My Courtyard Refuge

Ma Lingling’s Day (Part 2)

Even though Xu’s mother said so, she was no less worried than her eldest granddaughter. She didn’t really realize the seriousness of the problem until today.

Usually at home, there is no shortage of food or drink, and her husband is earning more and more money. She still cannot connect the life in front of her with the increasingly severe drought.

I always think that the drought is only temporary, and it may end after a while. This world is still the same world, and there will not be much change.

But reality is often so cruel and ruthless, independent of human will.

“Grandma, I want to stay in Yanjing, how about you?” Ma Lingling said pitifully.

Some things are better to be believed than not to be believed, and once people encounter unknown risks, they always want to find a safe haven.

Therefore, she thinks it is better to stay in Yanjing, the grandma’s house is that harbor.

Mama Xu hesitated and said, “Grandma also wants to keep you and Xiao Xu, but this is not your home after all, and besides, you two have to go back to Luyang to continue your studies?”

“Grandma, do you think it’s okay for our family to move to Yanjing as well?” Ma Lingling quickly threw out her thoughts.

Xu Ma was stunned for a while, and after weighing it for a while, she said:

“It’s okay, the house problem is easy to solve, the big deal is to rent a house first, but your parents’ work, this is not easy to solve.”

Letting the daughter and son-in-law resign and come to Yanjing to start over, based on Xu Ma’s understanding of the two, there is a high probability that it will not work. Unless the disaster is really irreparable, forcing them to come to Yanjing to take refuge in themselves.

“Grandma, don’t worry! Leave this question to me, and I will be able to persuade them to come here.”

Ma Lingling grabbed her grandmother’s arm, looking full of confidence.

Mama Xu was a little suspicious. She didn’t know where her granddaughter’s confidence came from. The world of adults is very complicated, and it’s not easy to leave with just one word.

“Tell grandma, how are you going to persuade your parents?”

Ma Lingling’s mood finally improved a lot, she giggled and said, “Shanren has his own tricks, so don’t ask grandma, just wait for my good news!”

Mama Xu smiled and didn’t ask any more questions. Regardless of whether it has dates or not, let’s hit it first and then talk about it. If you don’t prepare, there will be a surprise!

Back in the courtyard, Ma Lingling was dragged into the vegetable garden by Yang Lina. The beans planted some time ago, the vines have grown rapidly recently, and a climbing frame needs to be built.

The climbing frame is very simple. Just use the hardwood left over from Dad Xu’s carpentry to build a rough frame. After all, there is no need to consider the factor of strong winds, and the requirements for sturdiness are not so high.

“Lingling, thank you for your hard work.” Yang Lina thanked casually after tying the last rope.

“It’s not hard.” Ma Lingling shook her head and said, “I just put up a few airs, and this work is nothing.”

Yang Lina looked at the blooming watermelon vines and said, “When the watermelons here are ripe, my aunt will send you two.”

The shelf life of vegetables is short, and the weather is hot, coupled with the low efficiency of express delivery, Xu Ma sent vegetables to Luyang once before, but they all rotted.

And watermelon can be stored for at least two weeks, so there is no such problem.

“Thank you, little aunt.” Ma Lingling thanked her sincerely. She hasn’t eaten watermelon this year!

Yang Lina waved her hand: “It’s been said that we are a family, so there is no need to keep saying thank you.”

…

After finishing the work in the vegetable garden, Ma Lingling went back to the living room to watch the news.

The country is still the same, and the reconstruction work is still in an orderly manner.

All cities across the country have basically restored power supply; the steel industry has resumed 3% of its production capacity; the shipbuilding industry is growing rapidly; relevant import and export data are showing an explosive trend…

In addition, “National Drought Relief” is also a major social hot spot.

Several big leaders went to various places to direct the drought; the desertification in the Northwest continued to deteriorate; after negotiations, the country introduced a full set of the most advanced seawater desalination technology from the European Union…

As for the international news, there are quite few pages. It simply reports on the situation in several neighboring countries to the south, focusing on expressing concerns about the refugee crisis it has triggered.

After watching TV, in the evening, Mama Xu will start preparing dinner again, which is the most sumptuous meal of the day.

Ma Lingling followed her little aunt to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables, cleaned them up and sent them to the kitchen for later use.

Usually for dinner, grandma will cook two hard dishes, and today is no exception.

One is a big plate chicken, in order to take care of my uncle’s taste, no potatoes are added; the other is fried bacon, with a little garlic seasoning.

At seven o’clock in the evening, my uncle came back in a big Ben, and this time he bought good things as usual.

Ma Lingling stepped forward to take the bag, opened it and saw that there were three chickens, two males and one female.

“Uncle, how much did you pay for this chicken?”

“The package price is 7,000 yuan for three, which is much cheaper than last month.” Xu Dong replied with a smile.

Ma Lingling was still a little speechless, but her brother-in-law’s family was really rich.

In the half month since she came here, not only did the family have chickens every now and then, but my grandmother also made more than 30 air-dried chickens, saying that she wanted to make up for the previous losses.

After dinner, Ma Lingling called her younger brother into the room, she didn’t call home for two days, and she is going to make a video tonight.

“Mom, my sister and I had dumplings for lunch. Grandma made them. They were delicious. I ate a big bowl by myself.”

Ma Xu is young, and he likes to show off good things when he has them.

“Really, it’s awesome!”

Xu Ting asked with a smile: “Then did you help grandma’s house with housework?”

“I did. I helped my sister wash the vegetables and beat my grandfather’s back.” Ma Xu said proudly.

“Baby is so good. Did you bully Keke and Lele?”

Ma Xu quickly shook his head: “No, grandma said I’m a boy and I can’t bully girls, that… But they all fight together, and I can’t beat them both.”

===Section 54===

“Ke Ke and Le Le are your younger sisters, you must get along well with them, you know? Otherwise, your grandma won’t cook for you.” Xu Ting said “threatening”.

“I know!” Ma Xu really had a frightened expression.

After dismissing the younger brother, Ma Lingling talked to her mother about business.

“Mom, I have something to tell you.” Ma Lingling said straight to the point.

“What’s the matter?”

Xu Ting didn’t care about what happened to the children’s family.

Ma Lingling hurriedly repeated what she heard at the afternoon tea in detail, and finally said that she wanted to move, which immediately attracted Xu Ting’s attention.

“There’s no rush to move. I’ll discuss it with your father when he comes back.”

“Mom, what else can we discuss? It’s not too late.” Ma Lingling said anxiously.

Xu Ting waved her hand, “It’s useless to be anxious, our family doesn’t have the money to buy a house in the capital, so let’s wait!”

“Can I rent a room first?”

“It’s not that simple. We don’t have Yanjing hukou, we can’t even buy food, and you and Xiaoxu’s schooling, including my and your dad’s jobs, which one is not a big problem.” Xu Tingyu said earnestly.

“If not, how about a loan to buy a house?”

“Buying a house is not just a joke, it’s not something you can buy just because you buy it, you’re too young to understand.”

“Grandma also agrees that our family will move here.” Ma Lingling moved out of the big backer.

“Grandma doesn’t know everything, so you better stop thinking about it, and wait until I discuss it with your father.”

In the end, the mother and daughter broke up unhappy.

At night, Ma Lingling was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, thinking about the phone call just now, and she didn’t fall asleep until midnight.