In the cold weather, the cold wind whistled in the mountains. In the village where it used to be hot and bustling, there were only a few cries of chickens and dogs. People who were supposed to chop firewood or lie on the brick beds in their homes were busy with needlework. Then, they gathered together in groups to chat.
It was almost New Year's. All the men who were working outside the house had come back, so even the children were not willing to go crazy outside.
However, unlike other people, it was the family at the foot of the mountain of the Peach Stream Village. In the courtyard filled with the wind, a thin and weak girl was sitting under a broken fence. Her red little hands were washing the coarse cloth clothes in the basin, and her little hands, which were red and cold to the point of numbness, had begun to emit heat.
Just by looking at the dilapidated courtyard and the house that followed the wind, she could tell that her family was so poor that they couldn't afford even a penny of copper coins, not to mention that they were willing to boil hot water to use. They were even more eager to keep warm.
It had been more than ten days since Lin Baoru had time-traveled here. She had long since come to understand the reality of not being able to return and her family's situation.
In fact, there was no branch family in her family, and she also had uncles and grandparents. Although their lives were not very rich, they were definitely not too poor.
The reason why her family was surrounded by her family's disciples, who could not eat anything and hide from the wind was that she had been missing with her father for many years. In addition, her mother's soft temper was very related to it.
When her father was still alive, he was also good at earning money. There was also a courtyard at home. The only regret was that her mother only had a stupid son and a series of daughters.
This was also the reason why her mother was a steamed bun. She always felt that her father's disappearance was likely to be gone. However, she could not give birth to a son who could bring glory to the Lin family. She always felt that it was right for a man to do the right thing for his mother-in-law.
So a few years ago, when her eldest uncle's family occupied her house, her mother begged her grandparents. After being humiliated and threatened, she actually moved out of the courtyard and lived in the thatched house beside the most dilapidated backer in the village.
Although it was called a thatched cottage, in fact, it was more accurate to say that it was a thatched shed that no one wanted. In the yard, there were only two mud houses that could barely accommodate people. In addition, there was a shabby woodshed, and there were no windows. There were only some firewood branches that could barely keep the wind.
The house was short and dark, and the brick bed inside was the size of a palm. There were five of them, and one of them was a 20-year-old brother who was called a fool, so it was impossible for them to all live in the same room. Therefore, the only few thin quilts could hardly fit one person and one bed.
However, her mother could not deny that she was a kind mother. No matter how difficult it was, she had never thought of abandoning her child and leaving alone. She had never thought of selling her daughter for a good life.
It should be known that there were many people in the village who would sell their daughters when they couldn't live anymore. On the surface, it was said that they would find a good place for their daughters, but in fact, everyone knew that most of their daughters' lives were ruined by others.
It wasn't that there wasn't an older female servant who came before. However, no matter what the other party said, her mother wouldn't back down.
As for her grandmother and aunt, they would come and have fun every day, especially in recent days.
They were not here to help her, but to urge her to raise money. Who could make her mother hate her father and daughter-in-law's title? Therefore, she had to send one tael of silver to her dogskin old house every year even if she had to die.
Lin Baoru sighed. Gritting her teeth, she picked up another piece of clothing and continued to wash it on the washboard. When she thought that her family was about to starve to death and her mother was still thinking of ways to raise the money, she became furious.
She was an outsider and did not understand women's moral integrity from beginning to end. But she could not understand. No matter how strong a relationship was, could it be more important than the lives of several children?
One tael of silver was enough to buy a lot of food. Not to mention coarse noodles and rough rice, even rice could be eaten for a long time. She didn't know what was wrong with her mother. How could she really grit her teeth and watch the whole family endure hunger...
However, she still complained in her heart. She couldn't bear to see her mother crying all day long with a sad look. What's more, she couldn't bear to see a group of little carrots working hard every day and save hot water for fear of wasting too much firewood...
Lin Baoru tossed the clean clothes onto the two sticks that she had tied up on the side before continuing to reconcile to her fate. At this moment, the clothes in the basin were not for her and her family, but for some of the old and lonely servants nearby. It wasn't that she was kind, but because her family was too poor, her mother could only help those who couldn't wash their clothes while they were busy with farm work. Each piece of clothes was worth a penny, and after washing for a day, she would be able to change into the head of her family.
After washing up for a long time, Lin Baoru only felt that her fingers were completely stiff. Only then did she tossed the clothes onto the rubbing board in frustration. Her face was pale, but she muttered in a low voice, "It's really unfortunate for a person to be stuffed with saliva. In this remote and remote land, even if you want to find some ways to earn money, you won't have a chance."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a girl, who was not much taller than an iron shovel, carrying a carrot head and carrying a few rough firewood sticks into the yard.
