Jiang Wanmu and Ji Yan walked one after the other, in the heavy snow, walked through the long pavilion road, walked past the courtyard full of laughter, walked through a barren clearing, and then walked to the most remote place in Jiangfu. The two were speechless all the way until they looked at the door of their courtyard and saw the woman in blue holding a food basket in one hand and a round brown kettle in the other. I saw that she was at the gate of the courtyard, walking back and forth all the way.

As soon as Ji Yan saw the woman, he couldn't help but cry out happily: "Miss, it's my mother who came to bring food and warm water to Miss." After Jiang Wanmu saw this, she turned her body slightly sideways and ran forward quickly with the joyful Ji Yan. She continued to walk slowly. Ji Yan rushed forward and stretched out his hand to take the thing in the woman's hand, only to see the woman flashing over, looking at Jiang Wanmu with her face, and said Ji Yan in a soft voice: "Ji Yan, you forgot the rules again, you should be behind the third lady." ”

Ji Yan listened to her mother's words, looked at Jiang Wanmu with some embarrassment, and shook her head lightly when she saw her. Ji Yan smiled twice at the woman in blue, turned around and pushed open the door on the side of the courtyard. After Jiang Wanmu approached, she looked at the woman's frozen red basin and said in a low voice: "Mother Jiyan, the weather is cold, you will go directly into the courtyard in the future." Ji Yanniang hurriedly shook her head and said, "Third Miss, you are generous, but the little woman can't be up and down. ”

Jiang Wanmu glanced at her, didn't say more, and walked straight into the door. The courtyard was empty, with only a few bungalows. Ji Yanniang followed Jiang Wanmu and entered the middle room. The interior of the room is simply furnished, and when you enter the door, you will see a square table, a small square table on the side of the window, and several stools of different heights in the room.

In the middle of the house, a row of dark yellow and old screens separates the arrangement at the back of the house. Ji Yanniang heard Ji Yan mention that there was only a low bed behind it, and there were two old wooden boxes on the side of the bed, which were used to hold the clothes of the third lady. After Ji Yanniang personally served the third lady Jiang Wanmu from Ji Yan, she took the opportunity to deliver meals and warm water and came here many times. Every time she looked at it, her eyes were a little sour, and the room of an ordinary housekeeper in the Jiang family had more things than the third lady's house.

Jiang Wanmu sat at the table and watched Ji Yan's mother set up a bowl of vegetarian cabbage and a small plate of beans on the table in front of her, and then brought out a small bowl of rice. Jiang Wanmu stretched out her hand to touch the rice bowl, and she could feel some residual warmth on her hand. She looked up at Ji Yan's mother, turned her head and instructed Ji Yan, "Ji Yan, you take your share back to the room to eat." Ji Yan glanced at her a little slowly, and looked up at his mother.

Ji Yanniang looked at Jiang Wanmu and said softly: "Miss, Ji Yan has to serve you before she can go to dinner." Jiang Wanmu looked up at Ji Yan's mother, and understood what this woman meant. She may not feel sorry for her daughter, but she has always acted prudently. Jiang Wanmu looked at her and shook her head and said, "You all go out, I'll be at ease alone." Jiyan's mother, you will clean up later. ”

Ji Yan's mother still wanted to speak, but Ji Yan had already reached out to pull her, but Jiang Wanmu obviously lowered her head, not wanting to talk to her anymore. Ji Yanniang walked aside, brought a cup, poured a cup of warm water, put it in front of Jiang Wanmu, and whispered: "Third Miss, you drink some warm water, warm your stomach and eat again, it is better for your body." Jiang Wanmu didn't speak, just picked up the cup and drank the water in small sips.

After Ji Yan's mother and daughter retreated, Jiang Wanmu slowly ate her meal. After a while, she heard Ji Yan's suppressed laughter from next door, and she could hear Ji Yan's good mood. The corners of Jiang Wanmu's mouth curved up slightly, and she sighed and thought, "There are happy people in this world, and there are also people with cups." Jiang Wanmu's eyes were no longer blank, but pure and calm staring at the food on the table, and there was a kind of peace in her eyes that had passed through life and death.

Jiang Wanmu thought about her biological mother in this life, since she was three years old, she had been far away from herself. For many years, she had never approached herself, Jiang Wanmu saw her by chance, and the woman's eyes were full of tears, looking at her with a look of sadness and remorse. The humble meal with a cold spirit once again reminded Jiang Wanmu that she was not in a dream, she was living in reality.

Before Jiang Wanmu was three years old, she was dumbfounded, at the mercy of the women who served around her. Every morning, she waited outside Mrs. Jiang's door on time, and only after all the people who greeted Mrs. Jiang had come and dispersed again, she was taken back to her yard by her side.

The children of the Jiang family lived with their mother-in-law when they were young. As soon as they were born, they separated from the bridesmaids sent by their mothers in their own courtyards, and the bridewives reported their situation to their mothers every day.

After Jiang Wanmu was born, she has always been extremely honest, not crying, not laughing, not moving, and has a single expression. When she was a year old, when the doctor looked at the pulse of peace, he said to her mother-in-law, "This child is sick, if she is not stupid in the future, she will have a good life." Her birth mother got the news and fainted on the spot. No matter how bad Jiang Wanmu is, when she can leave, she still has to go to Mrs. Jiang's courtyard to ask for peace accompanied by the bride wives.

Mrs. Jiang didn't want to see her biological mother, and when she heard that she was a fool, she directly ordered the brides to follow her and let her stand outside the door, which was considered to be her little filial piety. The bridewives who followed Jiang Wanmu got instructions from Jiang Wanmu's grandmother early, and let her stand outside the door from beginning to end, no matter whether it was windy or rainy, they never avoided it once.

Jiang Wanmu's mother-in-law said to the outside world, saying, "I pity this child, and I don't want her to ask for peace every day." When Jiang Wanmu was three years old, the bridewives had long since stopped staying by her side, but she stood alone outside Mrs. Jiang's door, listening to the lively laughter inside.

That day, the sky was the same blue, and the little Jiang Wanmu stood outside with the same wood. But that day was slightly different, the eldest son of Mrs. Jiang, who had been outside, had something to do and returned to Beijing, and he brought a few promising grandchildren. Early in the morning of that day, I came from the official post to say good morning to the old lady. Among them was a five- and six-and-a-half-year-old child, who was particularly naughty, and likewise appealed to the old lady, and the boy was beating in and out.

That child, when he went in and out, he saw the dumbfounded Jiang Wanmu, and he was extremely curious. He stretched out his hand to tease Jiang Wanmu, and Jiang Wanmu reacted to him alone. Because of Jiang Wanmu's obedience, the child was playful, and instead reached out to drag Jiang Wanmu away. It's a pity that Jiang Wanmu is used to it, if there is still one person in Mrs. Jiang's room, she must stay outside the door. Jiang Wanmu refused to listen, the two pushed and pulled down, and the child accidentally pushed Jiang Wanmu to the ground, causing her to hit her head heavily on the ground.