1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 278 One stroke of the hoe unearthed a spring.

"Let Gu Bin take you back."

Lin Xiyu put down the scissors and stood up to see him off.

"It's very close to our new home from here."

Wu's mother smiled and declined, saying, "Taking the bus is very convenient; it's only a few stops, so there's no need to trouble yourself."

"Let Gu Bin deliver it."

Lin Xiyu insisted on taking him: "I feel bad that you always have to take the child back and forth."

"no need."

Wu's mother wanted to decline, but she had already taken a few steps out of the room and gone to the living room.

Gu Bin came out quickly, took his car keys, and waited in the yard.

Unable to refuse, Wu's mother accepted their kindness and let him drive the grandmother and grandson home.

"It used to be so nice for the old couple to live on Xigengdao Street."

Grandma Gu fanned herself with a large palm-leaf fan, and said with some emotion, "It's just a few steps from the door, and it's so close to visit someone. Unlike now, it's so troublesome to come here, and you have to take the bus."

“His house is a public housing unit, and they won’t let him buy it. He’ll have to move out sooner or later.”

Lin Xiyu knew perfectly well: "I think No. 1 Courtyard has been rented out. Someone is renovating the house. I heard they want to open a coffee shop."

"What kind of coffee do you want?"

Grandma Gu wasn't impressed with the foreign gadgets that came from abroad: "They're all bitter and mushy, nothing beats plum juice."

"I also think it tastes better than sour plum juice."

Lin Xiyu laughed and chimed in, "I drank it a few times when I was in college, and I really couldn't enjoy the taste. If it weren't for the need to stay awake, I wouldn't want to drink it at all."

"Let's have some tea instead."

Grandma Gu chuckled happily: "How could something passed down from our ancestors be inferior to those foreign gadgets?"

I think so too.

Lin Xiyu wholeheartedly agreed: "No matter what, tea brewed with spring water from Jinan has an exceptional flavor."

"Of course."

Grandma Gu wholeheartedly agreed: "I've traveled all over the country, and I'm not bragging, but once you leave JN City, you won't find such a good spring."

"I believe!"

Lin Xiyu showed her great support.

"You've made me want to brew tea with spring water."

Grandma Gu suddenly became interested and went into the kitchen, fanning herself with a palm leaf fan.

"What are you planning to do, sir?"

Lin Xiyu raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw her bring out an electric kettle for boiling water.

“I went to No. 1 Xigengdao Street to fetch a kettle of spring water and brought it back.”

Grandma Gu turned to leave as she spoke.

"You don't need to go, I'll go."

Lin Xiyu, fearing she might tire the old woman, quickly went over and tried to take the kettle away.

"What's so tiring? It's just a few steps. I'm not so old that I can't even lift a kettle of water."

Grandma Gu, unwilling to admit she was old, brushed her hand away and walked out on her own.

"Sister Huang."

Lin Xiyu called out to the kitchen, summoning the nanny, Sister Huang.

"coming."

Sister Huang was washing rice and vegetables, preparing to cook dinner, when she heard the shout and came out of the kitchen.

"Don't rush, there's no rush to cook."

Lin Xiyu gave her a wink, signaling her to follow: "Grandma is getting old, don't let her get tired."

"okay."

Sister Huang quickly took off her apron and threw it into the kitchen, then chased after Grandma Gu out of the yard.

-

Lin Xiyu was very glad that she had the foresight to let Sister Huang go with her.

Grandma Gu refused to admit she was getting old and insisted on fetching water herself. Sure enough, she accidentally twisted her ankle and it swelled up.

Sister Huang carried the old lady back home, and when she entered the house, she really gave everyone a fright.

"Grandma, what's wrong?"

Gu Bin drove Wu's mother and Nuannuan back, and when he saw this scene, his expression changed drastically.

"I'm fine, I just swayed for a moment."

Grandma Gu looked gloomy and tentatively tried to get down from the ground.

Gu Bin quickly went over and practically lifted her off Huang Jie's back, helping her to sit down on the sofa.

"Your feet are swollen, rub them with some liquor."

"No, you can't use strong liquor, you have to use ice."

"What should we do if we don't have any ice at home? Let's go to the hospital."

"It would be great if we had wheelchairs; they would be easier to push around in."

"There's no time to buy a wheelchair now, so I'll carry it on my back."

"We shouldn't have brought it back. It would have been so much better to just go to the hospital. We had to go through all that trouble again."

Chaos erupted in the living room as the whole family swarmed around Grandma Gu, each talking their own thing, creating a cacophony that gave everyone a headache.

"It's just a sprained ankle, nothing serious, no need to go to the hospital!"

Grandma Gu was annoyed by what she heard, and with one shout, she silenced everyone.

"If Grandma doesn't want to go, then she doesn't have to go."

