79.079 has an idea

Er Ya was able to go to school as she wished, but the price was that after being ridiculed and threatened upon entering the house, she had to go into the kitchen to cook for the family of five, and she was not allowed to eat any herself. She didn't make a fuss anymore, and under her mother's supervision, she wasn't allowed to eat a single bite of food while cooking. Once the family sat down to eat, she was sent back to her little room.

In the middle of the night, she got up, clutching her stomach which was throbbing with hunger, and tiptoed out of the house. Sure enough, the kitchen door was locked. She went back into the house, dug a raw sweet potato out from under the wall, washed it, and ate it, skin and all.

In the morning, at the usual spot, Er Ya was waiting for Xiao Yuan and Ping An in the alley with Xiao Hu in her hand. When she heard their voices, she went out.

"Little Tiger, come on, come and chase me!" Ping An grabbed Little Tiger and the two of them ran off first.

Er Ya looked at Xiao Yuan. Whenever Ping An made this move, it meant that Xiao Yuan had brought her something.

"Here, it's still hot. My mom baked vermicelli and minced meat pancakes this morning. Eat them quickly." Xiao Yuan took out a dented and worn lunchbox from his schoolbag, opened the lid, and revealed a pancake cut in half.

As soon as she smelled the aroma, Er Ya's stomach started rumbling. She took the lunchbox like a starving ghost, swallowing it down without chewing it completely, choking so hard that her neck stretched out.

"Did your mom ask you to bring this?" After finishing her meal, she carefully wiped the crumbs from her mouth and licked her teeth clean, inside and out, afraid that the clueless little tiger would find out.

"Yeah, she said you're definitely going to suffer. Your parents lost face in public, so they'll definitely want to vent their anger. They can't beat or scold you, so they'll just stop feeding you." Xiao Yuan put the lunchbox back in his schoolbag and hurried off to catch up with Ping An with Er Ya.

Er Ya pursed her lips and didn't say thank you in a vague way. "I'm so lucky to have met your mom," she said.

Xiao Yuan smiled and agreed with her.

In the morning, they attended classes, and in the afternoon, they went out with the teacher to collect firewood, which they handed in to the school. After leaving school, Er Ya pulled Xiao Hu aside and asked them where they were going. She planned to go back and collect another bundle of firewood to carry home.

“Let’s go check on Xiao Dan. He still didn’t come to school today. Do you want to come?” Ping An glanced down at Xiao Hu and then said, “Never mind, you go back first.”

"I'll go take a look too," Er Ya insisted. She had a suspicion about Xiao Dan's absence from school and wanted to confirm it with her own eyes.

Sure enough, Er Ya looked at Xiao Dan, who was much taller than her, and said, "I'm not going to school anymore. My stepmother is pregnant again. She left the baby she had before to me to take care of. My dad said either I stay at home to take care of him, or he sends me back to the countryside to farm with my grandparents."

Ping An hurriedly asked, "You didn't cause trouble?"

"What's wrong with me? I don't want to go back to the countryside to farm." Xiao Dan crushed the clods of dirt under his feet and said, "I'm not going to school anymore. Anyway, people who graduate from junior high and high school in big cities are still running to the countryside. It's pointless."

"Then I won't bring you food anymore." Ping An's tone was a bit harsh. He felt betrayed that Xiao Dan wasn't going to school. It was a waste that he had shared an egg, a piece of pork rib, and a meatball with him...

He glanced at Er Ya and said, "Let's go." He didn't want to talk to Xiao Dan anymore. Er Ya had taken care of all the housework, and insisted on taking care of a noisy child while also going to school, but Xiao Dan had given in.

“What’s the point of going to school? What’s the point of me getting beaten up a few times and then going to school for another year or two?” Xiao Dan grabbed Ping An, as if trying to convince him. “The educated youth who went to the countryside all graduated from junior high or high school, and they all went to the countryside to farm. It’s clear that going to school is useless.”

“My mom is still reading. She says that if she hadn’t continued her studies, she wouldn’t have this good job. Going to school is useful.” Ping An was pulled by Xiao Yuan and didn’t dare to say too much. He now knew that the comic books and “Journey to the West” that he and Xiao Yuan were reading were all banned books. His mother had told them not to talk about family matters outside.

