Chapter 53

The rain in late autumn suddenly started to rise. Fortunately, the villages and towns here paved cement roads many years ago, and only the small roads were muddy, but the pedestrians passing by had more or less dirty shoes.

Qi Hong walked through this small path and immediately found a place to sit down. While flipping through the bag, Mu Jiyun had already squatted down and wiped the soil beside her shoes with a tissue.

Qi Hong felt a little reluctant and said, "I'll do it myself."

Mu Jiyun lowered his head and said nothing. After cleaning Qi Hong's shoes, he sat on the chair beside her.

This is the chairs of the roadside convenience store. The local residents came and went. Some had just set up stalls and rode a small three-wheeler to buy things, while some were carrying children and bought a lollipop for a dollar.

Qi Hong and Mu Jiyun were particularly conspicuous here, and many people would look at them intentionally or unintentionally.

And Qi Hong just looked at this street and was shocked.

I don’t know how long it took, but Mu Jiyun looked at his watch and said, “It’s time for us to leave.”

After waiting for a long time, Qi Hong said, "You go back first."

Mu Jiyun asked: "What does it mean?"

Qi Hong said: "Don't worry, I have nothing to do recently, I want to take a walk around and see it."

Mu Jiyun was silent. The woman who had just come in to buy lollipops with her child on her back passed by his side. The child on her back smiled at Mu Jiyun.

Mu Jiyun shook his mind and unknowingly reached out and touched the child's face.

As the two mothers and daughters walked away, Mu Jiyun's thoughts also floated back, "Forget it, mom, the clues have been cut off."

Qi Hong stood up, patted her pants, looked into the distance and said, "Just treat me as a person and relax."

She stretched out her hand and waved at Mu Jiyun, "The day after tomorrow, Lijing's younger brother is engaged. I don't want to go. You can join me for the sake of my life. Don't spend time with me here."

"Mom." Mu Jiyun said, "There are at least a dozen counties nearby. Do you want to look for them one by one? Don't look for needles in a haystack."

For some reason, Qi Hong suddenly became excited. She turned to Mu Jiyun and said, "What do you know?! Do you know what it feels like to be poached one by one with a piece of meat in your heart?! Do you know that I haven't slept well in one night for so many years?!"

Qi Hong always felt that her daughter was still alive and must be alive. Even though the rest of the family was pessimistic about this, she still insisted on thinking so.

After searching in this small town in the southwest for three days, there was no news at all, but she always felt that her daughter was nearby. He wouldn't understand this feeling even if she told Mu Jiyun that he only believed in the dense data.

Mu Jiyun looked around helplessly and said, "How long do you want to stay here?"

Qi Hong was silent for a long time, and then stabilized her emotions before saying, "I don't know, maybe one or two days, maybe one or two weeks, you don't have to worry about me, go back and do yours."

Thinking that Qi Hong had always been terrible, Mu Jiyun stopped stalemate with her and said, "Be careful and keep in touch with me at any time."

Qi Hong nodded, "You go back."

Mu Jiyun looked at his watch and left by car.

Qi Hong turned around and bought a bottle of water from the convenience store. When the boss was looking for change, she asked: "Where is the nearby bus stop?"

The boss didn't raise his head and said when he handed over the change: "Let's go straight ahead and turn right."

After waiting for a long time, the money in her hand was not taken away. The boss looked up and found that the beautiful middle-aged woman was no longer there, and she had not even taken away the water she bought.

The boss looked at the 100-yuan bill he had just collected, touched the back of his head, and muttered, "How much does this mean?"

He looked out a few more times and quickly stuffed the money into his bag while there was no one.

Qi Hong walked to the ticket office of the bus station. The ticket seller asked her where she was going. She looked up at the old route sign and looked around the bus stop sign of the fifth and sixth line. Finally, she pointed at one casually and said, "Ziling County."

"Six-51 tickets."

The drizzle lasted for three days and finally cleared up this afternoon.

The tombs of Chu Zhaozhao's family are all on the mountain. Although the light rain has not closed the door these days, it has also made the mountain road muddy and difficult to walk. Chu Zhaozhao and his mother went there several times before sweeping the graves of their deceased relatives at home. It happened that the sun was out today, and the mother and daughter went out to buy vegetables.

These days, Chu Zhaozhao and her mother have been living with their relatives' houses. During the day, relatives went out to work, so they went to visit the graves, stroll around, and cooked the food.

On that day, relatives went out as usual. Chu Zhaozhao and his mother thought that they didn't bring any good things to their relatives when they came, so they prepared to make a big table of delicious food. So they went to the vegetable market to buy two fish, a chicken and fresh ribs.

On the way back, Chu Zhaozhao and Chu's mother saw the familiar small bridge and walked over to each other.

Standing on this small bridge, they can see where they once lived, although it is now someone else's home.

The yard was covered with freshly washed clothes, the little girl of sixteen or seventeen was lying on the table to do her homework, and the child's mother was sitting under the eaves and knitted sweaters.

After looking for a while, it was getting late, and Chu Zhaozhao said, "Let's go."

Mother Chu followed her silently and continued to walk back. For some reason, the atmosphere suddenly became dull.

After walking for a while, Chu's mother suddenly said, "Zhaozhao, I have been thinking about one thing these days."

Chu Zhaozhao asked: "What's the matter?"

Mother Chu said: "It's... your boyfriend, isn't the family rich?"

