The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Madam Jin was snoring loudly in her room when Sun Xiaoman knocked on Sun Miao'er's door. "Sister, sister, get up quickly, don't let my mother find out!"
Sun Miao'er prepared early, changed into a light coarse cloth outfit, and went out with a sickle in hand and a basket on her back.
"Xiaoman, did your aunt hit you again last night?"
I remember how furious Madam Jin was yesterday. I was really afraid she would take her anger out on Xiaoman. If I had known Madam Jin would be so ruthless to her own son, I wouldn't have let Xiaoman perform that play.
Xiaoman shook her head, a hint of loneliness flashing in her eyes. "Hehe, I drank my porridge and went to sleep before it got dark. After that, when Dad came back, Mom didn't dare to hit me anymore."
She's just a child of a few years old, yet her mind has been honed to such a delicate level. Sun Miao'er doesn't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for Xiaoman.
The air on the ridges of the fields was damp with moisture, and the early summer morning was still chilly. Sun Miao'er held Xiaoman's hand, and soon they arrived at the riverbank.
"Xiaoman, let me test you today and see if you recognize pig feed."
Sun Miao'er had a sudden inspiration and came up with a way to get information out of him.
Xiaoman raised her head, looking as proud as a little rooster with its head held high, "What's so difficult about this? Grandma taught me everything!"
Before the examiner could even speak, Xiaoman couldn't wait to show off her erudition, "This is purslane, pigs love to eat this!"
"Alright!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Sun Miao'er bent down and cut a clump of purslane. The purslane was growing lushly by the river, so the pigs wouldn't have to worry about food. As long as she worked hard and got up two hours earlier every day, she was sure she could feed these pigs until they were plump and healthy.
Sun Miao'er found it quite difficult to use a sickle for the first time, and it took her a lot of effort to master the technique of cutting grass with a sickle. After that, she became very skilled at it.
Xiaoman followed behind, and before long, she found herself holding several foxtail grasses. She glanced down at the bamboo basket and exclaimed in her childish voice, "Sister, you cut the wrong ones!"
"ah?"
Sun Miao'er was stunned, her eyes wide like saucers, staring speechlessly at her work. "Didn't you teach me, Xiaoman?"
"Sister, you're all better now, but why are you so slow-witted? This is purslane, and this is called cat's eye grass. Pigs will die if they eat cat's eye grass."
Xiaoman held two blades of grass in her small hands. Under the direct sunlight, Sun Miao'er was surprised to find that the two blades only looked similar, but their colors were completely different.
She almost caused a major disaster. If Xiaoman hadn't discovered it in time, her piglet would probably have died before it even grew up.
After much effort, Sun Miao'er finally cleaned up the cat's eye grass. She patted the morning dew off her body. The bamboo basket on her back was heavy, but she felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
"It's time to go back, Xiaoman!"
The riverbank was covered with lush aquatic plants, some as tall as a person. Sun Xiaoman crawled in, but only half of her head could be seen sticking out. Sun Miao'er called out from afar, and a faint echo came from the horizon.
"Sister, come quick!"
As Sun Miao'er approached, she discovered that many large fish were leaping out of the river, thrashing about. Some had already begun swimming on their backs. With the Grain in Ear season approaching, the upstream area had released water in advance for rice planting. In addition, there had been continuous rain for the past few days, and the sun had only come out yesterday. If the fish in this water didn't surface soon, they would probably suffocate in the water.
Rather than let you suffocate, give me an extra meal.
He quickly emptied the pig feed from the bamboo basket, tied a rope to the basket, and deftly threw it into the water, catching all the big fish swimming on their backs.
The series of movements left Sun Xiaoman speechless. She never expected that her sister Miao'er had such skills. The fish lying in the bamboo basket were half-dead, but in Xiaoman's eyes, they were already a steaming hot dish.
She picked up the pig feed from the ground and covered the fish with it. Sun Miao'er looked at her masterpiece with satisfaction. There was no sign of being so poor that she couldn't afford to eat. It was clearly because Jin Shi was too lazy to get out of bed.
"Aunt Ge!"
Halfway there, Xiaoman suddenly waved to someone not far away. Sun Miao'er looked up and saw a woman who was a little older than Jin Shi.
The woman walked over with a smile, patted Xiaoman's head, and said, "Xiaoman, where have you been coming from so early in the morning?"
"My sister and I went to cut pig feed."
Xiaoman pointed to the harvest in the basket. Aunt Ge was a widow who lived with her son and cultivated a few acres of cornfields. Sun Miao'er and her companion were passing by her field at this moment.
Xiaoman was known throughout the village for his sweet talk. Although Jin Shi usually forbade him to interact with the villagers, he had already become familiar with them through his own abilities.
"elder sister?"
Aunt Ge was slightly surprised. She had long heard that the Sun family had an eldest son, but unfortunately, they had suffered a misfortune a few years ago and she hadn't seen the eldest son's child much. Now that she saw him, she had grown into a beautiful young lady.
"Hello, Aunt Ge."
Sun Miao'er greeted them warmly, but her gaze fell on the cornfield beside her. She had been walking in a hurry and was only focused on getting there. When she looked closely, she realized that Aunt Ge's corn stood out from the rest of the cornfield.
While other plants had only a few scattered stalks, Aunt Ge's corn stood densely packed, each stalk bearing several buds, showing promising growth.
"Grandma, your cornfield has yielded a lot!"
What Aunt Ge was most proud of was her farmland. Otherwise, how could she, a widow and her children, have survived all these years? It was all thanks to the fact that her own grain harvest was several times that of others. "The soil is fertile, so everything grows well!"
"Sister, the corn at Aunt Ge's house is so delicious! It's fragrant and sticky. I asked my mom to grow it, but unfortunately, she can't!"
Xiaoman is thinking about the corn in the field, but it's not ripe yet. In two more months, she'll be able to enjoy it to her heart's content.
Sun Miao'er was a businesswoman in her lifetime, so how could she not see through Aunt Ge's little scheme? Such a good harvest would make anyone in the village envious. The only way to deal with it was to say that the land was good. After all, you can't just take over someone else's land.
You can fool others, but you can't fool Sun Miao'er.
"Aunt Ge, look how much Xiaoman is drooling over this corn. For Xiaoman's sake, can't you teach me how to grow it?" Sun Miao'er said, pushing aside the purslane in the bamboo basket. "If all else fails, I'll trade you these good ones, Auntie, okay?"
Strange! What a huge catch!
A fish this big would probably fetch some money if sold at the market.
Aunt Ge felt a little envious. She had worked so hard to raise her son, but who knew that once he grew up, he would leave his mother alone and run off to the city to do small business, start a family, and build a career. She couldn't bear to leave the fields at home to fall into disuse, so she stayed at home alone, which naturally made her life much less comfortable.
Seeing that Aunt Ge hesitated, Sun Miao'er seized the opportunity and presented the fish, saying, "This is the fish that Xiaoman has been longing for for a long time. Now, in order to exchange it for some delicious corn, Miao'er is offering it to you with both hands."
"Auntie, please tell my sister!"
Sun Xiaoman's skill at acting cute was truly first-rate. She tugged at Aunt Ge's sleeve, her clear eyes sparkling, and no one could resist her charm.
"Alright, I'm scared of you two siblings!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