"Er Ya, you're still in school? You're so big now." Xiao Dan tried to recruit an ally.

“Yes, I’m still in school.” Er Ya looked at Xiao Dan. She wasn’t sure if her tantrum last night was worth it. She just wanted to follow Xiao Yuan’s path safely. Aunt Su was definitely right.

It's okay, Er Ya told herself. With Xiao Dan as a comparison, she would understand whether her current actions were worthwhile and whether going to school was useful or not in two or five years.

"Are you coming or not? I need to go gather firewood," she asked the two people beside her.

“Let’s go, we’ll go too.” Ping An volunteered to come over; he was the one most eager to leave right now.

Little Egg watched the four people of varying heights walk away, feeling a little uneasy, but there was nothing he could do but turn around and walk in another direction.

Su Yu hadn't received a single penny from Ping An's payment for quite some time when she realized that Xiao Dan might not be going to school anymore. She asked Xiao Yuan while cooking, and the result was just as she had guessed.

"Ping An was angry for a while, but she's only calmed down these past few days," Xiao Yuan whispered, glancing outside the door.

“Peace is a matter of deep affection,” Su Yu said with a smile.

Xiao Yuan nodded, though he didn't quite agree, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"By the way, Mom, our teacher said that next year we will be taken to the fields. Our school has two acres of land and one acre of land, where we can grow vegetables and crops. We will be responsible for everything from sowing to harvesting."

Su Yu gave an "oh" and waited for him to continue.

“They’ve already started tilling the land, and I think it’s quite interesting. When I have time, I’ll go to the orchard with you and learn from you.” Xiao Yuan felt that since he was going to learn farming anyway, he might as well learn from his mother and go work in the orchard with her after graduation. Just thinking about it made him look forward to graduating as soon as possible.

“Okay, you can go if you want. But ask Ping An before you go if he’s going or not,” Su Yu instructed.

“He definitely won’t go. He doesn’t like farming. When we’re tilling the land, he’ll need to poop or pee every now and then, always sneaking off to take a break,” Xiao Yuan said, pouting.

"I heard you, Xiao Yuan, you're talking bad about me." Ping An rushed in and grabbed Xiao Yuan by the neck, demanding an explanation.

"Go out and have some fun, don't spill my vegetables." Su Yu frowned and called out, holding the vegetable basin steady. After the two of them left, the room felt much brighter.

As children grow older, they not only eat more but also take up more space.

Su Yu didn't expect Xiao Yuan to be so fast. Just a few days after she said that, he rode his bike to the orchard and followed her around the orchard.

"Is Ping An not coming?" she asked.

“He’s not coming. He said he’ll stay home and cook for us.” Xiao Yuan broke off the branch his mother had been looking at and didn’t find anything wrong with it.

He didn't understand any of this, so Su Yu sent him to go with the villagers to compost the fruit trees. "Go and learn how to burn farmyard manure from them. It may look simple, but there's a lot to it."

From helping him burn farmyard manure to learning how to drive oxen to plow the fields, Su Yu saw that he was genuinely interested in these things, and gradually taught him how to prune peach trees.

"Just prune the peach trees?" he asked.

“Yes, the peach tree leaves have all fallen, so we can start pruning. The orange tree and grapevine can be pruned next spring,” Su Yu said. “If you want to study this, I can lend you the books I’ve been reading when we get back. I also have notes I’ve taken.”

With Shumanpo's explanation, her notes were very detailed. After all, she had also started as a novice a few years ago and knew nothing.

"Okay, I'll take a look."

"Xiao Yuan is here again?" Sister Gao from the village came over when she heard the voice. Since Su Yu had bought chickens and ducks from her, and the two were quite close, she joked, "Why have we only seen Xiao Yuan come for so long? We've never seen Ping An."

Su Yu laughed and said, "Next year when the fruit trees are laden with fruit, I guarantee you'll see him all the time."

Sister-in-law Gao jokingly scolded Ping An for being a glutton, and then asked Xiao Yuan, "Do you like working in the orchard?"

"I really like it."

"You'll resemble your mother the most; mothers and sons are most alike. When you grow up, you'll take over your mother's role."

