After finishing lunch in the afternoon, Chen Jiahang went to work in the farmland.
He Xiyan pushed a bicycle out of the backyard, which was bought by Chen Jiahang last month in order to take her to have fun in the village nearby.
This was a very cheap bicycle of the old and men’s style, which only cost a little more than 400 yuan. Although cheap, it was very durable. Two bamboo baskets could also be tied onto its back seat for carrying things.
He Xiyan rode the bicycle out of her home. She was already familiar with the village. At this time, most of the villagers were busy working in the fields.
It was June, a little hot. For fear that she would be tired, Chen Jiahang did not let her work in the farmland, only asking her to do some simple housework like cooking.
In fact, she was not a lazy person. Besides, she wanted to make more money to make the family rich, so that she and Jiahang could live a better life.
After riding three or four kilometers, she stopped and put the bike in front of a vegetable field.
“Aunt Wang…” She shouted at Aunt Wang, who was weeding in the field, and waved her hand at her vigorously.
Aunt Wang stopped her work upon hearing the call. Seeing that it was He Xiyan, she hurriedly waved back.
He Xiyan walked into this vegetable field, pointing to the thriving chili plants, and said, “Aunt, I want to buy some fresh chili peppers from you. You set the price.”
She said with a smile. One of the characteristics of the people living in this village was that they were very simple and pure, except for a few households of course.
Hearing the word “buy”, aunt Wang shook her head immediately and said politely, “Jiahang’s wife, just pick them yourself. I don’t want your money, just a few peppers!” How much would they be worth? She had planted a lot of them, which they family could not finish eating anyway.
He Xiyan, however, shook her hand. She couldn’t do such a thing as taking others’ things at the cost of nothing.
“Aunt, I need a lot, at least seven or eight jin. You set a price. Otherwise, I won’t pick them.”
Aunt Wang saw that she insisted, thus could only set the price at random at 0.6 yuan per jin.
Every family in the village had planted chili peppers. Who would buy them?
He Xiyan felt that the price Aunt Wang set was too low, so gave her 0.8 yuan per jin at last. She had picked a total of nine jin, all of which were red peppers of good quality, red and hot.
After that, she sat on the ridge of the field and ate a cucumber she just picked, which was sweet and crisp, quite delicious.
“Aunt, can I ask you something?” He Xiyan asked Aunt Wang, who was still busy working.
Aunt Wang’s house was the nearest to theirs, only more than 100 meters away, just like a neighbor. Besides, Aunt Wang would occasionally come for a visit. So they were already old acquaintances. She knew that Aunt Wang had two daughters, who had married outside. One was downtown, who only returned home during Spring Festival, while the other was in the town, who would come back once a month or two.
Usually in the Wang family, there were only Uncle Wang andAaunt Wang.
Aunt Wang stopped her work and sat on the ridge the same as He Xiyan.
“You ask, I will tell you everything I know.” Aunt Wang was very enthusiastic. Since her two daughters were not around and He Xiyan was also about the same age as her own daughters, after getting along for a long time, she had regarded her as her own child.
Pausing for a moment, He Xiyan then asked doubtfully.
“Do you know Jiahang’s mother?” He Xiyan spoke out the doubts that had long been there in her heart.
She had asked Chen Jiahang once, but his answer was baffling. That might be his sad past, she was afraid, so she did not ask again.
“Jiahang’s mother?” To Aunt Wang, it was obviously out of her expectation hearing her ask such a question.