There was little rain this year. Not a drop of rain fell for a whole month. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and the moisture on the surface of the ground dried up. The crops in the fields had ears and bent their stalks. They would be ready for harvest soon.

Most of the young men and boys in the village got jobs. If two people in the family went out to work together, they could get two wages a day. The income was abundant in a month, and life was a little better. In the past, a family would guard one mu and three mu of land, looking forward to the harvest of crops next year so that the whole family could have a full meal. Now that many young men and boys in the village have jobs, there are few young men and boys in the fields. Those who come to work in the fields are all old men and mothers.

In Caojia Village today, as long as you are not lazy, hardworking, and willing to work, grow some vegetables, and raise some chickens and ducks, you will not starve to death.

"Amu..." The boy who ran to the field to find his Amu saw his Amu from a distance and shouted.

Wang Yan, who was working in the field, heard the voice, raised his head, and saw his eldest son running towards him. When the child came closer and saw the fingerprints on the child's face, Wang Yan's face darkened and she asked, "Did your father beat you again?"

During the year when her husband was away from home, the eldest uncle's family was divided up, and the family relied on only the father to work in the fields. There were many mouths to feed in the family, and the adults and children were not full. The children were crying with hunger, forcing him to learn to work in the fields.

The eldest brother and the eldest brothers all went to the fourth uncle to get a job. He couldn't bring himself to do that, and didn't want to go to his fourth uncle, so he helped his father to work in the fields. Together with his father, they planted a few vegetable plots. The vegetables they planted could also be sold for some money. The chickens and ducks they raised at the beginning of the year would also be sold soon. Life was hard, but there was hope in their hearts.

Now that her husband is back, he is like a different person. The husband who loved her before has disappeared and has become the way he is now. When he comes back, he beats the child at every turn, even hitting him. Seeing the slap marks on the child's face, Wang Yan felt indescribable pain in her heart.

"There is no food in the pot. Dad wants to eat. Let me go back and make food for him." The child is afraid of his father. The lawless boy in the past now trembles when he thinks of his father's face.

His mother watches him wash rice and cook every day. She measures the amount with a bowl. After one meal, there is only a little water left in the pot. There is no lunch at home. If you are really hungry, you can just drink a bowl of porridge to fill your stomach. Thinking that her husband was hungry and needed food, and when he had nothing to eat, he took it out on the child. She reached out and touched the slap marks on the child's face. Wang Yan sighed and asked, "Bao, why don't you go to the academy?"

"My father won't allow me to do that. He said that studying is useless." The place where he was beaten was a little painful. Cao Tianbao shrank his neck and said with his head down.

"Go back to the academy to study. Don't listen to what your father says. If he wants to beat you, run away." Wang Yan came to the fields to work early in the morning and has been working until now. The rice porridge she had in the morning has been gone by now.

Since her husband came back, he has been lying in bed every day waiting for someone to bring him food and wait on him. Life at home is so hard now. When the husband comes home, he doesn't help. He also wants him to serve him. Now he doesn't even let the children go to school. He wants the children to stay at home and serve him as a father.

It was the father's idea to send the children to school. He has no money and can't even fill his stomach. How can he have money to send the children to school?

Later, Wang Yan learned that his fourth uncle had sent money to his father, and Chen Li also had some money to pay for the children's education. This money does not need to be used for his children's education. Once it goes into his mother's pocket, there is no way to get it out again. So he sent the children to school.

After separating from her uncle's family, Wang Yan was envious and even jealous of them as they lived a better life. Her husband was taken away to do hard labor, and it was hard for her to raise several children. Now that her husband finally came back, Wang Yan suddenly had an idea that it would be better for her husband not to come back and stay outside. After

saying goodbye to her father and packing up the things in the field, Wang Yan took the children back to the village, letting them go to the academy while she went back home.

When they returned, the strange tranquility in the Cao family compound was broken and it became lively.

When Chen Li returned home after work, there were villagers waiting at the door, which he still found strange. Before he even stepped into the door, he heard his mother crying. She was sitting there beating her chest and crying. Seeing her husband standing there looking at her helplessly, he walked over and asked, "Husband, what happened at home?"

"It's my second brother..." Cao Fugui whispered in the ear of his wife Chen Li. The gist of it was that his second brother took food from the cellar, and his fourth brother asked someone to send meat over. His second brother cut some and asked his second brother to cook it, and his mother started to make a fuss.

This food was originally sent over for them to eat. His father said in the morning that he would call his fourth brother's family back for dinner, and they also agreed to cook. But now, after hearing that his fourth brother asked someone to send meat over, no one came to eat.

After hearing what her husband said, and seeing that the children were also at home, Chen Li wanted her husband to go back to their place, and not to worry about the trivial matters of mother and second uncle. It was time to prepare dinner, and it would be dark soon.

The days were long and the nights were short at this time of year, and it would get dark later, so it was still in time to prepare dinner.

