Bonus chapter! To celebrate being featured in the free new book recommendation section!

It wasn't until the food was all on the table and Er Ya had fed the pigs that Daya came back. Seeing that all the chores at home were finished, she thought to herself that her aunt was right; if she didn't do it, someone else would.

The whole family sat at the table. Her mother was serving rice, and she sat down to wait.

Liu Maocai glanced at her and said, "Don't eat. You'll be cooking from now on. If you haven't cooked by the time it's time, don't eat." He spoke softly, but every word made Daya uneasy. How could this be different from what her aunt had said?

"Dad, I won't do it again."

"The future is the future, today is today."

Liu Daya had no choice but to get off the table, but she didn't leave. The steamed buns on the table smelled so good, but she wasn't allowed to eat them. For the first time, she felt resentment towards her grandmother and aunt.

Liu Erya finished eating quickly, picked up her schoolbag, and went to Zhang Hongmei's house.

"Sister Er Ya, I've saved some good food for you."

"You always have delicious food, what's for today?"

"Yogurt, Grandma said it's delicious, you should try it. Oh, and I'll find you a bottle later and fill it with the boiled goat milk so you can take it to school. I'm telling you, drinking more milk will help you grow taller."

"Great! That's wonderful! You see, I'm the oldest but shortest in our class. I wonder if drinking will be effective now?"

"Manager, you will definitely grow taller."

Even if I grow taller, I still won't be as tall as you. You're a head taller than me now.

"Just drink one bottle of goat milk a day. If you drink it every day, you'll grow taller."

"Drink it every day? What will the sheep drink if it runs out of milk?"

"The old sheep has run out of milk, and the lambs are about to give birth, so we can connect them then."

After reviewing the text with her again, Er Ya went home, taking a bottle of milk with her. The next day at noon, Zhang Hongmei brought the old lady some goat milk buns, and the old lady gave her some dried sweet potatoes in return. In any case, she wouldn't refuse anything the old lady gave her.

Er Ya hadn't come in yet that evening, but Zhu Zi did. "Teacher Zhang Hongmei asked me to tell you that you did very well on the test this time, you got full marks."

"Thank you for making the trip, Brother Zhu. I understand. Please tell my teacher that I will continue to study hard."

A few days later, it was the forty-ninth day memorial service for Zhang Aiguo and Cui Lin, and Li Cuihua came to help with the arrangements again. Because Zhang Hongmei was alone, it felt particularly desolate.

Offerings are placed and paper money is burned; that's considered the end of the 57-day mourning period. In fact, before liberation, this mourning period was at least a year long. But now, it's enough to just observe the 57-day mourning period.

Zhang Hongmei didn't take the offerings back either. She left them there; it's fine whether people take them or animals eat them.

When Li Cuihua returned at noon, she invited Zhang Hongmei to her house for lunch.

"Auntie, I'm not going. I want to treat myself today and I want to eat steamed egg custard. I won't be eating at your house again. Don't worry about me. I'm better off on my own than at your house. If you consider me family, then don't call me anymore."

Li Cuihua looked at Zhang Hongmei speechlessly, as this girl seemed to have gotten to say everything.

"Auntie, when are we going to get on the sweet potato kang? I want to plant more sweet potatoes this year, so I have to get on the sweet potato kang myself."

"You only have half an acre of land, how many sweet potatoes do you want to plant?"

"I want to plant sweet potatoes on all the dry land, and corn on the remaining corners. I'll also plant some soybeans on the edges."

"Sweet potatoes don't keep well. If you plant too many, where will you store them?"

"The good ones are put in the cellar, and the rotten ones are cooked until they're burnt, then chopped dry. We'll also cut some raw and dry them to keep for grinding into flour later."

"Okay, since you've made up your mind, then let's do it this way. After you've paid your grain tax, all you'll have left is that little bit of corn. What will you eat?"

“Auntie, the old grain I have left at home is enough for me to eat. Besides, sweet potatoes have a high yield. If I can’t eat, I can eat more sweet potatoes to make up for it.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to your third uncle about it later. Do you still have any plastic sheeting? You need to cover the sweet potato kang (heated brick bed) with it.”

"Yes, there's a whole bunch more, my parents brought it back."

"Okay, I'll tell you when it's time to go, and we'll work on it together."

"Okay, if your family also makes their own sweet potato kang (heated brick bed), we'll do it together, it'll save you trouble."

"Besides, I still need to ask your third uncle. If he also loses more, I'll take one myself; if he loses less, I'll go with you."

"Okay, there's no rush anyway. I'll wait for your letter."

Zhang Hongmei genuinely felt that there wouldn't be a drought next year. The snow was still so thick that even if there was little rain next year, it wouldn't be too dry. However, she would still plant sweet potatoes. She didn't plan to plant sweet potatoes in her space, so she would plant them openly. What she told Li Cuihua was true. She would store them in the cellar on the surface, but actually put them in her space. If there was a drought, she would deliver corn as public grain. If there wasn't a drought, she would use sweet potatoes instead. If that didn't work, she would deliver more.

The mourning period is finally over, time to eat meat again! For lunch, I'm planning to steam an egg and braise a yellow croaker. I don't care if they'll make it too fishy; the main thing is that she really wants both. Thai jasmine rice and stir-fried green beans—that's it!

After finishing my meal, I slumped back in my chair, rubbing my belly. I had finally gotten to eat the braised fish I had been craving.

The soybeans in the field are growing very well, so there's no need to worry about them. I just need to set aside a plot of land to grow vegetables. The cabbages in the cellar are almost gone, so I'll plant a few in the space.

Everything else can wait; let's just focus on raising succulents.

I still need to find a place to read books. I need to hurry up and read through all my junior high school books. I don't have time for spring planting and autumn harvest, so I don't have the energy to read books anymore.

Time seemed to fly by when I was focused, and I didn't put down my book until Liu Erya knocked on the door.

“Hongmei, the teacher said that some places have started communal dining, where everyone hands over their grain to the village, and then everyone cooks and eats together. Maybe we’ll be like that here too. Collective labor and collective meals.”

"Sister Er Ya, do you think this is a good idea?"

"I don't know, I just feel it's unfair. Hardworking people and lazy people eat the same amount, so who will work in the future?"

"That makes sense, but we have no choice but to follow this decision."

"Yes, the teacher also said that we should carry out a large-scale steel production campaign and launch satellites."

"Hehe, we're quite backward here, we don't know when it will be implemented."

"That's what our teacher said too, telling us not to be impatient and just to study hard."

"I think the teacher is right. As students, we should just focus on our studies."

“Hongmei, I’m going to start asking for leave when I start planting in the spring. There’s a lot of land in the village, and my parents are too busy to manage it all. I’ll be able to help out as much as I can.”

"That's great, just don't neglect your studies. This learning opportunity is so rare!"

“I know I’d do anything to go to school. I used to think that was all I was, but now that I have this opportunity, I have to seize it. I really want to go out.”

"Hehe, it's all about human effort. I really envy Sister Er Ya for knowing what she wants, while I'm completely clueless."

"I envy you. Even our teacher praised you in front of the whole class."