These past few days, Song Anxin has come to a realization: in her previous life, she worked herself to the bone to earn money but didn't spend a single penny before dying, which was not worth it at all. In this life, she not only wants to earn money, but also enjoy it, eating and drinking well every day.
After imagining her future for a while, Song Anxin quickly stir-fried an egg and some mushrooms and wild vegetables, and ate a simple lunch like that.
The boys didn't think it was simple. Their mother had said that three meals a day was true. They thought that was all they had after breakfast, especially since they had eaten wedding cakes. And then there was white rice and eggs for lunch. They couldn't even remember what eggs tasted like anymore.
The group began to wolf down their food again.
Song Anxin: ￣□￣｜｜
How long have these kids been hungry? Didn't they just eat breakfast this morning?
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Evening came quickly. After washing up, the family went to bed since there was nothing else to do. Lin Fengshou slept on a makeshift bed on the floor in the main room, while Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao came over to sleep with Song Anxin.
It was the first time the two boys had slept with their mother since they could remember, and they were unusually excited. Lin Fengyao tossed and turned and couldn't fall asleep, while Lin Fenghe was a little better, but Song Anxin could also tell that he wasn't asleep either.
Feeling bored and unable to sleep, Song Anxin looked at them by the moonlight streaming through the window and said, "Fenghe and Fengyao, would you like me to tell you a story?"
Lin Fenghe tilted her head, looking somewhat incredulous, and said softly, "Mother, you can tell stories?"
Lin Fengyao looked delighted: "Third brother, you're so silly. Didn't second brother say that Mother's father was a scholar? Grandpa must have told Mother a lot of stories from books."
Song Anxin didn't expect Lin Feng to tell these two everything after he came back. Well, it's good that he's the daughter of a scholar, as she can help her with many things.
So she said, "Yes, Mother has heard many storybooks. How about Mother tells you a story about Nuwa patching up the sky?"
Lin Fengyao couldn't wait any longer and urged Song Anxin to speak quickly.
Song Anxin didn't keep them in suspense and began to tell the story slowly. The two children listened with great interest. After they finished, they still felt unsatisfied and kept asking Song Anxin to tell more. Song Anxin told them the stories of Kuafu chasing the sun and Yu the Great controlling the floods. When she finished, it was already late at night, and the two children finally fell asleep with lingering enjoyment.
The next morning, Song Anxin woke up late, while the younger children in the family had already gotten up early. Zhang Mei had already washed the clothes and prepared breakfast, as she hadn't forgotten her mother-in-law's words about having three meals a day.
Lin Fengnian and Fengshou also went to the fields to pull weeds early in the morning before it got hot. Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao were chopping firewood and stacking it up, working together very well.
Seeing that Song Anxin had gotten up, Zhang Mei hurriedly stepped forward and called out, "Mother, you're up."
A hint of shyness lingered on her face. Song Anxin was filled with questions: How could calling someone "mother" make her shy?
After last night, Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao became much closer to their mother.
Lin Fengyao stepped forward and said, "Mother, you're up. Let's go eat. My sister-in-law has already prepared the food."
Song Anxin watched Zhang Mei setting the table and patted Lin Fengyao's head, saying, "Okay, let's go eat. Fenghe, come quickly too."
Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao were already starving; their stomachs were growling. After a full meal yesterday, who wanted to go hungry again?
Song Anxin felt very embarrassed. Luckily, Zhang Mei was there; otherwise, how long would it have been before the whole family could eat if she got up to cook?
Song Anxin had to wash up first. She turned around and said, "Go to the fields and call your eldest and second brothers back to eat together."
Lin Fengyao quickly ran out to call for help. The field wasn't far away. By the time Song Anxin had finished washing up, Lin Fengnian and Lin Fengyao had already returned.
Song Anxin felt that Lin Fengnian was different from usual today. He seemed particularly refreshed. Song Anxin didn't understand why. As soon as Zhang Mei came out, Lin Fengnian kept glancing at her. Zhang Mei still had that shy, demure look.