Gu Bin had to think of another way: "Wife, go and take out the frozen food that's ready in the refrigerator, wrap it in a towel, and apply it to Grandma's feet."

"it is good."

Without saying a word, Lin Xiyu turned around and went to the kitchen.

There was frozen fish and meat in the refrigerator. She picked out a few pieces of ribbonfish cut into sections, wrapped them in a towel, and took them back.

Gu Bin squatted down and personally applied a foot compress to his grandmother's feet.

"Learn more."

Chen Xiaoyi nudged Rui Rui with his elbow: "When you grow up, you have to be just as filial to your great-grandmother."

"Uncle, let me do it."

Rui Rui proved with her actions that she has grown up.

"Good job, little guy, you've become sensible."

Gu Bin's legs were a little numb from squatting, so he handed over the towel.

"Great-Grandma, if you feel cold, just let me know, and I'll move away."

Rui Rui took over from her uncle to apply a foot dressing to her great-grandmother, imitating him like a little adult, even her tone of voice was very similar.

"It's not cold, Grandma can handle it."

Grandma Gu was very comforting, and looked at him with great affection.

"It's good to have children and grandchildren."

Grandpa Liu said with deep emotion, "I didn't raise this great-grandson of yours for nothing. He's put his talents to good use now."

You don't need to envy me.

Grandma Gu smiled and said, "Aren't there four little ones left? When they grow up, they can take care of you."

"Hahaha."

Grandpa Liu was delighted to hear this, and his wrinkled face beamed with joy.

-

As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to recover from a bone or tendon injury, and this is especially true for the elderly.

Grandma Gu sprained her ankle and couldn't dance anymore. She was always cooped up at home and got bored. After a while, she agreed to her grandson's suggestion and bought her a wheelchair.

The four little ones were really excited when they saw the wheelchair. They treated the big wheeled chair like a fun toy, vying to be held by their great-grandmother so they could ride around and have fun in it.

Grandma Gu dotes on the children and can't bear to refuse them. She holds this one for a while and that one for a while, working even harder than usual.

Even so, with her children and grandchildren by her side, the old lady was still very happy and in an exceptionally good mood. As the eldest of four younger siblings, Rui Rui was responsible for pushing the wheelchair, which was physically demanding, and he was covered in sweat from the heat.

A few days later, Lin Xiyu couldn't stand it anymore and, using her mother's privilege, suspended the entertainment project.

The babies were listless because they couldn't use wheelchairs. They sat on the mats under the pomegranate tree, heads drooping, looking dejected and without any energy.

Grandma Gu couldn't bear to watch, and thinking of the spring in the courtyard of Xigengdao, she had a flash of inspiration and came up with another good idea.

"Grandma, you're not serious, are you?"

Gu Bin was quite shocked when he heard the old lady say that she wanted to dig a well in her own yard.

As a lawyer, he knew very well that it was illegal for residents to dig wells in the city without permission. Besides, in this day and age, it wasn't easy to find a skilled well-driller.

"If we can't dig a well, we'll dig a pool."

Seeing his resistance, Grandma Gu changed her mind: "It doesn't need to be too big. We can plant some lotus flowers and raise some fish inside. When it's hot in the summer, it will be a cool place for the babies to play."

"Building a fish pond would be a good idea."

Gu Bin wiped the cold sweat that had been brought on by the sweltering heat of summer and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's dig under that persimmon tree."

Grandma Gu was very happy to see that he had agreed. She looked around the yard and finally settled on the newly planted persimmon tree.

The persimmon saplings that were transplanted from the nursery in spring have survived. A few small fruits are hanging sporadically on the tender branches. They are not big, but they are yellowish-orange and look very pleasing.

"to make."

The old lady used the excuse of letting the babies play, so what could the father say?

Gu Bin, of course, didn't hesitate and acted quickly. That very afternoon, he invited an experienced craftsman back to dig a pit and build a fishpond.

Chen Xiaoyi's uncle was also conscripted and became free labor, helping to dig the soil with a hoe.

He was young and strong, and in no time he had dug a fairly large pit.

"Brother-in-law, come and see what this is!"

After digging to a depth of about half a meter, he struck the water with another stroke of his hoe.

"Is this a spring?"

Rui Rui ran faster than Gu Bin. When she arrived at the pit, she peeked out and spotted a string of bubbles rising in the murky mud.

“It’s normal for the old house to have small springs next to the Prince’s Mansion Pond.”

Gu Bin remained calm and used facts to demonstrate the possibility of discovering a spring.

"Hey"

Chen Xiaoyi raised the hoe in his hand and proudly showed off: "I'm so lucky, I can dig out a spring with just one stroke of the hoe."

"You can go buy a lottery ticket now."

Rui Rui made a rare joke, which pleased one of her uncles.

"Buy it, we must buy it."

