After delivering dinner, Rongrong returned home.

The child in my mother-in-law's arms has been coaxed to sleep.

"We were waiting for you to have dinner. He was fussing about sleeping, so we let him eat something first. He is asleep now." Xiao Dongxiang carried the child into the house and then came out.

The family started to eat dinner.

Rongrong doesn't like to talk much, so the dinner table is often quiet.

After dinner, Xiao Dongxiang said, "Summer is here. I'll take you to the county town to buy some new clothes. It's a good opportunity to go see how Yong'er is doing."

"There's no need to buy clothes. I have enough clothes to wear. Let's go see him." Rongrong said and went back to the room.

Yong'er is her husband, who now works in a blind massage shop in the county town and comes back once or twice a month.

She returned to the room, looked at the sleeping child, and took the older child to wash up. After washing up, the older child made a fuss in bed and refused to sleep. She coaxed him for a long time before he felt sleepy. Then the younger one started crying again.

She went to coax the younger one, and the younger one stopped crying after being coaxed. But the older one started to make a fuss about wanting to pee again.

She took the two children to pee again, and it took a long time before she coaxed the two devils to sleep.

After the child fell asleep, she seemed to finally have some time for herself.

I went to the bathroom, wiped my body with a towel dipped in water, and changed into cool short-sleeved shirt and shorts.

She slept with her two children. Her husband felt that one bed was too crowded, so he put a bamboo bed next to it, which was equivalent to two beds put together.

The child slept on the wooden bed inside, and she slept on the bamboo bed outside.

The ceiling fan above my head was a bit old and rusty, and it made a squeaking sound when it turned.

I turned off the lights and lay down. Through the old wooden glass window, I could just see the moon outside.

The moonlight that came in was incredibly bright, just like a dim light on the room.

It was too bright to sleep, so she turned her head to the other side and saw the bottle of ointment that she had casually placed on the bedside.

She remembered what her mother-in-law said, that she would go to see her husband after a while.

The last time I saw him was the first month of his first job at that massage parlor.

Her mother-in-law took her there.

When she went to the store, the boss looked her up and down and said in a teasing tone: "Yong Zinai, you are so lucky to have such a beautiful wife."

Such words may be a compliment or politeness to others, but to her, they are sarcasm.

She immediately lowered her head, very angry, knowing that the other party was deliberately making fun of her and her husband.

Her husband was like a fool, as if he couldn't understand the meaning of other people's words. He smiled happily and replied, "Yes, it is indeed my blessing to marry such a beautiful wife."

The beauty in his words was genuine.

But when they got married, the matchmaker had clearly said that she had burns all over her body. Besides, how could a blind man like him know whether she was pretty or not?

Marriage is a choice that cannot be changed and can only be passively accepted.

He was just the best one among her choices.

It has nothing to do with love.

But at that moment, when she heard what he said, she was indeed moved.

Maybe because of love, I care about his face in front of outsiders.

She never went to the massage parlor where he worked again.

My mother-in-law mentioned it several times, but she always refused.

She looked at the vague outline of the bottle in the dim light, and a voice emerged in her heart.

Give it a try. If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. It’s not the first or second time that you’ve been disappointed.

She stood up, removed the stopper of the ointment bottle, and smelled a faint, calming scent of Chinese herbal medicine.

Then, slowly apply it on your hands, arms, neck, and face...

The place where the ointment was applied felt cool due to the wind from the ceiling fan. - It was another sunny day.

While drinking porridge and chewing some chili peppers and dried radishes, Xu Zijun told his parents that he wanted to go out and find a job during the summer vacation.

Xu Fuqiang just followed him.

Ms. Wang disagreed. "We are in need of help at home. Why are you going out to work during the summer vacation? We can't pick all the watermelons at home. You are just working during the summer vacation at home. I will make the decision. If you pick ten watermelons, I will give you one yuan."

Xu Qingzhi almost spit out the porridge after taking a mouthful.

What a heartless person! Even capitalists are not as good at exploitation as her mother.

