Seeing her embarrassment, Su Luo said, "Auntie, I've had a bitter taste in my mouth these past two days. The pickled vegetables you brought are just what I like."
Liu Fangfang breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Su Luo say that, and laughed, saying, "Not at all, there's nothing else at home, just these pickled vegetables."
"Uncle, please sit down too."
As Su Luo spoke, she went to bring the food over.
The bowl was filled to the brim with the finest white rice, and Chen Ping'an remained silent for a long while after seeing it.
They had eaten rice like this before; every family ate it during the autumn harvest, but it was always cooked into porridge to make enough to eat, not cooked dry like Su Luo's.
Chen Ping'an thought of what the villagers had said: that Su Luo's madness had been cured and that she could earn money again. Looking at this table full of meat and dishes, he figured it must be true.
"Uncle, it's time to eat. Luo Luo cooked a pot of rice. Your family must make sure you eat your fill."
Zhao Ruyun urged him on before Chen Ping'an picked up his chopsticks.
"Yes, Second Sister-in-law."
Cheng Ping'an was in his early thirties and looked rather honest.
However, Zhao Ruyun also looks older than her age. She is only in her forties, but she has been working a lot and is thin, so she looks like she is in her fifties.
Yi Huan placed a piece of pork rib into Chen Xiaoxiao's bowl and said, "Auntie, my mother's cooking is the best. You should try it."
Chen Xiaoxiao was a bit plumper than Yi Huan, and said to Yi Huan, "Thank you, Yi Huan!"
As a child, she wasn't as restrained as an adult. She hadn't eaten meat in a long time, so she ate whatever she wanted. And the white rice from Yi Huan's house was also very fragrant.
The food was delicious, and everyone had a good appetite. Su Luo felt that the large group made the meal lively and she ate her fill.
After seeing off her third uncle's family, Su Luo boiled water to bathe the two children by the moonlight. Zhao Ruyun dressed the two children, and Su Luo also wanted to wash the two dogs.
Luckily, she cooked an extra pot of rice, otherwise the dog wouldn't have had anything to eat.
"Mom, I want to help you wash the flowers and stones too."
Yi Huan walked over, but she didn't know where to start. Shi Tou was scared and kept barking while taking a bath, and Su Luo was afraid that it would bite Yi Huan.
"Huanhuan, Mom will wash it. You can dry its fur in a bit."
"Okay, I'll listen to Mother."
After Su Luo finished washing the two dogs, she wiped Shi Tou and then slowly wiped Yi Huan's clothes off Hua Hua.
Zhao Ruyun, unable to stay idle, chopped the firewood into small sections and put them away.
Under the moonlight, Yan Chuan picked up a twig and gestured on the ground. Su Luo went over to look at him and discovered that he had written a slightly crooked character for "person" on the ground.
"Chuan Chuan is writing. Who taught you?"
Yan Chuan practiced diligently, and casually told Su Luo about how Wang Tiezhu had taught him to write that day.
After listening, Su Luo felt that the child was quite clever, exchanging words for something, which was worth a fortune.
"Chuan Chuan, if you want to learn to read in the future, Mom can teach you."
Yan Chuan looked up at Su Luo in disbelief: "Mother, are you serious? You can read?"
Su Luo knew he didn't really trust her, so she took the twig from his hand and wrote the character "人" (person) on the ground. Her strokes were vigorous and powerful, and Yan Chuan thought they were even better than Wang Tiezhu's.
"This character is pronounced 'ren' (人), Tiezhu should have told you that by now."
Yan Chuan's eyes suddenly lit up: "Mother, you really can read, that's wonderful!"
Knowing that his mother was literate, he no longer had to worry about recognizing a single character, and he truly felt that God was helping him.
"As long as Chuan Chuan behaves well, Mom will teach him two characters every day."
Yan Chuan picked up a new twig and held it in his hand, saying, "Mother, Chuan Chuan will be good. I've already learned one word today. Can you teach me another one?"
Su Luo used a twig to write the character "大" (big) on the ground and pointed it out to Yan Chuan: "Look, add a horizontal stroke above the character '人' (person), and it becomes the character '大' (big). Everyone's '大' (big) is related to many other characters. You're just starting out, so learn some simple ones."
"I understand, Mother!"
At night, the kiln is warm in winter and cool in summer, but it is indeed a bit noisy to fall asleep accompanied by the croaking of frogs and the chirping of cicadas.
The next morning, Zhao Ruyun got up and started making new clothes outside the kiln. Su Luo didn't know how to do needlework, so she said to Zhao Ruyun, "Grandma, I'm going to check on the rice seedlings in the field."
"Luo Luo, wait a minute!" Zhao Ruyun called out to Su Luo and used a reed to measure Su Luo's body size.
"Alright, I'll make this first piece of clothing for you."
Su Luo smiled and said, "Thank you, Grandma!"
Then he picked up his basket and went out. As soon as he stepped out of the fence gate, Yan Chuan waited for Su Luo with a dreamy look: "Mother, I'm going to the fields with you today."
Su Luo looked back at the kiln. The little guy was sleeping inside just now, how come he got up all of a sudden?
"Mom, I didn't wake my sister, she's still asleep."
Su Luo looked at her son, whose little thoughts were written all over his face, and took Yan Chuan's hand, saying, "Tell me, which two characters do you want to learn today?"
I learn whatever my mother teaches me.
The two figures walked further and further away. Su Luo said, "Then let's learn the 'Tai' from 'sun' today."
When Su Luo arrived at the field, she thought she was quite early, but she didn't expect the field to be full of people.
"Yan Chuan's mother, you're all better now, you can even go to work in the fields!"
The villagers greeted Su Luo, saying, "Yes, Aunt Wang, you're up so early!"
"It's getting late, we still need to gather some grass to feed the cows."
Su Luo and her family only have one mu of land between their two plots. Their land is connected to Chen Ping'an's. Chen Ping'an is building dams in the fields. They had dinner together yesterday and became much more familiar with Su Luo.
"Good morning, Su Luo!"
Good morning, Uncle.
After greeting everyone, Su Luo came to look at her family's field. Her brows furrowed instantly upon seeing it; the rice seedlings were planted too densely, meaning they wouldn't yield much rice even when mature.
To achieve high yields, excess seedlings must be removed.
Su Luo put down the basket and told Yan Chuan to practice calligraphy on the field. She instructed him, "Chuan Chuan, be a good boy and write here. Don't run around. I'll check later."
Yan Chuan nodded in agreement: "Mother, don't worry."
Su Luo went down to the field and pulled up the densely packed seedlings, leaving gaps for the healthy seedlings to grow.
After burning an incense stick for a while, Chen Ping'an stood up and saw what Su Luo had done.
Startled, she ran to Su Luo's field and shouted to stop her, "Su Luo, stop! If you pull up the rice seedlings, what will you eat this year? Stop now and put the seedlings back in!"
Su Luo wasn't in a hurry and explained to Chen Ping'an, "Uncle, I'm doing this so that the seedlings can produce better and absorb more nutrients, so that the rice can grow twice as much."
Chen Ping'an and the others had always farmed in this way, and they found it somewhat difficult to accept Su Luo's idea of forcing growth.
But he also heard that Su Luo used to have a master who was like a hermit in the mountains. Could it be that her master taught her this?
Hearing their conversation, the village chief brought his grandson, Li Hongcai, over to see what was happening.
Seeing the seedlings that Su Luo had pulled up and thrown away, he felt extremely sorry.
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