Chapter 29 Repairing The House (2)
“Oh right, Auntie, how’s Tieniu doing? Did he have a fever?”
“You don’t say. He really did have a fever before he went to bed last night. Fortunately, it subsided in the middle of the night. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to leave.”
“I can handle this on my own. Why don’t you …”
“No need, my mother-in-law and second sister-in-law are both at home.”
“That’s good.” When Zhou Ying heard this, she thought of her dream and probed, “Auntie, is the Mother God Temple an accurate place for prayers to come true? I noticed the statue of Mother God had been weathered out of shape. Why is no one taking care of it?”
Mrs. Bai hesitated for a moment. “How should I put this? I heard from the older generation that the Mother God temple used to be quite accurate. Otherwise, every town wouldn’t have a Mother God temple.”
“I don’t know when it started, but whatever the people asked for, it didn’t come true anymore. As time passed, no one worshipped her anymore, so naturally no one repaired it. ”
Zhou Ying saw that she couldn’t get the answer she wanted from her, so she didn’t ask anymore. Instead, she asked her about the village.
There were two surnames in the village, Qian and Gu, which comprised nearly 80% of the village’s population. They shared one ancestral hall and one school.
Therefore, despite some internal conflicts between the two families, they were still very united as a whole.
The rest were the refugees their village had received intermittently over the years.
As soon as she started talking, Mrs. Bai couldn’t stop and began gossiping about the villagers, such as which family was on bad terms with which family, which family’s young man liked which family’s young lady, etc.
She even mentioned the Gu family, especially what they had done after they returned to the village.
Zhou Ying didn’t respond or interrupt her but listened to her very patiently.
Of course, she also knew that her sixth aunt-in-law had spread the news throughout the village and caused the Gu family to be embarrassed.
The food was ready at about 11:30 in the afternoon.
Zhou Ying saw that there were a lot of dishes, so she directly filled a clay pot full of food and handed it to Mrs. Bai. “Auntie, I’ve prepared more than enough food today. Take these home and let Grandpa Qian and the others try my cooking.”
“How can I do that? I…”
“Take it. You’ve been busy helping me for half a day. Don’t I have to pay you for your work?”
“No, I …”
“Take it. I’ll have to trouble you to come over and help tomorrow. Otherwise, I really can’t do it alone.” After Zhou Ying finished speaking, she directly stuffed the food into her hand.
“Well… alright, but only this once.”
“Alright, just this once.”
After Mrs. Bai left, Zhou Ying went to the front and called everyone for lunch.
After washing their hands, they went to the kitchen and saw the scrumptious stew in the pot. They were so happy that they couldn’t close their smiles.
Qian Jiaxi laughed. “Everyone, don’t just watch. Quickly help yourself.”
After speaking, he picked up the bowl beside him and scooped himself a bowl.
“Yes, yes,” Gu Chengrui echoed. “Everyone, please don’t be shy. Eat up.”
After he finished speaking, he handed Qian Jiaxi a pair of chopsticks.
At that time, Zhou Ying also finished cutting the flatbreads and placed them next to the pot. “Just eat as much as you want until you’re full.”
“Missy, if we eat until we are full, we won’t be able to do work in the afternoon.” Qian Jiaxi said happily as he took out two pieces of flatbread.
“Indeed, this is a tasty meal. It will not be easy to work after eating this.” An old man in his forties chimed in with a smile.
“I’ve never had such a delicious meal before. I’ll work if you don’t pay me based on this meal alone.”
“Indeed, I think I won’t be hungry for a day after eating this meal.”
Gu Chengrui and Zhou Ying saw that they were all delighted and also felt relieved.
After they had filled their bowls, only then did the two of them fill their bowls and start eating.