"Lin Yi, do you still recognize these words?" Ningxia looked at Lin Yi and asked seriously.
Lin Yi rarely showed an embarrassed expression, "I don't... I don't know... I can spell some of them in pinyin, but... I can't remember many of them..."
He lowered his head, his neck and ears turned red, and he felt extremely uncomfortable.
Ningxia smiled, reached out and touched his head. Her hand lingered there for a long time before she spoke, "When I'm done with this busy period, I'll take some time every day to teach you. Do you want to learn?"
Lin Yi looked up suddenly, the embarrassment in his eyes replaced by joy, "Thank you, Sister Xia Xia!"
"Xia Xia! I want to learn too!" Sangsang, who was standing aside, didn't want to be left behind and started shouting.
When she reads, she is not like Lin Yi, who tries hard to remember the pinyin of each word. She doesn't even have a concept of literacy. She just looks at the beautiful pictures in the book.
"I'll teach you together. Sangsang and his brother will compete to see who can recognize more words."
"good!"
"Sangsang will win!"
In the evening, we had fish fillet and multi-grain rice, with some chicken fat removed from making chicken soup. It was so delicious that Sangsang ate two bowls.
The three of them went back to the room and sat on the bed, planning what to do tomorrow in the dark.
"Tomorrow we'll go a little further and cut a couple of bamboos from the bamboo forest to make chopsticks. We can also dry the bamboo branches and make a fork to sweep the yard."
"What is a cross sweep?" Sangsang interrupted.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
"Sister Xia Xia, when are we going to plant vegetables tomorrow?" Lin Yi asked.
Ningxia reviewed tomorrow's plans in her head before speaking, "I'm going to go cut some bamboo tomorrow morning while it's still cool. It'll take an hour or two. You and Sangsang stay home and lock the gate. No one is allowed to open it."
Sangsang grabbed Ningxia's arm precisely in the dark, "But I want to be with you."
"Sangsang, be good. I'll just go cut some bamboo and come back. It's too far and the sun is so strong, you'll be very tired. Just be good with your brother at home. I'll come back and make you steamed buns with jam."
Sangsang agreed reluctantly.
"Then Sister Xia Xia, I'll clean the attic floor and stairs at home tomorrow. It just so happens that you've already made the broom."
"Okay, I won't wake you up tomorrow when I get up. You can sleep in and I'll heat up some pancakes for you."
That being said, the next morning, as soon as Ningxia sat up, Lin Yi woke up. For a boy of his age, his vigilance was unusually high.
"Sleep a little longer?"
"No, I went to bed early at night and had enough sleep."
"Then take your time packing and don't wake Sangsang. I'll pack and go out right away."
"Okay, Sister Xia Xia, please be safe."
After the two of them had a quiet conversation, they each went their own way.
As soon as Ningxia left, Lin Yi went out and locked the courtyard door. He sat under the eaves for a while, then got up and took a pancake out of the pot. After eating it in a few bites, he picked up the broom and went into the house to sweep the floor.
When Sangsang woke up, Lin Yi was already sweeping the floor for the second time.
"Brother, where is Xia Xia?"
Lin Yi worked tirelessly to help Sangsang put on his shoes and said, "Let's go out and cut some bamboo."
"Oh." Sangsang put on his shoes and walked around the house like a mountain king inspecting his territory. "The house is so clean!"
Lin Yi smiled, put down the broom for the time being, and took Sangsang to the yard. "Here, eat the cake first, and then you can go in after I finish cleaning."
Sangsang nodded obediently and let Lin Yi go about his business.
Although Lin Yi was a boy, he was very meticulous. He swept the entire place twice, from the living room to the kitchen, then to the stairwell, the children's room, and the master bedroom. He even sorted through the messy daily necessities in the attic and found a lot of useful things.
"Brother, let me help you!" After eating the biscuits and drinking some chrysanthemum tea, Sangsang couldn't wait to run to Lin Yi.
After Lin Yi wet the cloth strips in his hands, he handed Sangsang a small basin and said, "Sangsang, can you help me sprinkle some water on the ground?"
Sangsang's eyes lit up, but she didn't take the basin. She turned around and ran away. A moment later, she came back holding her water gun, which was almost bigger than her. "I'll use this!"
Lin Yi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Okay, but it can only be poured on the ground, not anywhere else."
Sangsang nodded and agreed.
The brother and sister worked together, and when Ningxia came back, they had finished the second time.
"Sister Xia Xia!" Lin Yi put down the rag, went to the yard to unlock it, and took the two thick bamboos from Ningxia's shoulders. They were still attached to the branches and leaves, and looked very fresh.
Ningxia put down the bamboo, stretched his shoulders, and walked to the door of the house, but did not go in. "Wow, it's so clean."
The room was brand new and everything that could be cleaned had been cleaned, so Ningxia felt embarrassed to step into it with her muddy Liberation shoes.
Lin Yi smiled and said, "It's almost done. There's still a little bit of the living room left to be cleaned." Lin Yi looked at the 'strip' in Ningxia's hand.
Ningxia picked it up and shook it. "Today we're eating snake." Then he took the basin and went to the water tank under the eaves, scooped out some water and washed himself. "You guys keep busy. I'll wash myself and make lunch for you."
Sangsang took Ningxia's slippers sensibly.
"Sister Xia Xia, don't we grow vegetables?" It was obvious that Lin Yi had been thinking about the pile of flower pots of different sizes in the toilet, and snakes or not were not very tempting to him.
Ningxia brushed her hair against her face and replied vaguely, "Hey, aren't you hungry?"
Lin Yi and Sangsang shook their heads.
Ningxia smiled helplessly, "Okay, it's still early, let's plant some vegetables first."
All the luggage they brought with them were put in the kitchen and living room. Ningxia took out the seeds and took the two children to the bathroom.
The soil in the pot was almost dry, and it was still slightly moist when pressed by hand. Ningxia first took out the sprouted wild garlic that she had found in the bag earlier, and placed the sprouts one by one in the soil with their heads facing upwards.
Seeing that Lin Yi was eager to try, Ningxia handed him two, and Lin Yi planted them following suit.
But there are not many, only a dozen or so, and I don’t know how many will survive. A large flowerpot only takes up half of it.
"Lin Yi, next time you encounter wild onions outside, don't just pull out the leaves, dig up the roots as well so you can plant them."
Lin Yi nodded to indicate that he understood.
Ningxia grabbed two handfuls of unused soil from the bag next to her and sprinkled it on the garlic she had just planted. It was a thin layer, and you could still see the small sprouts on the garlic.
The survival gift pack given at the trading point contains many types of seeds, but the quantity is not large.
Ningxia dug out a small bag of Chinese cabbage seeds, found the largest flowerpot, loosened the soil and sprinkled the seeds in, then covered it with a layer of moist soil and watered it.
"So simple?" Lin Yi couldn't believe it. He thought growing vegetables was a complicated and laborious task.
"It's that simple. Chinese cabbage is generally easy to grow. We just water it thoroughly at once, put it under the sun, and then water it again after it sprouts." Ningxia continued to work on the things in his hands without raising his head.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com