When Qiu Dashu was walking past the ridge with his donkey, Zhang Wanhua nudged Li Qingmei with her elbow and said, "Qingmei, is that your big tree?"
Li Qingmei wiped the sweat off her face with the corner of her handkerchief, stood up and took a look. Who else could it be but her third brother?
"Big tree~Big tree~"
Qiu Dashu heard the shouting and tied the donkey to the poplar tree. "Mom, Aunt Hua, I think we should go and release the donkey now and bring back some grass."
"Oh my, look at you, how do you raise this kid? There's no one to worry about. Dashu just came in, right? Why didn't you take a rest before coming out?" Zhang Wanhua wished she could turn into his mother and quickly send her promising son home to rest.
"It's not tiring. Besides, it's not easy for my parents to support us. I don't come back easily, so when I come back I have to do something, so I'll do it as soon as possible."
"Hey, Qingmei, you have a lot of sons anyway, how about I trade two for your one?"
The people around burst into laughter. "What good things are you thinking about, aunt?"
"Exactly, hahaha."
Everyone started to laugh, and Li Qingmei finally found a chance to interrupt, "You lead the donkey back. Your father and I will each take back a bundle of grass from the ridge. It'll only take one work point off."
Where's your sister? Didn't she come back with you?"
"I'm back. I'm in the house."
"Then go back and stop busying yourself with this. It's so hard for you to come back, why not go to your uncle's house?"
Qiu Dashu blinked and realized that he would have to lead the donkey back around his milk gate.
Sure enough, Mrs. Qiu, who was enjoying the cool breeze at the door, first recognized the donkey. Then she heard Mrs. Li, who was twisting hemp rope nearby, ask, "Is that the third child from the second family?"
When I looked closely, it was true.
Qiu Dashu stopped and greeted the two old ladies.
"Did Dashu just come back? We'll have dinner at your uncle's house tonight. I'll ask your aunt to go get a chicken and kill it."
As he spoke, he propped up his legs and tried to stand up.
Qiu Dashu refused repeatedly, "Grandma, no need, we have some at home. I'm going to throw this away on the road, so I can only stay for three days at most. I'd better stay in my room and have two more meals. I won't bother with anything else..."
"Then Grandma Li Si, you continue chatting with my grandma, I'll go back and tie up the donkey." Without waiting for the two old ladies to respond, he patted the donkey's butt and continued walking.
Old Mrs. Qiu sat down with a sullen face.
"Old sister, if you ask me, you're confused. You can't treat everyone equally, but you can't treat them so differently. Since ancient times, the favorite fruits have always been the ones that don't show any color. Look at the second brother's family, everyone is promising now..."
How could Old Mrs. Qiu not regret it? The second son was tongue-tied and dull since childhood, and was not liked by others. But his wife was also very active and could not get enough. She didn't like the personalities of both of them.
She kicked them out early and made them live alone. She didn't have much objection to those kids. After all, grandchildren were a little sweet-talking, so they would surely be loved by the elders. But it just so happened that that family all followed the example of their parents.
His personality was extremely strange, and she just couldn't get close to him.
Even now, when she wanted to show them some kindness, they were all so ignorant of her expression. When she returned home, she never mentioned visiting her nanny.
"...His Fourth Aunt, tell me, as a junior, do you really want me, an old lady half buried in the ground, to go and beg them?"
"That's not necessary. Well, come to think of it, elder sister, you are destined to be an official. Your children and grandchildren are all capable people. The eldest, the third, and their children are also very promising..."
Old Mrs. Qiu smiled now, "That's right..."
Qiu Dashu didn't hear the two old ladies' whispers, but he had achieved the purpose of his trip, so he went back leisurely.
Fortunately, Qiu Yuling collected her tools in time and removed the bolt from inside early. Otherwise, the return of the man and the donkey caught her off guard.
"Ah? Where's the grass? You're back so soon?" The sun was setting and the sun was no longer shining, so it was a good time to mow the grass.
"Mom said I didn't need to do it anymore and insisted on calling me back, so I just took a stroll around the farm, and it didn't seem to have changed much!"
Qiu Yuling: ...
"That's perfect. I haven't had time to sweep the yard yet, so you can do it. I think the dough I made earlier has risen. I'll go mix some flour and knead it. We'll put it in the pot later..."
Qiu Dashu rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt, took out a large broom from the utility room in the corner, and while working, he told Qiu Yuling about what he had just seen and heard along the way.
"Hey, our grandma asked you to eat chicken, so why didn't you go?"
"Tsk~ Poor people don't accept charity. We had such a hard time before, but we never received any help. It doesn't make sense that now that we can get by, we should take advantage of others."
Qiu Yuling clicked her tongue twice and praised her third brother for being "strong-willed".
"Grandma never called me that. You said we both passed the exam and have jobs, so why does she only see you and not me, her granddaughter?"
"My grandma is jealous of you. As a female, you are such an outstanding young comrade that all the young and old female comrades in this village pale in comparison. It would be a wonder that she would be nice to you." Qiu Dashu didn't want to upset his sister by saying that his grandma favored boys over girls.
Sure enough, his sister was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then she became happy.
Li Qingmei was working particularly efficiently today and came home much earlier than usual. As soon as she entered the house, she heard her two children bickering.
"Mom, catch our third brother. There's something fishy about the letter in his hand." Qiu Yuling was snatching things when she ran into her mother who had returned.
Just as Qiu Dashu jumped in front of his mother, Li Qingmei handcuffed her son's hands behind his back without thinking.
Qiu Yuling easily snatched the letter away, and amid Qiu Dashu's active resistance, she quickly opened it and said, "Classmate Qiu Dashu, it's been three months since we last met..."
While he was reading, Qiu Dashu who had escaped snatched the book away, saying, "How dare you, at such a young age, steal things from adults?" and slapped him on the head.
Qiu Yuling covered her forehead and ran over to tell her mother, "Mom, my third brother has a girlfriend, for sure. If you don't believe me, go and interrogate him."
"What nonsense are you talking about, girl?" Qiu Dashu blushed with embarrassment.
"Really, Dashu? What kind of girl is she? Where is she from? Does she have a job? How old is she? Is she married?" She was frightened by the fact that the young men in her family always met widows.
"No, Mom, don't listen to me. This is the first time I received a letter like this. I didn't even read it. I just found it when I was packing my luggage. Otherwise, I couldn't just leave it there..."
Qiu Yuling jeered from the side, "To explain is to cover up, and to cover up means it's true. If you have the guts, show the letter to your mother."
Although he said that it was not true, Qiu Dashu really didn't have the ability to do so. It's not that his younger sister said it, but he felt embarrassed to show such private things to others.
Qiu Yuling continued to tease, "Mom, look, my third brother's ears are red. It's true that a son is no longer under his mother's control..."
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