As soon as the food was brought into the main room, Father Liu came back and asked, "Xuemei, are you feeling better today?"
"Dad, I'm fine now, don't worry!" Xuemei took a bowl and poured a glass of boiled water from the ceramic pot on the table for Father Liu. "Dad, drink some water." Qingya, go get some water for Dad to wash his hands and eat.
"Come, everyone, sit down and eat." Mother Liu divided the rice. Father Liu had a full bowl of sweet potato porridge, Mother Liu and Xuemei had large bowls, Qingya had a little over half a bowl, Ruirui and Feifei had half a bowl. Mother Liu also took out a small bottle of sesame oil from the main room and dripped a few drops on the steamed eggs with a distressed look. She then divided the steamed eggs in half, divided half equally between the three children, and gave the other half to Xuemei. She explained, "Your eldest sister just recovered from an illness, so she needs more nourishment."
Xuemei took an egg from her pocket. It was the one her mother had saved for her that morning. After peeling it, she cut it in half and placed each half in her parents' bowls. "Dad, Mom, you should eat some more. You've lost weight these past few days from the autumn harvest."
"Child, just eat the food left for you. Why do you keep it until now?" Mother Liu looked at her eldest daughter with both emotion and heartache.
"Mom, you feel sorry for me, and I feel sorry for you too."
"Xuemei, you are really a good daughter to your parents. Mother, we will keep your daughter if she is given to us. We will kill a rooster in a few days and give some nourishment to the whole family." Father Liu thought for a while and said.
"Great, Mom and Dad, you are so nice." The three little ones shouted happily.
Xuemei deliberately put on a face like her father did when he was angry and said to her younger siblings, "Is Big Sister not okay?"
"Big sister is great, big sister is the best," the three little ones shouted hurriedly. Xuemei finally smiled and took a spoonful of her steamed egg and gave each of the three little ones a spoonful. "This is a reward for your good behavior these past few days."
"Sister, sister, I am the most obedient." Several little guys started arguing.
"Alright, alright, hurry up and eat! Don't waste the kerosene," Liu's mother said, feigning anger. Liujia Village didn't have electricity yet, so every household used kerosene lamps. A candle cost five cents, and a pound of kerosene cost thirty cents. If you were frugal, it could last you six months.
After dinner, Liu's mother took a kerosene lamp and put the chickens in the chicken coop. She then put them behind the main room door and called the two children to take a bath.
After everyone took a bath, Liu's mother washed the family's clothes and hung them on the bamboo poles behind the house. Nowadays, it was a lot for one person to have three or four sets of clothes, especially after the implementation of the ticket system. Rural people were only given 2 feet 7 inches of cloth coupons each year, and the cloth coupons for two people were just enough to make a pair of pants.
Many people had no clothes to change into during the summer, so they had to wash them at night, dry them during the day, and then wear them again. As a result, clothes are often new for three years, worn for three years, and patched up for another three years. Many families with many children are poor, and the youngest have never had new clothes, let alone winter clothes, when they can't leave the house without them. The Liu family relied on their mother's weaving skills and their father's occasional hunting to trade cloth coupons with the workers, so that every child in the family had clothes to wear. Although they didn't have new clothes every year, the children at least had a change of clothes and a cotton-padded jacket.
While Liu's mother was washing clothes, Liu's father went to the river under the starlight to fetch water and fill the large water tank at home so that the family would have water during the day tomorrow.
After Liu's mother went into her room, Xuemei went to her parents' room and said, "Mom, I'm fine now. I'll go look after the rice tomorrow! I'll get two work points a day! And you just make breakfast tomorrow morning. I'll come back and make it at noon, and then you and Dad can come over to the threshing ground to eat."
Mother Liu touched Xuemei's forehead and saw that she was in good spirits. She replied, "Okay, I'll take out the food for lunch tomorrow morning. When you go to the threshing ground, hang the key around your neck and don't drop it. Mother Liu glanced at Qingya, who was looking at Xuemei eagerly. Qingya and her brother will continue to sleep with us tonight. You always like to pull off the quilt to get warm. You should cover your stomach with the quilt at night. It's still a little cold at night."
In the middle of the night, Liu's mother came to Xuemei's room to see if she had kicked the quilt. At that moment, Xuemei was dreaming that her grandfather had missed a step on the ridge of a field and injured his leg. He was mumbling, "No, no!" Liu's mother heard it, patted Xuemei's belly, and whispered, "Xuemei, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, mother is here."
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