There's leftover food at home, kept warm on the steamer rack of the big iron pot, so when you come home, you can take it out and eat it right away.

Eating a hot meal and then having a bowl of soup makes me feel completely refreshed.

The hot water was heated in the bathroom.

When the new house was first built, the toilet and bathroom were exceptionally spacious.

Shuiqing was most afraid of the kind of outhouse where a wooden plank was placed over the pit and there was a risk of falling in at any time. Since there were many people in her family, she didn't want to fight for the outhouse in the morning, so when the outhouse was built, it was divided into men's and women's, with three squat toilets on each side.

There was a ditch under the outhouse. After using the toilet, you would scoop two ladles of water from a wooden bucket to flush, and the excrement would go directly to the composting pit in the distance—excrement was a very important farm fertilizer in those days and could not be wasted.

The same goes for pig manure in pigsties.

Inside the bathroom, there was a stove with a large iron pot, so there was no need to carry boiling water back and forth. In the summer, a pot of boiling water mixed with cold water could be used to bathe several people, and in the winter, firewood could be added to the stove for warmth.

Their feet and legs were covered in mud when they went out, and they were sweating profusely. The three of them took a nice hot shower, changed into clean clothes, and slept on the big bed feeling refreshed.

Fan Qian, however, was not so comfortable in the wild boar's den.

He came to visit his eldest and second uncles today with a few dark-colored steamed buns. Everywhere was mud, sand, dead trees, and broken wood that had been washed away. He barely made it to the wild boar's den before dark.

The wild boar den was located on high ground, and originally there were herds of wild boars. Later, people from the village at the foot of the mountain came up in teams to hunt them, which forced the wild boars to move to another location.

Gradually, families moved in and settled there, forming a small village. The name "Wild Boar's Den" stuck, and people got used to it.

Because of the high terrain, the water drained quickly, so the Huang family didn't suffer much damage.

Uncle Huang puffed on his pipe, his triangular eyes, just like Mother Fan's, glaring at his nephew Fan Qian.

"You said your mother isn't feeling well? Her throat is sore?"

Fan Qian chuckled and nodded, "Yes, we dug up some things from my brother's field and cooked them. I don't know why, but his family was fine after eating them, while all of us were knocked out."

Since then, her stepmother's health had been poor, and she always missed her uncles, wanting to see them one last time.

Fan Qian has no qualms about lying.

Anyway, Mother really values ​​these two brothers, but she doesn't know if the two brothers value them back. But it doesn't matter whether they value them or not; he's just using this to get closer to them.

“What’s the use of seeing us? If she’s not feeling well, you should just find her a doctor,” Uncle Huang said coolly.

Fan Qian understood that these two uncles were the type to not act until they saw a clear benefit, so he didn't try to build rapport and went straight to the point: "Actually, Mother has something else she wants Uncle to do to uphold justice."

My second brother, Fan Jin, is now successful.

Uncle Huang pulled his pipe out of his mouth, and Uncle Huang's eyes widened. The two of them craned their necks and hurriedly interrupted, asking, "What did you say?"

"Has that kid made it big?"

"Isn't he successful now? He lives in a big house, eats white rice, and enjoys the finest food every day, but he doesn't respect his own mother. That's why I've come to ask my two uncles to persuade my second brother to treat our mother better, and ideally, to bring her to his home to take care of her in her old age." Fan Qian finished his sentence.

Uncle Huang and Uncle Huang gasped, their triangular eyes darting around in deep thought.

After a while, Uncle Huang said, "Indeed, we should take your mother over to serve her. Filial piety is of paramount importance! And he's supposed to be a scholar."

Uncle Huang continued, "Not only your mother, but we uncles should also be filial to her. As the old saying goes, 'A mother is dear, but an uncle is great.'"

"Brother, we'll probably have to go with that kid tomorrow and have a word with him, to make sure Jin knows what he did wrong."

Uncle Huang agreed.

Fan Qian lowered his head and the corners of his mouth turned up.

Uncle Huang and Uncle Huang then questioned Fan Jin in detail about the size of his house, the amount of land he owned, the amount of grain he had stored, and how many chickens and ducks he raised.

Their eyes lit up when they heard about the large house, which covered two or three acres and had more than a dozen rooms.

Hearing about hundreds of chickens and ducks, as well as a cow and a donkey, he swallowed hard.