Cuihong is strong and eats a lot. Although she doesn't like to talk or communicate with people, she is perceptive.

Tang Cuiju didn't need to remind her about any of the chores at home; her younger sister did them all herself.

They didn't own any land, but their front and back yards were big enough. Right after the New Year, before the ground had even thawed, they poured manure into their private plots in the front and back yards to compost. By the time spring arrived and the land had absorbed most of it, they could plant vegetables directly.

Cuiju felt sorry for her younger sister because she couldn't hear. She saw that her sister was often engrossed in her own world, fiddling with her braids, and she felt especially sorry for her.

Cuihong didn't like going out either, and spent all her time busy at home. Seeing that someone was taking care of the house, Cuiju would go to the countryside and towns to make a living.

However, the ideal was very full, but the reality was very skinny. After working from early morning to late at night for many days in a row, I still couldn't find a suitable job.

Cuiju sighed and could only braid hair at home with Cuihong. Although they couldn't earn much money, they could at least exchange it for some salt.

The wheat straw needed for braiding was obtained from the wheat farmers during the wheat harvest season. Of course, they didn't take it for free; the sisters even helped them with the work for two days.

In those days, everything was precious; even wheat straw could be used for firewood to feed cattle and sheep.

The wheat stubble is quite large. After cutting it out, breaking up the soil, throwing it aside to dry, and then collecting it one by one to take home and burn, it makes a very good combustion aid.

When there is food available, Cuihong rarely takes anything from her small storage cabinet, because there isn't much to begin with and she needs to save it for when things get really tough.

——

Born in 1945, in the spring of 1956, her younger brother fell into the river while playing. Knowing she couldn't swim, she still jumped into the river without hesitation and pushed her brother ashore. However, this kind-hearted girl sank because she was too exhausted...

When she was rescued by the villagers, her soul had been replaced by Shi Daliang, a famous Sichuan cuisine chef.

This burly man, standing at 1.85 meters tall, never imagined that he would suddenly transform into a thin, malnourished rural girl at the finals of the Hong Kong Return Season chef competition. To make matters worse, before he could even catch his breath, he was slapped across the face.

"I'll beat you to death, you little bitch! Look what you've done to my son, he's frozen like this! What were you doing bringing him to the river? If you die, you die, but don't drag my son down with you! I'll beat you to death, I'll beat you to death!"

Shi Daliang covered his face, still unable to come to his senses. He still couldn't understand how he, a grown man, had become a girl.

He was a native of Sichuan Province. His grandfather and father were both famous chefs. He was exposed to the food from a young age and became a chef before he was twenty. By the time he was thirty, he was making a name for himself in the Sichuan cuisine industry. It seemed like he was going to win the championship in the famous chef competition in Xiangshi. But what happened?

How did they manage to turn him into a helpless victim who could be beaten and scolded at will?

The little girl's surname was Huang, and her given name was Huangdou. She knew from a young age that these were not her biological parents. This family adopted her purely to help the couple who had been married for three years without having children. So she also had a formal name, Huang Zhaodi, and Huangdou was her nickname. She liked this nickname, Huangdou, from a young age.

She is eleven years old this year, and has two younger brothers, one eight years old and the other five years old, both of whom she raised.

The older one was disobedient and insisted on coming to the river with her. As a result, he fell in. She knew that if her younger brother drowned, she wouldn't survive either.

Fortunately, it hadn't rained recently, so the river wasn't deep. She also managed to grab onto some dry grass on the riverbank, which allowed her to push her younger brother up.

But she was just one step away, just one step away. When her younger brother stepped on her to climb up, he used too much force, and the grass she was holding snapped without warning. The river was still flowing, and by the time she realized what was happening, she had already been swept away.

Thankfully, the younger brother knew to climb up and call for help, and she was rescued. However, after being rescued, the kind-hearted girl passed away.

It was Shi Daliang who arrived. He was a rough man who had never been married and dealt with the mundane things of life every day. He had been beaten up by the old woman and hadn't even had a chance to defend the young girl before the people around him couldn't stand it anymore.

“Auntie, that’s enough. Don’t you know what kind of person your son is? Huang Dou has already rescued him. Look how scared the child is. His face is all white from the cold. He’s almost dead. Why don’t you hurry up and take him home? Otherwise, he’ll catch a cold and we’ll have to spend money on medical treatment.”

“Her name is Zhaodi, not Huangdou,” correcting Huangdou’s name was Pandi’s last act of defiance.

Indeed, this was the last act of defiance from Huangdou's adoptive mother, Li. She herself was one of several sisters before she had a younger brother, so she disliked the name Pandi. However, she and her husband had been married for many years without having children, so they had no choice but to listen to the elders and buy a little girl, naming her Zhaodi.

