When Wang Ermazi returned home with seven taels of silver, Widow Xing was washing clothes. In the winter of 10th, the weather was cold and her hands were red and swollen. This was cold, but for the sake of her livelihood, her hands still had to be soaked in cold water. She could only rub the clothes in the basin vigorously, hoping that this would make her hands warm and drink a little, but in such weather, it would be futile.

Widow Xing is not afraid of hard work. She has survived this way over the years. She was just a little worried about her son. She replaced others as a soldier in order to let her mother have a full meal. But this soldier is so easy to be a soldier? Her son is straight-hearted and can't speak. Will he be wronged in the military camp? Will he be bullied? Will those adults beat him?

As for whether her son will go to the battlefield and whether he will die because of it, Widow Xing dared not even think about this question.

As she thought about it, Widow Xing's life slowed down. She sighed. Her life was miserable, and her son was miserable. She didn't think about living a good life. As long as her son was healthy, it would be fine. If she could still ask for a wife and leave it for the Wang family, she would die and would have the honor to meet the ancestors underground.

But Widow Xing also knew that it was not easy for her son to get a wife. Not only was the family poor, but her son also had a mad face because of smallpox. It was difficult to find a serious job. Who would marry her daughter to her family?

I don’t know if I can have the day to hold my grandson.

Widow Xing thought of this and suddenly felt a darkness in front of her eyes. Then she heard a 'pop' sound, and a voice came, "Mom, I'm back!"

But who else can it be if it is not the son I have been thinking about day and night?

Wang Ermazi pushed the golden mountain and turned the jade pillar and knelt in front of Widow Xing. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, "Mom, the child is back!"

Widow Xing quickly wiped her hands on her body and touched her son's face tremblingly, "My son, you are back, missing your mother to death, let me see if you have lost weight."

Wang Ermazi felt his mother's cold hands crossing his cheeks, and quickly untied her clothes, put her mother's swollen and cold hands into her warm chest, and said, "Mom, take a good look at her son, is she strong?"

Widow Xing felt the warmth from her son's chest, held back her tears and prevented it from falling, and smiled with relief: "Yes, my son is stronger, my son is not bullied, okay, okay!" Then she realized that her son was still kneeling on the cold ground, and quickly pulled his hand out of her son's arms, "Get up, go into the house, hurry up, don't freeze!"

Wang Ermazi hurriedly said, "Mom, the child is not cold. The child is wearing cotton pants on his legs. It is a new cotton trousers, which is thick and strong." As he said, he was afraid that his mother would not believe it, so he hurriedly turned out the cotton jacket he was wearing to show it to her, "Mom, look, it was sent by the court, it was so warm."

Widow Xing touched the thick cotton jacket on her son, and her heart felt much more at ease, "Okay, okay. Come in, come in and say, let my mother take a good look at you."

Wang Ermazi then got up from the ground and helped Widow Xing up again. The mother and son walked into the room. Because there was no fire and carbon, there was no fire in the room, and there was no sunlight. Instead, it was colder than outside. Wang Ermazi looked at the dilapidated window paper, and tears rolled in her eyes.

"Mom, don't be in a hurry to speak. You can buy some charcoal and window paper first. Let's clean up the house so that the New Year will be celebrated."

Widow Xing thought her son was cold, so she hurriedly said, "Okay, wait until my mother washes the clothes from the Zhang family and sends them. After receiving the money, go buy them. You can rest for a while. Oh, by the way, I'll make some hot water for you to drink."

Looking at his mother who was about to take care of the program, Wang Ermazi couldn't help crying. He hurriedly hugged Widow Xing and said, "Mom, don't be busy, your son is not thirsty. Don't wash the clothes. If your son has money here, you might as well buy some charcoal. I'll chop some firewood." As he said, Wang Ermazi took out a cloth bag from his arms and opened it carefully.

Widow Xing looked up and saw a large handful of broken silver. Widow Xing lived for half her life and had seen so much silver there, and she was so scared that she was at a loss.

"Son, what are you doing? Mom has taught you since childhood that although we are poor, we must have backbone and dignity. We do not steal or rob, and we rely on our own hands to make a living. We are upright and stand up straight, and we will not be stabbed by others wherever we go! You..."

Seeing that my mother misunderstood, Wang Ermazi hurriedly said, "Mom, what are you talking about? This is my son's salary in the past two months. In order to get us home for the New Year, the emperor specially gave us one or two more silver."

Widow Xing was a little unbelievable, "Is this true? Don't lie to your mother!"

Wang Ermazi hurriedly said, "How could my son cheat on my mother? Look, the imperial court cut it into two or three cents of broken silver to facilitate our spending. However, it was said that it was a salary of five taels of silver a month, but two taels of silver were deducted every month for our food and clothing expenses in the military camp. You don't know, the food in the military camp is so good. We eat rice and white flour every day, and eggs and meat, and we can see meat every meal. Mom, look at my son, is it a lot stronger?"