In fact, Chai He was not very heavy, but the two girls were too small and too thin. Therefore, even if the branches were not heavy, they could still catch their breath.
Both of them looked sallow and thin, and their bones were very obvious. There was no flesh on their bodies, let alone blood and energy. They were completely malnourished.
Lin Baoru looked at her two younger sisters with a complicated expression. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
In fact, even she was stunned at the moment. She was unlucky for eight lifetimes. Not only did she time-travel, but she also time-traveled to a place where birds did not shit. She did not even talk about her family's disciples. In the cold winter, when the ghost who could save people bared his teeth, the whole family did not even have a piece of cotton-padded jacket that could hide themselves...
"Sis, you haven't recovered from your illness yet. Why did you come out? Be careful, Mother will talk about you again." The girl who had just entered the door was Lin Baoru's second sister, Lin Cairu. Although her second sister was young, she was capable.
However, her character was very similar to her mother's. Ever since time-traveled, she had been the one to take care of Lin Baoru during the few days when she pretended to be dead. The one behind her was the young third sister, Lin Caihe.
When Lin Baoru saw that her third sister's tiny body was about to fall to the ground, she quickly threw down the work in her hands and got up to put her hand on hers. She then said, "It's going down again a while later. It's only cold now. If I wait for my mother to wash, I'm afraid I'll be in the dark again. Since I'm lying on the ground in pain, I'll take the chance to wash myself before the water is frozen."
As she explained, she picked up the firewood brought back by the two of them according to the previous arrangement of the Wang family. If there were too many firewood, the Wang family would pick some thick and capable of burning and tie them up. Then they would carry them to the town and sell them. One bundle could also be exchanged for three or five yuan.
As soon as they cleaned up the firewood, Lin Baoru sent the two of them into the house to take a look at the men who had been sleeping, and then went to cook. However, when she saw the cook's house in the straw shed, she couldn't help sighing again.
It was said that it was difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. Even if she wanted to make up for the family's stomach, she could not cook well in the face of the empty stove. It was not that the environment was not good, but... even if she ate salty food at home, she had to plan. If she ate too much at one meal, she would not have any food in the next meal.
She wiped the oil jar for a long time and even washed it with water in the end, but there was no smell of oil. In the end, she wanted to mix some black noodles, only to find that there was only half a bowl left of black noodles at home.
Lin Baoru sighed and ruthlessly picked up a bunch of dried radish to chop and chop. She then tossed it into the pot. It was said that these radish were picked up by her two younger sisters from the ground and dried.
It wasn't until the radish was boiled for a while that she cut a small piece of pickled vegetables into slices and boiled them. When the black noodles in the pot had a little more fragrance, Lin Baoru was satisfied and let out a sigh of relief.
Who would have thought that she, who was born in a modern society, would one day end up in a state where she would drool over a bowl of tasteless black noodle porridge?
The family was so poor that they couldn't live as servants. If they didn't think of a way to make money, they would die of grievance and starve to death.
However, at this time of her life, she couldn't even find wild vegetables. She was really worried.
While Lin Baoru was thinking about something, she heard a friendly voice coming from outside. "Is Madam Baoru here?"
Lin Baoru's heart, which she had just mentioned, was instantly put down when she heard the voice of the newcomer.
It was not that she was timid, but that she was really troubled by the torture of the best people in the old house every day.
Originally, her family was short of clothes and food. She hated that she could not save some strength to keep some food. How could she have the time and effort to fight with those top-grade people?
Seeing that Madame Lu's voice was getting closer and closer, she quickly put down the lid in her hand to cover the only two pieces of bread in the pot, and then turned to the door in a hurry.
"Aunt Lu, why are you here? Come in and sit for a while." If it was said that she had seen the harshness of the best relatives, which made Lin Baoru feel sad, then Madame Lu made Lin Baoru feel the simplicity and purity that had not been seen for a long time.
To be honest, based on the Wang family's character and the family's situation, if it weren't for Madame Lu and the other kind-hearted women helping them, the family would have starved to death long ago. Let alone living, even the northwest wind would have no food to eat.
"Baoru, are you feeling better? A few days ago, I came and saw that you were dizzy all day, but I didn't scare your mother to death." Madame Lu followed Lin Baoru's words into the yard and asked with concern.
"Aunt, I'm much better."
Just as they were talking, they saw the Wang family and their eldest brother, Lin Mancang, each carrying a large bundle of overwhelming Chai He on their backs.
