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Chapter 25 Housework

Xie Hushan did not refute Aunt Chen Chunxiang's accusation that he was trying to make the whole family extinct. He just told Aunt Chen Chunxiang that feeding Daxiu with incense ash balls would not allow Daxiu to enter junior high school. Her poor grades had nothing to do with her being smart, but simply because she was unwilling to study. If she really ate the incense ash balls, it would easily block her intestines.

After sending Daxiu and her daughter home safely, Xie Hushan quietly went back to his own home to sleep. When he got up in the morning, his grandmother was sitting at a small table in the yard doing needlework as usual, and breakfast was already on the table.

"Grandma, did you say anything to grandpa and mom before?" Xie Hushan asked his grandmother after washing himself with well water.

Grandma glanced at Xie Hushan and continued to sew the soles of her shoes with her head down: "What's wrong?"

"Uncle is your biological son, and Daxiu is your biological granddaughter. You can't be so partial to them. How sad must Uncle and Aunt feel?" Xie Hushan walked to the dining table, sat down, and looked at his grandmother.

"If Daxiu takes over Laoda's job at the veterinary station in the future, after Daxiu gets married, that stable job will belong to her in-laws. As a married girl, can Daxiu come back to take care of them in their old age?" Grandma finished sewing the last few stitches, put down the awl and thread, and took the thimble off her finger and put it in the basket:

"I told your uncle that Daxiu would get married sooner or later, and when he retires in a few years, I'll ask him to place you in the commune veterinary station so that you can take care of him and your aunt until the end of their lives. Your uncle didn't disagree."

Xie Hushan helped his grandmother to serve the rice: "Auntie, why did you keep letting Daxiu study? Isn't it because you want me to help you get a job at the veterinary station after she graduates from junior high school, so that she can use this job to marry someone in the county town and get a permanent residence permit? What you said is like using a knife to cut your daughter-in-law's heart."

"With Daxiu's temperament, do you think she can swallow her anger and marry a city girl? Wouldn't she pick up a kitchen knife and fight with her boyfriend every day? Besides, as a girl, she has to take care of her husband's family first no matter where she marries. If the eldest son and his wife really get old, can she take care of them all day long?" Grandma picked up the bowl of rice that Xie Hushan had helped to serve, and seeing that her grandson's face was not looking good, she continued:
"I know you love your sister, and I like Daxiu, but a girl is a girl. No matter how much her mother arranges for her, she will end up in her husband's family. She is blaming me for making you lose your family, but when she gets older, she will know that I was right to do so."

Xie Hushan was silent for a moment, then laughed: "Grandma, do you think your grandson is incompetent and only worthy of eating up the family property of his own sister?"

"Brother, if the first son could have been kept, or if the second child Daxiu was a son, your grandma would never say such things to my own son. That would mean there would be no son, only a girl..." When the grandmother heard her grandson calling himself a waste, her face became angry and she spoke in a stern tone.

"Grandma, even if I don't take Daxiu's things, I can still provide for Grandpa and Mom until the end of their lives." Xie Hushan slowed down his tone, looked at his grandmother, and said seriously:
"I gave birth to you and Sixth Master, raised you and buried you, carried banners and pots for Grandpa and Mom, that's all I should do. Grandpa and Mom have been very good to me. After you came to live with me, why didn't Grandma send me a bite of food? Grandpa bought you a piece of cloth, and he had to prepare another piece for me. My real parents should do the same."

"Then..."

"Please listen to me. I said that Auntie has been displeased with me recently. It can't be just because I didn't give Daxiu enough lessons. The root of the problem is this matter. Auntie has been unable to sleep because of this matter. She ran to the mountain to burn incense in the middle of the night to feed Daxiu incense ash balls." Xie Hushan sighed:
"Grandpa and mom have suffered enough. Their son died when he was less than three years old, and grandpa was injured. It was not easy for them to have Daxiu again. They only have this one daughter, and you want me to eat up their entire family. No one can stand it. If you think your grandson is not a waste, just listen to me. Don't worry about my affairs. I will handle this matter. Okay?
"No, this is a big deal, I have to do it for you..." Grandma put down her bowl and wanted to say more.

Xie Hushan also put down his bowl and chopsticks: "Grandma, if you don't agree, I will leave today, even if I have to beg for food, I won't eat the food at home, because this food is made from the food sent by my grandparents, my second uncle and my second aunt. If I eat other people's food and rob my sister's belongings, am I still a human being?"