Now Song Anxin understood everything. Last night was the newlyweds' wedding night!
Ugh, eating dog food first thing in the morning, Song Anxin was inwardly crying.
The whole family sat down at the table to eat breakfast, which was still the same golden millet porridge with wild vegetable pancakes. Fortunately, the young couple started eating normally, otherwise Song Anxin really wouldn't know how to face them.
At the dinner table, Song Anxin inquired about the situation in Lin Fengnian's fields.
"The only rain these days was a little bit recently, but it wasn't enough for the rice to drink. If it doesn't rain in the next few days, we'll have to go to the East River to fetch water to irrigate the rice," Lin Fengnian said, looking somewhat worried.
Donghe is a river located east of Linjia Village, hence the name Donghe (East River).
"Then I won't go to the county for the next few days. I'll stay here to help my older brother take care of the land," Lin Fengshou said. After saying that, he felt like he had said something he shouldn't have, so he immediately looked at his mother. When his mother turned her head away, he guiltily shrank his neck and lowered his head to drink his porridge.
Song Anxin knew that her second son was hiding something from her, but she wasn't angry. Young people will naturally tell what they want to say.
He looked at his eldest son and said, "Mother will come and help out then."
Lin Fengnian felt a warmth in his heart. His mother had never cared about his farm work. Whenever the harvest was bad, she would only scold him, let alone offer to help him.
After dinner, Lin Fengyao and Lin Fenghe were going to the mountain to dig for wild vegetables. Song Anxin also offered to go with them. Lin Fengyao and Lin Fenghe were very happy, as this was the first time they had gone to dig for wild vegetables with their mother.
Zhang Mei stayed home to watch the house and do some household chores, while Lin Fengshou and Lin Fengnian continued to work in the fields.
Linjia Village is surrounded by mountains. Song Anxin's house is at the end of the village, so she went directly up the back mountain. The mountain is densely forested with many towering ancient trees, and a breeze makes it very cool.
When they got close to the end, Lin Fenghe and Lin Fengyao started digging for wild vegetables. Song Anxin didn't recognize any wild vegetables, so she picked mushrooms. When picking mushrooms, she paid special attention to those with red caps and white stems and didn't want them.
Before long, Song Anxin's basket was full of mushrooms. Looking at the mushrooms, Song Anxin suddenly thought of something and asked, "Fenghe Fengyao, can we sell these mushrooms?"
Lin Fenghe stopped digging for wild vegetables and said, "Mom, the mushrooms we picked are not good quality and there are not many of them. People won't buy them from us. The good mushrooms in the county are picked by people who go to the deep mountains to pick them. Some families in the county also come to the mountains to pick them for their own consumption."
“Yes, Mother, don’t you know that?” Lin Fengyao asked innocently.
Song Anxin quickly tried to cover it up, saying, "Of course I know, I was just joking with you."
Lin Fenghe looked at her with some suspicion. Song Anxin quickly lowered her head and continued picking mushrooms. This third brother was very clever. Although she had lied using the name of the dead Lin Erzhu, she hoped he wouldn't find out anything.
Song Anxin looked down at the pitifully small and damaged mushrooms in her basket. They really wouldn't fetch a good price. Alas, the road to wealth had ended.
Song Anxin then thought of something and her eyes lit up as she said, "What if I could grow high-quality mushrooms!"
Lin Fengyao exclaimed in surprise, "What? Mom, you can grow mushrooms?!"
“Yes, if you can grow vegetables, why can’t you grow mushrooms?” Song Anxin wasn’t just talking nonsense. When she was at home during the pandemic, she unlocked a lot of skills, and growing mushrooms was one of them. She even showed off the mushrooms she grew to her best friend.
"Mom, how do you know how to grow mushrooms? You've never even grown vegetables before!" Lin Fenghe asked anxiously.
Song Anxin felt a little embarrassed. This third brother really always managed to grasp the key to the problem. No, she had to nip this seed of doubt in the bud. Otherwise, no matter what she did in the future, the third brother would always be busy questioning her, and his heart would not be able to take it.
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