Seeing how well behaved they were, Old Lady Tian stopped talking to them and said, "Alright! Go and have your meal, and remember to wash the dishes after dinner. I will leave you alone."
After saying this, Old Mrs. Tian went back to the house to make straw sandals. During this period, Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin worked in the fields every day, and their straw sandals were quite worn out, so Old Mrs. Tian made straw sandals when she had nothing to do at home.
"Sister! Let us two help you go back." After Old Mrs. Tian left, Tian Baobao came over with a smile as if nothing had happened to help Tian Tian.
"No need for you to help me, you two should go and eat quickly, or the food will get cold soon."
The two of them used both of their hands very hard, and they pinched Tian Tian's body so hard that it hurt so much. Tian Tian didn't dare to let them support her.
Tian Tian limped into the house and lay down on the kang. When Tian Lisong and the others came back in the evening, they showed concern for Tian Tian. After Tian Tian dealt with them, she heard the chirping of crickets outside, went downstairs to open the door, and then lit some mugwort to smoke the room, and then closed the doors and windows.
Tian Tian rested for several days. When her muscles no longer hurt when touched as they did at the beginning, and she could walk and work as usual, she started to help Old Lady Tian and others with their work.
Tian Baobao and Tian Zhuo have been performing really well these past few days. They go to collect grass for pigs in exchange for cents in the morning and evening. In the morning and afternoon, they follow the adults who are harvesting wheat to pick up the wheat grains that fall on the ground, and then take them to the threshing floor to exchange for work points.
Although the two of them were always missing for a while after dinner, Old Mrs. Tian didn't say anything.
Shen Lingling didn't know how to tell her family. Although there was unpleasantness for a few days, her family finally agreed to let her go to school, saying that she would go to school after the autumn harvest holiday.
Shen Lingling came over excitedly to share the good news with Tian Tian. Tian Tian saw that her state was completely different from the last time she came. She was much more excited and her eyes were shining.
"I'm a little worried that I'm too old to go to the third grade. Will they laugh at me?"
After the excitement, Shen Lingling became a little worried. Tian Yun was one year older than her. He was in junior high school, while she was still in the third grade of elementary school. By then, the classroom would be full of a bunch of short kids, and she would be the only adult. It would be embarrassing if it got out.
"No! You are at the perfect age. You said your memory is still good now, and you think you are definitely much faster than them. You don't have to worry about these." Tian Tian comforted.
Nowadays, there are many children aged 17 or 18 who want to go to school and learn to read. It is not surprising that Shen Lingling is in the third grade at her age. It is quite normal.
Shen Lingling was not unaware of this matter, she just wanted to seek comfort from Tian Tian. Now, after hearing what Tian Tian said, she felt a lot more relaxed.
He started chattering about other things with Tian Tian.
It was almost noon before Shen Lingling went home.
After Shen Lingling left, Tian Tian sighed. Now she was the only one left among the three sisters. When she went to school in the county next year, the three sisters would have the possibility to change their fate.
"Tiantian! Come out quickly and eat your meal so you can bring it to your parents later!" Old Mrs. Tian's loud voice came from the kitchen.
"Okay!" Tian Tian hurriedly put on her shoes and went down to the field. She ran to the kitchen and quickly solved the lunch problem. Then she put the rice, vegetables, water, bowls and chopsticks she brought for them into an earthen basket and carried it to the field on a shoulder pole.
These things were quite heavy when placed in the earthen basket. As soon as Tian Tian put the pole on her shoulders, they felt a pain. But she got used to the weight after a while.
Tian Tian skillfully carried the shoulder pole to the fields to deliver vegetables to them. They would go to work on another field after finishing one. Sometimes they said they were working on this field in the morning, but would finish the work in half a morning and then run to another hill.
Sometimes, in order to find the adults in her family, Tian Tian would go from the east end of the village to the west end asking.
But now, Tian Baobao and the others are at home, running around the village all day long, and they know exactly who is on which piece of land Tian Lisong and the others are.
