Chapter 838: Chapter 841: Moving into Little Shitou’s Home
Soon enough, Yang Ming stopped the carriage at the door of the house Little Shitou pointed to, and a few of them got off the carriage.
Xiaoxiao, holding the child, looked at the yard they were about to move into. It could be described as dilapidated, even more so than Yang Ming’s house, as if a push would make it collapse. Such a house surely leaks in the summer and is cold in the winter; this is probably the worst house in the village.
Little Shitou felt very embarrassed to charge for such a house, but he had no choice. He pushed open the rickety gate and said, "Uncle, Auntie, this is my house, please come in."
Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming followed Little Shitou into the courtyard. It was very quiet inside, as if no one lived there, and there were none of the usual animals like chickens, ducks, pigs, or dogs. The place looked very old, but it was tidily maintained, suggesting the owner valued cleanliness.
They followed Little Shitou into a room. The room was small and had only a kang, with nothing else in it, indicating how poor this family really was.
Once inside, Little Shitou said, "Uncle, Auntie, sorry, the house isn’t great, you’ll have to manage with it."
"This is already very good, thank you, Little Shitou," Yang Ming expressed his gratitude, speaking the truth. Along the way, the three of them had been sleeping in the open wilderness, so this was much better.
Finally, they had a place to stay and could properly settle in. Yang Ming quickly moved all the items from the carriage into the room, with Little Shitou sensibly helping out.
Once everything was moved in, Little Shitou awkwardly spoke, "Uncle, Auntie, could you give me the lodging payment now?"
Upon hearing this, Xiaoxiao thought the child might be in some trouble, and just as she was about to inquire, there was a sound of something breaking from the yard.
Little Shitou didn’t care about the money anymore and immediately ran outside, shouting anxiously, "Mother."
In this situation, Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao, holding the child, quickly followed. They had just been wondering why Little Shitou was the only one in the yard, and it turned out the home’s owner had been inside all along. They hadn’t greeted the adults, which indeed was quite rude.
"Mother, are you awake?" Little Shitou asked excitedly, seeing his mother awake. She had been unconscious for a whole day.
Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming entered to see a woman lying on the kang, struggling to prop herself up. Little Shitou helped to place a pillow against the wall, allowing the woman to sit up partially.
The woman appeared to be around thirty, looking rather frail, possibly suffering from some illness.
Looking at the broken bowl on the floor, it seemed she had accidentally knocked it off the kang.
This woman must be Little Shitou’s mother. However, since she was awake, why weren’t her eyes open? She was sitting there with her eyes closed.
"Mother, do you want some water? Shitou will get it,"
Little Shitou said as he ran out, returning quickly with a ladle of water. He placed the ladle into the woman’s hands, guiding them to hold it securely, then she slowly brought it to her lips.
Xiaoxiao and Yang Ming understood it all — the woman’s eyes couldn’t see.