After they returned home, Tian hurriedly put the food on the table. Today's dishes were much inferior to yesterday's. There were steamed buns made of coarse flour and wheat bran, a bowl of pickles, and a large pot of stir-fried cabbage. This was the daily meal, and everyone was used to it.
"Dashan, how's the land? Is it easy to cultivate?" Tian asked. "Why don't I go and help after dinner? Now that they don't have to work on the land, they can do the housework and homework."
"Okay, come back early to cook dinner. We don't have any tools, so you can go to Aunt Fang's house and borrow a machete or a hoe. Anything will do."
"Mom, you go ahead. I will take care of the housework with my younger brothers and sisters. You can rest assured." Shuwen handed Pan'er a nest of eggs. "Pan'er also has to listen to his brother, okay?" He was like a little adult.
"Okay, Shuwen has grown up." Yan Bingfa was very pleased. Everyone ate quickly. Tian went to Aunt Fang's house to borrow a machete and followed everyone to the end of the village.
Everyone in the village was curious and didn't know what the Dashan family was doing. They saw them going to the end of the village in the morning and went there again in the afternoon.
Someone couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Bingfa, what are you doing?"
"We bought the land at the end of the village and want to develop it." Anyway, the villagers will know about this sooner or later, so it's better to let them know early. The land at the end of the village will have an owner in the future, so don't have any bad ideas there.
The villagers then realized that they were going to the end of the village to clean up, and they started talking about it again.
In the afternoon, the whole family gathered there and worked for the whole afternoon. Finally, the place looked somewhat presentable. They piled all the cut vegetables in an open space, and the weeds were piled up like a small hill.
"Save this grass for Chunxiao to use for making fire later."
"With so much, how long will she need it? Besides, if it rains, all will be wasted."
"Just pile it up. There's space anyway." Tian looked at the setting sun and said, "It's getting late. I should go back and cook."
"Sister-in-law, give me your machete and go back." Chunxiao took her machete. She had been picking up stones all day and her waist was sore.
"Dad, Mom, you guys can come back in half an hour, then I won't call you anymore."
"I see. You can go back now." Zhou stood up and looked at the cleared land. "It's finally taking shape. Another day tomorrow will be almost done. Another day the day after tomorrow will be enough, and this place will be ready."
"Yes, they say there is strength in numbers, and I think it's true. Look, we've only been busy for a day, and the place has already changed. After a few days of repairs, maybe it will be a good place to live."
They worked in separate groups in the morning, but now they got together. They felt that they could work faster together than in separate groups.
"This house still has three rooms. After they're renovated, they might be even more spacious. I think our little sister is really far-sighted." Zhang wiped her face. "This is better than building a house next to ours, although it's a bit off to the side."
"Chunxiao is now a woman of her own ideas. I think she's better than me." Dahe said with a smile, "Maybe she will really become a landlady here."
"I think it would be nice to expand this land into a few vegetable gardens, but I'm not sure if vegetables will grow well here." Zhou stepped on the mud that Yan Bingfa had turned up. "The soil is a little poor. Chunxiao, I'll give you some seeds when the time comes. Plant a little of each, not too much. Then plant whatever grows best."
"Okay, Mom, when the house is ready, I'll try to start a vegetable garden."
They worked for another half an hour, and when they saw the sun was about to set, they packed up and went home.
At night, when Chunxiao went back to her room to sleep, she saw Wenfeng lying in Duoer's quilt waiting for her. When they saw her come in, the three of them were happy, "Auntie, come up quickly."
Chunxiao got on the bed and looked at the three little people sleeping together. "We can't have four of us sleeping on one end, otherwise there won't be enough quilt. Duo'er, you sleep on that end. Pan'er, you sleep on that end of my quilt."
The two children obediently slept opposite each other, "Auntie, please tell the story louder, otherwise Pan'er and I can't hear clearly."
"Don't worry, it's quiet at night, and you can hear it even if it's not too loud. But Auntie has something to say. I've worked all day and am very tired. I have to continue tomorrow morning, so I will only tell you half of the story of Snow White. The rest will be told tomorrow. You guys can't make any noise, okay?"
"Okay, Auntie, go ahead and tell me. If you don't tell me anymore, we'll go to bed."
So in the dark of night, Chunxiao told them the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The children listened very attentively. However, when Chunxiao told them the story of the hunter entering the forest, she said it was time to go to bed. The children were helpless. Although they wanted to continue listening, they had already promised their aunt, so they had no choice but to go to bed.
The next morning, Chunxiao woke up just as the first light of dawn filtered through the window. Although she was still a little tired after a good night's sleep, she got up early, thinking about the housework. Everyone else was up, and her sister-in-law made her some porridge. Because they had to work, everyone in the family had a bowl this time. It was called porridge, but it was mostly rice soup. Chunxiao found it much easier to swallow than the bran dumplings.
After everyone had their meal, they told the children what chores they needed to do and what tasks they should take care of the house, and then they all set off.
This time, the group split up halfway. Yan Bingfa, who had borrowed an axe from the village the day before and a rope from home, took his son up the mountain. Zhou, along with her two daughters-in-law and Chunxiao, continued to clear the wasteland.
"Mom, I think the land to the east of this house is pretty good. When we draw the boundary, we can mark more land here."
"The east side is right next to the steep slope, so it's okay to paddle here."
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