Tian Tian delivered the food to them one by one according to what Tian Baobao and the others had said. Chen Guihua and Lin Meiyu were closer, but Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin were farther away.
Tian Tian finally walked to the field where the two of them were, and saw that not only Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin had not eaten, but also Gu Xingshu and two other people who had been sent down to the field were also working hard, and even Gu Zhao was there.
"Dad! Second Uncle!" Tian Tian started calling them from a distance.
"Ouch!" Tian Lisong looked up and saw Tian Tian carrying two large baskets of earth over. He quickly put down the sickle in his hand and came over to take the baskets.
"Have you finished your meal?" Tian Lisong asked.
Tian Tian nodded and followed Tian Lisong to find a shady place to sit down next to the field. He helped Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin serve the food. He watched them first gulp down a bowl of water and then eat with the bowls in their hands.
She took up her straw hat and fanned herself with it, looking at Gu Zhao and the other three who were still working in the fields, and asked curiously, "Dad! Don't they need to eat? They're still working here in the middle of the day, aren't they afraid of getting drowsy from the sun?"
"They just had a meal, which was cornmeal, vegetables and dry food," said Tian Lisong.
The people who were sent down to the countryside did not have family members to bring them meals like they did, so the food must have been prepared in advance, and they would just eat a quick bite at mealtime.
Tian Tian nodded.
"Why doesn't that boy take a break?" Tian Lisong suddenly asked while looking at Gu Zhao who was working in the field.
He had a very deep impression of Gu Zhao, who told him at the time that he wanted to live alone in a house, and he didn't care whether the house was shabby or nice.
Later, his life outside was really enjoyable. He cleaned up the house bit by bit, and it became a little more lively.
Another thing is that Gu Zhao is really capable. At the beginning, he didn’t know how to hold the sickle, but after two days of getting used to it, his work speed was no slower than those old hands.
Everyone else in the team has a good impression of Gu Zhao.
"Gu Zhao! You've been working for the whole morning. You came here to work since this morning and didn't even ask for a break. Come and sit down to relax and have a drink of water!" Tian Lisong greeted Gu Zhao.
In fact, Gu Xingshu and the other two people working nearby also worked without a break for the whole morning, and even ate cornmeal cakes only when they had time to eat while working.
However, their identities were different from Gu Zhao's. Gu Zhao was an educated youth, and the two of them were "stinking ninths", so their treatments were originally different.
Although they were asked to do the hardest and most tiring work, there was no hardest and most tiring work during the autumn harvest period. Harvesting grain was the most urgent thing. So Tian Ligang arranged these two people in the fields and let other people supervise them.
Today it was Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin's turn. Even though Tian Lisong felt a little sorry for them, he would not let them sit here and rest for a while in public.
Gu Zhao put down the sickle in his hand, patted his waist, and walked over, "Uncle Lisong! Uncle Lilin!"
After greeting Tian Lisong and Tian Lilin, Gu Zhao turned and nodded to Tian Tian, quickly glanced at Tian Tian's face, then retracted his gaze and walked over to Tian Lilin and sat down.
"Gu Zhao, you should drink some water too! I heard that you city people are very particular. The water here is boiled and drawn from our own well. It's very clean!" Tian Lisong poured a bowl of water from a clay pot and handed it to Gu Zhao.
Gu Zhao didn't bother to be polite with Tian Lisong. He picked up the water and drank it all in one gulp. He was indeed thirsty.
He had already drunk up the bowl of water he brought back in the morning, and he would secretly give some to Gu Xingshu and the others from time to time. He hadn't had any water for almost two or three hours, and he was sweating a lot under the scorching sun. If it weren't for Tian Lisong's bowl of water, he might have had to lie down in a while.
"Comrade Gu Zhao? Are you used to coming to our team? If there is anything you are not used to, just tell me. We will definitely do our best to help you solve it!" Tian Lisong said.
He never said such things to other educated youth, because those educated youth might just be too arrogant and ask for this and that from the team. However, after interacting with Gu Zhao for so many days, he felt that Gu Zhao was a pretty good person with a good sense of propriety. Tian Lisong was also willing to help him within his ability.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
