country bumpkin

Chapter 435 Returning to Grandma's House

In the days that followed, Zhang Haiying focused on resting and recuperating at her husband's home. Not only did her mental state improve, but she also gained weight.

Three weeks later, it was New Year's Eve, a day when every household was bustling with activity and family reunions.

It's the end of the year now, and Yunya often works late at the shoe store. Unless Sun Limei goes back to her parents' home, the house is always quiet and deserted; you can only hear the children's voices besides the two adults.

Happy Chinese New Year! Sun Guoqiang is back from his holiday, and the house feels more lively now. Yunya also needs to work on New Year's Eve, but thankfully the boss closes the shop around 2 PM and gives them the day off.

With the New Year approaching, these service industries don't have many holidays at all; they can only take turns resting.

Yun Ya and her colleague Han Dajiao had agreed that Yun Ya would work at the store all day on the first and second days of the Lunar New Year, and on the third day, she would go to her maternal grandmother's house to pay her respects.

Han Dajiao readily agreed, as she was going back to her parents' home on the second day of the Lunar New Year, and the timing was just right.

Yunya also asked the boss for two days off, asking her to keep an eye on things for one day while she worked her own shift. This way, Yunya could have four days off and return to work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

After arranging her work schedule, Yunya happily began preparing gifts to take to her maternal grandmother's house.

Besides money, there were also some miscellaneous snacks and fruits. I also bought some nuts, as well as persimmon cakes, rock ice, and hawthorn paste, which are popular with older people.

Like Yun Ya, Kong Xiujuan bought a lot of food, prepared the money she had agreed upon with her sisters, and also a woolen coat to make a cotton-padded jacket for her mother.

Kong Xiuzhen only bought a bag of apples and brought 200 yuan with her. The money was agreed upon by the four sisters as a New Year's gift, and everyone received the same amount.

Besides money and dried fruit, Kong Xiufen also brought enough food for two tables. Every year when she goes back to her parents' home, she brings prepared meals, which she only needs to cook in her parents' pot before eating. In addition, she also bought new cotton-padded trousers for her mother and father.

Kong Xiufang also brought money and bought cotton shoes and new socks for her parents. Her father's cotton-padded coat was bought last year, so she didn't buy another one this year.

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, all four sisters and their families went to Kongjia Village, except for Sun Limei, who was married. Mainly because her children were still young, and the countryside was quite cold. They also didn't have a car, so they could only wait until the children were older before going with their mother to visit their maternal grandparents.

Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, the roads in Kongjia Village became like a market day, with many pedestrians appearing from time to time.

Some drove cars, some rode motorcycles, and some took public buses. Daughters who lived nearby would ride bicycles or electric bikes when returning to their parents' home, carrying large and small bags as usual.

After lunch, all the idle, gossipy old women gathered under the big tree at the village entrance, basking in the sun and chatting about everyday life.

At this time, their favorite topics of conversation were which daughter brought back New Year's gifts, which son-in-law was capable and wealthy, and which family arrived in a car...

The four Kong sisters chopped and washed vegetables, while their two brothers' wives also came to help. Soon, two large tables of food were laid out on the table.

The children and women sat at one table, while the men who were drinking sat at another. Since there wasn't enough room at the women's table, the children ate first, and the women busied themselves preparing the remaining dishes.

Children eat very quickly and can't sit still. While the adults are still cooking the soup and preparing the last dish, some children have already finished eating and run out to play.

With one child taking the lead, the other children, regardless of whether they had eaten enough, all ran out. Suddenly, many seats on the woman's dining table were empty.

Only then did the women begin to eat and chat leisurely. The children, on the other hand, started playing in the yard, chattering and making a lot of noise.

More than an hour later, the dinner ended, and the women began cleaning up the table. The men drank more slowly, and several of them were drunk.

The intoxicated individuals included the eldest son-in-law Sun Zitao, the second son-in-law Zhang Jiefang, the third son-in-law Shen Changsheng, the second son Kong Xiangdong, and the old man Kong Tongming.

Whenever there's a drinking party, the three sons-in-law are guaranteed to get drunk, so during meals, the sisters keep reminding them, "Drink less, drink less," but it doesn't do any good.

They got used to this nagging and gradually took it for granted, helping them sober up afterwards.

Two drunkards lay on each bed, while the old man was the only one lying on his own bed, trying to sober up.

The drunken men had all fallen asleep, and the women gathered around their mother, chatting. They talked about what had happened in the family over the past year—the hardships, the joys, and the triumphs—but they hadn't saved much money.

Yunya sat beside her grandmother, clinging to her like a sticky worm. She felt very sad watching her grandmother's mental state deteriorate year by year.

Although she knows that everyone's life ends with old age, she still wants to spend as much time as possible with her grandmother while she can still see her.

A person's youth is the most precious period of their life, lasting only a few decades. In old age, every day is precious.

Yunya listened quietly to the adults chatting about everyday things, without interrupting. Only after they finished recounting the hardships and joys of the past year did Yunya have a chance to have a heart-to-heart talk with her grandmother.

Around 5 p.m., everyone prepared to head home. Yunya stayed behind; she wouldn't go back until it was time for work.

Half an hour after dinner, Mu Shuyun started taking her medicine. Yunya looked at the large bag of medicine in her grandmother's hand and felt sad for her.

Mu Shuyun took out the medicine she was going to take one by one and put it in the lid of a medicine box, a total of eight pills.

Yunya handed a glass of warm water to her grandmother, who then took the medicine two pills at a time.

After taking the medicine, Mu Shuyun let out a burp, her mouth and throat filled with the bitter taste of the medicine and capsules, which made her shudder.

That night, Yunya slept in bed with her maternal grandmother, while her paternal grandfather made a makeshift bed on the spring mattress. Yunya was a little worried that her paternal grandfather was getting old and might catch a cold or have back pain, so she insisted that he sleep on the spring mattress by himself.

Kong Tongming patted his thin chest and said, "Don't worry, Grandpa is still stronger than you. How could I let a little girl like you sleep on a makeshift bed?"

The father and son fought over it for a while, but in the end, the younger uncle took it from them. Yunya could only follow her aunt and uncle to their room.

Yunya couldn't sleep at night. Her little sister, Kong Xiaomin, was sleeping soundly in the corner of the bed. Yunya didn't dare to make a sound when she turned over, for fear of waking her sister.

Auntie fell asleep, and Yunya gradually fell asleep too. She had a good night's sleep.

The next day, Yunya woke up around 8 a.m. Her aunt had prepared breakfast and was waiting for Yunya to eat with her.

She glanced at the bed; her little sister had already gotten up. Yun Ya felt a little shy; even the children were up earlier than her.

After getting up, washing up, and starting to eat, Yunya asked her aunt when her younger sister had woken up.

My aunt said helplessly, "Her? Don't even mention her. She's got the eyes of a chicken and the energy of a dog. She woke up at five o'clock, and I had to keep her in bed to keep her from getting up. Otherwise, she would have gotten dressed as soon as she woke up."

Yunya marveled at how energetic the children were.