Chapter 4 Going to the riverbank to wash clothes

  Filial to her parents-in-law, getting up early and working late, giving birth to sons and daughters, washing clothes and cooking meals, all done well, none of which fell short. Not talkative, not gossiping, although it can't be said that she's a model daughter-in-law, but in these ten miles around, mentioning the Mo family from old Chu's household, no one would say anything bad about her.

  Of course, this excludes some rather unusual and extreme cases, such as Xu Shi, Chu Guifang's grandmother.

  Chu Guihua couldn't understand why her mother was always dissatisfied with her and why her grandmother looked down on her.

  When it comes to labor, Mo's work in one day is more than Lu's work in a month. When it comes to eating, the amount of food Mo eats in one day is not even enough for one meal for Lu.

  However, Xu still felt that her nose was not a nose and her eyes were not eyes.

  Chu Guihua knew she was still a child and there were some things she wanted to know but couldn't ask.

  "Sister..." Chu Yande's voice came from the doorway, Chu Guifang put down the clothes she had changed out of into the basin and called out to Chu Yande to come in.

  Chu Yan's virtue was like a tiger's head and brain, he quickly turned around and closed the door, running to Chu Guihua's side like a thief, whispering: "Sister, what is this?"

  Along with Chu Yande's small hand, Chu Guifang saw that the dirty little hand was holding a few purple objects that looked like miniature grapes.

  "Is this... mulberry?" Chu Guihua was somewhat surprised.

  Chu Yan De nodded, and with a treasured gesture, handed the mulberries in her hand to Chu Gui Hua's face, "Second sister, these were picked by eldest sister with great difficulty, only we two have them, no one else does!"

  After hearing Chu Yande's words, Chu Guihua couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable in her heart.

  In this era of material scarcity, even a few small berries can become treasures that excite children.

  "Little De is well-behaved, sister doesn't want to eat, give it all to Little De!"

  Chu Guihua really didn't want to share the rare snack with a five-year-old child, so she indulgently patted Chu Yande's head and picked up the wooden basin to go wash clothes.

  "No, Second Sister won't eat it, and Little De won't either. Let's wait until Brother Nian comes back tonight, and we'll all eat together." Chu Yande was also a sensible child, knowing not to eat alone.

  Chu Guihua smiled and didn't say anything, carrying a wooden basin she went out.

  There is a large water vat in the kitchen, and there is clear water stored in it. However, that water is for cooking only. If you want to wash clothes, you have to go to the river in the middle of the village to do so.

  The elders said that the river in the middle of the village is called Qinhe River, and the water flows through the middle of the village, so the name of this village is Qinhe Village.

  For this river in Quanhe Village, Chu Guihua is not unfamiliar at all. She comes to the river several times a day, except for fetching water and feeding geese, she also passes by the river every day to pick firewood and dig wild vegetables.

  The sun has reached the center of the sky, and it's already high noon. This is usually the hottest time of day, so villagers are generally at home resting in the coolness, unless there's urgent work to be done in the fields, in which case they rarely come out at this hour.

  Because there was no one by the river, the cicadas in the trees along the riverbank were chirping merrily.

  Chu Guihua found a shaded area with trees and sat down on a flat rock, not in a hurry to wash clothes, but instead looked around with a wild grass in her mouth.

  It's summer now, farmers usually get up at dawn to work in the fields, and when the sun comes out, they go home for a meal and rest. When the sun goes down a bit, they will go back to the fields to work again.