After the second day of the Lunar New Year, few people came to their house anymore, and they had no relatives or friends. The Tao family, who had come from hell, had all been betrayed and abandoned in the past, so after they got back up, they no longer trusted anyone. Naturally, those people had no face to come and grovel anymore.

But Xiao Jiu and Cuihua both knew that the Tao family's real troubles had not yet begun.

Xiao Jiu was also glad that Cuihua had that memory, which might be able to help the Tao family at a crucial moment.

Starting from the third year of junior high school, the hardworking Tao family began to search for Artemisia argyi in the wild. However, because it was colder this year, many places were covered by snow, so they returned home disappointed. But Grandma comforted everyone.

"This year's auspicious snow promises a bumper harvest. Just wait and see, in another half month or so, the white wormwood that grows will be even better."

Although there was no fresh mugwort for a snack, Grandma still steamed a pot of braised meat, and then stewed it together with cabbage, tofu, meatballs, and crispy pork in an iron pot.

Everyone gathered around a small pot in the courtyard, eating a warm stew and drinking hawthorn sweet soup made from hawthorn cakes, instantly extending the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

Pound sesame candy on a griddle and bake it until golden brown. Then eat it with a big pot of stew. It's crispy and fragrant, and so delicious! There are also fried savory and sweet snacks. These are all common snacks eaten in Henan Province during the Spring Festival. If the children are hungry during the day, just put them on the fire and bake them until they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Which child doesn't gain a pound or two during the Spring Festival? If you don't store these things properly, they will be gone before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Because the Tao family is large, Grandma, Grandma, and sisters fried a lot this year, enough for four or five large basins, which were all hanging from the roof beams. If you want to eat some, you have to ask an adult for some, and there is a limit every day, but generally, they will grant your request.

Xiao Jiu is a very sensible child. She has strict requirements for how much she eats each day because she is young and can easily get indigestion if she is not careful. When brushing her teeth, she will try to check her tongue coating. If she finds it thick, she will quickly starve herself for a few meals, otherwise she will definitely get a fever.

Bananas played a crucial role at this time. She didn't like hard fruits, so she could only eat soft apples and bananas. She could scoop out the soft apples with a spoon and eat half a banana at a time, twice a day. She also insisted on drinking plenty of water every day, so to this day, she is still healthy and has never had a serious illness.

Her physical condition was even better than her brother's. Her brother was a boy and didn't pay much attention to hygiene. He often had diarrhea, which was obviously caused by drinking unboiled water or not washing his hands properly. Even tomatoes and cucumbers picked from the field couldn't be eaten directly; they had to be washed clean. But no matter how much she said, it was no use. Her brother was an impatient person. He would eat as soon as he opened his mouth and pick up his bowl as soon as he sat down. He would only reluctantly go to wash up if his mother and grandmother got angry.

Brushing his teeth is the thing the guy least wants to do, but he doesn't want Xiaojiu to get into the habit. If she doesn't brush her teeth at night, she can't fall asleep.

She now brushes her teeth mostly at night, and not so much in the morning. It's not that she's lazy, but rather to save on tooth powder. If her mouth feels really uncomfortable, she'll dip her toothbrush in salt and rub it in, which also helps to clean it.

Once the winter is over, there's nothing to do. The women will light a fire in a sheltered spot in the yard and do handicrafts while warming themselves by the fire. They might braid hair, sew shoe soles, knit sweaters, or take some yarn to sew and mend clothes belonging to the children and adults. They'll ask each other how to take apart and cut clothes to save the most fabric, because these clothes are worn by adults and then by children, and then by younger children.

Xiao Jiu is two years old and wears her brothers' old clothes. The only thing she owns this year is her new cotton-padded jacket, so she cherishes it and tries her best not to spill food on herself while eating.

The men wandered the streets and alleys, where there were bonfires everywhere. They could squat there for an entire afternoon, chatting and laughing.

The children ran around playing everywhere, but some, like the eldest brother, sat at home practicing calligraphy. Such a good habit and such a good opportunity, Sister Cuihua certainly wouldn't give up. So she and Zhaodi and Pandi became students and asked the eldest, second, and third brothers, who were more academically gifted, to teach one of them, providing one-on-one tutoring. Only the youngest brother, who was still in the preschool class, could still run around playing.

Xiao Jiu didn't care about playing with those naughty kids, so she quietly stayed by her older brother and sister's side. When she was hungry, she would go to her mother and grandmother to roast sweet potatoes for her. She didn't know why she loved roasted sweet potatoes so much. Maybe it was because the sweet potatoes in her family were sweet, or maybe she ate sweet potatoes with chestnuts that her mother had deliberately put in.

However, she wasn't that interested in potatoes, mainly because potatoes aren't sweet. She preferred stir-fried potato shreds, especially the sour and spicy kind, which she ate with great relish.

Despite her young age, she has already started eating chili peppers. Even so, her grandmother and mother still forbid her from eating them because children are prone to getting a fever or cold. So when it's time to avoid certain foods, you have to refrain from eating them!

Xiao Jiu feels that everything here is great, except that taking a bath is extremely inconvenient, especially in winter, since there are no public bathhouses these days.

Washing them at home requires a lot of firewood each time, and you can't wash them one by one; you have to wash one or two a day, otherwise you won't have enough time to boil water.

In such cold weather, and with her still so young, her grandmother and mother both objected to her washing her feet, so every day she would wash her bottom first while washing her feet.

This basin was a small wooden basin that she requested to be bought separately for her, for her to use alone, because the conditions did not allow for it, so she used one basin to wash her feet and buttocks.

Although she felt it was unhygienic, she didn't have athlete's foot, so she decided to just bear with it.

When she gets a little older, she can use the food from the warehouse to exchange for more suitable daily necessities.

She should have a private space and a home, so that everything she does will be convenient.

She's still young and doesn't have the ability to make her own decisions. If she goes out, people will ask her where the things she's carrying come from, and she might even get into trouble. So it's not appropriate for her to expose herself like this until she's five or six years old and old enough to run errands.

While her older brothers were teaching her older sister, Xiao Jiu noticed that her eldest sister was someone who was extremely eager for knowledge. Perhaps it was related to her dream. So, whether in the literacy class or at her mother's, she studied very hard and her foundation was quite solid. She could recognize quite a few characters, but the effect of her writing was somewhat indescribable.

Calligraphy was too wasteful of ink, so her older brother taught her to write with a pencil. Later, she felt that pencils were also a bit wasteful, so she simply went to the riverbank, found some sand, brought it home, made a sand tray, poured water on it, and practiced writing stroke by stroke with a twig. Her sisters followed suit, which amazed her brothers, because they had never thought of learning in this way.