The heavens set sail from the courtyard

Chapter 1327 The Loyal Woman

The girl who was there for the soy sauce was Ma Yan. She was the same age as Wang Xin, but looked only eight or nine years old. She was thin and bony, and her complexion was not very good.

When Ma Yan heard Wang Xin calling her, she just turned around and answered, then continued to do her job.

"Wang Xin, you're here! Ma Yan is helping me get soy sauce for the guests, please wait a moment." Ma Yan's mother Wang Sufang said.

"Auntie Wang, this is the rabbit I shot. I'm giving it to you and Ma Yan to eat." Wang Xin held the rabbit and brought it to Wang Sufang.

Wang Sufang glanced at the roasted rabbit, her throat welled up, and then she said firmly: "Since you caught the rabbit, you can take it home and eat it!"

Wang Xin rolled his eyes and said, "Auntie Wang, my dad asked me to get this rabbit. I have some at home."

Ma Yan handed the prepared soy sauce to the customer, and then stared at the roasted rabbit meat, not even noticing that saliva was dripping from the corner of her mouth.

Wang Gang and Cai Xiaonian just stood by and didn't say anything, and didn't even expose Wang Xin's lie.

He could see that Wang Sufang and Ma Yan hadn't eaten meat for a long time.

"Auntie Wang, just take this meat!" Wang Xin pushed the rabbit meat onto the counter and ran out.

"Wang Xin, Wang Xin." Wang Sufang called out twice and was about to chase after him, but Ma Yan held Wang Sufang tightly with her two little hands, her eyes revealing a look of longing.

Wang Sufang's heart softened and she said, "Yan'er, we can't take this meat. Every household has enough meat now. Wang Xin's father feels sorry for us and has good intentions, but we can't take advantage of him."
Ma Yan let go of her hand in disappointment. Wang Sufang sighed and said, "Be good, Yan'er. When mom gets her salary, she will buy two taels of meat and take it home."

"Well, I'll be good and not eat Wang Xin's meat." Ma Yan said sensibly, but her little eyes kept glancing at the roasted rabbit meat and her mouth was drooling all the time.

Wang Sufang felt sad. She wrapped the roasted rabbit meat in oil paper and gave it to Ma Yan, saying, "Go to Wang Xin's house and return the meat. Remember not to eat it on the way."

Ma Yan held the meat tightly, her face full of struggle, but finally she nodded and agreed to her mother.

…………

Wang Gang, Wang Xin and Cai Xiaonian talked about Wang Sufang and Ma Yan on their way home.

"Wang Xin, I see Aunt Wang works at a supply and marketing cooperative. She should have a good salary. Why is she living so poorly?" Cai Xiaonian gossiped.

Wang Xin explained: "Ma Yan's father accidentally killed someone a few years ago. Aunt Wang emptied her family to compensate the deceased's family. She is in poor health and needs to take medicine every month. Half of her salary goes into medicine."

Cai Xiaonian suddenly realized.

"Ma Yan is also quite pitiful."

Wang Gang remained silent. It wasn't that he had no sympathy, but these days, there were many families who were worse off than Ma Yan's.

In fact, Wang Sufang at least had a job in a supply and marketing cooperative. Although her life was hard, at least she would not starve to death.

In this era, salesperson, driver, film projectionist, postman, grain station quality inspector, and butcher are six professions known as the most popular iron rice bowls, and their salaries and benefits are very good.

A big reason why Wang Sufang’s family lived a hard life was because of the label of being a murderer’s family member and also because of her illness.

"Wang Xin, Wang Xin." Ma Yan's voice came from behind.

Wang Gang and the other two looked back and saw Xiao Ma Yan hurriedly coming over with an oil-paper bag in her arms.

Ma Yan ran directly to Wang Xin and stuffed the oil paper bag into his arms.

"Take the roasted rabbit back." Ma Yan said breathlessly.

Wang Xin was a little surprised and said, "Didn't I tell you that this meat is for you?"

"My mother said I can't have it." Ma Yan swallowed but said firmly.

Wang Gang could see that Ma Yan really wanted to eat meat, but he still obediently returned the meat to her.

"Have you ever thought about eating the meat secretly and telling your mother that you have returned it?" Wang Gang asked with a raised corner of his mouth.

"I can't lie to my mother." Ma Yan shook her little head like a rattle.

Wang Xin pointed at Wang Gang and sighed, "Actually, this rabbit was caught by my brother Xiaogang. It didn't cost me any money, so you can eat it with peace of mind!"

"A wild rabbit?" Ma Yan looked at Wang Gang curiously.

