bookbashuk Chapter 234 Vacation
Chapter 234 Vacation
On the day Xu Sui went home for vacation.
Grandma Qin knew that she would be on holiday soon, so early in the morning, she specially took her meat coupons to buy half a pound of pork, intending to give her a good nourishing meal.
I bought vegetables from the supply and marketing cooperative and returned to my own yard.
Gao Aifen, who was cooking, looked up at the meat the old lady was carrying and smiled. "Oh, buying meat? Judging by the time, Peking University is about to have its holiday. Auntie, you're not buying this to nourish your Sui Sui, are you?"
We've been neighbors for almost half a year now.
Living in the same courtyard, we gradually became familiar with each other.
Back then, when they first learned that Xu Sui was a college student who had just been admitted to Peking University, the whole Guihua Hutong was in an uproar.
Don't be fooled by the fact that they live near Peking University; in the entire alley, sometimes only one child a year might get into Peking University.
This is one of the top universities in the country. In an era where even a vocational school graduate or junior college graduate is a rare talent, the value of a degree from a top university is self-evident.
If Xu Sui weren't already married with a child, a highly educated person like her, who is both beautiful and capable, could easily find a partner in Beijing who is good in every way after graduation.
Some families with good family backgrounds and good conditions prefer daughters-in-law like Xu Sui.
Grandma Qin straightened her chest, raised her chin, and smiled proudly, "That's a must. Studying is so hard. Our Sui Sui finally has a break, so of course we have to make her some good food to nourish her body."
She only knew that Kyoto University was a very good university.
But I didn't know Kyoto University was that amazing.
After arriving in Beijing, she didn't have to worry much about the children, as Xiaomei helped take care of them. When she had free time, she could go out for a walk in the morning and chat with the old ladies around her.
As I've met more people and talked more, we've inevitably started talking about our children.
Those old ladies were all local women, from well-off families, with both their sons and daughters-in-law working. At first, when they saw that she spoke with an accent, they looked down on her because she was from out of town, and ostracized her, disliked her, and wouldn't let her hang out with them.
During that time, she felt incredibly frustrated.
It wasn't until she accidentally revealed that her granddaughter-in-law was a university student at Peking University, her grandson was a political commissar in the army, and that their family lived in Guihua Hutong near Beijing.
The way those old ladies looked at her changed.
From that day onward.
The old ladies would take her with them when they went for a walk in the park or went out for tea, and their attitude towards her improved considerably.
Later, Grandma Qin learned that Peking University wasn't a place just anyone could get into. Don't be fooled by the fact that those local old ladies came from well-off families and had everything they needed.
But none of those people's homes actually had a student from Peking University.
Old Mrs. Qin could finally hold her head high and was living more and more comfortably in the capital.
In just six months, she had a group of local elderly ladies who took her around, and she herself was also very hardworking, willing to spend money on herself. Her clothes and appearance changed, and she even spoke with less of an accent.
Now when she goes out, people who don't know her might think she's a local from Beijing.
After bringing the pork home, Grandma Qin first washed her hands, saying it was cleaner and more hygienic that way. She said you should wash your hands before meals, when holding the baby, and especially when using the toilet...
She developed these habits gradually by spending a lot of time with the locals.
To make handwashing easier.
Grandma Qin even specially installed a shelf at home with a basin filled with water on it, so she could wash her hands without having to bend over much.
After washing her hands, she dried them with a towel and asked Du Mei, who was soothing her child, "Xiao Mei, your sister-in-law is coming home from work tonight. I bought half a pound of meat. We'll have pork and scallion dumplings tonight. What do you think?"
Having lived in a big city like Beijing for a long time, Du Mei has changed quite a bit. She eats better than she did in the countryside, and she doesn't have to work in the fields anymore. Her formerly dark and yellow skin has gradually become fairer, and her figure is no longer as thin as before. She looks more and more like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl from the city.
Although taking care of children keeps them busy, girls of this age love to look their best and will take time to dress themselves up nicely whenever they have a spare moment.
"Sure, dumplings are good, my sister-in-law likes them."
"Grandma, could you watch the baby for me while I go roll out the dough and make dumplings?"
Usually, it's just the few of them eating at home. Xu Sui mostly eats at the school cafeteria, so Grandma Qin and Du Mei take turns cooking, though Du Mei does most of the cooking.
After all, she is a junior, while the old lady is over sixty years old and should be enjoying her retirement. Moreover, it was because of her that the old lady chose to leave her hometown and come to this place.
Now, they are each other's only blood relatives in the world.
"Alright, your sister-in-law should be back around noon. It's about time to get ready. You can leave the two children to me." Old Mrs. Qin wiped her hands clean, walked to the cradle, and started playing with the children.
Perhaps as people get older, they can't help but want to tease and play with fair-skinned, tender children.
Although the two children were not related to Old Lady Qin by blood, she couldn't help but feel fond of them.
……
School is out for break.
Xu Sui didn't go home immediately, but went out and bought some things.
She recently joined the university's debate club and won first place. The prize was a cloth ticket and twenty yuan.
In the past six months, with the old lady and Du Mei around, Xu Sui hardly had to worry about the two children. Even when the children fell ill in the middle of the night, it was the elderly old lady and the underage Du Mei who took the children to the hospital in the middle of the night and stayed by their side.
If Xu Sui hadn't suddenly returned from school, we wouldn't have known about this.
The Chinese New Year is just around the corner.
Xu Sui was thinking of buying each of them a new outfit, and then taking them out for a stroll and taking some photos.
I browsed around the supply and marketing cooperative and bought my things.
She went to the nearby post office to make a phone call.
In the past six months.
Qin Yunzhou would send back 100 yuan and a bunch of various tickets every month, but he was getting busier and busier, and sometimes he had to ask someone else to send the letters he wrote back every month.
Not to mention making phone calls; nine out of ten times.
Qin Yunzhou was always on missions and was extremely busy.
The last time I called him was two months ago. He said he was working hard to complete tasks and save up his vacation days so that he could visit his mother and two children during the Spring Festival this year and spend a few more days with them.
The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, and both children are almost one year old.
Xu Sui wanted to try her luck and see if she could call him this time to ask when he would be coming back so the family of four could reunite.
However, this time it was the same as last time.
The result is still that they are on a mission and will probably not be back until the next day or the day after.