Blissful Days After Widowhood - Chapter 57

After Gu Yin and Old Master Wen finished talking at the door, Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xu heard the sound and came out.

Mrs. Wang asked, “The person is gone?”

Gu Yin nodded, “I don’t know why the old man was angry. When he left, I told him to take a lantern, but he didn’t want it either.”

“He didn’t want that, the old man was not normal anyway,” Mrs. Wang took Gu Yin’s hand, said goodbye to Mrs. Xu, and urged Gu Yin to rest quickly.

The family washed and rested separately, as they had to set up a stall the next day.

Mrs. Wang still remembered to give the little cotton robe to the child, and Aunt Ge specially sent a pair of small cotton shoes, and asked them to help hand it over.

But the strange thing was that for several days, the child did not come again. It was freezing cold, and no one knew how the child would live after leaving the pier.

Several people were worried, and Mrs. Wang went to the officer next door to ask for help.

Officer Caotou paid attention to it during his daily patrols, but after searching for several days, he never saw the child again.

…………

By the end of November, the weather became more freezing. Although it hadn’t snowed yet, the surface of the canal had begun to freeze.

There were fewer boats on the dock, and fewer people accordingly.

After a winter rain that day, like the street vendor Lao Liutou, they simply closed their stalls and hurried home to celebrate the New Year.

Mrs. Wang had already prepared a large umbrella, which was firmly propped above her stall.

That umbrella could block the rain and snow, but not the wind, plus there were few people, the cold wind in winter was like a knife.

Mrs. Wang didn’t feel anything, but seeing that Gu Yin’s face flushed from the cold every day, and her hands were swollen into small steamed buns, she went to buy cotton and cloth, and made a large cotton robe for Gu Yin.

That cotton robe was really not good-looking. It was thicker and simpler than the military coats of later generations. It could cover Gu Yin from head to toe, and the sleeves were specially made to be very long. The cuffs were large and round and could be gathered together.

That was not enough. Perhaps inspired by the old man she met in front of the stage that day, Mrs. Wang even made her a leather hat.

Of course, it was not as thin and warm as the leather ones which were smooth, more like a big leather case.

Needless to say, other cotton pants, cotton shoes, and cotton gloves were prepared for her in the winter.

Gu Yin really didn’t feel very cold – the clothes on her body were made by Mrs. Wang, and the cotton was fully stuffed. Usually, Mrs. Wang also pressed her to rest on the small bench behind the stall. The daily chores that required cold water were all done by Mrs. Wang. The fact that she had frostbite was purely a physical problem.

But Mrs. Wang made it especially for her, and she could only wear it from head to toe.

Because Mrs. Wang’s thinking was to be clean and resistant to dirt, all cotton robes and hats were black.

On that day, she got up and dressed herself, mocking herself as “the one in a cover”, and Xiao Wu’an came over sleepily.

It was still in the middle of the night, and the room was pitch-dark. When the little guy came in, and saw her, his eyes widened suddenly, and then he did three moves, and said with a trembling voice, “Mother, help! There’s a bear in the house! “

Hearing the sound, Mrs. Wang rushed in, and she jumped when she saw the dark shadow beside the bed, and even when she called Gu Yin’s name, her voice changed.

“Don’t shout, it’s me!” Gu Yin said helplessly, then dragged her heavy body to light the oil lamp on the table.

“You child…” Mrs. Wang was about to say a few words, but when she saw that she was putting on her own outfit, she stopped abruptly, turned her head and knocked on Xiao Wu’an’s head, and continued, “What are you doing in such a shock? You think your sister-in-law is a big bear, I think you are a bear!”

Xiao Wu’an rubbed his eyes and made sure that the person standing in front of him was his sister-in-law, not some big man-eating bear, so he smiled embarrassingly, “I haven’t woken up, I saw it wrong.”

After speaking, Mrs. Wang sent Xiao Wu’an to wash up, and Gu Yin took off the cotton robe first and went to the kitchen. When she was done, she put on the cotton robe again.

Because of that robe, the customers who patronized the stall these days couldn’t help but take a second look.

Some more daring acquaintances stepped up to chat and said, “The little lady is so beautiful, why is she dressed in such a funny way?”

The person next to him said, “That’s right, even with the beauty of the little lady, I can eat an extra bowl of wontons! Isn’t it a pity that I can’t see it now?”

Hearing that, Mrs. Wang stopped, and immediately stood up and said, “You rough men scream of bitterness of cold on the dock every day. How can my daughter-in-law’s thin skin and tender meat stand up to this cold wind? We sell porridge, not beauty!”

Being scolded by her like that, the two who were teasing immediately fell silent.

Her reputation as a wicked mother-in-law was getting louder, and they heard that she caught a rascal who was trying to molest her daughter-in-law, twisted his arm, and threw him into the river. If it wasn’t for the fact that their food was really delicious, they really didn’t want to provoke this wicked woman.

When the teasers were gone, the vicious look on Mrs. Wang’s face faded, and she asked Gu Yin with a guilty conscience, “Otherwise, I’ll make another one for you. It doesn’t seem to fit well.”

It made Xiao Wu’an call her bear, and then it made people laugh at her. Mrs. Wang thought that even if she was so cheeky, she would be embarrassed.

Gu Yin said no.