Cuihua thanked her repeatedly, then got on her bicycle and hurried home. Luckily, she had listened to her little girl and learned to ride a bike, otherwise she would have had to walk home. Walking home wouldn't have been a problem, but she was in a hurry to get home and cook.
Cuihua pedaled her bicycle at lightning speed and arrived home in the blink of an eye. She saw Tang Xiaoling cooking pig feed on a makeshift stove and breathed a sigh of relief. She locked her bicycle and went into the kitchen.
When Grandma Yan saw that Cuihua's forehead was covered in sweat, she quickly went to get a basin and towel to prepare water for her to wash her face.
Cuihua quickly snatched the washbasin away: "Mother, please sit down, it's too hot today."
After washing my head, face, and hands, and wiping my body, I changed my clothes and felt much better. I didn't bother with washing clothes first; I just wanted to cook some mung bean soup.
Then they went down into the cellar and took out the roe deer meat and dried mushrooms that their daughter had brought back, as well as rice and flour, and started cooking the meat, kneading the dough, and steaming the rice.
I also prepared some salted pork, eggs, and sausages, and made a salted pork and loofah soup, and stir-fried sausages with eggs. With this dish, adding a fish would be enough to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen, Grandma Yan sighed. It's true that it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. After eating a meal cooked by Tang Xiaoling, she started to miss Cuihua's cooking. Xuemei's cooking is also delicious.
Bei Nan was no longer able to compete with Yan Xiaonan; he was just asking for trouble. Xin Nan, on the other hand, was the one who never gave up. Yan Xiaonan slowed down, and Xin Nan was being considerate of himself, not wanting to exhaust him.
Ye Chen'er next door was already sitting on the ground, unable to move. She couldn't figure out whether Yan Xiaonan was faster or she was too slow. She was getting anxious because she needed to get the whole centimeter. If she was too slow, she wouldn't be able to get it.
Ye Chenming smiled and shook his head: "Chen'er, you've already done very well, and your speed isn't slow either. Look at Bei Nan, he's only a little bit faster than you, but he's a boy."
Ye Chen'er struggled a few times and finally stood up, supporting her waist. But why did she feel like she couldn't stand up straight? She looked around and finally saw a person lying on the ground. Well, she was actually not bad.
Ye Chen'er felt sorry for her younger sister and told her to hide under the big tree for a while and drink some water, while she herself quickened the speed at which she swung her sickle.
Ye Chen'er was indeed too tired to continue. Her hands were too weak, and she might hurt herself if she kept waving them around. So she simply said goodbye to the village chief and went back to the educated youth settlement to cook.
Like the Yan family, the educated youth in the settlement would cook together during the busy farming season, but this "together" did not include Wang Yan and the Li siblings.
The meat and rice were obtained by Ye Chenming before and preserved with salt. Liu Limin now has a monthly salary, so he is willing to contribute to the cost. Wang Dali is usually very frugal; he hasn't used a single penny of the money distributed by the village at the end of the year, saving it to eat something good during the busy farming season.
After quickly preparing dinner, Ye Chen'er hurriedly boiled water to take a bath and do laundry. She and Ye Chenming hadn't washed their clothes from yesterday, and she needed to finish them all by leaving work an hour early today. She knew that this hour would have to be paid back.
Finally, it was time to finish work. Ye Chenming and the others were starving. Seeing that the food was ready, they began to wolf it down.
The three of them decided that Ye Chen'er would finish work an hour earlier each day, and they would take turns covering that hour so that they could eat, shower, and rest earlier after work.
Wang Yan and the Li siblings could only watch and drool. They had no way of getting rice and pork, and besides, these things were quite expensive, and they didn't have much money left.
Li Ping cooked the rice first and ate with Li Qiang. She regretted scheming against Wang Yan, which only made Ye Chen'er dislike her. Ye Chen'er and Ye Chenming had not returned yet, and it seemed they would never go back.
If they don't go back, it means I can no longer take advantage of the two siblings. Alas, my cleverness has backfired.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Wang Yan throwing a few sweet potatoes into the stove. By the time their meal was ready, her sweet potatoes were also cooked.
Seeing Wang Yan scooping up the sweet potatoes in the stove, Li Ping's chest heaved with anger. "That shameless woman!"
Liu Limin watched coldly. He was growing increasingly disgusted with the Li siblings, all because Ye Chenming had given up his spot to him. Now, the two of them were like snot that he couldn't shake off, constantly coming out to disgust him.
Sometimes, when he felt resentful, he wanted to chop their heads off with a hoe, but Ye Chenming's words woke him up: "If you argue with them, you'll just become like them. Just ignore them."
Liu Limin always kept this sentence in mind. Whenever Li Qiang provoked him again, he would give him a disdainful look, which made Li Qiang clench his fists in anger. Liu Limin smiled when he glanced at Li Qiang's expression.
The next morning, just as Liu Limin was starting work an hour early under the starry sky, Cuihua had also prepared breakfast and left home to pick up Xuemei and her eldest grandson.
Xuemei went home to recuperate after childbirth, which made things much easier for her. Yesterday, seeing Beinan wolfing down their food, I knew they hadn't eaten well at lunch; the busy farming season is truly exhausting.
When they arrived at the hospital, it was still dark. Dongnan had already packed his things, and Cuihua quickly handed him breakfast, urging him to eat quickly because he would have to pull the cart later.
Southeast was really hungry. He had eaten dinner too early last night, and his stomach was rumbling like a musical scale. He ate three steamed buns and drank a big mouthful of white porridge before he felt much better.
Perhaps the sound of Dongnan drinking porridge was too loud, waking his son. The little guy started crying, and a mother is bound to wake up when her son cries, no matter how soundly she is sleeping.
Xuemei opened her eyes and saw Cuihua changing the baby's diaper. She thought to herself that a child with a mother is a treasure.
Southeast quickly handed over breakfast: "Xuemei, eat quickly, I'll go home after I settle the bill at the hospital."
Xuemei nodded, also wanting to go back quickly. It was too inconvenient here; even going to the toilet required running to the very back of the corridor, and someone who was in a hurry to urinate might end up soiling themselves.
Southeast spread the bedding on the cart, helped Cuihua onto the cart, put the bundle on his back on it as well, and pulled the cart home. Cuihua carefully carried her eldest grandson on the side.
Southeast repeatedly asked Cuihua to get in the car, saying that it would be tiring to carry a child for such a long distance, but Cuihua refused, saying that she would be more comfortable in the car, but that would exhaust Southeast.
Xuemei asked Cuihua to let her hold the baby, since she was sitting on the cart anyway. Cuihua refused, saying, "You just gave birth. Holding the baby will tire your arms and cause problems later."
Southeast understood, and thought to himself that a child with a mother is truly a treasure. He resolved to be even more filial to his parents and to learn from his uncle.
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