With three more children in the family, this year's winter is not as boring as in previous years. Even Qiu Jianshe is busy.
Qiu Dashan was already adept at changing his mother's poop and piss, and changing her pants. Li Qingmei was in charge of washing, her hands chapped from the effort. Qiu Yuling went out for a while, and when she came back, she had found a pair of rubber gloves for her mother from somewhere.
"This thing is so precious. Put it away and use it later." They had hardly ever seen rubber gloves here. Li Qingmei had only heard of them. She tried them on once and wanted to put them aside.
"? What's the use of it?" Wasn't it because he felt sorry for her because her hands were cracked that he spent a lot of money to buy such old-fashioned rubber gloves with the characteristics of the era.
Li Qingmei couldn't think of when to turn back, so she put it on obediently. Every time she put it on, Qiu Yuling would apply a thick layer of stick oil on her.
The work was done, and her hands gradually recovered. Li Qingmei used it carefully, wiping it clean with a dry cloth before hanging it up after each use.
The noise of the little kids relieved Huang Duoer's worries, and she gradually relaxed and no longer worried about her parents' moving away next year.
Li Qingmei was washing her urine ring again, and Qiu Yuling was standing by, "Mom, I'm going to school next year, so don't be too frugal. You'll lose out on the three kids when they're young, and they'll all be big-headed, skinny, and won't grow tall when they grow up.
Besides, you and my father are the same. We've already suffered a lot, and if we don't eat or drink, we'll be sick when we get old, and we'll be the ones to suffer as well."
"I'm not even old yet, and you're already disgusted with me?"
"I won't say I dislike you, but if you're hunching over, straining your legs, or moaning and yelling, I'll definitely say something."
Li Qingmei has gotten used to it. Her daughter has no restraint in her words, and she believes she can do it. She will definitely scold herself three times a day.
Qiu Yuling was amused when she heard this. "I learned to curse from you. You always have a sharp tongue when you speak."
It was obviously not a big deal, but her mother would get really angry when she kept talking about it. Now that her mood is stable, it is also thanks to her hard work in the past few years.
"You're so young and so far away from us. Don't cause trouble outside when you go back, or you'll suffer. Even if your father wants to take the young men to support you, it won't be in time."
"My age, many of them have to live far away, so they've been living on campus for a long time. Many of the boarding students at No. 1 Middle School only come back once a semester. They're not much older than me, so it's okay."
It is definitely not possible for her to cause trouble, as she is not a real child, but she will not be afraid of trouble.
Grandma couldn't sit still, so she picked up the loom and started tinkering with it. Qiu Yuling tried to persuade her, but firstly, her hands were cold, and secondly, the windows were not very translucent, and it was pitch black and hard to see clearly.
"Cun Cun babies grow up very fast. We need to prepare more clothes, pants, shoes, and everything. Especially since there are three of them coming at once from the Dashan family, it will be very time-consuming and wasteful. No matter how much, it is not too much."
"Grandma, what should I do if my eyes are damaged? The baby is important, but the adults are important too. There is a long time to prepare for these things. If you really don't feel busy now, just sit on the kang and watch them howl. That would be very interesting."
When the three little ones cried, there was only thunder but no rain. They would stop crying and wait for someone to support them before they would continue crying with more force. If no one supported them, they would just hum softly.
Qiu Yuling thought it was very funny.
"Don't let the kids howl like that all the time, they'll hurt their voices." The old lady still found it hard to understand her granddaughter's bad taste.
"They're quite smart. Besides, I didn't provoke them. I'm just not like you guys who just run away when the kids cry and leave them alone."
These small and fragmented days will pass by in a blink of an eye before the New Year arrives.
The meat at home was fried into pot meat, covered with a thick layer of lard, so it didn't have to go bad and could be eaten whenever. Li Qingmei finally had her hands free to pick up the small millstone at home and start grinding tofu.
The big hero this year is the little donkey. It works hard until the end of the year and still has work to do.
However, Qiu Yuling also gained more knowledge step by step, and finally understood why the three greatest hardships in life are 'rowing a boat, forging iron, and grinding tofu'. Grinding tofu is really hard work.
Soaking beans, grinding beans, filtering bean dregs, cooking soy milk, adding brine... and finally draining the water, it sounds simple, but each step is very time-consuming.
She recalled the era of internet celebrities when some people were creative enough to become pastoral bloggers. At that time, she only envied her for being able to work from sunrise to sunset and for the full taste of primitive life.
But now that she is there, she understands that those are just the glamour in the camera. The real pastoral life is always intertwined with more suffering.
However, after being here for so long, this was the first time Qiu Yuling drank soy milk, ate sweet tofu pudding and salty tofu pudding at home. She decided that it was enough to master the skills, and there was really no need to keep them for a long time. In the future, she would try to choose a time when no one was around and go back to the farm hut to eat and work, which would be more relaxing.
Qiu Dahe did not come back this year, and even Qiu Dashu only came back after the Little New Year.
Communication was inconvenient at that time, and Li Qingmei was anxious. She even had several blisters in her mouth. Fortunately, her youngest son came home before the New Year.
"Why did you come back just now? Didn't winter vacation start a long time ago?" Li Qingmei looked her son up and down. Seeing that he hadn't changed much except that he was a little thinner, she felt a little relieved.
Qiu Yuling and her third brother communicated through letters, and they remitted money twice during that period. Qiu Yuling repeatedly emphasized that eating well, drinking well and having a good body are the cornerstones of the revolution.
After hearing this, it turned out that he really didn't take it too seriously. Not only did he save money at school, he also helped classmates from poor families. The reason why he came back so late during the holidays was that he took the school's letter of introduction and went to carry heavy bags with classmates who earned money for the trip.
Li Qingmei: ...
Qiu Yuling: ...
I regret giving him this supernatural power. Really, instead of using his brain, he has to work hard. The money I sent him is for him to grow.
He is so good that his cheeks have become sunken in just one semester. He seems to be the one who has suffered the most in the family.
"I'm glad you're back. Do you want to eat?" It was the middle of the night and Li Qingmei had forgotten to save any food for him.
"Eat! I've been hungry for more than a whole day." In fact, he hadn't eaten properly since he took the bus on the way back yesterday morning. He only ate a dry steamed bun and drank some cold water on the way.
He was afraid that there would be no seat after going to the toilet, so he didn't dare to eat any more. It was too late when he arrived at the county, and the state-owned restaurant had closed early, so he held on and walked back.
Li Qingmei felt heartbroken after hearing this. Compared to this, she felt more at ease when her daughter went out. At least she would not suffer these hardships. She would not accept any forced suffering, let alone ask for it on her own.
She deftly rolled out some noodles, cut some potatoes, radishes, and cabbages, and quickly boiled some臊子 soup.
As a result, his silly son ate three bowls in a row and soaked half a dry steamed bun before rubbing his stomach and saying that he was almost full.
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