The two returned to the small living room, closed the door, and entered the bedroom. They stared at Zhou Jiao happily, "Aunt, we sent it over. Grandpa and the others were still drinking, so I came back."
"Okay, take the peanuts and go to the small living room outside to ask your grandma to make you two cups of milk powder. Drink the milk with peanuts. This little life will be better than theirs, right?" Zhou Jiao teased them with a smile.
"Remember to bring the milk powder over. There's a small bowl in the living room so take your time. The hot water is very hot so you guys shouldn't pour it out since you're small. Mom, please make milk for them both." Zhou Jiao instructed the little one while speaking loudly to Zhang's mother.
The two of them happily held hands, holding milk powder and peanuts, and smiled foolishly to please Zhang's mother.
"Just spoil it, even milk powder with peanuts. Ouch, little one, wait for the milk to come, don't pour water on it or you will get scalded."
The eldest sister-in-law looked at Mai Miao and said, "My daughter, you are already grown up. You can't drink it next time. This is the milk for your little brother. It's okay for Mai Miao to drink it."
"Mom, I know. Just this time, my aunt bought a pack and left it with my grandma so that my brothers and I could drink it together. Grandma, you also like peanuts very much."
Zhou Jiao looked at them in the living room and had nothing to do. Just then she saw her son pouting and about to cry, so she hurriedly picked him up to feed him. Little Ping'an would be very well behaved as long as he had milk. It was a lively night with many people around, and it was not yet time for him to sleep.
Zhang's mother came in with milk powder and saw her feeding. "This isn't enough milk for Ping An. I'll put it on top."
Zhou Jiao smiled, silently said the foreign exchange volume, pointed to the pillow, and whispered: "Don't worry, the child will be healthy after drinking it, and it won't harm anything."
Mother Zhang rolled her eyes at her, and because her other two daughters-in-law were outside, she tapped her forehead with her hand.
"Mom, why don't you make a cup of brown sugar water? There's so much of it, I can't finish it all." Zhou Jiao said coquettishly. She really had a lot of milk powder and brown sugar, but they wouldn't believe her, so she had no choice but to let them drink it.
"No need. It will be more delicious if we put brown sugar in the white porridge with red dates tomorrow. It's a waste to eat it like this. Your father is happy to have peanuts. He got drunk and it's just right for the whole family to drink white porridge." Zhang's mother refused and would never listen to her. What else could be too much after a month of confinement?
Zhou Jiao finished feeding her son, and when he was full, she stood him up and patted his back. Zhang's mother was afraid that he would be tired, so she took the child and said, "You lie down and rest for a while. I'll hold Ping An and play outside."
"That's fine, Mom. There are two pounds of sugar I just bought today in the drawer of the wardrobe. You can grab some for the sisters-in-law. There's brown sugar in the cabinet outside. You can take it yourself. I'll lean on you for a while. I can't sleep now."
"Put the candy aside. On Ping'an's third day of the lunar year, relatives will come and the children will bring a lot. Two candies per person will weigh two kilograms. You can use it then. Don't worry, Mom knows what she's doing. You can rest assured and have a good rest."
After Zhang's mother finished speaking, she took the small quilt next to her, wrapped Ping An in it, and walked out. "Ping An, let's go see the little sisters. They are eating peanuts with a mouthful of milk powder."
"Well, my daughter, you're all right now. You two really listen to your aunt. Take a sip of milk and a bite of peanuts. Don't eat them because it's easy to get angry. Save them for tomorrow when your brother comes back and eat them together."
Mai Miao saw that there was not much milk left in the bowl, so he said to Mai Sui, "Little sister, let's drink it in one gulp. Don't drink too much." He raised his cup and touched Mai Sui's small bowl with it.
Little Wheat Ear looked at her grandmother and mother stupidly, "Sister, I don't understand. Please don't break my bowl."
Haha... now even Zhou Jiao in the inner room started laughing, and the laughter of several women startled the men drinking in the main room.
The men in the main hall were curious when they heard the laughter, not knowing what was causing them to laugh so loudly. However, they were happy to see that the women in their family were not cross-eyed and causing chaos in the house. They often heard stories of mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law arguing or sisters-in-law fighting in the village, sometimes even over a piece of onion.
Father Zhang sighed to his sons, "Your mother had the hardest life in our family. She was the eldest daughter and never had enough to eat. At that time, your grandfather had a lot of children, and there were four half-grown sons. There was not enough coarse grain to eat. As the saying goes, half-grown sons will eat their fathers to death. In addition, it was a chaotic time. Bandits and devils would come and kill people. Everyone ran away every day. Later, only you two uncles were left in your grandfather's family.
When your mother married into our family, her family wasn't very supportive, so we split up and lived in a thatched hut. When it rained, it would pour outside and drizzle inside. Besides the thatched hut, your grandfather only gave us a set of tools for eating: a hoe, two blankets, and 200 kilograms of coarse grain. To survive, we worked tirelessly, and finally, we harvested a harvest. Then the bandits came, and we had no choice but to flee, running up the mountains.
We planted sweet potatoes in the valley, which was so small that everyone could only get a small piece of land. It was not enough to eat, so we had to mix it with wild grass and roots. The hardest thing was that we couldn't find wild vegetables in the winter, so we had nothing to eat. We just drank a lot of hot water. When spring came, everyone who came out was swollen, and someone in every family would die.
Your grandfather took the three of us brothers into the mountains every day, and that's how our family survived. When I was pregnant with my second child, we had nothing to eat during the winter, so I saved some grains and fed them to my eldest child and your sister. Your mother was swollen all over, and I couldn't sleep all night. Your aunt was also pregnant at the time, so the three of us brothers decided to eat our fill even if we had to.
He secretly took wild animals and hid a dagger to go to the city to exchange for coarse grains without telling your grandfather. At that time, he didn't dare to go into the city, so he went to Wang Baiwan's area in the east of the city to exchange grains. Others said he was a traitor, but I thought he was a good man. Once when we encountered the Japanese, he took us brothers to hide in his house.
Later, life gradually became easier. Life is good now. I think your grandfather suffered a loss. If he were still alive, he would be very happy. You are lucky to have caught up with the good times.
The eldest brother took a sip of wine and said, "I still remember that time. Dad went out and didn't come back all night. Mom sat there waiting for him, holding my eldest sister and me in a wolf mattress. When Dad came back, my mother secretly wiped away her tears. Those tears kept flowing. From then on, I felt numb when I saw a woman crying."
"I just remember my biggest dream was never to go into the mountains again. My feet were covered in blood and it hurt so much. I waited until the skin healed. I started running again. I really didn't want to run, but seeing Uncle Dahe's pillar killed scared me so much that I ran like crazy with everyone else." The second brother was also lost in the memories. It was so hard back then, but now he finally doesn't have to force himself into the mountains.
Zhang Guoqing asked him curiously, "Second brother, how come your feet were covered in blood and you didn't have straw sandals?"
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