"Is there anything else you need? Mom will prepare it for you. We've also prepared some things at home. I was afraid of repeating what your grandma prepared, so I didn't dare to prepare too much. You can take it all with you when the time comes."
“I have everything I need. My grandma, my second aunt, and my third aunt have taken care of everything for me. They used up all the cloth ration coupons in the village and even made me two new sets of clothes to wear to school.”
Li Guizhi knew that her mother-in-law and two younger siblings would not mistreat her son, Erdan.
"Mom also made two new outfits for you, so you can wear them alternately. I've noticed you've grown quite a bit, so I was thinking of making them a little bigger. I think they should fit perfectly, and we don't even need to hem them."
Her son, Erdan, looks at least half a head taller than when she left. This child grows so fast! No wonder he looks thinner. Children tend to look especially thin when they are growing.
Qian Jiefang also came over, his face full of praise: "How's the house, daughter? Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied, very satisfied, thank you Dad." Qian Xiao was still very considerate of her father's feelings.
Qian Jiefang chuckled foolishly: "What are you thanking me for? I'm your own father. Do you want to wash up and take a nap?" On the way back, his daughter slept soundly, clearly exhausted.
"No need, it's already this late. We can sleep together tonight. I need to pack up the things I brought quickly."
Qian Xiao went to the main room and pointed to the three large sacks on the ground: "These three are full of grain. My grandparents always felt that my mother and my two younger brothers were not getting enough to eat, so they sent these over with me. You can put them away and eat them slowly. It's not good if others see them."
"And this bag, it's full of dried meat and stuff. I didn't take any mountain produce, but you have plenty here. I see there are mountains all around. I got the dried meat from my holiday trip. If it's stored properly, it'll last a long time."
"The rest are things I need to take to school, so there's no need to open them. I can just take them with me when the time comes."
Qian Jiefang weighed the four large sacks in his hand. There was so much stuff; his parents must have emptied the house. "Is there enough for us now that you've brought it all?"
"Don't worry, there's enough food at home. We brought over a small portion of the meat, but we're keeping the majority for ourselves. My two younger brothers are growing, so we can't let them go hungry."
She had just noticed that her younger brother had grown quite a bit in the past year, almost reaching her shoulder. She was an early bloomer; in this era of scarcity, being 1.6 meters tall at eleven years old meant she was sure to be a tall person. Her brother, on the other hand, was only nine years old and already almost 1.5 meters tall, and would definitely be taller than their father in the future.
While her parents busied themselves tidying up, Qian Xiao sat on a stool, and her two younger brothers followed her step by step, just like dogs on leashes.
"Big sister, how are our grandparents? How are our second uncle and aunt, third uncle and aunt, fifth egg, sixth egg, seventh egg, and eighth egg? Do they miss us?"
This guy is lucky he doesn't have many family members, otherwise he might have choked on his anger.
"Everyone at home is doing well. How about you? Are you settling in? Is school far away? Are you getting enough to eat?"
"It's nice here. We get along well with the people here. It's similar to a village. When we rest, we go to the foot of the mountain to play, but we can't catch any meat to eat."
Their parents wouldn't let them go up the mountain to play; at most, they could only wander around at the foot of the mountain. What kind of prey could be found at the foot of the mountain?
"I'll go up the mountain tomorrow and take a look. You guys shouldn't go into the mountains normally. We're not familiar with these mountains. What if there are wild animals?"
"Big sister, we all remember what you said. Big sister, you're going to university now. Will you still have time to come home?" They all regretted coming here with their father, as they hadn't seen their big sister for a long time.
"Yes, university students have holidays too. When the holidays come, your older sister will come to see you, okay? You two must listen to your mother and not be naughty. You also need to study. Even if you don't want to study, you have to study hard. At least you have to be a high school graduate, remember?"
"I understand, big sister. We can't understand what our teacher is saying, unlike what you say which we can understand immediately. We don't dare to ask the teacher questions because our teacher is so fierce."
"Yeah, big sister, you didn't see our teacher hitting our classmates. It looked so painful." Just thinking about that scene made Si Dan feel pain in his hands and buttocks.
"If you attend class obediently and listen attentively, the teacher won't hit you. If you don't understand something in the future, write to your older sister, and she will explain it to you in the letter. You can write a lot of words now, and you can use pinyin to write the words you don't know how to write."
"Really? Big sister, we can write to you?" It would be nice to be able to write to your big sister even though we can't see her every day.
"Of course, I'll write back to you once I get to the school and have a specific address. Oh, by the way, Sandan, bring over the bag that Big Sister is carrying."
"Oh," Sandan was still the obedient younger brother, hitting wherever Qian Xiao pointed.
Qian Xiao opened his backpack and took out two handguns made of wire. These were the fruits of Qian Xiao's summer vacation. These handguns had rubber bands (gun bolts) and could be loaded with bullets (pebbles). Pulling the trigger would fire the bullets (pebbles) inside.
Qian Xiao spent a lot of time and effort making this gun. Not to mention that it was quite difficult to get the wire, the rubber bands on it were made of deer antler, which Qian Xiao had to exchange for half a basket of mountain goods. There were also some principles involved, which she had to read several books to figure out.
It's no good for shooting other things, but it's fine for shooting birds or something: "Here, this is what your older sister made for you two. One for each of you, but you're not allowed to fight."
Qian Xiao always treated her two younger brothers fairly. Whether it was buying toys or making slingshots, she always gave them the exact same two. Of course, when they got a beating, she would also divide the slaps equally between them.
"Wow, big sister, a pistol! Did you really make this? It looks so real!" They had seen their father's pistol before, and it looked just like the one their big sister made.
"Big sister, this can still be opened, can it really hold bullets?" San Dan discovered the magazine compartment.
“That’s where you put small pebbles. Go pick up a few smaller ones and try it out. But we’ve got this in mind, you can’t throw this at people. If you break someone, you’ll have to pay for it, and Dad will definitely beat you up.”
"Big sister, we know that, but can this be used to hunt birds, rabbits, or pheasants?"
"Birds are fine, as long as your aim is good. I haven't tried rabbits or pheasants before. Let's go up the mountain tomorrow and try it out. Just make sure you don't shoot at people."
Qian Jiefang put away the grain and meat, and when he got to the door, he heard his two sons chattering: "What kind of thing can be used to shoot birds? Are they making slingshots?"
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