This sentence was like a dull drum, which made Chu Zhaozhao's heart sink twice.

"Well, he's quite rich."

"Oh..." said Chu's mother, "I didn't say he was bad, a very polite person, I just think... Is this not suitable? Those rich families are not that easy to get along with. When his mother came to our house that time, I could tell that she didn't seem to be as fond as our family."

"Yes." Chu Zhaozhao responded and said nothing.

"You are so old, so I shouldn't interfere. It's just that my mother is afraid that you will be hurt by that time. Although I don't read more books than you, I can still read them. His mother... Forget it, I won't say it anymore, just think about it yourself."

Mother Chu didn't know what to say. Her daughter was in love for the first time, and she shouldn't have said these disheartening words. In just one short meeting, she felt a huge gap between the two families. This gap is not only about money, but also about family background, etc.

She hopes that her daughter will marry a wealthy family, have a car and a house, and will not have to worry about food and clothing, and live a good life for the rest of her life, but she has never hoped for such a family.

Chu Zhaozhao still said calmly: "I understand."

Hearing this sentence, Chu's mother felt even more uneasy.

Chu Zhaozhao is her daughter, so she naturally knows her best. She has been obedient and gentle since she was a child, but she can't pull it back when she is stubborn. She remembers that many years ago, Chu Zhaozhao saw Barbie dolls on TV and liked them so much. At that time, the couple thought this thing was expensive and unpractical, so they didn't buy it for Chu Zhaozhao. Chu Zhaozhao didn't cry, and never mentioned it again. They all thought she gave up. Who knew that during the summer vacation, she would get up before dawn every day to pick fresh gardenias, string them together and take them to the street for sale.

For two months, she tanned her around and finally got enough money and happily carried the Barbie doll home.

Therefore, Chu's mother was afraid that Chu Zhaozhao would fall into the whirlpool of love, and she would like to fall in love with that Barbie doll, so she would definitely get him.

The mother and daughter each had their own thoughts and didn't talk much along the way until they walked on a small slope, when their mother Chu saw an old man riding a tricycle and carrying a woman, and could not ride on the slope.

Mother Chu immediately accelerated her pace and trotted up to help push the cart.

"Mom, hurry up." Chu Zhaozhao followed and helped him in the back. The tricycle finally climbed over the slope smoothly.

The old man turned around and smiled at Chu Zhaozhao and Chu's mother, "Thank you!"

After crossing this uphill road, it was a downhill road. Chu Zhaozhao was about to remind the old man to see the road. At this time, the wheel hit a stone. In the flash, the tricycle lost its balance. Chu Zhaozhao and her mother had no time to think, so they immediately pulled the rod, but in the end they could not stop the car from overturning. The four people fell down together with the car, and the fish and chicken they bought fell to the ground.

Fortunately, the weather was cold and they were all dressed thickly. You could tell that there was no big problem when you heard the sound, but the scene was very embarrassed.

But when Chu Zhaozhao and Chu's mother looked up, they were immediately stunned.

Isn’t the woman who fell off the tricycle Mu Jiyun’s mother?!

Qi Hong was also shocked and sat on the ground, unable to return to his senses for a long time.

In an instant, Chu Zhaozhao seemed to have thought of something, and his heart couldn't calm down for a long time.

She actually came here with her?! As for?

Only mother Chu was sober. She immediately helped the old man up and then helped Qi Hong.

But she bent down and stretched out her hand, and Qi Hong retreated in panic: "Don't touch me!"

Mother Chu froze. She looked at her hands, which were covered with mud.

Chu Zhaozhao saw his mother's face flushed with her own eyes, and her eyes flashed with indescribable grievances.

Chu Zhaozhao said nothing, she stood up, patted the soil on her body, and then helped the old man to lift the car up.

At this time, Chu's mother was still in place, so Chu Zhaozhao squatted down and picked up the fish and chicken that fell on the ground, then took Chu's mother's hand, "Mom, let's go."

Mother Chu unconsciously wiped her hands with her pants, then turned around silently and followed Chu Zhaozhao.

Until they got home, the mother and daughter changed the dirty clothes and went to the kitchen to cook together, and they didn't say a word.

The depressing atmosphere continued until the water in the pot boiled. Chu's mother threw the chicken in and said, "Why is she here?"

Chu Zhaozhao lowered his head and pieced fish, "I don't know."

The moment she saw Qi Hong just now, she thought Qi Hong was so angry that she couldn't help herself because she came here. But when she calmed down, Qi Hong wouldn't have been so far for her.

As for why she came, Chu Zhaozhao didn't care at all.

Mother Chu watched the chicken sink in the pot until the water boiled again and said, "Look, I said it, she looks down on our house."

Chu Zhaozhao suddenly exerted force and chopped the fish head into two pieces.

Mother Chu was so shocked that she shut up and hurriedly went to wash the ribs. So far, the mother and daughter never mentioned this again.

After encountering such an accident, Qi Hong was in a daze.

It was not because of Chu Zhaozhao and his daughter, but they just felt unspeakable and felt a little uncomfortable.

After getting off the bus, she saw the small bridge, with a house behind it, and walked slowly over.

As soon as she arrived at the entrance of the yard, she saw a little girl of sixteen or seventeen years old doing her homework.

Qi Hong's heart suddenly jumped. She pressed her chest, took a few deep breaths, and walked in.
To be continued...