There are plenty of people with that name, and nobody talks about taboos. She knows Huangdou doesn't like it, but she just likes to call her that. She gets a sense of vengeful pleasure from disliking her.

She was unwilling, but she knew that in such cold weather, she really needed to warm herself up, otherwise she would suffer.

Li glared fiercely at Huang Dou, then pinched her waist hard before pulling her up.

"What, aren't you getting up? Waiting for me to carry you back? Let me tell you, don't even think about it. There's a ton of work to do at home, and I can't carry you."

Li refused to carry her, and she shivered from the cold. The villagers couldn't bear to see her like that, so they squatted down and glared at Li.

"Get out of the way. If you won't carry me, I will. I'm the one who saved this person, so I'll take full responsibility."

The speaker was an uncle from the same village. Shi Daliang turned his head to look at him and thanked him weakly.

"Silly girl, what are you thanking me for? You're just unlucky to have run into such a thing. I think your father still hasn't taught you a lesson. You deserve a beating!"

Everyone in Qilihe Village knows why Li Pandi is so difficult to manage; she always takes whatever she has from her home to her husband's family.

The family was already poor, and now they're even poorer. They argue with their in-laws every day and fight with their sisters-in-law, making the house unbearable.

Huang Zhongyi had long disliked her and would beat her up every few days to vent his anger.

Even so, she remained unrepentant. If her husband wasn't careful, her belongings would be sent back to her parents' house. This angered Huang Zhongyi so much that he tried to get a divorce several times, but it never happened. He was now just a cash cow for the Li family, a free laborer. The more he thought about it, the more he hated her. So he decided to stay away from home all year round, hoping to avoid seeing her and getting annoyed.

Although Tang Jia Lao Liu in Qilihe Village had changed her mind, she still faced constant beatings and scoldings. As the eldest daughter in the family, she was burdened with endless chores and beatings, leaving Shi Daliang with no hope. However, he dared not make any rash moves at the moment because she had not yet adapted to the current life or understood this era.

Fortunately, Shi Daliang was born in the 1960s, which wasn't too different from other times, so the adaptation was only a short process. Sooner or later, she would have to find a way to leave this family.

Compared to Huang Dou's experience, Lao Qi and Lao Ba, born in 1946 in Nanwa Village as child brides and in 1948 in Zhao Jiazhuang as kitchen maids, were not so lucky. Every day, they had endless chores to do, and anyone in the family would take their anger out on them. The two girls were covered in bruises and malnutrition at a young age. Lao Qi's leg was even broken, and because she did not receive timely treatment, she still walks with a limp.

As for the eighth child, her situation was even worse. Her right eye was injured by her adoptive mother. Although she was not completely blind, her vision was blurry and her eyes were white. She dared not let anyone see her, so she always covered her eyes with her bangs. Her inferiority complex made her keep her head down all day long, not daring to resist and accepting whatever came her way.

Do you think Lao Liu's soybeans are perfectly fine?

Years of hardship and being used like an ox left her with ailments all over her body at a young age.

Especially in winter and on rainy days, my joints hurt, and I get chilblains all over my hands, feet, ears, and face. Life is even more bitter than bitter melon.

Even the villagers couldn't bear to see her like this, which shows how difficult it was for her to be an adopted daughter.

It was during the process of catching a cold that Shi Daliang gradually remembered some unpleasant things, which made her realize how bad Li Pandi was. She refused to give her medicine and made her endure the illness completely. No wonder the child was full of illnesses. In this condition, she will not be able to lift a spoon in the future, and she will even have difficulty standing. How can she be a cook?

Seeing that there was no hope for his future livelihood, Shi Daliang's heart sank to the bottom.

——

Xiao Jiu and her friends were naturally unaware that three of their sisters were living a life worse than death.

Now that the New Year has just passed, everyone is still immersed in the joy of finding the fourth and fifth sisters and in their hopes and plans for the future. They haven't had time to think about where to look for the remaining three sisters.

After the Lantern Festival, the New Year celebrations were considered over, but Grandpa and Grandma suddenly received a funeral notice from a distant relative.

After the letter was brought back, Grandpa sat smoking his pipe with his head down and didn't say a word. Grandma would also look at him from time to time and sigh.

It wasn't until Tao Changyi returned home with the message that Xiao Jiu learned that it was his grandfather's cousin who had passed away and had written to him asking him to attend the funeral!