Su Yu disliked comparing things based on blood ties. She glanced at her son, who was secretly pleased, and said to Sister-in-law Gao, "Children have different interests and hobbies. You can't say that what parents like to do, children will necessarily like too. Xiao Yuan is interested in fruit tree planting now, but he may not do similar work in the future. Ping An may not like driving trucks in the future either. Children should be allowed to develop as they will, and their parents' jobs shouldn't be the standard." Noticing that the woman opposite her didn't look too good, she added, "Like your children, they can write and do math. Their generation is definitely better than ours."

Sister-in-law Gao agreed with this statement. She didn't want her child to end up like her, spending all day in the orchard, picking at disgusting insects, and pruning tens of thousands of branches.

After everyone left, Su Yu glanced at Xiao Yuan and caught his gaze as he looked at her.

“Son, you’ll be taller than me soon, and you’re still so childish? You’re secretly comparing yourself to Ping An? How silly! Even if you’re not like me, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re my son. How can you be happy because of something an outsider said!” She reiterated her opinion in disbelief: “I gave birth to you and raised you, not to replicate another me. You can go wherever you want. There are so many paths to take, up and down, left and right. You don’t have to follow in my footsteps.”

“But now I like this road the most. I don’t like driving big trucks, making canned goods, or boiling water in water tanks,” Xiao Yuan muttered.

Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that he was still too inexperienced. As long as it wasn't a rigid obsession, she allowed him to develop along the path that he was most interested in.

“When we get back, I’ll lend you the books and notes. If you don’t understand something, you can ask me or ask me for money to buy books and find the answers yourself,” Su Yu said. She also wanted to let him know if he was really interested in these things, since the knowledge explained in books was more boring than practice.

When Su Yu and Xiao Yuan rode their bikes home, Ping An was cooking. Since there was no one at home to guide him, he was left to his own devices, which actually sparked his interest in cooking. He used a lot of oil and liked to stir-fry meat. He cooked all the meat that Su Yu had bought for two days in one meal.

He picked up a piece of stir-fried pork with garlic sprouts and said with satisfaction, "It's still more satisfying to eat a whole piece of meat. Usually, when I eat minced meat, it's gone before I can even taste it."

"After dinner, you two can go for a walk. Don't get fat from all this oily meat and rice porridge with pancakes." Su Yu couldn't eat meat at night, so she just ate some garlic sprouts.

"Mom, you eat too. Don't make us eat. I'll make sure there's enough for us." Ping An thought his mother was offering the meat to the two of them, so he took the initiative to put a piece of meat in her bowl.

Su Yu had no choice but to tell the truth, and asked Ping An to put the overly greasy meat back, saying, "Next time you cook, please stir-fry some vegetables for me tonight."

"There are people who don't like eating meat?" Ping An glanced at her, expressing her doubt.

"I'm afraid of gaining weight." She's already thirty-three or thirty-four years old, and she wants to maintain her figure.

"Are there people who are afraid of getting fat? Getting fat is a blessing." This was the first time Ping An had met someone who was afraid of getting fat. He didn't understand, so he didn't go out for a walk after eating. He said he wanted to gain weight and he wasn't afraid of getting fat.

"You brat." Su Yu pinched his ear. Ping An was lively and full of ideas, and he was also very talkative. Su Yu was amused by him every day, but she would also want to pinch him from time to time when she was angry.

"Eldest son, is there anything you like to do now? For example, would you like to learn how to drive a truck like your dad? Or are you interested in working at the cannery? Or repairing bicycles?" She didn't even ask about farming. He would try to slack off even when he went to till the land with his classmates. He would never like farming.

Ping An shook his head, indicating that he didn't like any of them. He said, "I'll become a policeman in the future. Bad people are afraid of the police." He had witnessed the incident involving Xiao Yuan's uncle and his grandmother, as well as his mother rescuing Er Ya and Er Ya's desire to go to school. All of these incidents ended with the police being called or the police being called.

"Good ambition." Su Yu patted his shoulder. She hadn't realized he had such ideas, but he was still young, and there was the matter of the college entrance examination being reinstated in the future, so Su Yu didn't say anything more.

"Here, these are the first books I read and the notes I took. Take your time looking at them." Su Yu took out the books and notes and said to Ping An, who was leaning closer, "Do you want to take a look? It's about planting fruit trees."

"It's fine to take a look."

But after watching it for only two days, he stopped touching it altogether.