Chen Xiaoyi was overjoyed.

-

The four babies woke up from their afternoon nap and, seeing their father building a fish pond, perked up and crawled to the mound of earth to play with water and mud.

Da Bao and Ping Ping are the naughtiest. When the soil wasn't wet enough, they peed on it.

"Hey, Gu Bin, look what your son is doing!"

Lin Xiyu was cutting paper in the room when she saw this scene through the window, and she was both annoyed and amused.

"This boy"

Gu Bin turned around and saw Pingping grabbing the mud she had peed on with her little hands. A surge of anger rose in his heart.

He strode over, lifted Pingping off the mud pile, and tossed her to the nanny.

"Wow."

Pingping was unhappy and cried loudly, arching her little body in Sister Liu's arms.

Gu Bin laughed in exasperation and slapped his little bottom.

Pingping was being spanked for the first time since she was born. She was stunned for a moment when she heard the sound, and then realized that she had been spanked on her own little bottom. She pouted in grievance and burst into tears.

He was really crying this time. He wailed in his little voice for a short while before tears started streaming down his face.

Why are you hitting the child?

Grandma Gu was displeased. She turned her wheelchair forward, took Pingping from Sister Liu's arms, and hugged her tightly.

"This child is too naughty."

Gu Bin knew what he was doing; he didn't hit hard, separating his hand as soon as they touched, not daring to use force.

Even so, Grandma Gu was still very dissatisfied and scolded him with a dark face.

The protective attitude of the mother gave the baby in her arms a great sense of security.

Pingping choked back tears as she glanced at her father and then at her great-grandmother. After being beaten for the first time in her life, she had unlocked a new survival skill for cubs—reading between the lines.

In this family, Great-Grandma's status is higher than Dad's. With Great-Grandma's support, Dad can't do anything to her.

And so, the little cub's proud tail wagged, and it learned to challenge its father's authority by taking advantage of its great-grandmother's prestige.

-

The fishpond was completed. The experienced craftsman had deliberately left several holes at the bottom of the pond where there was a spring.

Clean water is poured into the fishpond, and you can clearly see strings of bubbles rising from the bottom every now and then, like tiny pearls.

"Jinan is quite interesting."

Grandpa Liu was amazed when he saw the spring: "You can find a spring just by digging with a hoe. It really lives up to its name as the City of Springs."

"When I was a child, there were many springs. When there was plenty of rain, you could step on a bluestone slab and a spring would gush out."

Gu Bin bought water lily seeds and several small red koi from the cultural market and put them into the fish pond.

"We are now truly a family living by the springs."

Grandma Gu was very proud. If it weren't for her quick thinking and the brilliant idea of ​​digging a fishpond, the spring wouldn't have appeared out of nowhere.

"This is a joyous occasion and deserves celebration."

Grandpa Liu stroked his stubble and chuckled.

"Do we need to report the spring?"

Chen Xiaoyi, quick-witted as ever, immediately chimed in: "Maybe when the experts come, they can even designate one of the Seventy-Two Famous Springs or something, and I can have a bit of glory, give an interview, and be on TV."

"It's a beautiful thought."

Gu Bin poured cold water on his enthusiasm: "This tiny spring is all too common in the old city. If you could dig up a whole Baotu Spring with a single stroke of your hoe, you might become famous."

Chen Xiaoyi jokingly suggested, "How about we try digging another fish pond?"

Gu Bin waved him away, saying, "Go somewhere cool and stay there."

"Hahaha."

Rui Rui was amused and laughed heartily.

"Rui Rui, you've been back for several days now."

Chen Xiaoyi couldn't stand his nephew's unrestrained laughter, so he deliberately picked a fight with him: "Why don't you go play with Niu Niu? Did you upset her and she doesn't want to talk to you anymore?"

"Her grandmother passed away."

Rui Rui stopped smiling and showed a hint of regret: "Her parents took her to Guangzhou, and she will go to school there from now on."

"Sigh, what a mess this has become."

Chen Xiaoyi hadn't expected this outcome. He smacked his lips a few times and then fell silent.

"Did Niu Niu's grandma pass away?"

Upon hearing this, Grandma Gu felt a pang of sadness: "It really shows how old I am. Many of my old neighbors are gone."

"Second sister-in-law, try to think more positively."

Grandpa Liu comforted her, saying, "When people get old, this day will come sooner or later."

"No, we have to live."

Grandma Gu looked at the little baby playing in the fish pond and instantly perked up: "Especially you, the babies are still small and still need their great-grandfather's protection. You can't fall down so easily."

"I try my best."

Sixth Grandfather nodded in agreement with a smile, going along with her thoughts.

"The four little ones are so lucky, I'm so envious."

Chen Xiaoyi then deliberately started to act silly again, speaking in a sarcastic tone.

(End of this chapter)