AWB Chapter 283
Chapter 283
During the Lunar New Year, having to take in two homeless people made Old Mrs. Xia somewhat unhappy. She hadn't thought much of Yu Hongzhen abducting her daughter in the first place, and had just been trying to convince herself to respect her child, only to have the two of them become her cronies. Anyone would be unhappy about that.
But since they'd already come all this way, and looked so pitiful, even if Old Lady Xia were heartless, she couldn't possibly drive them away under these circumstances. If she did, what difference would there be between her and those beasts, Mr. and Mrs. Yu?
Grandma Xia reluctantly accepted the offer to stay. One was her future son-in-law, and the other was her daughter's future sister-in-law. Chen Xianghong herself had already accepted them, and without any other conflicts, Grandma Xia could only greet them with a smile.
Because there weren't enough rooms, and Xia Laotai had used Chen Xiangdong's previous room to store miscellaneous items, it was difficult to clean it up for the time being. So she let Yu Hongzhen and Chen Xiangbei sleep in one room, and Yu Qingqing and Chen Xianghong sleep in another.
After the three of them washed their faces, Chen Xianghong put down her things and started helping. Grandma Xia was making a racket, directing them to hang lanterns, paste Spring Festival couplets, and then telling Chen Xianghong to cut paper snowflakes; her loud voice filled the entire house.
Yu Hongzhen was a little unaccustomed to such a lively New Year's Eve, and Yu Qingqing was even more unaccustomed to it. The two of them sat obediently on the stools, their eyes wide open, not knowing what to do. Yu Qingqing wanted to help, but she was clumsy and didn't know how to do anything. She was startled by Grandma Xia's shout, and by the time she came to her senses, Chen Xianghong had already gone to do her work.
The two of them, like two little quails, just watched them work.
Grandma Xia had just scolded Old Chen outside, blaming him for not knowing to paste the "Fu" character upside down. The two who entered were startled by their stares, and realizing their discomfort, they inwardly cursed Chen Xianghong.
She felt that Chen Xianghong had been a sales clerk for so long, how could she not understand other people's psychology? Yu Hongzhen and Yu Qingqing had already come here with great shame, and they were already very embarrassed. Now Chen Xianghong didn't ask them to do any work, and they were so uncomfortable sitting there, not even daring to eat snacks.
It would be better to just let them do some work in a straightforward and equal manner; they might be more able to integrate then.
Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Xia glared and said, "What are you two doing sitting here? Xiao Yu, go out and help your uncle put up the Spring Festival couplets. He's clumsy and old, and his eyesight is terrible. He always puts them up crooked. Go help him put them up. I'll come out and check later. If you don't put them up well, I'll scold you."
Yu Hongzhen's eyes lit up, and after loudly agreeing, he immediately ran out to help, his figure as fast as the wind.
Grandma Xia then looked at Yu Qingqing. This child was even more uncomfortable and sensitive than her brother. Grandma Xia loudly assigned her a task, telling her to take a rag and wipe the cabinet.
"No slacking off, do you hear me?" Old Mrs. Xia said fiercely.
Yu Qingqing's eyes lit up as well, "I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
Chen Xianghong was cutting paper snowflakes in the courtyard when she saw that Old Lady Xia inside the house was assigning them two tasks. She didn't mind, since they would all be family in the future, and it was okay for them to do some work.
She initially thought they were guests, and what kind of guests come to do chores? She wasn't as shameless as her second uncle and aunt. But when she saw that the two of them seemed even happier after Grandma Xia asked them to do chores, she just let them do it. There would be plenty of work to do in the future.
Chen Xianghong secretly chuckled as she imagined Yu Hongzhen being bossed around by their family.
Yu Qingqing wrung out the water from the rag and began wiping the cabinets in the living room. She was very focused and relaxed. Back in the countryside, her family would also make her do chores, but because she was forced into marriage, she didn't want to. The more they forced her, the less she would do it. Later, they started beating her, and only then did she slowly learn to do chores.
She lived cautiously over there, afraid of making mistakes and being beaten. Even though she often made no mistakes, she would be the target of their anger because of their bad moods.
Later, after returning to her home in Haishi, Yu Qingqing did not do any work, but she was not eating well and was scolded by her parents. They also asked her every day why she didn't die or why she didn't die in the countryside. She was not living like a human being.
Although she didn't have any expectations for her parents, she would still be very sad if a stranger told her to die every day. Over time, she would even be brainwashed into thinking that she really should die.
Once this thought arises, it will persist as long as there is any hostility from the outside world towards her, until she actually dies.
She was locked in a dark room, with no one to talk to except for the curses. This thought came more and more frequently, and even though she tried her best not to think about it, it would still pop up on its own. Sometimes, she couldn't sleep all night and really thought that maybe it would be better to die, that she wouldn't have to suffer like this anymore.
But today, as she arrived here, hearing the children running and shouting outside, setting off firecrackers everywhere, the constant banging and popping sounds, people in the courtyard discussing dinner, others discussing the new comic books, and Old Lady Xia scolding her husband and children, the warm sunshine on her body, and the lukewarm water, Yu Qingqing felt that being alive was pretty good.
She carefully and slowly wiped the cabinet, watching the dust being wiped away, leaving streaks of water that glistened in the sunlight. Yu Qingqing inexplicably felt warm all over.
She looked up and saw her future sister-in-law smiling as she pasted paper-cut window decorations, with her older brother helping her. However, he pasted them upside down and was scolded by his sister-in-law. She laughed, her eyes crinkling.
Chen Xiangbei had only done half of his work when he ran inside to slack off. Since everyone else was outside, he didn't need to be there.
He wanted to steal some sweet candy, so he put it under the cabinet by the kitchen door. The cabinet was locked, but that didn't stop him.
He pulled out a wire from somewhere, poked at it a few times, and the lock opened. He then stuffed his pockets full of candy. He filled them with the cheapest fruit hard candies, avoiding the expensive and delicious ones, but he was content with just hard candy.
After filling half of his pockets, he tidied up the contents of the cupboard and locked it again.
He thought he had done something foolproof; he had bought so much candy, and no one would notice if he took a little. But when he turned around, he found Yu Qingqing wiping a cabinet in another corner of the living room with a rag, her eyes fixed on him.
"That scared me to death," Chen Xiangbei patted his chest reassuringly. This person was silent and intimidating at first glance.
He touched the candy in his pocket, feeling a pang of heartache. But since they'd already been caught, he knew he had to share it with her to keep her quiet.
He grabbed a small handful, secretly walked over and stuffed it into Yu Qingqing's pocket, whispering, "You've taken my candy, so you can't tell anyone about it."