Qiao Haisheng felt relieved to hear that someone was watching over the cornfield. His family depended on these few acres for their food; if they didn't protect it now, they would have nowhere to turn if it were lost. People of his generation valued food highly because they were terrified of hunger.
Qiao Dashan rubbed his stomach: "I thought we could eat as soon as I got back, but we haven't eaten yet."
Qiao Xiaoni set up the table in the yard: "The vegetable pancakes will take a while to arrive, about five more minutes and they'll be ready to eat."
"Vegetable pancakes? What are those?" Qiao Dashan asked.
Qiao Xiaoni: "It's a secret. You'll find out when you see it."
Qiao Dashan scratched his head. His family's meals were always bland: stir-fried potato shreds, cornbread, vegetable dumplings, and at most, a pot of egg drop soup. The kind where only one egg was added to the soup; they basically ate the same few things every day. It wasn't that he was complaining, because that's what every household ate these days. If they wanted meat, they'd have to wait until the New Year. The older generation had been poor and hungry for so long that even if they had a little money, they wouldn't buy meat unless something really bad happened.
Tao Chunfang let her daughter play in the yard, then turned to her husband and said, "I'll go to the kitchen and take a look, and I'll know what vegetable pancakes are."
Qiao Dashan nodded: "Go help in the kitchen. I'll watch over our daughter in the yard. Bring the food out as soon as it's ready. I'm starving. I've had a long day of hard work."
Tao Chunfang nodded, turned around, and went into the kitchen.
Because she had apples and eggs to eat, Qiao Manli was not making a fuss at all and kept giggling.
Qiao Xiaoni moved the bamboo baskets piled up in the yard to the shed in the corner of the wall, so that they wouldn't get wet if it rained outside.
Qiao Haisheng was very happy to see his daughter taking the initiative to do chores. He had thought about having his daughter do chores before, but he couldn't bring himself to do it whenever he saw the scar on her forehead.
The vegetable pancakes were ready. Tao Chunfang broke one open and took a bite. It was so hot that she grimaced and clutched her ears with both hands.
"Mom, these vegetable pancakes are delicious! I've never seen you make them before."
Li Meihua could tell from her daughter-in-law's hungry look that it was delicious: "This vegetable pancake wasn't my idea, but Xiao Ni told me about it. I just lent a hand at most."
Tao Chunfang lowered her hand: "Mom, you're not lying to me, are you? Nizi, isn't she bad at housework? How come she can make vegetable pancakes?"
Li Meihua said with a smug look, "She heard what others said, wrote it down, came back and told me, and the two of us studied and made it together."
Seeing the smug look in her mother-in-law's eyes, Tao Chunfang guessed that she wasn't lying and that it must be true. Thinking about the various changes in her sister-in-law, she couldn't help but speak up:
"Mom, don't you think my little sister is like a different person since she woke up this time? She didn't cry or fuss, and she eats whatever you give her. Today she was able to get out of bed and even went to check on the corn. Don't you find that strange?"
Although Li Meihua had the same thought, how could she let her daughter-in-law scold her daughter? So she casually patted her on the head.
"What are you thinking? She's your sister-in-law, don't talk nonsense."
Tao Chunfang realized she had made a fool of herself, so she quickly changed her tune: "Mom, I was just saying that casually. Why did you take it so seriously? If you ask me, girls change a lot as they grow up. Auntie has grown into a beautiful young woman after this illness. You should be happy!"
"That last sentence makes sense. Do you think I don't know my own daughter? Stop making wild guesses. She just suddenly realized she's grown up and become sensible. Do you still prefer her as she was before?"
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