Chapter 80 You've really grown some skills!
That evening, Sanwa returned from school and brought Song Chunxue a pear.
He seemed a little embarrassed, and under Song Chunxue's gaze, he lowered his head and smiled sheepishly.
"The Master's family has three pear trees, and this year they have yielded a lot of pears. He carried a basket of them for us, and each of us received two pears."
As he spoke, Sanwa handed a big, plump pear to Song Chunxue.
This scene gave Song Chunxue a huge shock. She suddenly remembered that in April and May, Sanwa would always bring back a bag of pea pods every time he came back from herding sheep.
The sound of the pea pods squeezing together as they were taken out of the cloth bag was quite unique and made one's mouth water.
This was the first time he had brought something back from school.
Moreover, he didn't think of giving it to anyone else, but thought of Song Chunxue first.
Song Chunxue reached out and took it, asking softly, "Have you eaten?"
"I ate one, it's very sweet." Seeing her surprised look, Sanwa walked away awkwardly. "If you don't like it, give it to Xiujuan. I'm going to feed the sheep."
The ewe that provided milk for Li Tang's children was fed by him every night when he came back; he didn't trust anyone else to feed it.
Song Chunxue held a pear and stared blankly for a long time.
The unusual mood swings I'd felt these past few days, caused by my husband's temper, have quietly dissipated.
In the past, she would never have been willing to eat it; she would have given it to either Hongying or Xiujuan.
But today, she wanted to eat the pears that Sanwa brought her herself.
After taking a bite, she thought that Xiujuan was really craving it, and that she would definitely crave it when she woke up.
With that in mind, she used a kitchen knife to cut the pear in half.
I made jiaotuan for dinner, a mixed grain noodle soup, which was especially delicious with pickled chives.
Sanwa ate two and a half bowls in one go, Lao Si and Hongying each ate two bowls, and Song Chunxue ate three bowls by herself.
She did the most work and had the biggest appetite.
While washing the dishes after dinner, Song Chunxue heard footsteps outside. It must have been Jiang Yeming walking around, but she didn't pay any attention to it.
The next morning, after getting up early, Sanwa came in from the outhouse and hurriedly knocked on the door of Song Chunxue and her two grandchildren.
"Mother, my eldest brother forgot to close the gate when he fed the pigs last night, and the pigs are gone."
Song Chunxue had just finished dressing and was about to go out.
"What's the big deal? If it's missing, just look for it. You, the fourth brother, and the eldest brother, can't the three of you brothers find it?"
She didn't intend to go looking for it.
"I'll go make you some soup. The sesame seeds in the field can be pulled now, but I still have to go to the field. You go and look for them." She said while folding the quilts. "Don't go too far. I heard footsteps outside the yard last night. Follow the footprints to find them."
Sanwa seemed to have suddenly found his pillar of support, "Okay, I'll go wake up Lao Si."
The fourth child wasn't as diligent as the third; he would wait until everyone else was awake before crawling out of bed.
When Sanwa asked him to find a pig for the eldest brother, he immediately cursed, "He doesn't even treat me like a brother anymore, why should I go find a pig for him? Doesn't he consider those old classmates in the village his brothers? Let them go find one."
As he spoke, he turned over, covered his head with the blanket, and went back to sleep.
Left with no other choice, Sanwa and his eldest brother went to search for it together.
Fortunately, the pig died in the middle of the night. It ate its fill of cabbage in Song Chunxue's vegetable garden and then slept right next to the manure pile.
Song Chunxue was unhappy. "Make him compensate me for my cabbage."
“Mother, how can you expect him to compensate? After all, he’s your son. Why are you arguing with him?” Jiang Hongying advised her. “Let it go. He’s busy right now. You and your son can’t really become enemies over such a small matter.”
"I……"
"Mother, I'll go tell my older brother that Chen Feng has some cabbages in his garden. I'll go pick a couple for you, is that alright?" Sanwa tried to smooth things over. "I'll pick them after he goes to put the trees down."
