The sun was shining on the country road. Today, Huang's mother took the four brothers and sisters to visit their grandparents.

They got up early and pushed a wooden cart together. On the cart were fifty sweet potatoes carefully selected by Huang's mother. The wheels rolled on the country road, making a slight creaking sound.

Except for these fifty, the rest of the more than one hundred sweet potatoes left at home were given by Huang's mother to her uncle's family and her younger uncle's family.

Xu Mengyao knew that these sweet sticks in the car not only represented their thoughts, but also carried Huang's mother's thoughts for her grandfather and the others.

The group walked along the winding path for two or three hours and finally arrived at grandma's house.

Wenxia immediately ran to the yard excitedly, only to see her grandmother sitting on a small stool, rubbing corn kernels with great concentration. The sunlight shining on her wrinkled face made her look particularly kind.

Grandpa was sitting on the doorstep. His arm had not fully recovered and was still hanging around his neck with a wooden board. He was leisurely smoking his pipe, and the smoke he exhaled slowly dissipated in the sunlight.

When the two old men saw them coming, they showed surprised smiles on their faces, quickly put down their work and came forward to greet them.

While asking about their lives, grandma took out her own collection of snacks from the cupboard and gave them to the children, while grandpa kept praising their sweet potatoes for their good growth.

At noon, grandma prepared a sumptuous meal and we all sat together, enjoying this rare reunion time.

At the dinner table, the four siblings kept serving food to the old couple, asking them to eat more. Seeing them being so sensible and filial, the old couple smiled happily.

After dinner, Grandpa took out his collection of tea and brewed a pot of tea for everyone. Xu Mengyao drank the fragrant tea, listened to her grandmother's stories about the past, and felt the warm family atmosphere.

After spending a pleasant afternoon at their grandfather's house, they were ready to go home. The two old people reluctantly saw them off to the door and told them to be careful on the road.

Huang's mother took out twenty yuan from her pocket and handed it to grandma: "Mom, this is for you. We are going to the mine tomorrow and may not come back often in the future. Please keep this money for emergencies."

Grandma refused to accept it, but Huang's mother insisted on giving it to her: "Just accept it. I'll feel more at ease if anything happens." At Huang's mother's insistence, grandma finally accepted the twenty yuan.

When they were leaving, the four siblings waved goodbye to the two old people. After walking a long way, they looked back and could still see the two old people standing at the door, feeling a little reluctant.

They both knew that it might be a long time before they met again after this separation, and they would miss each other in their hearts.

——————————

After returning tired from her grandmother's house, the four of them were planning to have a simple dinner when her aunt and younger sister-in-law appeared at the door carrying heavy bags of food.

"Fengxia, this is the food our two families should give your family this year." There was a hint of concern in the eldest aunt's voice. "Your eldest brother said that the second son will come to pick you up tomorrow. I thought it would be a good time to take it away in one trip."

Huang's mother quickly stepped forward to take the food and said with a smile, "Let this go, sister-in-law. You can give it to me anytime. You are so thoughtful."

"Let's put things first. What did you and your mother do today and why did you come back so late?" asked the aunt curiously.

"I took the children back to my mother's house, and it will be difficult for them to go back in the future." Huang's mother answered softly.

"It's what we should do." My aunt-in-law expressed her understanding.

The younger aunt took over the conversation: "Second sister-in-law, you haven't eaten yet, right? I just made a pot of sweet potato porridge. I'll have Yinliang bring it to you later, and also send a basket of steamed bread. Don't worry about it."

Huang's mother smiled gratefully: "Thank you very much, sister-in-law."

At this time, the aunt secretly winked at the aunt, and the aunt immediately took out money from her pocket.

"Fengxia, you know the situation of my family and my third brother's family, but your family's cow was left behind and our two families can't just take it for free." The aunt handed fifty yuan to Huang's mother.

The young aunt also echoed: "Second sister-in-law, please accept it."

Huang's mother shook her head and refused: "What are you doing? How can I take your money for something we agreed on?"

The eldest aunt insisted, "Keep it. This little money is nothing compared to a cow. We all remember your family's kindness. You will definitely spend a lot of money at the coal mine. Just consider it a small token of our appreciation to the children."

After saying that, she grabbed the money from her aunt's hand and stuffed it into Huang's mother's pocket. The two turned around and left without giving Huang's mother a chance to refuse.

After a while, Yinliang came over with a bamboo basket. Inside was a dozen steamed buns and a large teapot of porridge. "Second Mother, this is what my mother sent. Please eat it quickly."

Everyone sat around the table and started eating. Yin Liang sat beside them, looking back and forth at the five of them. The eldest brother felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze and deliberately teased:

"What are you looking at? Do you feel bad about eating your food?"

As soon as these words came out, Yin Liang burst into tears. The eldest brother hurriedly explained:

"You're all watching, I didn't touch him! Huang Yinliang, why are you crying?"

Yin Liang sobbed and said, "My mother said that you are leaving tomorrow and I won't be able to see you again. What should I do if I miss you? I want to play with Xiao Xia every day."

Wenxia started crying when he heard this: "I want to play with you every day, too. You and Erya are my best friends."

The others looked at this scene and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Xu Mengyao quickly tried to comfort him:

"Yinliang, don't cry. We will meet again in the future. You can stay in the mining area during your holidays, and Xia can also come back with your second uncle to live in your house during his holidays. Stop crying, Wenxia, and go get the toys you want to give to Yinliang."

When Yin Liang heard this, his eyes lit up immediately: "Really? Can I go to the coal mine to take a look?"

Huang's mother smiled and nodded, and the little guy immediately burst into laughter and ran to play with Wenxia.

At night, the family had already fallen asleep in bed when Huang's father knocked on the door, breaking the silence of the night.

Huang's mother got up, opened the door, and asked softly, "Dad, why are you back so late? Aren't you coming back tomorrow?"

Father Huang replied softly, "I swapped shifts with someone else for the morning shift. After get off work, I went straight to the village next door to have a drink with Gong Chengfa. We agreed to have him drive the truck to pick us up early tomorrow morning."

"Are you tired? I'll get you some water to wash." Huang's mother said as she was about to get up.

"No need, you go to sleep, I'll do it myself. Just wake the children up early tomorrow." Father Huang said and went to wash up.

Before dawn, Huang's mother's call had already woken the children. When Wenxia heard that they would be taking a truck to the mining area today, his eyes immediately sparkled with excitement, as if they were about to jump into the sky.

The other three children also acted quickly. They helped Huang's father move the water jars, pickle jars, sauce jars, cabinets, grain and beds in the house to the yard one by one.

I originally thought that there were not many things in the house, but now I found that the whole yard was filled with things, like a small market.