Xuemei and her younger brothers and sisters sat on chairs, drinking sugar water happily.
"Xuemei, Qingya, Ruirui, Feifei, there is some sugar here. You can make more if you want to drink more after you finish drinking." Grandma said kindly to the little ones.
"Mom, put the candy away. They've had enough of it. If we keep this can of sugar here, it'll be like throwing meat buns at a dog. It'll be gone forever."
"Look at you, how can a grown-up like that say this to his own children? Besides, these kids are very well behaved and won't drink too much."
"Okay, I won't talk about them. By the way, your son-in-law asked me to give his regards to you and dad. He will come again next time when he is free."
"What does my son-in-law do at home?"
"The village has started picking bamboo shoots, and he's gone too. Sending them to the purchasing station is also a source of income for the family. Oh, and where's Dad? And where are the sisters Xinyan and Sitong? Where did they go?"
"The two sisters went to cut grass for the pigs. They said they didn't have classes today, so they went to get some more grass to store for later. Your father went to dig bamboo shoots with them, and they should be back soon."
"They are really obedient, much better than the naughty kids in my family. Dad is old now, so he should be careful not to overwork himself."
Grandma smiled and said, "They are very sweet and hardworking at home. Go take a look at the pigs in the pen out back; they are the ones feeding them most of the time. They are doing well and are almost 110 pounds each. I hope they can reach 130 pounds when they are ready for the harvest in a month or so."
"It's so heavy, it must be well-fed. I have to go take a look. Our village should have more pigs next year, and I'm planning to try to raise one myself. It will also be a big income for the family. Xuemei, will you guys come with Grandma and me to see the pigs your cousins are raising?"
"Go, go." Xuemei and her brothers and sisters answered, and immediately got down from the bench and followed Liu's mother and daughter to the pigpen behind the house.
"My goodness, this big black pig is pretty good! It looks quite fat. It should be classified as a fifth-grade pig and should even get some meat tickets. Mom, you must reward these two sisters well."
The state now stipulates that as long as the task pig weighs more than 120 kilograms, it will be rewarded with meat coupons. For pigs under 10 kilograms, one or two meat coupons will be awarded. For pigs over 10 kilograms, two kilograms of meat coupons will be awarded. For pigs over 20 kilograms, five kilograms of meat coupons will be awarded. For pigs over 30 kilograms, ten kilograms of meat coupons will be awarded. These meat coupons are very important to rural people. Currently, the main source of meat for rural people is the distribution of meat according to the number of people and work points when the team slaughters the pigs. Generally, if a family does not obtain meat coupons from other places, the family will only have the two or two meat coupons distributed by the state during the Spring Festival. This is why rural people envy city dwellers, who are like workers. City dwellers receive monthly grain supplies, meat coupons, and other coupons.
However, if the pig submitted does not weigh 120 kilograms, you have to submit more pigs or buy meat yourself to make up for the shortfall. The shortfall is equal to the number of kilograms. Most families can only feed one pig and basically cannot afford two pigs. As a result, fewer people apply to the village to feed pigs. Basically, the pigs are raised in a centralized manner in the village. In this way, if the weight of the pigs submitted is not enough, two more pigs are submitted to make up for the shortfall.
"I plan to give the two sisters three yuan each from the money I get from selling the pigs, and let them keep it for themselves," said grandma.
Xuemei and her brothers and sisters couldn't help drooling as they looked at the fat pigs in the pen. "Mom, let's ask my cousins how they feed the pigs. Next year, we'll raise a pig too. My brothers and sisters and I will help," Xuemei said, turning to look at Liu's mother.
"Okay, we will raise a pig next year. Your grandpa and the others haven't come back yet, let's go to the back to see what your second uncle and the others are doing. Mom, I'll take them to play with my second brother first." Liu's mother said.
"Okay, go ahead! Let's have lunch here. I'll go prepare the food first."
Mother Liu went to the main room again, took her cloth bag, and took Xuemei and her four siblings to her second uncle's house.
"Second brother, second sister-in-law, are you home?" Liu's mother called out a few times in the yard, but when no one responded, she walked over to the warehouse to check.
My second uncle was making a chest of drawers, and my eldest cousin was making a wooden chair nearby.
"Brother, I was wondering why I couldn't find anyone. So you guys are working here?" As soon as Liu's mother finished speaking, Xuemei and her younger brothers and sisters called out to their uncle and eldest brother.
"Aunt, now that you are here, please go sit in the main room. There are too many wood chips here." The eldest cousin put down the wooden chair he was making, patted his clothes, stood up and said.
"Little sister, take the children and Zhiqing to the main room and sit there first. Go get some food for your younger brothers and sisters. I'll come over after I finish putting up this wooden board." Second uncle Wang Weimin raised his eyes and said.
"Second brother, don't be anxious, finish it first and then come over."
The eldest cousin opened the door of the main room, moved out chairs and benches, and took out some fruit candies to give to Xuemei and her brother. He also specially made a cup of brown sugar water and handed it to Liu's mother.
"Auntie, drink this. My mother said it's good for women's health." Zhiqing said.
"Okay, I took out all the good stuff as soon as I got here. These are the food for you, keep them." As she said that, Liu's mother took out a bottle of canned oranges and half a bag of biscuit crumbs from the cloth bag and handed them to him.
"Where are your mother and two brothers? Where did they go?"
"It rained a few days ago, and someone in the village picked mushrooms yesterday. Mom and my aunt went up the mountain to pick mushrooms early this morning. Zhiwen took Zhiping up the mountain to chop firewood."
"Have you had a lot of furniture orders lately? How's your carpentry skills at the moment?"
"Before, there weren't many orders, but now that there's not much work in the fields, the orders have increased. Several families in the village who are getting married have ordered chests of drawers and wooden beds from here. I can make small items like chairs now, but my father said I need at least another year of learning before I can make big items myself."
As we were talking, my second uncle Wang Weimin walked in.
"Little sister, you haven't been home for a long time. Let's have lunch here today?"
"Mom is cooking, I'll be there soon. Besides, only my second sister-in-law doesn't mind the food you cook."
The second uncle scratched his hair with his hand, and his already honest face looked even more honest. "Haha, as long as the food is cooked, it's fine. Besides, your second sister-in-law is busy now, so Zhiqing cooks. Zhiqing cooks pretty well."
"Zhiqing, now you can cook well. You can talk about your wife now." Liu's mother said jokingly.
"Aunt, what are you talking about? I'm still young. Besides, my third and fourth uncles are not married yet." Zhiqing blushed.
"Okay, little sister, stop teasing your nephew. He hasn't figured it out yet. You should talk about the third and fourth brothers first! The third brother refuses to go on a blind date and keeps saying he wants to find someone like him. You can't talk to him without the fourth brother around."
"Third brother, he's very opinionated and still refuses to go on a blind date and get married. As the old saying goes, if a cow doesn't want to drink water, no one can force it to drink. Let's just leave them to our parents to worry about!"
"Ruirui and Feifei, come here and see what your second uncle has made for you." After saying that, he lifted up his coat, revealing two wooden pistols stuck on his pants.
As soon as Ruirui and Feifei saw the wooden gun, they ran to their second uncle and surrounded him, praising him non-stop, "Uncle, is this a gun? Uncle, you are so awesome. You are the best carpenter in our commune." They praised their second uncle so much that he felt embarrassed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
