But now things are better. With Gu Lili around, her children will surely live well.
As darkness approached, and with no oil lamps or candles at home, the four siblings usually went to bed early.
Gu Lili looked at the three kids in front of her, their hair greasy and their necks covered in black mud. Luckily it wasn't summer, otherwise they would definitely smell rotten.
Gu Lili felt that she really couldn't sleep in the same bed with them.
However, there was only one bed in the house.
Early spring is still quite cold; no one can stand sleeping on the ground.
The three children looked at their older sister, who would sometimes sigh as she looked at the thatched hut, and sometimes frown as she looked at the three of them. They were all a little confused.
"Sister, did you hurt your head during your fight with Auntie?" Gu Erniu asked first.
Gu Lili rolled her eyes at Gu Erniu, "You're the one who hit your head. Come on, let's go get some water!"
She gave Gu Erniu a flick on the forehead, then took him to fetch water.
Gu Lili decided to get through today first, and then slowly plan for the future.
The stream wasn't far away; we arrived quickly.
Gu Lili's family only had two dilapidated buckets, but thankfully they weren't leaking and were still usable.
She bent down to splash water and was almost startled by her reflection in the water.
He was pale and thin, his clothes were tattered, and his hair was greasy and clumpy.
This made Gu Lili, who had just been looking down on her younger brother and sister-in-law, feel ashamed.
Gu Lili carried the bucket of water home, hurrying to boil water for a bath.
There was no bathtub at home, only a wooden tub for washing clothes, which even the youngest dog, Si Gou, couldn't fit into.
So, tonight I can only do a simple wash and brush my teeth.
Because there was only one room in the house, Gu Lili and Gu Huanhuan washed up inside while the two brothers waited outside.
Gu Huanhuan's hair was so sticky that it was impossible to comb it.
Gu Lili secretly bought unscented shampoo from the mall to wash Gu Huanhuan's hair.
A bottle of shampoo cost sixty-five coins, which made Gu Lili feel a little pained.
How many kilograms of shepherd's purse would I have to dig up to buy this 65?
However, with her father's five taels of compensation in hand, Gu Lili didn't hesitate and bought it immediately.
She even specifically chose to buy the shampoo with the old-fashioned packaging, just in case someone discovered it, so she could explain herself.
Because she couldn't sit in the basin to wash, Gu Huanhuan was squatting with her head down and didn't see Gu Lili's actions.
Seeing her bathwater turn pitch black, Gu Lili couldn't help but twitch her lips.
After the two sisters finished washing, they left the house to let the two brothers wash.
However, she didn't give the shampoo to either of them because it would be too complicated to explain.
He simply instructed the two of them to rub it thoroughly.
By the time the four of them were lying in bed, it was already completely dark.
It was called a bed, but it was actually just a mud brick structure with straw underneath.
The quilt was made of coarse linen. Gu Lili touched it and felt that it was filled with something like cattail fluff, which wasn't very warm.
Gu Lili and Gu Huanhuan slept in one bed, while Gu Erniu and Gu Sigou slept in the other.
Soon, the three children were breathing evenly.
Because farmers rarely can afford candles or oil lamps, almost everyone in the village goes to bed early.
Occasionally, animal calls can be heard from the mountain.
For some reason, Gu Lili tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
One moment she was thinking about getting the land deed tomorrow, and the next she was thinking about taking her younger siblings to dig shepherd's purse to sell for money.
They even thought of the names Gu Erniu and Gu Sigou.
She just couldn't understand how Gu Shan and Li Xihua could give their daughter such a beautiful name, but give their son such a ridiculous one.
After Gu Lili turned seven, she almost always slept in her own bed, so she could hear the snoring coming from the foot of her bed.
She immediately decided that once she had earned money with her younger siblings, the first thing she would do was to build a house.
Each person is assigned a room, and a toilet is built for them.
She couldn't stand the dry toilet at home anymore, fearing she might accidentally fall into it.
As I pondered these thoughts, I gradually drifted off to sleep.
As dawn broke, the crowing of roosters roused Gu Zhuang from his slumber.
Spring has arrived, and farmers are getting up very early.
We need to go early to weed the crops in the fields.
The Gu siblings were no exception. However, because they had been thinking too much last night, when Gu Lili got up, her younger siblings in the yard had already started to get busy.
The fact that Gu Lili fainted from hunger before made the three siblings feel very sorry for her.
Because they all knew that their sister did that to save them food.
So when the three of them got up, seeing that Gu Lili was still fast asleep, they all tacitly refrained from waking her.
Gu Erniu was chopping firewood, while Gu Huanhuan was cooking wild vegetable porridge in the kitchen.
Gu Sigou was also sweeping the floor with a broom made of bamboo.
Seeing the three busy people, Gu Lili quickly filled a basin with water, washed up briefly, and went into the kitchen to help Huanhuan cook.
Gu Huanhuan was only nine years old, but because she was often hungry, she looked only six or seven.
However, her skill in chopping shepherd's purse made Gu Lili feel a little sorry for her.
When I was nine years old in my previous life, I was probably still nestled in my parents' arms, spoiled and pampered, with everything done for me.
Gu Huanhuan grinned at Gu Lili, "Sister, we have food now. How about we have shepherd's purse porridge this morning?"
With tears in her eyes, Gu Lili nodded gently and said, "Okay, I'll go get a bowl to serve it."
Today, Gu Huanhuan cooked a very thin shepherd's purse noodle soup. Gu Lili knew that Huanhuan was afraid of being hungry.
She planned to save the grain she received and eat it slowly.
Gu Huanhuan even specially divided the thicker, more abundant dishes among her three older sisters, older brothers, and younger brothers.
His own bowl was as thin as water.
Seeing this, Gu Lili snatched the spatula and gave some of her own food to her.
"Silly girl, you're just a child, why are you so sensible? Don't worry, your sister won't let you go hungry again." Gu Lili said with a heavy nasal tone.
Gu Lili herself couldn't count how many times she had cried because of similar things since she arrived in this place yesterday.
When Gu Huanhuan saw her older sister crying, she panicked. "Sister, don't cry. I just... I was just worried that you would go hungry."
As Gu Huanhuan spoke, she wiped away her older sister's tears.
Gu Lili composed herself and said, "Huanhuan, we won't go hungry anymore. Look, we have money and food now, so you don't need to be so frugal, okay?"
Gu Huanhuan smiled and nodded heavily, saying, "Sister, Huanhuan understands."
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