Widow Xing looked at her son with red face and then believed it. Then she thought about it, and quickly pulled her son to the center of the yard, "Son, hurry up, kneel down and kowtow to the emperor!"

While speaking, he knelt down towards the Forbidden City and shouted: "Your Majesty, Master!" Wang Ermazi hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed three times before he helped his mother up again.

"Mom, you believe it now. Now we have money, so you should buy some charcoal and window paper. When my son has chopped the firewood and boiled the fire, you can cook warmly at home. My son will buy some rice, flour and meat. We are ready for the New Year."

Widow Xing couldn't stop smiling, and she said in a roundabout way: "Okay, okay..." But in a blink of an eye, she saw the basin of clothes placed beside her, and frowned again, "Son, I know you are filial, but you should go out to buy things. My mother also has to wash the basin of clothes. The Zhang family was a poor mother at the time, so she washed the clothes for her mother. Now we can't just leave them behind when we have money."

Every year, no family has a good life, but the working people in China are still simple. If neighbors can help each other, they will try their best to help. The Zhang family's family is only a little richer. They handed over their clothes to Widow Xing to wash, which may have been a disguised way to provide some help to Widow Xing. After all, although Widow Xing's family is poor, they are not beggars!

Wang Ermazi understood this truth, so he said, "Mom, don't worry, I'm at home. My son is very strong and has fast hands and feet. I will wash the clothes and then chop firewood. When you come back, you can deliver them to the Zhang family directly."

Widow Xing couldn't twist her son. Knowing that he wouldn't let her work anymore, she could only nod and said, "Okay, that mother will go."

Wang Ermazi picked up two pieces of broken silver from the cloth bag and handed it to Widow Xing, "Mom, don't worry. On the way, buy some whatever you like, let's have a fat New Year."

With the money given by her son in her arms, Widow Xing felt that she felt so fulfilled when she walked on the street for the first time. She greeted everyone who was familiar or not, as if she hoped that everyone could share her happiness.

"Oh, isn't this Sister Xing? Come and buy New Year's goods?" People on the way said hello. Everyone knows that Widow Xing's surname is Xing. Judging from Wang Ermazi's surname, he knows that his original husband's surname is Wang, but few people call her Wang Xing, and they are basically called "My Sister Xing". This is the kindness of the Chinese people. After all, no one likes to be reminded that he is a widow at all times.

"Yes, his aunt, isn't this my second boy back? I'll come out to buy something and prepare for the New Year."

When the middle-aged and elderly woman heard that it was Widow Xing’s son, she immediately had a gossip and leaned forward to ask, “Is that right? Wang Er is back. Oh, I don’t know if the child has suffered any grievances. It’s not easy to be a soldier.”

When he mentioned his son, Widow Xing was so happy that she couldn't hold her mouth together, "It's okay, it's okay. My son said that the court treated them well. So, when the New Year was coming, he also gave everyone a tael of silver for New Year's money, saying it was the emperor's grace."

The middle-aged and elderly woman was shocked when she heard this, "Was Wang Er seen the emperor's old man? This is amazing, Wang Er is promising!"

Widow Xing hurriedly said, "Not, no, it's just that the emperor sent the people below to arrange it. He has that blessing."

The middle-aged and elderly woman bared her teeth and sighed: "That's amazing, that's also considered a entitlement to the emperor's heart, right? It must be, otherwise, why didn't the emperor get paid for the New Year to others by hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the capital? Hey, do you know, the boy from the Tong family in the Qian Street also said that he was working in a camp and went home for a long time, but he didn't hear that the emperor gave him any New Year's money. Oh, the second boy is well developed. I said, "The second boy, you will become the grandmother of the official family in the future, and you can't forget us old neighbors."

Although Widow Xing was said to be like drinking honey, she was still polite, "How can he be? He is just a gun-carrying guard, so how can the emperor see him?"

The middle-aged and elderly woman didn't care what Widow Xing said, but was immersed in her supervisor's imagination and couldn't extricate herself. She casually sent Widow Xing: "Okay, okay, hurry up and buy New Year's goods. The second boy is still waiting at home, don't stand here stupidly with me, the old woman."

Widow Xing apologized and said goodbye to the middle-aged and elderly woman, and went straight to the paper shop on the street. On this side, the "old aunt" walked back slowly with her feet, preparing to promote the development of Widow Xing's second boy - that marijuana face - to the neighbors.

Widow Xing was slow. When she bought things and went home, Wang Ermazi had already chopped the firewood. Zhang's clothes had been washed and dried, and the fire under the stove was also growing. Water was burning in the pot. The air was leaking everywhere on the window. The dilapidated window paper had been torn to pieces, just waiting for the new paper to come and go.

When my son came back, the family immediately became angry.
Chapter completed!