branch plum blossom

Chapter 50
On the second day after Baimei came back, everyone in Baijiagou knew that the college students in the village had returned, so no matter where they went, they would walk around their door, and by the way, smiled and shouted at Baimei's house from a distance, " College student, Baimei is back?"

All the gossip about Baimei's family in the past disappeared when Baimei was admitted to university, and the rest were people's curry favor with their family.

Baimei has always seen those people's thoughts clearly, so her warm greetings to them are always perfunctory.

Of course, apart from these people in Baijiagou, there are other people who sincerely treat Baimei's family well, such as Bai Xinyou, Yang Cuirong and so on.

"Baimei? Baimei?"

In the misty morning, just as Baimei was lying on the bed, wrapped in a thick quilt, snoring soundly, smelling the scent of dried grain and grass spread under her body, a frail voice sounded outside.

"Who is it?"

As soon as Qin Yulan got up, she was sitting on the small fire bench adding firewood to the stove, and she was still holding a comb in her hand, ready to comb her hair, when she heard voices outside, she tied her hair indiscriminately, and ran out.

I saw a thin figure looming on the field not far away.

"Yulan, it's me."

Hearing that someone agreed, the figure hesitated for a moment, then walked slowly towards Baimei's house.

"It's the third aunt. Baimei is still on the bed and hasn't gotten up yet."

Qin Yulan walked towards Tian Kan while talking.

"Third aunt, what's the matter with you coming to see Baimei so early?"

Qin Yulan supported Ma Yifang who came down from the ridge, and asked with concern.

"Oh, I'll come and see her. By the way, why didn't our Bai Yuan come back? She said she was working on a winter vacation. I'm worried. So, come and ask Bai Mei."

Ma Yifang smiled rarely, Bai Yuan was the person she cared about the most in her life.

Ma Yifang rarely smiles, and most of the time in his life he has a face that is neither salty nor light.

"She's still on the bed, Third Aunt, just wait, I'll call her."

Qin Yulan looked at Baimei's room, and smiled embarrassedly at Ma Yifang.

"No, no, let her sleep more, I'll just wait, there's nothing to do when I go home anyway."

Ma Yifang hurriedly waved his hands.

"Then, you and I go sit in the stove, it will be warmer."

Qin Yulan reached out to help Ma Yifang.

"No, no, I can still walk by myself."

Ma Yifang smiled again.

Ma Yifang followed Qin Yulan to the kitchen, sat down on a small bench, and helped Qin Yulan start a fire on his own initiative.

Qin Yulan was busy working quickly on the stove.

"Third aunt, I haven't seen you for a long time, and your body is still so strong."

Qin Yulan took a few salted duck eggs out of the jar, put them into the pot, and put the leftover braised pork into the grate. Ma Yifang didn't come to their house easily, and she planned to keep her for breakfast later.

"Where, getting old is not as good as every year."

Ma Yifang sighed slightly.

"I still look as tough as before. Are you still alone with a stove?"

Qin Yulan is not very good at saying flattering words, whenever she sees anyone, as long as she is old, she will just say "I still look tough as before".She herself felt tired of listening to it, but for people in their 70s and [-]s, it seemed that they had no other ideas except for a healthy body.

"Ah."

Ma Yifang lowered his head and stuffed a handful of corn stalks into the stove, humming lightly.

"Mom, who is it?"

Baimei got up to go to the toilet, and when she heard voices in the kitchen, she poked her eyeballs and disheveled head in.

"Oh, third wife, why are you here?"

Before Qin Yulan could answer, Baimei caught a glimpse of Ma Yifang under the shade of the red fire, and hurriedly greeted her enthusiastically.Ever since Ma Yifang took out her jade badge and sold it to Baiyuan to go to school, Baimei regarded her as a good person.

"Oh, let me ask you about our family, Bai Yuan."

Seeing Baimei's youthful appearance, Ma Yifang said with a smile in his eyes.

"Oh, Bai Yuan, by the way, didn't she say that she called you and said she wouldn't be back for the winter vacation?"

When Baimei heard that Ma Yifang was asking about Bai Yuan, she thought that Bai Yuan hadn't explained clearly to her family.

"No, I just felt something was wrong, that day."

"Ouch, my stomach hurts so much. No, no, no, third wife, I have to go to the toilet first."

Before Ma Yifang could finish speaking, Baimei bent down and covered her stomach, and ran to the toilet in a hurry.

After a while, Chen Xianlin, Bai Feng, and Bai Yue also woke up. Ma Yifang couldn't hold back the kindness of Qin Yulan's family, so he reluctantly sat down and had breakfast with them.

In the southern countryside, three meals a day are white rice and side dishes, and they don’t have the habit of eating steamed buns with porridge in the morning. In fact, it’s not that they don’t want to eat them, but that making buns and steamed buns is both difficult and troublesome for them.

"Baimei, Baiyuan called a few days ago and said that she won't come back for the New Year during the winter vacation. She said that she had found a part-time job for the winter vacation. She wanted to work part-time to earn money. I know what that child is thinking. She always felt embarrassed and wanted to earn more early. Money, redeem my jade token. In fact, I have already told her not to use it. That jade token is meaningless to me now. Alas, there are a lot of old people, and I don’t want to explore it. It's the past. It's the New Year's Eve, and it's so shabby to be out alone. Baimei, tell me, is Baiyuan really doing a winter job?"

Ma Yifang was eating, then suddenly put down his chopsticks, looked at Baimei, and said seriously.

"Oh. Yes, yes, she. That's what she told me"

Ma Yifang's move caught Baimei a little off guard, she quickly lowered her head and took a big mouthful of rice.

Did Ma Yifang find out that Bai Yuan had lied?In fact, Bai Yuan went back to his home with Zhu Tian, ​​saying that Zhu Tian took her back to meet her parents to show her sincerity. He lied and said that he was going to work during the winter vacation, so he could also explain that he didn't need tuition and living expenses from his family.

"Really? But I always feel that something is wrong. When I asked her where she does what she does and how much she earns, she said different things before and after. I misheard."

"That child Bai Yuan is very well-behaved, she won't lie to you, come on, Third Aunt, try our pickled salted duck eggs and see how it tastes."

Qin Yulan hurriedly peeled a bright salted duck egg and put it in Ma Yifang's bowl.

Ma Yifang sighed slightly and said nothing more.

"Baimei, come up when you have time, come to my house to play, you see, Bai Yuan hasn't come back, my heart is always empty, you also come to see your daddy Bai."

When he left, Ma Yifang took Baimei's hand and stroked it over and over again, feeling reluctant to let go, which made Baimei feel a little embarrassed.

"Third Aunt, seeing how you speak so outrageously, it's filial duty for Baimei to come up to see you and her Daddy Bai. I originally planned to come up to see you in two days. Who knows, you came first."

Qin Yulan, who was always reserved, said something pleasant at this moment, but there was an extremely unnatural look on her face.

(End of this chapter)