Chapter 9: Testing
The laws of this era do not encourage migration.
People of this era generally have a deep obsession with their hometown.
Unlike the time and space when Xia Daohua came, many people, especially young people, are not so attached to their hometown. Instead, they all hope to venture into a wider world, gain more experience and knowledge.
People will flow to where the money is.
In this world, as long as there is a piece of land for you to cultivate, people will take root in that land like trees or weeds, and will not want to leave even if they die.
Unless there is a sudden and severe natural disaster that cannot be resisted, such as a drought that leaves thousands of miles of land barren; a flood that leaves the whole land covered with water; or a war that leaves piles of bones and flowing blood.
But when these things happen, it is often too late to escape.
Xia Daohua didn't want this kind of thing to happen to the Xia family, especially not to herself.
But she was still just an insignificant child, and her shaved head reminded everyone that she had fallen and broken her head on the edge of a well some days ago.
If she expressed these thoughts now, I'm afraid everyone would think that she was ill from the fall.
After much thought, Xia Daohua still felt that in the short term, she could only wait and see, slowly looking for the right opportunity, and step by step instilling the idea of relocation into her family.
The summer rice flowers have not found a suitable opportunity, and the days have passed in a vague sense of anxiety. Several heavy snows have fallen, and the Chinese New Year is getting closer and closer.
Old Xia's house was busy inside and outside, and every room was preparing for the New Year.
Jiang took Lihua with her and cleaned the house thoroughly. She not only swept the house, washed clothes, and took apart and washed cotton-padded clothes and quilts and made them again, she even refilled the door curtains with cotton and repasted the window paper.
Xia Youtian also took Wulang into the mountains twice and chopped a lot of firewood.
It is worth mentioning that Daohua and Linghua followed Xia Youtian and Wulang into the mountains secretly, and then caught two wild rabbits with gray-yellow fur.
Seeing Xia Daohua holding a rabbit in one hand, the cute Linghua immediately changed "Daohua" to "sister" without hesitation. From then on, her little mouth was as sweet as honey, calling her sister "sister" and never changed her words.
When Xia Youtian was skinning the rabbit, Xia Daohua couldn't bear to watch and hid away.
Linghua, however, was watching intently and with great interest. She did not miss any details from beginning to end. Her eyes were shining and she was full of interest.
Jiang gave one of the two neatly groomed rabbits to the old couple.
The remaining one was cut in half and chopped into small pieces. It was stewed with a lot of potatoes and carrots for the children. The other half was smeared with salt and hung on the beams of the house, ready to be eaten during the New Year.
When stewing rabbit in the evening, the second aunt couldn't help but run to the fourth room and said a few sarcastic words to Jiang, but Erlang who came after her pulled her back forcefully.
The main workers in the second room are the taciturn Erlang and the equally quiet Taohua.
My second uncle worked very hard in the fields and was considered one of the most capable people in Beiguan Village. But when he got home, he would just sit there with his blanket on the kang and act like a big shot.
When it comes to household matters, he would not touch anything, even if an oil bottle fell in front of him, he would not even try to help.
Second aunt-in-law, Mrs. Sun, is quick with her hands and feet, but she speaks harshly.
She gave birth to three sons and three daughters. No one gave birth to as many as she did, except for old lady Zhou.
This seemed to give her an inexplicable confidence, allowing her to confront any member of the Xia family no matter what the occasion or time was, and quarrels were commonplace.
Sun was naturally not polite to a soft persimmon like Jiang. She was even more aggressive towards her own children.
But Sun's harshness varies from person to person.
When she is with Jilang, she will unconsciously become a little gentler.
She assigned the second wife's work to several children as much as possible. Among them, Erlang and Taohua, the oldest and most sensible ones, were assigned the most by her. Xinghua and Meihua were also very hardworking.
As for Sanlang and Silang, they often turned a deaf ear to her words and ran away as soon as they heard her calling for work. Sometimes, they even hid outside and would never come back until mealtime.
Erlang did the most work at home and spoke the least, but whether it was because the wedding was delayed or because Erlang was the eldest son of the second wife, Sun could never be as confident when facing Erlang as she was when facing other people.
Xia Daohua had sharp ears and heard Erlang pulling Sun away while saying to her:
"Third Aunt's bean curd has been steamed, but our bean filling has not been cooked yet. How come you still have time to chat with Fourth Aunt?"
Sun only said half of the sentence: "Who is chatting with her!", and her attention was diverted by the information in Erlang's words: "The third brother's wife is so quick? No, I have to go and boil the bean paste!"
Old lady Zhou has generously lent her large kitchen to her daughters-in-law these days. She lets them decide who uses it and when, but they have to start using it at dawn every day and can only use it until dusk at the latest, because the old couple go to bed early and sleep lightly, and they are afraid of disturbing others.
Therefore, Ms. Sun from the second house, Ms. Wu from the third house, and Ms. Han from the fifth house were all racing against time.
Jiang thought differently from them.
Although there are quite a few people in the fourth room, the oldest, Lihua, is only twelve years old and cannot eat that much dry food in the first month of the year.
Jiang thought that since she had a small kitchen now, she could make as many buns as she wanted in her own small kitchen, and she might as well not go to the big kitchen and compete with her sisters-in-law for them.
Xia Youtian learned of Jiang's intention and immediately felt proud:
My own daughter-in-law is the most sensible! She always thinks ahead of me! She is filial to her parents-in-law, humble to her sisters-in-law, and loving to her children. Where can I find such a good daughter-in-law?
Looking at Xia Youtian's silly grin, Jiang blushed inexplicably.
Xia Daohua couldn't help but smile when she saw the interaction between the couple. The family members had a good relationship, so maybe she could start from this angle and persuade them to leave this dangerous place!
Xia Daohua seized the opportunity and made her first attempt:
"Dad, Mom."
"Daohua, how did you get here? Are you feeling better? Does your head still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, but I feel like the back of my head is itchy all the time. I want to reach out and scratch it, but I'm afraid of breaking the wound."
"Good boy, that's about to get better. You must be patient for the next two days and don't get caught!"
"Why!"
With a crisp response, Xia Daohua seemed to inadvertently turn to the main topic:
"It's so cold here! Why didn't our ancestors choose a warmer place to live?"
Please collect it, please recommend it to women, please leave a paw print to tell me you are still there... The cold icy rain hits the lonely author's face randomly, making it swollen... But I am still very happy. Writing itself is very happy. If someone reads it, it will be double, triple, N times the happiness! Love you, (づ￣ 3￣)づ
(End of this chapter)
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