“You still have to go to school, and it will be too late if you go any later. I’ll go instead,” the fourth brother said slowly. “I want to see if he will scold me. I just don’t like him.”
Song Chunxue frowned. "Where does he want to put it?"
The eldest son's new house has had its roof beams installed; she knew he bought good timber in the county. But building the house still requires many rafters, which would cost money to buy, so they all came from trees they grew themselves.
She suddenly remembered that in her past life, her eldest son didn't know how to choose trees and cut down many trees that could have grown into large beams.
Moreover, wood is needed to make doors and windows. If the trees are dug up at this time and dried in the shade for a period of time, it will be perfect for making doors and windows.
Those trees were planted by Song Chunxue and her husband in the past. Because there were few trees on the estate before, they swept away the leaves of other people's trees and were scolded severely. So they planted trees wherever they could.
More than a decade has passed, and the Jiang family now owns many poplar, willow, and banyan trees in the village.
But the eldest son went to cut down trees without saying a word, did he ever consider his mother's feelings?
“Tell him he can’t cut without my permission, unless he shows some sincerity. It’s not that I, as his mother, am deliberately making things difficult for him, but since he’s so ambitious, he shouldn’t be touching my things.”
The children looked at each other in bewilderment.
Their mother is so domineering now, and so harsh on the eldest son. What will they do in the future?
The fourth brother was a little scared.
“Mother, we can’t really let eldest brother buy trees from other people. We can’t cut down trees in the forest on the mountaintop, and even if we did, it would be too far to bring them back.” The fourth brother couldn’t help but speak up for his eldest brother. “Eldest brother will definitely hate you.”
“He already hates me, why would I be afraid he hates me even more?” Song Chunxue sneered. “It’s not that I don’t want him to see it, I just asked him to come and tell me so he knows it’s mine.”
"What Mother means is that we should make our eldest brother admit his mistake and soften his stance. A son should act like a son. If he severs all ties with his mother, he'll act like a real man and won't be looked down upon." This was the first time Sanwa had spoken up for Song Chunxue.
Song Chunxue nodded, "That's right, that's what I mean. Sanwa understands my good intentions."
The fourth brother also thought it made sense. "Then I'll tell the eldest brother. I'm afraid he might suddenly run off to become the son of the Chen family. That would be outrageous."
Song Chunxue laughed and said, "You seem to know your older brother quite well."
The fourth brother chuckled. He hadn't yet revealed that the eldest brother had actually killed a chicken last night, intending to take it to the Chen family to apologize.
The thought of this made him angry.
Last time, Chen Xiang came to our house to show off. He and his mother only took action because of their eldest son. In the end, Chen Xiang turned around and knelt down to apologize, which made it seem like he and his mother didn't know how to behave.
That's so damn pathetic.
But he dared not say it now, for fear that his mother would be so angry that she would overturn the table.
After finishing the soup, the fourth brother went to the thatched kiln to find the eldest brother.
Soon, the fourth brother returned and shook his head at Jiang Hongying.
"Go tell Mother I'm going to herd sheep." The fourth brother didn't want to cause trouble. "The eldest brother is going to the Chen family to pick up his wife, so keep an eye on him."
Jiang Hongying nodded, "Go ahead and get busy, I understand."
At noon, Song Chunxue carried a bundle of sesame seeds home and saw Chen Feng and her father standing at the gate of the courtyard, looking arrogant and seemingly waiting for her to return.
Upon seeing Song Chunxue, Chen Feng's father, Chen Guangcai, sneered, "I heard that you don't allow anyone to enter your courtyard without your mother's permission, so we're waiting for you outside."
"When I first met you, your mother-in-law seemed quite virtuous. But it feels like I haven't seen you for a day. You even dared to hit my son, Chen Xiang. You've grown quite audacious in your old age."
She's only thirty-six years old, how can she look old?
Song Chunxue glanced at Jiang Yeming, her sharp gaze sending shivers down one's spine.
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