Chapter 29: Chapter 29 Weak Mother Xia
Regarding marriage, it wasn’t something that could be discussed in a short amount of time.
“Let’s talk about this later,” Xia Chuyi replied succinctly to Mother Xia, slinging her bag and heading straight into the house.
Since there were few people in the second room, only two rooms in the west wing were allotted, an outer room and a bedroom, where Xia Chuyi stayed in a small loft half a person tall.
As she ascended the stairs, she heard Mother Xia’s intermittent complaints from behind.
“You child… why are you so stubborn… a girl’s family should…”
Fortunately, Mother Xia’s voice wasn’t loud. Once Xia Chuyi reached the loft, that resentful tone was excluded.
Xia Chuyi bolted the door and busied herself on the loft, tossing lighter items from her bundle and taking out important things from the space to place in the bundle.
It took some time for her to organize her belongings before she carried the sizable bundle downstairs.
As soon as she stepped down, she saw that Mother Xia had laid out a bowl of porridge and two sweet potatoes, still steaming slightly.
Chuyi, you’ve just returned, what are these things you’re carrying and where are you going?” Mother Xia asked her, somewhat surprised.
“I’m visiting Uncle Xia,” Xia Chuyi patted the bundle on her body, “I’ve brought some things for them.”
Mother Xia hesitated and said to her, “What can you bring? Uncle isn’t home, it will be troublesome for Aunt… why don’t you eat something before going?”
Seeing that Xia Chuyi didn’t respond, Mother Xia added, “Don’t worry, your grandma knows about it.”
The implication was that this was above board.
Xia Chuyi glanced at the food on the table, the thin porridge, and the not-too-big nor too-small sweet potatoes, which, in the cold winters of a rural village, weren’t considered too poor for a meal.
However, this was the Xia Family’s home.
Because of Mr. Xia’s pension and the money and grains Uncle Xia sent every month, having enough dry rice for meals was assured, and they could occasionally indulge in meat.
It could be said that, aside from Uncle Xia’s household, the Xia Family lived the best life in Heshan Village.
Noticing her expression, Mother Xia hurriedly explained, “Chuyi, don’t think too much, I just wanted to have something light… and porridge with sweet potatoes is quite good.”
Xia Chuyi looked at the timid Mother Xia in front of her.
How many times had she fought in the main room or gone to her grandparents’ to defend Mother Xia? And how many times had Mother Xia tearfully said that she shouldn’t be so fierce, saying she didn’t resemble a girl at all.
Weakness and endurance were the impressions she had of Mother Xia from a young age.
Because she was a widow without a son, Mother Xia always felt that they were burdens in the Xia Family, always living in a humble and low-spirited way.
“Chuyi, a girl is a drain on resources, eventually she must marry off, listen to Mom, be obedient, and your grandparents will like you…”
“Chuyi, your male cousins will one day perform ancestral rites for your dad in the fields, give them some leeway… when you are married, you’ll need the support of your maternal brothers too…”
Being an obedient child who understood endurance was all Mother Xia hoped for her.
Sadly, Xia Chuyi’s temper was both tough and stubborn, born unwilling to lose, and she could never learn the “gentleness and wisdom” Mother Xia hoped for, thus was never quite her mother’s favorite.
In the Xia family, besides the nephews from the main room, Mother Xia’s other favorite was Xia Lan, the “gentle and frail,” supposedly a “proper girl.”
Logically, Mother Xia should be the closest person to her in this world, yet, paradoxically, they sorely lacked mother-daughter affinity.