Chapter 213: The Little Squirrel’s Gift
The grey pigeon and Xiao Cangcang who went to scout the old gold mine on Yuanbao Mountain brought back news that was nothing special.
The old gold mine had been completely buried.
It was impossible to find where the exit was.
Moreover, because it was secretly mined and secretly managed by the Japanese invaders at the time, nothing else had developed around it.
They just secretly dug up gold and secretly transported it back home.
So very few people knew about it.
Common folk who went in to hunt were fine if they didn’t run into them, but if they did, they wouldn’t survive.
After the mine was buried, there was another big mountain flood, which caused the river to change course, so the traces were almost invisible.
The exploration team that Xiao Cangcang saw had already left Yuanbao Mountain and headed north.
Despite this, Lu Qiaoge still wanted to go take a look herself, but there was no rush.
In the evening, the calico cat put its exclusive small shoulder bag around its neck and ran out of the city along the wall like a puff of smoke.
Lu Qiaoge went for a walk with Grandmother and, when she returned, Xiao Si told her: “Second Sister, Hua Hua ran off with a small cloth bag around its neck. I guess it’s definitely going to Brother Qin for something tasty.”
Lu Qiaoge didn’t think much of it and looked at some old photos with Old Mrs. Lu, listening to her talk about Grandpa who had sacrificed himself and the cenotaph that had been built for him.
For some reason, an idea popped into Lu Qiaoge’s mind, and she blurted it out: “Grandma, what if Grandpa didn’t actually die? Maybe he lost his memory and doesn’t know who he is, so he’s never come back to find you, Dad, and the others…”
At this time, the grandmother and granddaughter were sitting in the courtyard, while Su Hui and Lu Qiaoling were in the room studying ways to improve the taste of flaky pastry and corn cakes.
Lu Zhiguo was working overtime and hadn’t come back.
Old Lu was under the tree outside the main door drinking tea and chatting and bragging with a group of workmates.
Meng Xia had gone to Grandma Sun’s house in the backyard to visit and also to ask her to introduce a partner to her third daughter.
After reporting the calico cat’s whereabouts to Lu Qiaoge, Xiao Si went to recite his lessons.
With the help of Second Sister and Third Sister, he had already reviewed the curriculum from first to fourth grade, but the family still decided to have him start from third grade when school began.
Anyway, he had just recovered from his illness, and now was the time to consolidate, so the learning environment should be a bit more relaxed.
Xiao Si also thought this was good, but since he had never been to school before, he worried about not keeping up and still studied very hard.
At this time, the only sounds in the courtyard were Xiao Si’s reading voice and the quiet whispers of the grandmother and granddaughter.
Then Old Mrs. Lu heard Lu Qiaoge’s sudden whim, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
Lu Qiaoge looked at Grandma in great surprise.
Had her sudden whim already been thought of by the old lady long ago?
Sure enough, Old Mrs. Lu said: “You think I haven’t considered that possibility? Actually, no one thinks the worst at first. I started out with hope, but later as time passed, I stopped hoping.
To say something selfish and vicious, I still hope he’s gone for good. That way, it’s better for your dad, your Fourth Uncle, and all of you. As for what you said about losing his memory, I understand that.
In my hometown village, there was a guy named Da Zhu who fell from the roof and hit his head on a stone. He was saved, but he forgot everything from before.
I always think, no matter which possibility it is, it’s still best if he never shows up. You get what I mean, right, Qiao Ge?”
Lu Qiaoge understood completely.
She looked at Old Mrs. Lu with admiring eyes.
This grandma of hers actually didn’t have a strong presence. Most of the time, she just dozed half-asleep in the courtyard. She helped with family matters when she could and never meddled when she couldn’t.
For Meng Xia, she really was the best mother-in-law in the world.
So even though Meng Xia hadn’t originally taken a liking to Su Hui, she was actually very good to her.
Also, from the fact that she accompanied her granddaughter down to the countryside, it was clear that Old Mrs. Lu didn’t prefer sons over daughters.
This was an elder who lived very transparently.
Lu Qiaoge immediately said: “Grandma, I get it. I won’t mention it again in the future.”
Nowadays, everything still depends on one’s class background.
No matter which possibility it was, it wouldn’t be good news for the Lu family now.
Lu Qiaoge gave Grandma a thumbs up.
She knew all too well what nagging, son-preferring old ladies were like.
This was truly what they meant by “a family with an elder is like having a treasure.”
Just as Lu Qiaoge was preparing to go to sleep, the calico cat jumped in through the open back window, and the small cloth bag around its neck bumped into the window sill with a clink.
【Little Fairy, open up quick. There’s good stuff in my small cloth bag. It’s from Diandian for you.】
Diandian was the new name for Hua Hua Squirrel.
The calico cat had given it that name.
Unexpectedly, that little squirrel had even brought her a gift.
From the shape of the small cloth bag, it looked like two stones or maybe two walnuts?
That’s what Lu Qiaoge thought at the time.
She hadn’t expected that when she opened it, there were two crystal-clear pieces of amber inside.
The amber contained clearly distinct leaves.
Lu Qiaoge couldn’t put them down. She couldn’t help but curiously ask the calico cat: “Do you know where Diandian got them from?”
【Diandian said it picked them up inside the mountain of Big North Mountain. That was another squirrel’s territory, but that squirrel was injured, so it stayed with it for a few days and even found food for it. It only left after that squirrel recovered, but unexpectedly found two pretty stones in a tree hollow along the way. Little Master, this is called amber.】
Lu Qiaoge nodded.
This thing was rarer than gold.
Was the little squirrel worried she would forget it?
It seemed she would have to visit the little squirrel more often from now on.
These little animals had really become spirits.
Well, some were silly, like the old black cat and the little yellow dog.
Hua Hua told them not to bother her unless necessary, and they really didn’t dare come.
—
On Sunday, Lu Qiaoge got ready and waited for Qin Hengzhi to pick her up to go to Old Bai’s house.
Meng Xia paced around nervously, constantly looking at Lu Qiaoge from head to toe.
She was just worried that something would be off and make her look bad in front of Qin Hengzhi’s maternal family.
Mainly, Lu Qiaoge didn’t look any different from usual.
Lu Qiaoge said helplessly: “Mom, stop circling. If you keep going, I’ll get dizzy.”
Then Meng Xia stuffed fifty yuan into Lu Qiaoge’s hand and said: “We don’t have anything decent at home to bring. Go to the department store and buy a gift. Don’t let Hengzhi spend money. I know you have money, but Mom has to give you this.”
Lu Qiaoge didn’t refuse. Since it was Mom’s gesture, she took it.
Meng Xia exhorted again: “Hengzhi’s grandfather must already know about our family’s conditions.”
Lu Qiaoge understood what Meng Xia meant and said with a smile: “Mom, I’ll act within my means. I absolutely won’t pretend to be richer than we are.”
Even though Lu Qiaoge said that, Meng Xia still wasn’t reassured and couldn’t help but sigh.
This was the downside of mismatched family backgrounds.
If the gift you bring is too nice, people will say it must have been bought with Qin Hengzhi’s money—could her family afford such a good gift?
If it’s too ordinary, with their conditions being so good, they might not look down on it outright, but it would be close.
