Suddenly, a crying sound was heard. It turned out to be Qingya crying.
"What's wrong, Qingya? Why are you crying for no reason?" Liu's mother asked in confusion.
Qingya didn't answer, but just looked at Wang Weimin and cried even louder.
Wang Weimin came over, picked up Qingya, and asked, "What's wrong, Qingya? Why are you crying suddenly?"
"Uncle, you only made wooden guns for my younger brothers. I don't have any. I want a wooden gun too." Qing Ya said with a sob.
"Qingya, don't cry. It's Second Uncle's fault. When Second Uncle was making it, he saw that your two cousins didn't like it. He thought you girls didn't like it, so he didn't make it. Second Uncle will make one for you later, okay?"
Qingya nodded and stopped crying.
"Brother, don't spoil her. She runs around with her two brothers every day and has gotten tanned, like a tomboy. In the summer, she said it was too hot to play outside and refused to braid her hair. She asked me to cut her hair like her brothers', but I refused. So she secretly used the scissors at home to cut her hair into a dog-chewed look. She's so bold. Later, I had to trim it to make it look like hers. Look, it's only grown to her ears now. She can just play with her brothers. Ruirui, Feifei, can you play with your wooden spears with your sister?"
Ruirui and Feifei nodded. Qingya, upon hearing her own embarrassing story, quickly hid her head in Wang Weimin's arms.
"Okay, little sister. Children are always naughty. I have some broken wood here, so it will only take a moment. I'll do it now. Xuemei, do you want a wooden gun?" Wang Weimin asked.
"Uncle, I don't want it. Just make a pistol for Qingya."
Half an hour later, Qingya walked in front with her two younger brothers in a very proud manner. Liu's mother took the more than a pound of glutinous rice given by Wang Weimin and followed Xuemei behind as they walked back to her grandmother's house.
As soon as I entered the yard, I saw my grandfather peeling bamboo shoots.
"Dad, you're back." said Liu's mother.
Xuemei and her four siblings all called out to Grandpa. Xuemei walked up to Grandpa and asked, "Grandpa, are my eldest cousin and my younger cousin back?"
"The two sisters are in the kitchen." Grandpa answered Xuemei and ran to the kitchen. "This little girl, why are you so anxious?"
@I want to ask Xinyan and Sitong how to feed the pigs. Dad, have you peeled all these bamboo shoots? Let me help you.
"You don't have to do it yourself. Just peel this and put it in to cook."
In the kitchen, my cousin was chopping grass for the pigs, my younger cousin was watching the fire, and my grandmother was chopping vegetables. Xuemei sat down on the stool next to my cousin and said, "Cousin, how do you and Sitong feed the pigs? They're so fat."
My cousin stopped and said, "You should ask Sitong about this. It was her idea."
"Sitong, tell me what you have in mind. I'm really curious."
"Don't we feed earthworms to chickens? So I thought if chickens can eat them, pigs should be able to eat them too. However, I put live earthworms in the pig trough and they didn't eat them. So I cooked the earthworms with pig food and fed them to the pigs. I found that the pigs were willing to eat them and there was no problem with them eating them. I slowly fed them more earthworms, and the pigs grew much faster." Sitong replied.
"Really? Why didn't I think of that? Sitong, you're so smart."
@Xinyan, Sitong, you're back. "Mother Liu came in with Grandpa, carrying bamboo shoots. Qingya and her two younger brothers were playing a game of "beating the devils" in the yard; their voices could be heard from the kitchen.
"Aunt," my cousin called out.
"Mom, I know how to feed the pigs. Sitong said to feed them boiled earthworms."
"Really? This is possible, we never thought of it before." Xinyan and Sitong, you feed the pigs well and are diligent. Liu's mother praised.
"Okay, stop praising them. The two sisters are obedient, but they just need to study harder. Sitong's grades are okay now, and Xinyan, in particular, will have a hard time getting into junior high school if she continues like this. She doesn't take it seriously herself. She says that finishing elementary school is enough." Grandma said.
"Xinyan, you still have to study hard and try to get into junior high school. You see, your uncle went out of his way to get a primary school diploma two years ago, and it took him a lot of effort to pass. Only after he passed the exam did the village recommend him to be the village chief. Now, if you want to be a worker, the minimum educational requirement is generally a junior high school diploma." Liu's mother advised.
Liu's father was able to pass the primary school graduation exam thanks to Liu's mother and third uncle. His grandparents attached great importance to studying. His grandfather is good at reading and math, and is now an accountant in Wangjia Village.
The eldest uncle studied in a private school for a few years and then went to study in the county before going to war; the second uncle became interested in carpentry after studying in a private school for a few years, and later went to apprentice to a master to learn the craft; when Wang Mu was studying, there was a lot of war, so he finished elementary school intermittently, but under the guidance of his grandparents, his literacy and arithmetic levels were up to junior high school. Later, when his third and fourth uncles were studying, the country was stable, so he started from elementary school. The fourth uncle refused to continue studying after junior high school and did not get into high school; and the third uncle was admitted to high school, but not to university. Two years after graduating from high school, he got a job at the grain station.
After Xuemei was born, Grandpa asked Liu's father to take the primary school graduation exam. Liu's father thought about it and agreed. As the grandfather's first child, Liu's father also attended a private school for a few years, so he had some basic knowledge. Later, with the help of Liu's mother and third uncle, he passed the primary school graduation exam.
"Aunt, I'm 14 now after finishing elementary school. I want to learn how to make clothes from grandma. I can make some simple clothes now, and I can make clothes for people in exchange for things."
Wangjia Village was far from the commune, more than ten miles away, and it took over an hour to walk there every day. My grandparents were worried that their children, too young to walk, would injure their feet and affect their health later in life. They didn't send their children to school until they were eight or nine years old, but before they started, they would teach them some simple characters and arithmetic.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com