Chapter 62: Sadness

"Did you remember it?"

"I've got it." Zhuang Mingliang and a few other children responded obediently.

"Okay, let's eat quickly."

Although my own children sometimes have some naughty habits, they are generally sensible and obedient, much better than ordinary children.

Zhuang Yonghe has always been quite proud of this.

And He also smiled and distributed a plate of fried leeks and eggs to everyone.

Zhuang Yonghe got the most, followed by his brothers who got the same amount. Finally, after thinking it over, he gave some of his share to Zhuang Mingliang.

He has been the hardest working one during this period.

Among the brothers, they sometimes felt that their eldest brother was busy on weekdays, and they all thought it was natural and had no objections.

On this side, the family is happy and harmonious, but on the other side, Zhuang Ruman's family is in chaos.

Zhuang Yuanren had already set out to take part in the provincial examination. Before leaving, he asked his family for some money for his journey.

It was so rare for a family to have a scholar, who would bring honor to the family in the future. Zhuang Ruman and Song were not too stingy when giving money to Zhuang Yuanren, and they gave him half more than what Zhuang Yuanren asked for.

He also told Zhuang Yuanren to go to the provincial capital to take the exam, make more friends, and not to be too stingy with money.

Zhuang Yuanren readily agreed and, with the expectations of everyone in his family, he set out on the journey to the provincial capital for the exam.

Zhuang Ruman and Song Shi have also sighed a lot these days.

Firstly, I was worried about Zhuang Yuanren's performance in this exam.

Although Zhuang Yuanren has always been praised by his teacher and he himself is full of confidence, it is not easy to achieve success in studying.

Secondly, I am worried about the family’s livelihood.

After paying such a large sum of money, the family's savings are almost empty. Regardless of whether Zhuang Yuanren can pass the exam this time, the cost of his future studies will not be less than it is now, and the money will almost go out like water.

In the past, when Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui were at home, they were strong laborers and could do most of the work in the fields. Not only did Zhuang Ruman not have to work so hard, he could also go to the town from time to time to find some work to supplement the family income.

But now that Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qingsui are gone, Zhuang Qinghe is either crying out in pain or itchiness all day long. Zhuang Yuanzhong is young and useless, so most of the work in the fields falls on Zhuang Ruman and Song.

They were busy tending the fields all day and had no time to do other chores to earn money. The income from the fields was not enough to cover the family expenses, which made Zhuang Ruman and Song very worried. They spent all day thinking about how to find some way to make money.

But one of them was a genuine farmer and the other was a stupid peasant woman. They had no outstanding skills and could not find a suitable place or method to make money.

Before they found a way out, Zhuang Ruman and Song could only try their best to save on their daily food and drink expenses, and save some money for Zhuang Yuanren to use in the future.

But if this is the case...

"Mom, why are you eating pickles again today?"

Zhuang Qinghe, who had just gotten up at noon, saw the eye-catching plate of pickled vegetables on the table, frowned, sat down on the chair next to her angrily, and picked up the cornmeal porridge in the bowl with chopsticks: "This cornmeal porridge is not even served with some rice. It's really irritating to the throat."

"And this sweet potato flour steamed bread, I've been eating it all day and it's making my stomach sour. It's really uncomfortable."

"Mom... I've been feeling really bad these past two days. Please steam some white flour buns for me."

They say that what you eat nourishes what you lack, and what color food you eat determines what you look like. The wind is strong in spring and it can easily damage your face. Summer is coming soon and she will get another layer of tan. If she keeps eating black-flour sweet potato bread all day, won't she get uglier and uglier?

In order to have a whiter face, you have to eat more white flour and white rice.

"It's too uncomfortable to rest, isn't it?" Zhuang Ruman glanced at Zhuang Qinghe and said, "Go to the fields and work more in the future, and you will feel comfortable everywhere."

In the past, there were two sisters, Zhuang Qingning and Zhuang Qinghe, who were like old workhorses in the family. Zhuang Qinghe stole them because she was lazy. After all, the girl should be raised in luxury. If she is raised a little more preciously and looks less like a country girl, she will be able to hold herself up well when she marries into a good family in the future.

But now it’s different. There’s no one to do the work. If Zhuang Qinghe doesn’t do it, it won’t work. Zhuang Ruman is becoming more and more dissatisfied with her lazy daughter who is lazy and doesn’t work all day long.

Zhuang Qinghe had been scolded by Zhuang Ruman a lot recently, and she felt very aggrieved when she heard it now: "Dad was not like this before. Now he only cares about my eldest brother and ignores me and Yuanzhong."

"You can't say that my father doesn't care about Yuanzhong. Yesterday I saw him stuffing a boiled egg into Yuanzhong's mouth. Isn't it because he thinks that Yuanzhong is a boy and I am a money-loser that he treats and tortures me in various ways?"

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Yesterday, Zhuang Ruman stuffed a boiled egg into Zhuang Yuanzhong's mouth. That was because Zhuang Yuanzhong had a severe stomachache yesterday. He hadn't eaten a single bite of food the whole day. If he didn't eat an egg to replenish his body, what would happen? As a sister, she didn't have the slightest intention of caring for her brother. She was being hypocritical for a while because of an egg. What kind of person is that?

Besides, Zhuang Yuanzhong is a boy, and it is normal for the family to prefer boys, right?

Zhuang Ruman looked at Zhuang Qinghe with some disgust and glared at Song.

It’s because of you who spoil the children in your daily life. The children at home have become unruly!

Song was so frightened by the glare that she hurried to persuade Zhuang Qinghe: "What are you talking about? Yuanzhong is your brother, and it is your duty to give him your heart and soul. Why are you still nagging about an egg?"

"Your eldest brother has just gone to the capital to take the exam. All the money in the family is used by your eldest brother. We are a little tight at home these days. Please bear with it for a while. When your eldest brother passes the exam next year, he will be a real scholar. Then life will be better in the future."

"Didn't mother advise you before? You should know that it's better to be carefree. How come you have forgotten everything in just a few days? Life must be bitter before it can be sweet..."

"Mom, please stop trying to persuade me. I don't know whether this will be sweet in the future. I only know that life is very hard now."

As Zhuang Qinghe was talking, she started to cry: "What are you eating all day? What will happen to you after eating this? You will become ugly in the future!"

"How dare you advise me here, mother? If I hadn't forced those two damn girls away, I would have someone to do the work in the fields and someone to serve me. I don't know how good my life would be!"

"I heard these days that those two girls have been doing very well in the tofu business since they rented the tofu shop. They sell all the tofu every day and make a lot of money. I saw them eating meat yesterday, and a few days ago I saw them buying fish to eat..."

(End of this chapter)