covered the cellar entrance with wooden planks and secured it with a hammer around the edges. This would prevent rats from entering the cellar and stealing food.
This morning's breakfast was steamed sweet potatoes.
Zhao Zhaodi used a knife to cut off the rotten parts of the sweet potatoes, preparing to wash them and steam them.
"Zhaodi, we have to throw away some of the spoiled sweet potatoes. They're inedible and can cause cancer."
As Zhao Yuan spoke, he bent down and threw the partially spoiled sweet potatoes from the bamboo basket into the garbage heap at the door.
Zhao Zhaodi looked at Zhao Yuan in horror, at a loss for what to do.
This was the first time she had ever heard the word "cancer," and she had no idea what it was.
But she dared not refute it, nor did she dare to ask.
Zhao Zhaodi could only quickly wash the sweet potatoes and start steaming them.
Zhao Laidi left the room and went to the kitchen to take over her task of tending the fire.
Zhao Yuan continued to sit in the main room and continue weaving baskets.
Zhao Zhaodi hurried to chop pig feed, mix pig feed, feed the pigs, feed the cows, release the chickens, and feed the chickens.
Zhao Zhaodi quickly washed her face and handed the towel to Zhao Laidi. Zhao Laidi took the towel and wiped her face a few times, which was considered washing her face.
There's no need to apply any moisturizer or anything like that; there aren't any.
Zhao Zhaodi dried the towel.
"Dad, Mom has breakfast."
Zhao Zhaodi immediately busied herself making boiled eggs for her mother.
There was only one earthenware jar of lard in the entire kitchen, which was the family's oil supply for the whole year, and Zhao Zhaodi could only use a little bit each time.
But my mother was in her postpartum confinement period, and Aunt Hongmei next door specifically instructed her to put extra oil in her mother's eggs, so...
Zhao Zhaodi deliberately added a little extra oil, then cracked the eggs into the pan, fried them briefly, and then added water to bring them to a boil.
Zhao Yuan put down his work, washed his face, and went to the kitchen. He saw Zhao Zhaodi making boiled eggs, so he went to the back garden to pick a few scallions.
"Dad, we can't add scallions. Aunt Hongmei said that eating scallions during postpartum confinement will cause milk leakage."
Although Zhao Zhaodi was afraid of her father, she followed Aunt Hongmei's advice on what to pay attention to during her postpartum period as if it were a sacred decree.
In that era of limited information, health-related knowledge came from the experience of elders.
"Oh, I see. Then I won't let it go."
Zhao Yuan placed the scallions on the cutting board, took a bowl from the cupboard, and put all the sweet potatoes into the bowl.
Zhao Zhaodi brought the sweet potatoes to the table.
Dad didn't get angry yesterday; he spent the whole day weaving baskets at home, and he continued weaving baskets in the evening as well, without asking me to do anything.
Helping out is unusual; normally, if I'm even a little slow, I get whipped.
Zhao Zhaodi pondered silently in her heart.
Zhao Zhaodi was still worried that she might be beaten or scolded by her father at any time.
She did everything very carefully.
"Mom, get up and eat first, it'll get cold later."
He then filled a basin with hot water and put the towel in it.
"Ok."
Lin Fangfang got up as instructed, quickly washed her face, and sat down to eat breakfast with them.
"I'll go to the county town after breakfast. Is there anything I need to buy for the family?"
Zhao Yuan asked.
Silence. No one spoke.
Zhao Yuan looked at Lin Fangfang.
"What do you want to buy?"
"No, no, there's nothing I want to buy."
"I still have a meat ration coupon at home. I'll go buy some meat. You need to replenish it."
Zhao Laidi's eyes lit up instantly when she heard there was meat to eat.
"Look at you, you greedy cat."
Zhao Yuan patted Zhao Lai Di's head and said with a smile.
Lin Fangfang, Zhao Zhaodi, and Zhao Laidi all looked at Zhao Yuan in horror.
"Your good father is back, don't be surprised."
Zhao Yuan continued smiling as he finished the last bite of sweet potato, walked to the water vat, and picked up the long-handled bamboo ladle.
He scooped a spoonful of water from the water tank, gulped it down, wiped his mouth, and walked towards the door.
Zhaodi, Laidi, are you going to study? Let's go together.
"Dad, you go first, you have to catch the train. We'll leave after we finish our errands at home."
Zhao Zhaodi replied.
Since yesterday morning, Dad has been like a different person, and Zhao Zhaodi didn't know what was wrong with him.
After Dad walked away.
"Mom, is Dad alright?"
Zhao Zhaodi asked.
"I don't know either. He seemed like a different person starting yesterday morning. He named his younger sister Zhao Nana yesterday, which startled me."
“He even boiled some eggs for me yesterday, and they were much better than yours.”
As he spoke, a long-lost smile appeared on his face.
“He wasn’t angry at all yesterday. Lin Sanlai asked him to go to Li Dawen’s house to play, but he didn’t go. He spent the whole afternoon weaving bamboo baskets.”
Look, we wove so many bamboo baskets yesterday.
Lin Fangfang looked towards the main room.
"Zhaodi, you should go to school soon, you'll be late. I'll wash the dishes with hot water later, it's no big deal to do this little chores. I'm fine at home, I'll ask Aunt Hongmei for help if I need anything."
To get to school, you have to cross a small hill and walk a distance.
Zhao Zhaodi and Zhao Laidi quickly put on their schoolbags and went to school.
At that time, primary schools in rural areas only had classes for half a day, leaving time for children to go home and help their parents with housework. However, tardiness, absences, and dropping out of school were very serious problems.
Although Zhao Yuan held strong patriarchal views and disliked daughters, he always considered Zhao Zhaodi and Zhao Laidi's education to be the most important thing, and he would never allow his two daughters to miss school because of family matters.
Thinking of this, Zhao Zhaodi felt a surge of happiness, especially since her father had asked everyone what they wanted to buy today. If only her father would stop drinking and beating them.
Zhao Zhaodi thought to herself with delight as she happily led her younger sister toward school, leaving behind two small figures.
To get from Zhaojia Village to the county seat, you first need to go to the township to catch a bus. The bus to the county seat only runs once a day.
Zhao Yuan walked quickly along the bumpy dirt road, heading towards the township bus station.
Zhao Yuan boarded the bus to the county town and headed there.