strictlysupreme Chapter 409: Remarried Widow 2
Chapter 409: Remarried Widow 2
At this moment, a little boy walked in, saw Yuan Chun with her eyes open, and exclaimed with delight, "Mom, you’re awake! How are you? Does your head still hurt?"
Yuan Chun recognized him as her eldest son. She gave a weak smile and said, "It doesn’t hurt anymore, I’m just thirsty. Da Qiang, pour a cup of water for mom to drink."
"Mom, wait here. I’ll go get you some water right away."
Da Qiang quickly ran out of the room.
A moment later, he came back in with a small coarse porcelain bowl.
"Mom, here’s the water."
"Mm."
Yuan Chun struggled to lift her head and drank all the water with her eldest son’s help.
Only then did the burning sensation in her throat ease a lot.
She asked, "Where are Erqiang, Sanqiang, and Ya Ya? I’ve been sick these past few days, how have you all been eating?"
"Erqiang went up the mountain to collect firewood, and Sanqiang and Ya Ya went with him. We’re out of firewood. I... I cooked corn mush for my younger siblings. Mom, you must be hungry, there’s still corn mush in the pot, I’ll get you some to eat."
After arranging her husband’s funeral, Yuan Chun’s predecessor couldn’t hold back her grief and fell ill. She wasn’t herself these past few days, always in a daze, sometimes even talking nonsense.
If Yuan Chun hadn’t arrived, her predecessor would have been sick for another half month.
Now that Yuan Chun was here, she wouldn’t just lie down while the four kids did all the work.
She sighed and said, "I am indeed hungry. You can serve me half a bowl of corn mush to eat. Once mom feels better tomorrow, I’ll handle the chores at home. Your dad is gone. From now on, mom will support this family strongly and definitely won’t let you go hungry."
Da Qiang’s face instantly flooded with tears as he cried, "Mom, I’ve grown up, I can also work. These days I’ve been going to the mountain to cut pigweed, earning three work points a day. Although it’s not much, I’ll grow up, mom. When I grow up, I will definitely earn ten work points every day, and I will take good care of you."
"Good, then I look forward to my oldest son growing up and taking care of me."
Yuan Chun smiled.
Yuan Chun wasn’t planning to stay in the village, relying on farming to live. This year, the collective work allows her to earn grain with work points, but once the household responsibility system starts next year, with no man in the family, relying solely on her to farm wouldn’t be enough for five people, she would work herself to death.
She must find other ways to make money,
At the beginning of the rapid economic development of the 1980s, she needed to seize this opportunity to take her four children out of this remote mountain valley.
"Mom, eat some corn mush."
Da Qiang placed the corn mush in Yuan Chun’s hand.
Yuan Chun looked at the green mush, and tears welled up. This wasn’t corn mush; it was wild vegetable mush, tasting bitter and harsh. Yuan Chun had to suppress the urge to vomit and force it down.
It’s really too difficult to eat.
But no matter how hard it was to eat, Yuan Chun couldn’t bear to waste food.
She closed her eyes, took up the bowl, drank it in one gulp, and then discreetly put a piece of cotton candy in her mouth to dull the bitter taste.
Handing the empty bowl to her eldest son, Yuan Chun said, "Da Qiang, there’s still some fine grain in mom’s cabinet, originally saved for your dad to eat when he returned. Let’s eat it now. We’ll cook some rice porridge tonight and eat together."
"Mom, there’s still corn mush in the pot. Maybe we should cook it tomorrow," Da Qiang sensibly suggested.
"Save the corn mush for tomorrow." Yuan Chun didn’t want to eat any more corn mush tonight.
It was too hard to eat.
Poor kids have been eating this stuff these past few days.