"Let's go and persuade mother." Cao Lao Da saw his mother "I won't go, you go if you want." Hearing her husband say that he wanted to persuade mother, Chen Li said with a dark face.

They had finally separated from father and mother, and second uncle didn't live with them anymore. Now they were living their lives behind closed doors. It was their business if they wanted to make trouble, and it was none of their business anyway. Her husband was still in a hurry to step on the Hunshui River. Chen Li was extremely thankful that he had made a fuss about dividing the family property, and now there are fewer problems.

Seeing his father sitting there smoking a pipe, Chen Li walked over and called out "Dad". Seeing his father looking at him, he said, "Fourth Uncle and the others are not coming to dinner tonight, right? Then we don't have to cook for everyone."

"Don't bring the meat that Fourth Uncle sent here. I bought quite a bit of meat. I'll cook some meat and bring a bowl to Dad later." Meat in summer cannot be kept for a long time. The meat of the day must be eaten on the same day. It will go bad if left for the next day. Chen Li wanted to cook all the meat she bought so that the children could have a full meal.

Anyway, if his fourth uncle didn't come to eat, Chen Li didn't plan to cook for the whole family. He would eat at the same table with his second uncle's family and his mother.

Chen Li knew very well why his second uncle was sent to do hard labor. He knew that his second uncle had done some sneaky things in the village. Sometimes he stole someone's chicken and killed the whole family to eat. He looked down on his second uncle. Even if someone else came back, after the family was divided, he could avoid these troubles at home. Chen Li didn't want to be involved. Cao Ashan took a puff of dry cigarette and waved his hand to let him go. He didn't know whether it was in response to the first sentence or the second sentence.

Seeing his father agreed, Chen Li left. After walking two steps, she looked back and saw her husband still standing there. She went to her small kitchen and hurried to prepare dinner. At this time, she was hungry.

The room brought in fragrant rice and a pot of greasy meat. Cao Laoer ate until his mouth was full of meat. This was the most satisfying meal he had eaten in a long time.

It smells so good, so good!

Wang Yan stood in the corner, not going in to eat, listening to her mother's curses outside. She had gotten used to her mother's curses over the past year. She felt indescribable when she saw her husband eating the meat in big mouthfuls, eating the whole pot of meat by himself, not knowing whether to leave a bite for him or the children.

She finished the whole pot of meat, leaving only a little soup. She couldn't finish the whole pot of rice by herself, so there was still half of it left in the pot. After taking a look at the rice in the pot, Cao Laoer still looked regretful. Seeing that he was standing there without coming to eat, "This old thing has stored so much food, but only gives us two meals a day, and even two meals a day are not enough for us to eat!" Cao Laoer ate and drank enough in the house. Hearing his mother crying outside for so long, he laughed.

He knew that his mother was stingy, and the little money she stole was given to his fifth brother. After all, he was his son. His fifth brother had money and meat, but Cao Laoer had nothing? ! But in his heart, Cao Laoer had bad intentions. He looked at his wife who was sitting there and asked, "You said that Mom still has a lot of money, right?"

Wang Yan looked at her husband with disbelief in her eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Cao Laoer was unhappy when he was looked at by his wife. He glared at her. If he guessed correctly, his mom must have saved a lot of money, otherwise how could his fifth brother get the money to study? Cao Laoer pondered in his heart.

After such a long time, something seemed to be missing from the house. Cao Laoer looked up and found that his eldest son did not come back with him. He asked, "Where is Tianbao?"

"He's outside." Thinking that the younger ones should be back from the academy, Wang Yan's eyes were full of vigilance when she heard her husband asking about the children. "Hey, there's still some food left here. You and the younger ones can eat it. I've finished the meat, but dad still has some. You can go over and cut some to cook." Cao Laoer didn't hear his mother scolding him at all. After finishing a pot of meat, he was still thinking about the remaining meat from his mother.

Wang Yan stood there without saying a word.

"Don't you dare?" Cao Laoer asked.

When people are so hungry that they are about to die of hunger, there is nothing they dare not do. When he first went there to do hard labor, he couldn't even get food to eat. Fortunately, he didn't starve to death. Later, he slowly learned how to steal food, otherwise he would have starved to death. How could anyone come back alive?

"Don't let the little ones go to school. What kind of books are they going to study? It's a waste of my money. I'd rather use the money to buy two pounds of meat for me. What's the point of studying?" Cao Laoer was furious when he thought of the little ones going to school. What's the point of

studying? Studying doesn't cost money. He can't even fill his stomach, so why send the children to study!

Listening to her husband's words, Wang Yan stood there silently without saying a word.

Outside the house, Chen Zhu was still scolding, from his second son to his second daughter-in-law. Wang Yan listened to his mother scolding him for not going out to cook, thinking that the children had all returned and were still waiting for him to cook dinner.

"Husband, husband, I'm going out to cook." Wang Yan said after hesitatingly looking at her husband.

"Go ahead." After eating his fill, Cao Laoer was also satisfied. After getting her husband's nod, Wang Yan went out.