The distance wasn't far; it was in the next county, which was also Tao Shuanzi's hometown. The reason he settled there was because of a conflict with his own family. However, these were all grudges from Tao Changyi's grandfather's generation. Tao Shuanzi wasn't close to them because they had driven his mother to her death.

Grandpa Tao lost his mother when he was young, and his father raised him single-handedly. He learned his brewing skills from his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

It is said to be a century-old tradition, but in fact it is not the Tao family, but the Yi family that was forced to death. However, the Yi family was short-lived. Their daughter was forced to death by her husband's family, and their son died on the battlefield. The old couple spent their later years with Tao Shuanzi and his son.

Xiao Jiu doesn't know much about what happened to the previous generation; she pieced it all together from snippets of their conversations.

Grandpa still harbors resentment towards his relatives. "When our family had trouble years ago, they all ran away faster than anyone else. All these years, there's been no news. What, now that we're dead, they want me to attend their funeral? No way. Let whoever wants to go go. I'm not going."

Grandma comforted Grandpa, "You old man, where did we go? I remember how Mom died. If you don't want to come back, then don't. But you should get your leg checked out. It's not easy for your son to take time off work, so let him take you to the hospital."

Grandpa's leg ailment is a chronic problem; he needs to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor for acupuncture every year. My father came back this time to take him to see the doctor.

"Dad, Dr. Zhong in the village has started seeing patients. He doesn't open until after the fifteenth. Let's go, I'll take you there in my cart. Stay there for one night and come back tomorrow. It's good that we've switched shifts for two days."

Grandpa wasn't stupid; he immediately realized what was going on. In the past, he might have hesitated to spend the money, but this time he went inside to pack his things without saying a word.

This way, everyone in the village will know that even if members of the Tao family come in the future, they will have a reason to go back for the funeral, since they can't even take care of themselves.

This relationship was tainted with resentment and hatred from the very beginning, so it's better not to get involved at all, to avoid making things difficult for each other.

Every day, Xiao Jiu and her grandmother would carry baskets to look for Artemisia argyi. The best Artemisia argyi was found in January and February. If they couldn't finish steaming it, they would dry it and steep it in water to drink. Artemisia argyi, also known as Yin Chen, is a medicinal herb that can prevent influenza and treat heatstroke, colds, headaches, body aches, abdominal pain, vomiting, and other ailments. It is a rare and valuable medicine.

When Xiao Jiu and the others caught a cold from a young age, they would drink dandelion and artemisia capillaris water as an adjunct treatment. Mild cases would get better after drinking it, and only when it became serious would they buy some Chinese medicine to brew and drink. The Tao family never delayed when it came to their children's illnesses, and the reason why Xiao Jiu has been relatively healthy since childhood is also because of the good care he received from Grandma Tao.

Xiao Jiu is a doctor herself, so she knows what to avoid eating. As the saying goes, illness enters through the mouth, and the most important thing for children is to avoid food stagnation. So every now and then, she has to cleanse their intestines and stomach. Otherwise, they won't eat much for two or three days, or they will take some laxatives. Once there is no more internal heat in their bodies, they will naturally be healthy.

"Grandma, this mugwort is so delicious! I love this vegetable the most. It's just that it's hard to pick. Grandma, don't pick it. Xiaojiu will pick it. Don't hurt your eyes."

Every time they dig up mugwort to take home, the grandfather and grandson would sit in the sun for an entire afternoon to pick it. Luckily, they could listen to the radio, otherwise they would be so bored.

The old lady's eyesight is not as good as before, so Xiao Jiu will let her work for a while and then lie down, instead of letting her keep her head down picking vegetables.

Grandma also listens to Xiaojiu. The two of them cooperate with each other. The old woman cares for the young woman, and the young woman takes care of the old woman in return. You think of me, and I think of you. Sometimes Grandpa would feel jealous when he saw this. He would often mutter that this child was not raised in vain. He was filial and knew how to care for others.

Xiao Jiu will be six years old next month, and she should be starting school in the fall, but she feels that if she goes to school, there will be no one to take care of her at home.

Besides, the elementary school stuff was too easy for her, and she didn't want to waste the money at all, so she refused. She wanted to help the old couple with their work for another two years, but she had to wait until the production team started working.

With the production team, grandparents could get easier work and no longer had to work on their small plot of land.

The land is still ours, so we should take good care of it and save up as much food as possible in the next few years, otherwise we'll have a hard time when famine comes.

But Jiu certainly never imagined that her decision would directly delay her school enrollment age by a full six years.

Starting in the second half of 1955 and 1966, the supply of non-staple foods, daily necessities, and production materials began to become strained across the board. No one expected that this strain would last for twenty years, especially the three most difficult years when the supply of materials almost faced a complete break.