"good"

"Mom, we'll listen carefully, please tell us!"

"Mom used to say that we should never tell anyone what we eat at home, do you remember?"

"We remember, Mom, we all remember."

"That's good. You still can't say that in the future, okay?"

"knew"

“We’ll be eating meat more often from now on, so the five of you can’t tell anyone, and you can’t bring any other friends home, understand?”

"No one is allowed?"

"Yes, not only that, but also, from now on, whenever our family cooks meat dishes or stews meat soup, all five of you will have to help."

"Is it to help start the fire?"

"It wasn't just about starting fires; it also included standing guard."

"Standing guard? Like the uncles in Dad's army?"

"Yes, on guard duty."

"Mom, tell me! How do you do it?"

"Okay, you guys listen carefully! For example, today we'll cook meat and vegetables. Ping An and An will stay home and tend the fire, while the three of you can play near our front door. If anyone comes by, or anything, just speak loudly."

If they're coming to your house, run home as fast as you can, shouting loudly, understand?

"Okay, Mom."

"Mom! I will also try not to cook meat dishes during the day. If I do cook them, I will tell you in advance."

Also, when Daddy comes back, have him build two more small stoves in the east inner room so he can make soup for Ping An and An.

What would happen if Mom really let someone else have her?

"Mantou asked a good question. You should know that if other people knew that our family often eats meat, some people would come to our house asking for meat, and they would cry if we didn't give them any!"

"Mom, is it like Grandma Qi's dog, Gou Dan? Does he throw a tantrum on the ground if he's not given meat?"

"Yes, actually it's not that scary. The main problem is that nowadays, not many families have much meat to eat."

The most terrifying thing isn't like Gou Dan rolling on the ground trying to get meat. It's that some people, out of jealousy because others are eating meat, secretly go to town to report them. Then, their homes will be ransacked!

"Confiscating their property! Does Auntie live like a city person?"

"Have you met An'an before?"

“My brother and I have both seen it. When our parents took us to the city before, many people ransacked the houses and even paraded the people through the streets.”

"Yes, my brother is right, they are so pitiful!"

"Really? Brother Pingping, Brother An'an?"

"It's true, Baozi, we saw it with our own eyes."

"Mom, if people find out we're eating meat, will we really be paraded through the streets on a leash?"

"almost"

"Then I won't eat meat."

I'm not eating either.

"Yes, I'm not eating anymore."

"Alright, didn't Mom say that from now on, you should still cook meat dishes secretly, just like before?"

"But what if someone finds out?"

"Try not to let anyone find out! The most important thing is that when you go out, you can't tell other people what we eat at home."

Like now, a few of us can eat an egg every morning, but other families can't afford that. They only eat it once in a long while, and save the rest to sell to the supply and marketing cooperative for money, you know?

"They are so pitiful!"

"They are not pitiful, but their mothers are reluctant to feed their children. If their mothers were willing to feed you, you wouldn't be able to eat every day."

"All right!"

"So, we can't talk about what we eat at home outside."

"good"

From then on, I would occasionally go into town specifically to buy pork bones from the butcher's stall.

Even though there was no meat on the bones, I still bought them, chopped them with an axe, put them on a specially built stove, and stewed them overnight.

The next morning, I put in the rinsed rice and cooked it into porridge.

She never tells her child that she is a mother, or that she doesn't like to eat this or that.

Instead, he eats whatever the children eat, and he gives the children whatever he eats.

That is, when the children are able to eat complementary foods until they are one year old, we will cook separate meals for them, and we will never spoil anyone in terms of food.

Even the baby formula, regardless of age, is poured into enamel mugs and distributed to each child.

Every night, they drink either milk powder or malted milk powder. Otherwise, how could their three sons be among the few chubby ones in the production team?

Also, since they were born, I have been giving them water boiled in my space to drink, and it has worked quite well. The three of them rarely get sick throughout the year.

Since they arrived home safely, I've given them the same water, because I'm really afraid they won't grow up.

It was from this time that I started to cook different kinds of food for the children.

Putting everything else aside, there is no shortage of food or meat in the space, and I can provide them with the best possible living conditions.

However, there are also requirements for them. Not to mention anything else, just the three of them, Mantou, Ping'an, and An'an, have to study every day, and they have to do it correctly.

"Did you learn the words I taught you yesterday? There will be a test tomorrow, and you'll get a reward if you get them right."

"What reward is Mom giving me? Is it a cake?"

"Yes! So shouldn't you all study harder?"

"Oh! We can eat cake now!"

"Mom, don't worry, I'll definitely be able to do it."

"You can't be so sure, you know? We'll only know after the exam tomorrow!"

And if I make a mistake, it's okay, it just means I'll go to the foot of the mountain and pick up a bundle of firewood.

"But what if I can't carry it?"

"If you can't carry it all by yourself, why don't two people carry it, or carry it back little by little?"

Before you encounter a problem, you must first learn to think about it, understand?

"oh"

"Alright, go study or play!"

"good"

Leaving aside the other children, let's talk about Mantou. He's five years old this year. If this were in the city, he would have been sent to daycare long ago. But now we're in the countryside, and there's no way to afford that.

Most of the children in the production team went to primary school around the age of 10. One reason was that children that age couldn't take care of themselves, and another was that there was no formal education in the production team.

The nearest school in this area is in another brigade, and it's about six or seven miles away on foot. There's no way around it now; we can't have a primary school in every brigade.

So when Mantou was 5 years old, I started teaching him little by little. At first, I only taught him simple words and numbers.

Recently, after Ping An and An caught up with his pace, I started to slowly teach them some first-grade knowledge, and also some ancient poems and such.

However, I still made a few special trips to the city and found a set of textbooks from elementary to high school at the scrap yard.