"You don't understand, when will you be able to build a new house and get married? You are old enough, and with our family's current conditions, if I want to find someone for you to date, I have to find girls from poor places dozens of miles away. But if I spread the word now that you will take over your grandfather's job at the veterinary station in the future, no matter you have a house now or not, there will definitely be people who will rush to your door to help you propose marriage, so that you can pick one that suits your taste." The old woman expressed her thoughts, all for her grandson.

However, Xie Hushan felt that it was totally unreliable to arrange for him to take over the old man's job. Not to mention that he only graduated from elementary school, how could the old man arrange for him to get into the veterinary station and become a civil servant? With the old man's dull and stubborn character, even his own daughter Daxiu would not help him arrange a job. Until now, he still believed that he could become the director of the commune veterinary station because the country opened a back door for him and he took advantage of the country, not because of his own life.

Hearing his grandmother talking about getting married, Xie Hushan laughed:
"I'm not in a hurry to get married. I'm the only one left in my team, so I have to choose carefully when I get married? Didn't Ma Laowu's wife come to visit after dinner last night and tell you that our team didn't spend a penny on dozens of trucks of farm manure this year. Your grandson brought them back. You can bring back dozens of trucks of manure. Are you still worried that I can't help you get a granddaughter-in-law?" Grandma heard from Ma Laowu's wife that the farm manure in the team this year was said to be done by Ma Laowu, but in fact it was her grandson Hu Saner who did it, but in the end it was Ma Laowu who was criticized. Laowu's wife wanted to talk about her grandson, how could she fool the elders and the production team leader like fools.

But she couldn't bear to do it and never mentioned this matter to her grandson. Unexpectedly, her grandson told it himself.

But seeing Xie Hushan act as if he would run away from home and become a drifter if he did this again, the old man finally sighed:

"Alas... I am a nobody, your grandma. My own son must be angry with me, and you, my grandson, are also dissatisfied with me. Fine, I don't care. You can do whatever you want."

"Grandma, I'm so pleased with you. You've loved me more than my own grandma ever did since I was a child. As long as you let me have the final say on the matter of not killing the whole family, I'll do everything else the same as before and listen to you." Seeing his grandmother nod, Xie Hushan immediately picked up his chopsticks and put some pickled vegetable shreds into the old woman's bowl, saying in a flattering manner.

Grandma rolled her eyes at her grandson and said, "Are you going to listen to me about marrying your grandson's wife?"

"Listen! Even if you marry me Zhu Bajie's second aunt, I will definitely agree as long as you are satisfied." Xie Hushan agreed without hesitation.

"As for the matter of Daxiu'er..." Grandma felt a little embarrassed. The words had already been said. Should she go to her son and take them back?
Xie Hushan immediately said, "Leave it to me. I'll ask the uncle and aunt to come to our house tonight and explain the matter clearly."

"Well, eat your meal. You are too kind-hearted and easily suffer losses." Grandma shook her head and said, then picked up the bowl and drank the porridge.

"Why should my family be taken advantage of?" Xie Hushan disagreed with his grandmother's words. He finished his breakfast in a few mouthfuls and thought again:
"By the way, grandma, give me two dollars. I might need to spend some money today."

After having breakfast with his grandmother, Xie Hushan asked Ma Laowu where the widow was setting up her stall today. He first spoke to his second uncle Xie Qifeng, who was in the same team, then went to the brigade headquarters to meet Han Laogou, and finally went to the commune glass factory.

Daxiu's mother Chen Chunxiang is responsible for cooking in the glass factory canteen. That's why grandma said that the food at Daxiu's family is one of the best in the brigade. The cook will not starve to death even if there is a disaster for three years. This is not just a casual remark.

When Xie Hushan arrived, Chen Chunxiang was washing vegetables in the cafeteria. She used to love chatting with her colleagues, but today she didn't say a word. She sat alone on a bench, washing the selected leeks in a large basin filled with well water with her hands.

"Auntie." Xie Hushan walked over, squatted in front of Chen Chunxiang, and smiled.

Chen Chunxiang glared at him, lowered her head and worked again, and said in a mocking tone: "What's the matter, keep your word, and break all your grandma's teeth?"

(End of this chapter)