Chapter 19 Make Them Happy

The weather is gradually warming up, and the Chen family is busy farming, planting all sorts of crops.

The Chen family has seven or eight mu of paddy fields. Grandpa Chen has already plowed the land with his oxen, filled the fields with water, and cultivated the rice seedlings. They are just waiting to be transplanted.

Grandpa Chen and his two companions were planting rice seedlings in the paddy fields, and they even prepared their lunch in the morning and brought it over.

They didn't go home until after a long day of work, just before nightfall.

When he got home, he found that Shen Xuewei was not home. However, there were three bowls of warm water on the table in the main room, which tasted slightly sweet.

On the side, the rice in the cooking pot had already been cooked and was being left to cool.

Grandpa Chen didn't show it on his face, but he was quite pleased inside.

However, after looking left and right, I didn't see anyone in the house, so I couldn't help but wonder where everyone had gone.

Just then, Shen Xuewei's voice came from afar, and she appeared at the door carrying a bunch of vegetables.

Seeing the three of them return home, she smiled and said, "Grandpa and Grandma, you're back! I just picked some vegetables from the garden, so we'll have to wait a bit before we can cook them."

Grandma Xi quickly took the dishes from her hands.

"Our Weiwei is so good. Grandma is back. Grandma will cook. Weiwei, play with Dahuang first, and then we can eat."

This child is so sensible it breaks my heart.

I didn't teach her much, I just watched her do it a few times, and she actually learned to cook for herself.

Shen Xuewei let her take the vegetables from her hands and rested to the side as instructed.

She felt sorry for them, and they felt sorry for her too.

None of her uncles and aunts were home. Although her second aunt, who lived nearby, came back often, she also had her own family to take care of.

The Chen family has only three elderly people at home, and it is now the time to plant various crops.

After transplanting rice seedlings in the paddy fields, we also need to plant corn, soybeans, and then some millet, as well as sorghum.

Crops can't be harvested immediately after planting; you still need to weed and fertilize them...

After finishing the work in the fields, there's still a lot of work waiting to be done when I get home.

They are old and unable to go out to work and earn money. The only way for them to make money is to cultivate the land, and after the harvest, they sell the produce to earn money.

Only after saving enough money can they build a house and get their two sons married.

Besides sons, there are also daughters, and we also need to prepare dowries and money for our daughters to rely on.

Having so many children means you're destined to have endless worries for the rest of your life.

Shen Xuewei didn't actually want to be so diligent, but being in the situation, it was hard to just watch and do nothing.

All she could do was what was within her power.

The Chen family's seven or eight mu of paddy fields are not in one place, and are quite far apart.

Fortunately, we have a yellow ox at home, so we can put things on its back, which saves us some effort.

With only two days on the weekend, three elderly people were not enough to plant rice seedlings in all seven or eight acres of paddy fields.

On Sunday afternoon, Grandma Xi returned from the fields early, changed her clothes, and then took Shen Xuewei and Wu Yuhong out of the mountains.

When they reached the fork in the road, Wu Yuhong quietly said goodbye to the two men and headed towards Fuman Village.

Her father's younger sister married into Fuman Village and lived with her aunt during the years she attended primary school.

Fuman Elementary School is located in Fuman Village, so it was much closer for her to go to school than for Shen Xuewei.

After parting ways with her, Grandma Xi and Shen Xuewei continued walking towards Fuxing Village.

The Chu family didn't have many paddy fields, but Chen Fangli and her husband worked quickly and efficiently, and had already planted all the rice seedlings.

It will be some time before we can plant corn.

Upon learning that the Chen family's paddy fields were not yet fully planted, she instructed Shen Xuewei to stay home and not wander off.

That night, she went back to the Chen family home with her maternal grandmother to help with rice planting.

Chen Fangli wasn't there, and Chu De'an started to cry and fuss.

Chu Fu was about to go forward to coax him when he found that Shen Xuewei was already gently coaxing Chu De'an.

She played cat's cradle with Chu De'an, and Chu De'an had a lot of fun with her, gradually forgetting about crying.

The longer they spent together, the more attached Chu De'an became to her, even wanting to sleep with her at night.

One was not even three years old, and the other was only six. There was no problem with them sleeping together, so the Chu family let them be.

Shen Xuewei's life gradually settled down.

At school, she seemed to study diligently, but she spent most of her time daydreaming.

The teachers caught her and tried to persuade her several times. She agreed verbally, but she would do it again next time.

However, she never missed a single assignment and always ranked first in her regular tests and exams.

Seeing that her grades were not affected, the teachers simply stopped paying attention to her.

Time flies, yet it also seems to drag on; before we know it, summer vacation has arrived.

Shen Xuewei finished her uneventful third grade and ushered in a wonderful summer vacation.

She spent six months there, during which her parents didn't mention her in their letters, as if they had completely forgotten they had such a daughter.

The elderly couple opened the letter expectantly, thinking that Chen Fangmin would say something about missing her parents, her daughter, and her hometown.

As a result, after reading two pages, both of them hunched over.

The letter was almost entirely filled with accusations, criticizing them for letting Chen Fangqiu cause trouble in Huacheng, affecting her life and the couple's relationship.

Grandma Xi's tears rolled down her cheeks. "How could you say that, child? We sent A-Qiu over because we thought she would have a younger brother who was close to her. If she were bullied later, would Fang Qiu be able to stand up for her?"

"How could she be so ungrateful, saying such hurtful things to me?"

Grandpa Chen was also furious and said sternly, "I'm not going to interfere anymore!"

She said this, but when Shen Xuewei got up to go to the toilet at night, she found Grandpa Chen sitting on a rock in the drying yard with the two letters in his hand, smoking with a sad expression.

Shen Xuewei watched this scene with sadness and helplessness.

What can she do?

In reality, all she could do was offer a few words of comfort; there was nothing else she could do.

It was her mother who upset her grandparents, but she was her mother's daughter, and she couldn't speak ill of her mother in front of her grandparents.

My mother is my maternal grandparents' child.

They would feel even worse if she spoke ill of their child.

The next morning, she pretended not to have seen anything and greeted Grandpa Chen and Grandma Xi as usual.

After lunch, the two rested in the shade outside the door.

Grandma Xi gently fanned Shen Xuewei with a palm-leaf fan.

As if remembering something, Shen Xuewei suddenly got up and ran back into the house in a flash.

Just as the two were looking on in confusion, Shen Xuewei ran back to them, excitedly unfolding a certificate of merit.

"Ta-da! Grandpa and Grandma, look what this is! It's my certificate of merit. I got first place in the final exams this time!"

The two looked at the certificate for being an outstanding student, and their previous sorrow vanished.

Grandma Xi covered Shen Xuewei's face and praised, "Our Weiwei is so amazing! She actually got first place!"

Although Grandpa Chen didn't praise it, he looked at the certificate again and again.

Finally, I cleaned one wall in the room and used paste to stick the certificate onto the wall.

Grandma Xi pointed to the certificate on the wall and coaxed Shen Xuewei, "Our Weiwei, how about we cover this wall with certificates from now on?"

Shen Xuewei nodded vigorously, her voice clear and loud.

"good!"

After the childish voice faded, I remembered the old man's contented laughter.

Shen Xuewei held the five yuan that Grandpa Chen had given her as a reward, looked at their smiling faces, and smiled along with them.

She can't offer much help right now, but if she can make them happy, it's worth it.