Back at the family compound, Bonnie busied herself cooking corn.
Luckily, the pot at home was big enough. After peeling the corn, they put it in the pot and covered it with a layer of clean corn husks. As for why they did this, Bonnie didn't know either.
"Auntie, shall we go beachcombing tomorrow?" Xuan Yu was eager to go beachcombing and practice diving.
"Okay, I'll go after breakfast tomorrow." The water in the pot had already boiled, and the faint aroma of corn wafted out.
We can't just eat corn, so Bonnie steamed a pot of rice, and washed and steamed eggplants, potatoes, and squash from the garden. There are quite a few vegetables this season; Bonnie didn't have any at home, so she picked a lot from her parents' house.
Grandma made spicy tomato sauce and egg sauce, enough for two meals. The last dish was persimmons with white sugar—that's it. Bao Ni's mother was taking care of Lin Bo's wife in the family compound. Bao Ni, carrying some things, told Grandma she would bring over some boiled corn on the cob later.
When we got home, the children were all wandering around the kitchen.
"What's wrong, are you hungry?"
"I'm starving!" The shout was deafening.
Bonnie felt that the time was almost up, so she lifted the lid of the pot, scooped out an ear of corn, tasted it, and found it was cooked.
"It's cooked. Take the bowls and chopsticks to the table. Xuanyu, bring out the rice from the other pot, and take out the steamed eggplant and potatoes. Hanbei, go peel the scallions. Zheng Tao, wash the vegetables I brought back..."
During the meal, everyone was under Bonnie's control, even Gu Sanqi couldn't escape, she was moving chairs.
"Liu Jiu, take your brother to deliver some corncobs to Madam. Han Bei, go and deliver some to your uncle and his family. Hurry back, and we'll eat when you get back."
“Aunt Gu, Liu Jiu and I will go.” Zheng Jun volunteered. He had tried to spar with Liu Jiu several times this time, but failed each time.
"Okay, go ahead."
Liu Jiu took the things and left. Zheng Jun followed behind, wanting to help carry them, but Liu Jiu was in a hurry to get home for dinner and ran ahead. Zheng Jun followed closely behind and didn't have a chance to get the things.
Once everyone had arrived, Bonnie said we could eat.
Each person had a corncob, and they were munching away with great relish.
"Auntie, this chili sauce is so delicious! Ouch, it's so spicy, I want more!"
"It's delicious. Mix potatoes and eggplant with scallions and some rice. I can eat three big bowls of it."
"tasty!"
It's true, there were seven children of all ages at the table, eating and praising the food. Not a single grain of rice was left in the big bowl. If Bonnie hadn't left a few ears of corn for Gu Ye, there wouldn't have been any left either.
After eating and drinking their fill, the children cleaned up the dishes and ran out to play. Even Gu Xuanyi and Sanqi went along. Gu Xuanyi was dragged away by Liu Jiu, while Sanqi wanted to go out to play because the sun was out.
In the evening, Gu Ye made some simple dumpling soup. No one was very hungry, and they were full after eating a little. They wanted to go back to sleep because they were going to go beachcombing the next day.
"Gu Ye, tell me, if any family had this many children, wouldn't they all be devastated?"
"There's some truth to the saying 'a half-grown boy can eat his father out of house and home.' There are families like that. There are quite a few soldiers in the team who have six or seven siblings. The most I've heard of is that a family had ten children, but only eight survived."
Back then, people responded to the call to have children one after another. Now, the emphasis is on having fewer and better children. After the one-child policy was implemented, the idea became "fewer children, more trees," and "one child is best." Decades later, they encourage childbirth again, even offering rewards for having a second child!
Bonnie sighed to herself for a moment, then drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, Gu Ye made breakfast. He was off today, so he took the children to go beachcombing.
"My shoulders hurt, I can't use this carrying pole properly." Early in the morning, Gu Ye sent a few boys to fetch water.
"Me too. Compared to this, our lives are so much happier!" Gu Xuanyu was doing these kinds of chores for the first time, and he was deeply moved by his experience.
At home, they might help wash the dishes, but that doesn't happen very often.
However, he saw that Liu Jiu and San Qi were very skilled at it, even able to work together to wash their own clothes clean. Even if they weren't perfectly clean, their aunt wouldn't say anything, at most she would secretly wash them again. Liu Jiu was even more so, maintaining a daily morning exercise routine that he couldn't even manage.
The three young men were filled with emotion, and Zheng Jun and Xuan Yi were ordered by Liu Jiu to wash their own clothes.
Xuan Yi didn't want to wash, but he didn't dare, afraid that Liu Jiu would beat him up.
Around 8 o'clock, Bonnie and Gu Ye led the group to the beach, carrying baskets, machetes, and shovels.
"Sanqi, what are you doing?"
Sanqi, lagging behind, was adjusting his straw hat, trying to find the right position to completely cover his face. He didn't want to come; it was boring and the sun was too hot. But his mother disagreed, and his father unconditionally supported her.
"Look, there's a little hole in this sand, and it's blowing bubbles."
"Ah, someone's pinching me! Help!"
"Liu Jiu, what is this hedgehog-like thing? Does it bite?"
"I'm going to find a conch shell, a giant conch shell!"
...
It looked like a flock of ducks had arrived on the beach, quacking loudly, and it was hard to tell who was making the noise.
When Han Weidong and his group arrived, this was the scene they saw: the entire beach was filled with the shouts of these children.
“Wei Dong, you guys keep an eye on these kids. They can play for a while and then go home for dinner. This afternoon, your brother Gu Ye is going to teach them how to scuba dive. You guys can practice too. We’ll be planting seaweed again soon, and this year’s area is much larger than last year’s.”
"Understood, Bonnie, I promise to complete the mission!"
Li Gang gave a proper salute, which smeared sand all over Zhou Chen's face, and the group started fooling around on the beach.
Gu Ye hasn't spent much time with his wife and children in a long time, and he's very busy right now.
Bonnie ignored them and went to the reefs to see if there were any large seafood.
"Mom, wait for me."
Sanqi saw his mother heading towards the rocky outcrops, and he happily followed her, where there was a shady spot.
"Sanqi, aren't you going to play with Daddy?"
"It's hot, so hot, I've gotten a tan."
Bonnie was also helpless; this child was too bothered by getting a tan.
Bonnie told Gu Ye and then led Sanqi toward the reefs.
"Sixty-nine, there's a snake!" Gu Xuanyi jumped around on the beach like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"It's okay, that's not a snake, it's a conger eel, it's delicious." Liu Jiu quickly grabbed the conger eel and threw it into his basket.
"It looks just like a snake! It scared me to death!" Xuan Yi patted his chest. What he had experienced recently was more exciting than all the previous years combined.
Seasickness, picking corn, morning exercise on the beach, washing clothes, carrying water... His dad must have been unhappy with him for a long time, otherwise, why would he have to leave him here? Sigh...
Unlike Gu Xuanyi's sighs and complaints, everyone else was having a blast; it was so much fun.
"Uncle, is it true that we're going diving this afternoon?" Xuan Yu and Zheng Tao looked at Gu Ye with anticipation.
"Well, while I'm resting, I'll teach you the basics, and your aunt will guide you through the rest."
"Wow, that's fantastic!"
The group excitedly tumbled around, then burst into laughter as they faced the waves…
Running carefree in my youth, amidst the splashing waves, it was so exhilarating!
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