The family studied, worked, earned money, and supplemented their nutrition... doing multiple things at the same time, without neglecting any of them.

·

On the fifth day of the ninth lunar month, the family got up very early.

Following her mother's instructions from the previous night, Yan Qiu first started a fire and cooked a pot of cornmeal porridge and boiled a dozen or so eggs. The family had received an old hen from the previous division of property, an old hen as compensation from her aunt, and an old hen that her father would occasionally buy. Now there were thirty-seven chickens in the coop!

They can collect more than fifty eggs of different sizes a day.

Their old hen seems to lay an unusually large number of eggs; I wonder if it's because they add bran and fumes.

My mother said these eggs don't need to be exchanged for salt; they're just for supplementing the family's nutrition.

Boiled eggs are easy to carry, so I boiled a lot before going out today.

Using the bright light of the day, Xinghui first tied up her own hair, and then lined up to comb and tie up the hair of her three younger brothers.

Fan Jin is feeding grass to the cow.

Shuiqing took out a stack of new clothes from the side of the wooden bed and called out to the five children, "Come, come, come and get your new clothes."

This is the cloth that Fan Jin bought for them on his first day in the city.

Everyone in the family, except for Fan Jin, has one.

She secretly asked Aunt Li from the village to make a set of clothes for each of them, keeping it a secret from the children so as to give them a surprise.

Yan Qiuxing and Jiang Hehu slowly turned their heads, thinking they had misheard.

Can they wear the new clothes?

Aren't these just clothes that adults wear and then altered to become their clothes?

In the past, Da Zhu and Er Zhu would wear the old clothes first, and only when they were too worn out would it be their turn. Now that the family has separated, they no longer need to wear Da Zhu and Er Zhu's old clothes, but their parents are happy to do so!

"Mother, why are we wearing new clothes?"

"Yes, Mother, don't you and Father have any old clothes?"

It can be altered to make it wearable.

"It's not Chinese New Year yet."

No, I don't even have new clothes to wear for the New Year!

Shuiqing said, "When we go to my maternal grandfather's house, of course we should dress nicely. If we go clean and neat, it will make your maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, and uncle look good, right?"

Yan Qiuxing returned to Jianghehu: .....What my mother said seems to make sense.

It's as if wearing clothes isn't just for oneself, but also to bring honor to one's uncles and the others!

"Come on, come on, try it on to see if it fits." Shui Qing continued to wave.

The five children ran forward with light steps and carefully reached out to touch their new clothes.

"Big sister, it feels so soft to the touch."

"It's not linen, nor is it coarse cotton, Mother, is this fine cotton?"

"It's actually fine cotton! No wonder it feels so soft and comfortable to the touch."

The children touched it again and again, their eyes filled with surprise.

Fan He looked up and said, "Mother, you should have told me sooner, so I could have been happy for many more days."

Shui Qing chuckled softly, "I was afraid that if I had told you earlier, you wouldn't just be happy, you'd be so excited you couldn't sleep~"

Fan He thought it must be true, and said with a smile, "Mother understands me best."

Yan Qiuxing changed into a light pink top and skirt, while Jiang Hehu and the other two changed into light blue short-sleeved shirts. Shui Qing wore a sky-blue ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and Fan Jin still wore a slightly worn long gown.

After breakfast, Fan Jin led over an oxcart, placed the gifts he had prepared for his father-in-law and his two sons on it, and the family rode in the oxcart, heading towards Niutou Town as the sun rose.