When she turned eleven, the first time she heard her mother call her by her full name, Daya's eyes welled up with tears.
Er Ya, who was moving stones to build a chicken coop not far away, froze, her eyes welling up with tears.
In the past, when their mother called their three younger brothers by their full names, they were filled with envy.
Even though they knew that being a daughter meant they couldn't compare to their younger brother, they still hoped that in their mother's heart they could be recognized as daughters—they dared not dream of houses or money, but at least in terms of names and other verbal forms of address, their mother could treat them the same.
"Mother, you, you..."
"Yanqiu is a very nice name. Now that our family has moved out, we no longer need to live under your grandmother's thumb."
"I'll still call you by your full names, just like you three younger brothers." Shuiqing felt that her wicked mother-in-law was like a brick, ready to be moved wherever needed.
It works quite well.
After hearing this, Da Ya and Er Ya nodded sensibly. Yes, Grandma had always disliked Daddy calling them by their full names. It was just a name, there was no need for that.
But they really liked the names their father had carefully chosen, and now their mother also approved of them. They were truly Fan Yanqiu and Fan Xinghui.
"Mom, don't worry, I know how to pick mushrooms! I'll only pick skirt mushrooms and bamboo mushrooms in the bamboo forest, nothing else." Fan Yanqiu's little face lit up with a bright smile, and after saying that, she picked up a bamboo basket and ran towards the bamboo forest hill.
With limited food supplies and her father's job copying books being unstable, the family was now penniless. If she picked more mushrooms, they could save on food for dinner.
Seeing her eldest daughter run off into the distance with light steps, Shuiqing didn't follow.
She wasn't good at finding mushrooms, and her knowledge of different varieties was limited, mainly consisting of enoki mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms, which she often ate.
The expensive ones are just a few kinds such as chicken mushroom, bamboo fungus, and matsutake mushroom.
What do bamboo mushrooms and waka mushrooms look like? She had no idea.
Going there would be a waste of time.
The biggest shortage of manpower at home right now is for her, so she has to hurry up and get to work.
"Xinghui, I'll build the chicken coop. You go to the village and see if there are any extra vegetable seeds. Oh, and take a few eggs with you to exchange for them." Shuiqing walked towards her second daughter.
She's only just arrived, and the original owner's memories are fragmented and incomplete. If she were to replace them, she might expose the deception.
Fan Xinghui heard her mother call her eldest sister just now, and now that she heard her mother calling her, she quickly responded loudly, and then said, "Mother, moving stones is tiring. You were injured and bled this morning, so rest for a while."
Shuiqing looked at her second daughter, who was as thin as a bamboo pole. She could only move the stone with all her might and could not lie down.
Seeing her mother roll up her sleeves to get to work, Xinghui looked up at the sun on the horizon and said, "Mother, I can manage the chicken coop by myself."
Go dig a hole in the stove, then we can cook something to eat when your older sister comes back from picking mushrooms.
Digging a stove hole is less strenuous than moving stones. Mother was injured this morning, so she can't be overworked.
Shuiqing glanced at the sun and realized it was time to cook dinner after digging the stove and gathering firewood.
The people of Shanshui Village eat two meals a day during the off-season and three meals a day during the busy season.
It's late August now, the autumn harvest is over, and winter wheat planting hasn't started yet; it's the off-season for farming.
We eat our first meal around 10 a.m., which is called lunch, and we eat dinner around 4 or 5 p.m. while it's still light.
After eating, wash yourself while there's still light so you don't need to light an oil lamp.
Oil lamps were expensive, so families in the village rarely lit them.
Shuiqing ate half a dark-colored steamed bun in the morning, and now she has almost burned off the calories. Thinking of her two daughters' blurry figures, she felt even hungrier!
"Okay, I'll go dig the stove hole first, and then I'll cook you something delicious for dinner."
Upon hearing that there was food, Xinghui was overjoyed.
Then, thinking of the food at home, she said sensibly, "Mom, you're injured and need to recover. You only need to make your share of the good food!"
"Isn't there still a sack of wheat bran? My older sister and I can fill up by adding wheat bran to our mushroom soup."
Shuiqing had always thought it was good that her child was sensible, but now, hearing her blood-related daughter's overly sensible words made her nose sting with tears.
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