"That's right. The rabbit is a wild rabbit I shot in the back mountain. It didn't cost me a penny. Wang Xin specifically begged me to give it to you." Wang Gang felt that Wang Xin was interested in Ma Yan and didn't mind giving him a hand.

"What do you mean by asking for it on purpose, Brother Xiaogang, don't talk nonsense." Wang Xin said embarrassedly. Ma Yan suddenly blushed and said shyly: "That's not allowed either, my mother said that we can't just take other people's things."

"How can we be considered others? We are classmates." Wang Xin said straightly.

Wang Gang couldn't bear to watch, so he assisted: "That's right! You and Wang Xin are good classmates, so you are not outsiders. This meat is a gift, and you can marry him to repay his kindness in the future."

Now not only Ma Yan blushed, but even Wang Xin blushed as well.

Both of them were thirteen or fourteen years old, just beginning to fall in love, and were thin-skinned, not as shy as Wang Gang.

"Brother Xiaogang, don't talk nonsense. How can it be a betrothal gift?" Wang Xin said embarrassedly.

"I won't pay any attention to you." Ma Yan turned around and ran away shyly. The look on her face made it clear that Wang Gang would never believe her if she said she didn't mean that.

"Of course, Wang Xin." Cai Xiaonian joked first: "I didn't expect you to be old enough to think about love."

"No, no, I'm not going to be in a relationship with Ma Yan. My dad asked me to take better care of Ma Yan." Wang Xin said in a panic.

Wang Gang laughed and said, "Could it be that Uncle Wang has a crush on Ma Yan's mother?"

Cai Xiaonian said with a smile: "Wang Xin, your mother has been dead for many years, right? It's normal for Uncle Wang to find another one."

Wang Xin said hurriedly: "Don't talk nonsense, if this gets to my dad's ears, he will definitely break my legs.

Besides, Aunt Wang is not divorced, so how could she marry my dad? "

Wang Gang was surprised and said, "They are not divorced. Didn't Ma Yan's father kill someone?"

"Auntie Wang has always believed that Ma Yan's father was wrongly accused." Wang Xin said seriously: "She has been waiting for Ma Yan's father to come back after his case is vindicated."

Wang Gang raised his eyebrows and said, "Ma Yan's mother really had a hard time."

Husband and wife are birds of a feather, but they fly away separately when disaster strikes. Ma Yan's mother is still waiting for her husband to come back. She is indeed a loyal person.

Most people who encounter this kind of thing would divorce early and remarry with their children. For the sake of reputation, they might even change their child’s surname.

The fact that Wang Sufang has been able to hold on until now shows how deep her feelings for her husband are.

"Brother Xiaogang, what should we do with this rabbit meat?" Cai Xiaonian stared at the meat in Wang Xin's arms, saliva unconsciously secreted from his mouth.

"The rabbit was caught by Brother Xiaogang, so of course I should return it to Brother Xiaogang." Wang Xin returned the rabbit meat to Wang Gang.

Wang Gang laughed and divided the meat into two portions. He took half for himself and asked Cai Xiaonian and Wang Xin to share the other half equally.

The three of them happily returned to the railway compound and went home. As soon as they entered the house, Wang Gang found that his parents had stopped arguing and were working together to cook.

"Mom and Dad, I bought a rabbit as a dinner side dish." Wang Gang put the roasted rabbit meat in the kitchen and asked Liu Shufang to heat it up.

"You went hunting in the back mountain again." Wang Jianguo saw the meat and couldn't help but said angrily: "Didn't I tell you not to go? There are wolves in the back mountain. It's too dangerous."

"Dad, my slingshot never misses its target. It would be great if I really met a wolf. I have never eaten wolf meat in my life." Wang Gang laughed.

"You're going to piss me off to death sooner or later." Wang Jianguo spat, "There really is no father-son relationship without hatred."

"Okay! My son has been running to the back hills all day long, and nothing has happened to him. Don't worry about it." Liu Shufang advised:
"Xiao Gang, since you like hunting so much, why don't you consider going to the Railway Police School so you can have a chance to handle a gun."

"Be a policeman?" Wang Gang's eyes lit up. He had never been a policeman in his lifetime, so perhaps this was not a bad idea.

"No."

Before Wang Gang agreed, Wang Jianguo took the lead in objecting.

"Being a policeman is too dangerous. Xiaogang is the only son in our Wang family for three generations. If something happens to him, how am I going to explain to his grandfather?" Wang Jianguo said gritting his teeth.

"I don't want to learn how to drive anyway." Wang Gang rolled his eyes.

"If you don't want to learn how to drive a train, go and study medicine with your mother. You just like to read medical books all day long." Wang Jianguo said angrily.

"No, I can't study medicine!"

Now it was Liu Shufang's turn to object.