At this moment, I’m tidying up with my wife, old mother, and daughter and young son in the room.
We’ve brought in two wooden beds, a table, several wooden stools, and a wooden box to store things.
In addition, knowing the situation of the Zhao family, Mrs. Qi also brought over clothes worn by younger siblings and when Jin’er was small, as well as two semi-old blankets from home.
As for why not bring new ones, the saying "a small helping hand is appreciated, too much can breed resentment" is likely understood by everyone.
Upon seeing the two children, especially the frail and small Ji Xiang, Mrs. Qi and her mother-in-law felt a pang of heartache.
Their little neck looked as if it could be broken with just a slight effort.
They are the youngest children we’ve seen so far.
Had it not been for the children’s timid demeanor, Mrs. Qi and old Mrs. Hua couldn’t resist holding them in their arms.
"Thank you, thank you, Brother Hua, I... I don’t know how to express my gratitude." These were things they truly needed, and Mr. Zhao simply couldn’t refuse them, expressing his gratitude first.
Hua Chengtian laughed, "No need to thank us, we were afraid that you and your wife might dislike them?"
"Not at all, not at all, we’re delighted, thank you so much," chimed in Mrs. Jin, who then pulled the children into a deep bow, her eyes full of gratitude looking at the clothes on the wooden table.
The clothes the children wore were already tattered, and this really was a timely helping hand, reigniting a glimmer of hope in her eyes, which had almost abandoned any hope in this world.
"Oh dear, Mr. Zhao, Mrs. Zhao, what are you doing?" Mrs. Qi quickly pulled them up straight, particularly looking at the skinny form of Mrs. Zhao and the children. She hurriedly took out twenty pounds of grain from the basket.
"Sister Hua, you can call me Shuniang," Mrs. Jin hurriedly said, her hands tightly clutching the clothes, showing some white marks.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Qi laughed heartily, "Alright, I’ll call you Shuniang then, as I seem quite a bit older than you."
"Yes, yes," Mrs. Jin happily nodded.
For a year, worried about being taken advantage of, Mrs. Jin rarely chatted with others outside her family, mainly out of fear.
Seeing Mrs. Qi so kind and straightforward, Mrs. Jin started to relax, her slightly upturned mouth made her whole face appear very gentle, despite her thin appearance suggesting she used to be a delicate lady.
"Jin’er, Xiaoxiao, greet them," Mrs. Qi reminded the pair of children beside her.
"Hello, Uncle Zhao, Aunt Zhao," Hua Jin shifted his gaze from the two young friends, pulling his younger brother along to greet them.
"Hello, all are good," looking at the rosy-cheeked children, Mrs. Jin couldn’t hide her envy, quickly smiling, and then pulling her son and daughter, "Ji’an, Ji Xiang, greet your older siblings, call Aunt and Grandma."
After a while, the two children were no longer as guarded as at first, realizing these people were their father’s students’ family and not bad people, their courage growing.
Once their mother’s words fell, Zhao Ji’an quickly pulled his sister to greet Hua Jin and the others. Mrs. Qi and old Mrs. Hua hurriedly displayed gentle smiles to the children, and old Mrs. Hua even took out two pieces of candy from her pocket, giving one to each child.
Zhao Ji’an and his sister looked toward their mother.
"Quickly thank Grandma Hua," looking at the candy in her children’s hands, Mrs. Jin knew she should politely refuse, but seeing the children, she simply couldn’t, so she swallowed her pride and spoke.
"No need to thank, Jin’er, Xiaoxiao, go play with your younger siblings,"
"Yes, Grandma," Xiaoxiao answered quickly, curious about the newly met younger siblings, actively moving forward with friendliness, soon taking them out to the courtyard with his sister.
Watching the children who were still cautious but willing to engage with other kids, Jin Jin’s eyes were red, her smile broadening more.
"Shuniang, you should smile more often, look how beautiful you are when you smile!"
With Mrs. Qi’s words, Mrs. Jin’s face immediately showed a hint of blush.
No one had ever bluntly told her she was beautiful like that.
When she was a girl, many aunties and grandmas praised her appearance in front of her family, saying she looked like a lucky match for a husband.
But since her marriage, she became quieter and rarely went out, with few in the neighborhood to talk to, these were mere acquaintances, no deep connections, let alone candid conversations.
"If there’s anything you need, come find me, I’ll help as much as I can," Mrs. Qi seemed to notice Mrs. Jin’s embarrassment, steering away from the previous topic.
"I think I might really need these, so I brought some from home,"
Speaking, Mrs. Qi handed the grains to Mrs. Jin, roughly five liters of millet and five liters of brown rice and coarse flour, quickly seeing her eyes turn red.
"Sister..." Mrs. Jin didn’t know what to say, these were truly a timely rain, possibly saving her children’s lives with it!
Thinking about it, her knees went soft as if to kneel down, quickly stopped by Mrs. Qi.
The wife of her son’s teacher, how could she let her kneel, even if she wasn’t, it shouldn’t happen!
"Shuniang, you absolutely can’t do this. Usually, Mr. Zhao has taken care of Yun Ao and Yun Xiang so much, now with you, we can’t just stand by and do nothing, right? Unfortunately, our own grain is limited, so we can only spare these for you."
Mrs. Jin shook her head, her gaze sweeping over the things in the wooden house, teary-eyed she said, "This is already more than enough, thank you, sister..." then she wiped the tears from her eyes and quickly took out the five liang of Silver her children’s father had given her earlier, holding Mrs. Qi’s hand, she placed all of it in her palm.
Gratefully, she said, "Sister, I really don’t know how to thank you, but you must accept this."
"What are you doing?" Mrs. Qi spread open her hand with Silver, looking as if there were four or five liang, she tried to return it, but Mrs. Jin held onto her hand.
"Sister, listen to me... Nowadays, grain is incredibly precious, there’s no need to explain further, it’s hard to buy even with money. The fact that you can spare us so much grain is a tremendous favor for us, and we really need it right now. We must accept, but you must take the Silver. We only have a little money left..."
Speaking until the end, remembering something, her voice became choked.
Mrs. Qi subtly observed Mrs. Zhao’s wife, though her eyes showed embarrassment and nervousness, it was apparent that she truly meant to offer the Silver, not just superficial politeness.
Mrs. Qi smiled, "Alright, since that’s the case, I’ll accept..."
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Mrs. Jin let out a breath, feeling even more satisfied with her son’s teacher’s wife, even old Mrs. Hua next to her nodded quietly.
"...But we don’t need this much, I’ll take advantage, adjusting to refined grain prices, where high-quality grain costs twenty coins per liter, so I’ll only accept two Silver Coins," she said, taking the smallest piece of Silver, then picking up a small piece, roughly three or four coins’ worth, "I see you lack many things here, I’ll send you some later, keep the rest."