Later, he became envious. He thought, "Why do you need so much water? You should give the water tickets to the villagers who don't have enough." When Yan Dongnan refused, he was furious and started to fight over the water. Yan Xiaoqiang's childhood friend happened to be there to get water, and a fight broke out.
Village Chief Ma sighed inwardly, "There's never a moment of peace." He rushed over and gave those people a thorough dressing-down: "You good-for-nothings, lazybones who eat everything but leave nothing behind, why are you always eyeing the Yan family? If you're so capable, give them enough rice and grain in exchange for water tickets. If you're not, stop whining and disrupting unity. Anyone who dares to steal water, just try it, and the police will arrest them."
The people who were scolded turned red in the face and fell completely silent. The Yan family earned nine votes every day honestly, including even a small dog. They did not take advantage of the village at all. On the contrary, they were just digging a well wall and scooping out silt. How could that be worth ten centimeters a day?
As the weather gradually turned cold, October arrived in Mushroom Village. The sweet potatoes in the fields were ripe, and the villagers had already begun the sweet potato harvest season. The yield of sweet potatoes, which was supposed to be 3,000 kilograms per mu, was reduced to only 2,000 kilograms. The reduced yield was ultimately due to water shortage, which distressed the villagers greatly.
Because Mushroom Village is located near the mountains, and sweet potatoes are grown on the mountainside, the main means of transportation are carrying poles and bamboo baskets. Digging sweet potatoes is hard farm work. Cuihua and Xuemei gathered the sweet potato vines together, found the roots of the sweet potatoes, and started digging with their hoes.
North, South, and Southwest followed behind, peeling the dug sweet potatoes from the mud and gathering them in a pile to dry. Southeast and Yan Xiaoqiang carried the loads, and carrying the sweet potatoes was definitely the most tiring task. Yan Xiaoqiang was the main labor force of the Yan family, and he had to travel several miles back and forth every day to carry sweet potatoes.
Yan Xiaonan was heartbroken and wanted to use her superpower to harvest all the sweet potatoes at once, but her grandmother sternly stopped her: "Baby, are you trying to kill your grandmother? Those people in the village can stir up trouble even when there's nothing wrong. If you do this, you'll lose your life. If you lose your life, your grandmother won't live either, and your parents definitely won't be able to live either."
Yan Xiaonan was quite frightened by her grandmother's words. Thinking about the nature of these people, her grandmother was right. It was just that she felt uncomfortable seeing them at home. So she took out a bag of rice and pork and asked her grandmother to cook rice for everyone. There was also leftover pork in her space. Yan Xiaonan now realized that there was one advantage to her space: things would not spoil.
Grandma nodded, "That's a good idea. We always have Nan Nan bring out some rabbit meat and pork from the house for everyone to enjoy. Bei Nan even said that he's the master of hiding things, and even if a wolf comes, he won't be able to find it." Zhong Nan let out a "woof" and agreed.
Grandma Yan carefully closed the courtyard gate, the main room door, the kitchen door, and even the kitchen window. There was no way around it; the smell of meat was too strong, and the rice was sweet too. If people found out, it would cause a lot of trouble.
Wash the rice and cook it. Blanch the pork, put it in a pot, and cook it over high heat until done. Then add scallions, ginger, garlic, a spoonful of soy sauce, and a spoonful of sugar. Turn the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until it is almost dry. Remove it from the heat and set it aside, keeping the lid tightly on and refraining from opening it.
The rice was already cooked, and the pot lid was still tightly closed. I took out a few eggs, stir-fried some wild vegetables, and made an egg drop soup. We couldn't possibly finish all the eggs at home. Sometimes I would ask Cuihua to boil a few hard-boiled eggs, and I would put a few small ones in my pocket to eat secretly when I was hungry.
Cuihua and Xuemei went home first. They were worried about their grandmother and Nannan. The two old people and the young one couldn't take care of the household. Although Zhongnan was there, he went out early this morning and hadn't returned yet. They also needed to hurry up and cook rice and boil water so that they could feel comfortable after eating and washing up.
The gate to the courtyard was tightly shut. Cuihua and Xuemei's hearts skipped a beat. They quickly asked Xuemei to call a few men back, and they opened the gate with their keys. The door to the main room was also closed. Cuihua became even more worried and gripped her hoe tightly, ready to strike at any moment.
Yan Xiaonan sensed that her mother had returned. As soon as she opened the kitchen door, Xue Mei ran away like the wind. Yan Xiaonan was wondering what was going on when she sensed that her mother looked like she was about to fight. She knew that closing the door had worried her mother.
He decisively called out from inside, "Mom, Mom, everything's fine at home, don't worry, I'll open the door."
Hearing Yan Xiaonan's voice from inside, Cuihua breathed a sigh of relief. The two of them should be alright. But why close the door if they're alright? But thinking about it, it makes sense. If the door isn't closed, how can the old man and the young man defend themselves if someone breaks in?
The door to the main room creaked open, and Cuihua went in. She immediately smelled the aroma of meat and understood why her mother and daughter had closed the door. She quickly ran out of the main room and slammed the door shut. She was going to wait for Xuemei and the others to return outside in the courtyard.
Before long, Yan Xiaoqiang was the first to run over from a distance. Cuihua hurriedly went to greet him. When Yan Xiaoqiang saw Cuihua, his eyes were red as he asked, "What happened at home? What happened to Mom and Nannan?"
Seeing her husband's eyes redden with anxiety, she quickly whispered in Yan Xiaoqiang's ear that they had closed the gate to prevent the smell of meat from escaping while cooking.
Yan Xiaoqiang let out a long breath. That scared the hell out of me. It seems I can't just leave my mother and Nannan at home anymore. It's too unsettling. Cuihua nodded. Then let Xuemei stay. At least she can run errands.
The younger children followed closely behind Yan Xiaoqiang. Seeing the expressions on Yan Xiaoqiang and Cuihua's faces, they knew that everything should be alright at home. When Yan Xiaonan saw that they were almost at the gate, she quickly opened the gate and smiled sweetly at them.
Under the sunlight, the little girl's fair skin and big eyes blinked as she smiled at them, melting everyone's hearts. Yan Xiaoqiang rushed forward to pick up his daughter, but then remembered her germaphobia and quickly said, "Nannan, don't worry, Daddy will wash his hands and face before I hug you."
Cuihua watched them go in and quickly closed the courtyard gate. After they washed their hands and faces in the courtyard, she had Nannan open the door to the main room. This series of actions confused the children. When they stepped into the main room, they jumped up happily.
Grandma had already placed the food on the table. Cuihua carefully closed the door to the main room and checked the windows again. Only after making sure they were all tightly closed did she feel at ease to come and eat. Yan Xiaonan felt a pang of heartache watching this. It was just eating meat and rice, but she was acting like a thief.
Bei Nan wolfed down her food, her mouth full of meat and her eyes fixed on it, looking like a starving ghost reincarnated. Xin Nan was also very envious, but the first piece of meat she ate was for Yan Xiao Nan. She picked out the best piece of meat from her bowl and put it in Yan Xiao Nan's bowl, saying, "Eat well and grow tall quickly!"
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