Chapter 262: Affection

He Yushui's inner desolation is not something to be spoken of to outsiders.

The bitterness in her heart has always been something she could only swallow herself.

Others have fathers who dote on them and mothers who love them, but her only brother no longer loves her either.

She is like a wandering lonely soul, drifting and drifting, yet she can never find a place to land.

She suddenly thought of Yang Qing, the man who had once given her food.

Suddenly she wanted to go see him.

So she came to the rear wing holding her niece.

Yang Qing was making pork skin jelly, while Chen Hong held Rou Dan in the old lady's room.

He Yushui went straight to the kitchen and, seeing the busy Yang Qing, called out 'Brother'.

"Qing Brother!"

Her voice was timid.

Yang Qing turned his head and saw He Yushui holding a child; frankly, he hadn't spoken to this girl in a long time.

Often it was either he who was busy, or she who was at school.

Moreover, as the girl grew older, a man should avoid suspicion; if contact could be avoided, it should be.

This girl, lacking parents and with a brother who is a jerk, is fragile-hearted; if he were too enthusiastic, he feared she might develop improper thoughts.

(As everyone knows, girls who lack paternal and maternal love are prone to develop inappropriate feelings toward older men.)

Teasing a widow is one thing, but if he dared to flirt with an unmarried young lady, Chen Hong would surely beat him to death.

"Yushui has come, your sister-in-law is in the east room, where it's warm; have lunch here, I just made pork skin jelly."

"Chen Hong, Yushui has come, bring out some snacks, candy, and melon seeds."

Chen Hong heard the movement, lifted the curtain, and came out.

Upon seeing the thin He Yushui, she also felt pity for this maiden.

She had seen some orphans in the village; each lived a hard life, and over those three years, these people had also passed away the most.

They were like dispensable duckweed, not knowing when they drifted into the human world, and then silently drifted away.

Home is too important in this era; those without a home suffer such hardships that even touching them brings tears.

Yang Qing at least had three shabby rooms and an adult's soul, yet his life remained difficult and tortuous.

Let alone those orphans.

Of course, He Yushui's life wasn't too bad either, but her spiritual poverty might be known only to herself.

On television she liked Qin Huairu very much, possibly because she felt maternal warmth from Qin Huairu.

Chen Hong walked over and saw He Yushui's chapped, frozen face and her frozen, cracked hands.

She reached out and took her hand, which was icy cold.

She also felt her cotton-padded jacket, which had lost its fluffiness; its insulation was poor, otherwise He Yushui's hands wouldn't be so cold.

"Hasn't the cotton-padded jacket been taken apart for washing this year?"

He Yushui nodded; no one cared about this, and she also had no time.

She could only wait until next summer to take it apart, mend it, and remake it.

"Forgot this year; will take it apart next year."

Chen Hong asked doubtfully.

"No spare?"

He Yushui fell silent for a moment.

"It was already torn last year; I made it into a cotton-padded jacket for my niece."

Chen Hong was stunned, then said nothing more.

Chen Hong pulled her back to the east room, then tossed He Yuzhu's daughter to Rou Dan to play with.

But she took He Yushui's hand, had her wash it, then applied frostbite medicine.

Chen Hong applied the medicine carefully; He Yushui watched Chen Hong's delicate, breakable face up close, and her own face slowly turned red.

This woman is truly gentle.

If Yang Qing knew her evaluation, he would surely protest, 'Gentle? How could he not know?'

After applying the medicine, Chen Hong again wrapped her hand with medical adhesive tape.

Then she pushed her onto the heated brick bed.

The old lady didn't often see He Yushui, but seeing her state, she also felt heartache.

"From now on, when you come back from school, come to the backyard to see the old lady."

"The old lady doesn't like loneliness; she likes liveliness, especially enjoying being lively with you young people."

"Girl, I heard you've entered secondary vocational school?"

"That's impressive; upon graduation you'll become a cadre—study hard and strive for a good posting."

"Your days have hope."

The old lady's steadfast gaze eased He Yushui's mind considerably.

"Thank you, Grandma."

"Grandma, this heated brick bed is really warm."

The old lady's heated brick bed was originally designed by Yang Qing with scientific methods; it differs from the common old kang today, with more reasonable temperature distribution and storage.

The old lady patted the heated brick bed and said happily.

"This heated brick bed is also the most comfortable I've ever slept on; it's warm and not agitating."

"It's wasteful for the old lady to sleep alone; girl, if you don't mind her being rough, come over in the evening when you have free time to chat with her."

He Yushui felt tempted, but she still shook her head.

She knew it wasn't good to do that.

At that moment, Chen Hong brought a cotton-padded jacket and a plate of dotted melon seed candy, placing them on the kang table.

"Yu Shui, first wear my clothes; your clothes, I'll bake them, beat them, fluff the cotton."

"In such freezing weather, your clothes are utterly useless."

"If my clothes weren't too big, I'd let you wear mine."

"Remember, when the weather warms up, tidy up your winter clothes."

"The issued cloth and cotton coupons—if you don't know how to use them, bring them over and I'll make them for you."

"Look at such a pretty girl—what has the cold turned her into?"

She wouldn't care about He Yuzhu and his wife's feelings; her own sister only has one cotton jacket for the whole winter, her body is all chapped from the cold, and she won't even buy her a jar of snow-flower cream.

He Yushui didn't want to trouble Chen Hong, repeatedly declining.

"Sister-in-law, it's fine; it's just cold for these few days, afterwards it won't be cold."

Chen Hong went ahead and did it.

"What nonsense are you talking? It's still hot in summer, so don't wear padded clothes."

Ignoring He Yushui's objections, Chen Hong had her undressed in a few moves.

After taking it off, Chen Hong felt the cotton was still enough weight; well, the jacket felt sticky in her hands.

It's been worn too long.

The clothes are too itchy; when they're too dirty they don't keep warm.

She could only first bake it thoroughly, then give it a good pounding.

Wear it until the weather warms up, then tidy it up.

As the jacket baked, a smell slowly emerged.

It's because Yang Qing's home is too clean, so the smell stands out.

Actually, most households nowadays have a bit of smell, and everyone's long grown used to it.

As the jacket baked, Chen Hong and the old lady grabbed melon seed candy and stuffed it into He Yushui's hands.

On the kang, the two little radish heads, after getting familiar for a while, started to play and romp.

Don't think Liu Shumin gave birth early, but Rou Dan is no smaller than Sha Zhu's daughter.

The two of them, you babble a few sounds, she wails a few sounds, no one knows what they're saying, but they're having a blast.

He Yushui ate the candy, wanting to cry; the kang is too warm, it's unbearable to be so warm.

Yang Qing didn't know what was happening in the east room; he was still diligently cooking.

The frozen skin can't be eaten today; it needs to be pressed at least overnight, but stewed vegetables can still be made.

Take out the pork cooked yesterday, then the marinated fried tofu, then the dried shiitake, string beans, and scallions.

Soon a pot of stewed vegetables was ready.

(He Fang's stewed vegetables: in the northeast it's called slaughter-pig vegetable, in Henan it's called stewed vegetable; the methods differ slightly but are largely the same. In Hebei's stewed vegetables, the meat is stir-fried first, then shiitake, meat, and scallions are stir-fried with sauce, and when eating it's placed atop the cooked vegetables.)