I need to think of a way to sell these, but right now I have a knife hanging over my neck, so I don't have the courage to try.

I stay home obediently every day, cooking myself delicious meals during the day, and spending the rest of the time reading and writing. In the evenings, I go online to relax and rest. This month of mourning will pass quickly.

The rice in the space is now ripe. Zhang Hongmei spent three whole nights harvesting it. What to do without a rice milling machine? Should she bring in a millstone? But that would result in a lot of broken rice.

Looking at the rice ears in the warehouse, I feel worried. I don't want to farm anymore. Threshing is such a big hassle.

Zhang Hongmei was so worried that she looked listless. When Li Cuihua came over to bring her shoes, she was shocked to see her like this. The child hadn't been out for more than ten days and had become fairer, fatter, and taller, but why did she look so listless?

"Hongmei, what's wrong? Is something the matter? You look so listless."

"Auntie, I'm fine, I just had insomnia last night."

"Here, try these shoes on and see if they fit. I also asked your sister Erya to make you a few pairs of insoles, so they won't hurt your feet and will look nice too."

Zhang Hongmei held the insoles with great delight, saying, "They're so beautiful. My sister Er Ya is so skillful. I don't even want to put them under my feet anymore."

"Even if it looks nice, it's still just an insole. Try on the shoes."

Zhang Hongmei tried on three pairs of single-layer shoes and one pair of cotton shoes. The single-layer shoes were one finger too big, and the cotton shoes were two fingers too big. When she could wear the single-layer shoes, she put insoles and wore socks, and they no longer seemed too big.

"Auntie, where can I buy socks? I see everyone in the city wearing socks."

“They have them in the county, but they’re quite expensive. Your second sister made a few pairs, and I’ll have her bring them to you tomorrow. Don’t waste your money.”

"Okay, let my sister Er Ya come over to my house. I'm thinking of making a smock, so I'd like her to take a look. If anything is wrong, she can tell me."

"Zhong, you stay here. I still need to make shoe soles for your third uncle, Jianguo. I'll have your second sister come over tomorrow."

Li Cuihua left in a hurry again. Zhang Hongmei found all the cloth in the house, thinking of making herself two smocks and two pairs of pants.

After gesturing around and finding there was still some fabric left over, he decided to make clothes for Liu Erya and see what she wanted. He would have to repay the favors he owed to Liu Maocai and Li Cuihua slowly.

Now that I have shoes and socks, I'll start making clothes tomorrow. Once the weather gets warmer, I'll wear my old clothes when I go out. I have to go to school at least once a month, so it seems like I wasted my time being bored for the past ten days.

Actually, there are still many things I haven't done. I need to mend and repair old clothes, make new clothes, and learn to make socks and insoles from Liu Erya.

Tomorrow's life will be fulfilling. Humans are social beings; if you're always alone, you'll lack the motivation to live.

Besides, he still had many things he could ask Liu Erya. He was really looking forward to her arrival tomorrow; he wanted a friend, at least someone he could talk to.

To welcome her new friends, Zhang Hongmei decided to make sweet potato balls again. She didn't have any of the sweet potatoes she steamed last time, as she had roasted them all herself. She would steam a few tonight and make more this time. Sweet potato balls get very hard when they cool down, but they can be reheated.

Zhang Hongmei was happily preparing food to entertain her friends tomorrow; the child had been lonely for too long. She wanted to share the best with her friends.

I steamed sweet potatoes for dinner, and also steamed a pumpkin and a few potatoes for myself.

I made tomato and dumpling soup for dinner in the space. I drank two bowls and went to bed feeling warm and cozy. I stopped doing any work in the fields. The corn stalks and straw took up a large part of the space.

She wanted to wait until the weather got warmer before letting them out to burn as firewood, but she was afraid her family would notice something was wrong when they came over. Nothing seemed right. Feeding them to the livestock would be better, but raising them herself would be too conspicuous. Nothing seemed to work, and Zhang Hongmei was completely discouraged.

Go to sleep, go to sleep, I don't want to think about anything that's bothering me.

After waking up, I went to the field to tidy up. This time I'm going to plant soybeans, which are easy to thresh. As for the soybean stalks, I'll ignore them.

I've been busy for hours and only planted half of them, but I'm hungry.

After washing up, I went to the kitchen and cooked myself a packet of instant noodles. I hadn't had them in a long time, and I really missed them.

After finishing the meal, we continued planting. By the time we finished planting, I took a shower and slept for a while before coming out of bed. It was already broad daylight.

Quickly start a fire to reheat the sweet potatoes that were steamed yesterday. Peel them and knead the dough. This time, I also added flour to the filling, mainly because the sugar had melted after steaming last time, and adding it on top would prevent it from leaking out.

I let it ferment for half an hour before I started making it. Actually, the glutinous rice dough wouldn't have risen during that half hour, but the taste was much better than if it hadn't been fermented. That's my mom's little trick.

Just as she finished cooking and put it in the pot, someone knocked on the door. Zhang Hongmei excitedly went to open it and knew it was Liu Erya outside. "Sister Erya, come in quickly, I've been waiting for you for a while."

"My family ate two meals, and we just finished eating before coming over. Did you just start cooking?"

"I'll make you something delicious, sweet potato balls, they're so sweet."

"I feel bad eating your food; you've had such a hard life."

"What are you saying? You just have a stutter. Don't treat me like some kind of auntie. We don't need to argue about these things. I don't consider you an outsider."

Zhang Hongmei pulled Liu Erya into the courtyard and locked the door behind her.

"Sister Er Ya, I want to make a cover-up. Do you know how to cut it?"

"Yes, my mom taught you, didn't she?"

"But I'm too scared to cut with scissors, can you help me?"

"Okay, I'll take your measurements after you finish eating."

The two sat on small stools by the stove, chatting and laughing.

The aroma was already wafting out. Zhang Hongmei raised her hand to check the time; it would take another ten minutes to cook.

Liu Erya looked at the watch on Zhang Hongmei's wrist with envy. Her father was the only one in the family with a watch, and now Hongmei had one too. But then she realized it belonged to Hongmei's mother, and her envy lessened; after all, she had no parents.

Watching Zhang Hongmei efficiently tidy up the kitchen and wipe the stove, I felt that this girl had changed. She used to never speak up, and even if I tried to talk to her, I would hardly get a response. She always seemed listless.

Seeing that the time was up and the firewood had just burned out, Zhang Hongmei invited Liu Erya into the house. She swept the floor, washed her hands, and lifted the lid of the pot.

Because they are made with glutinous rice, Zhang Hongmei placed corncob husks under each sweet potato ball, making them easy to remove from the pot. Her mother used to do this when steaming sticky rice cakes.

"Sister Er Ya, come out and have a taste. If you don't come out, I'm going to drag you out!" she said, placing the dish on the table.

"You little rascal, you're really being shameless. I'm just afraid that if I eat all this good stuff, you'll have less. You really don't appreciate my kindness."

"Don't worry, I'll be just as happy if you eat it. Besides, I still have glutinous rice flour, so I can make it myself if I want to eat it."