Xu Zijun said: "Mom, I want to go out and exercise myself."

"Isn't it the same to exercise at home?" Wang Yanmei's eyes widened. "Is it not easier to make money outside? You still have to look at other people's faces. If you work at home, your parents will not give you less money, and they won't ask you to look at their faces."

Xu Zijun couldn't beat his mother. After all, his mother was the most important person in the family.

"All right."

Wang Yanmei drank a mouthful of porridge and said, "Since you agree, after breakfast, go to the watermelon field to pick watermelons. Your fat uncle and the others have already gone to the field."

"knew."

This is the Xu family's way. When they were in school, studying was the most important thing. Now that they have finished their exams, they cannot miss a single day of working in the fields.

As for the level of conscience in the remuneration, Xu Qingzhi suddenly remembered that when she was a child, her mother asked her to wash dishes for two cents each time.

You have to collect 50 cents before you can get it.

She washed dishes a few times but didn't persist. After all, she could earn several cents each time by picking up iron on the road, so washing dishes was not cost-effective.

In comparison, ten watermelons cost one dollar, so her mother still has some conscience towards her brother.

Xu Zijun changed into a pair of more worn shoes, put on gloves and went downstairs.

As a result, the unlucky child did not work carefully and broke a watermelon, and was criticized by Ms. Wang.

Xu Qingzhi recalled what her mother said at breakfast: If you work at home, your parents will not deduct a penny from you, and they won't make you look at their faces.

It seems... that's not the case.

Xu Qingzhi stepped forward to help, and simply moved a few more watermelons, cut them up with a fruit knife, and shared them with everyone, then took a break.

Xu Zijun worked on this job for half a month, and the college entrance examination results finally came out.

When Xu Zijun checked his scores on his cell phone, his whole family gathered around him.

His hands trembled slightly with nervousness and he took a deep breath.

The whole family's eyes were on him.

Wang Yanmei saw that his face was becoming more and more serious. She thought that the child had failed the test, so she tried to comfort him: "It doesn't matter if you did poorly on the test. Don't feel stressed."

Xu Zijun's face was heavy as he handed the phone to his mother, "Take a look."

Wang Yanmei's heart skipped a beat. She took the phone, saw the score, and read it out: "673 points."

She didn't know whether this score was high or low, so she asked, "What book can I get into with this? One or two?"

Xu Zijun sighed: "I'll go to a key university. Anyway, I can definitely get into the school I want to apply to."

He wants to go to Kyoto University of Agriculture, and with this score, there will be no problem for him to choose crop science.

"It's okay, as long as you can pass the exam." Wang Yanmei thought that he didn't do well in the exam because of his tone, so she comforted the child. When he realized what was going on, her usual loud voice suddenly changed: "What? Passed the exam for a key university?"

Xu Qingzhi smiled and said, "The total score is 750, and my brother scored 673, which is higher than mine back then."

Xu Fuqiang, who was standing by, was also very excited. He clenched his fists and pointed them forward. After a long pause, he uttered, "Zijun, you are so awesome! Dad is really proud of you."

Although the people in the village have moved away, most of the people who come to help the Xu family are still from the original village.

I also know that Xu Zijun took the college entrance examination this year, and the results came out today.

Without anyone asking, Wang Yanmei had already spread the word that Zijun had been admitted to a key university.

So when Xu Zijun went to pick watermelons, those people gave him thumbs up one by one.

"Zijun, you are really good. You are one of the few students in our village who have made it."

"Among the few people in our village who took the college entrance exam this year, you did the best."

There are also many people who flatter her in front of her mother.

"How did you raise your children? They are all so well. Look at how beautiful Qingzhi is. She used to be a celebrity, and now she grows vegetables successfully. Your Zijun is also a great student and was admitted to a key university."

Wang Yanmei waved her hands, her face full of pride for her two children, and said with a smile: "Studying is something that depends on the two children's self-awareness. It has nothing to do with me." (End of this chapter)