In my dream, there was nothing to eat, I was so hungry, and then I woke up hungry.
Alright, the mystery is solved, those two brats are hungry.
"Okay, I'll go cook now. You all eat more and make sure you get to eat the part you didn't get to eat in your dream."
When I got to the kitchen, I realized that we had finished eating the meat at noon, and the only meat we had at home was eggs.
Let's have steamed eggs, stir-fried eggs with green peppers, and some stir-fried bok choy. People in Haishi generally don't eat spicy food, so even the green peppers aren't spicy; they're actually a little sweet, so it's perfectly fine for kids.
Xu Anben was worried that the two would cry because there was no meat in the food, but to his surprise, the two ate two big bowls of rice with steamed eggs and were very well-behaved.
Xu An then realized that it was only after he graduated and started earning money that his family was able to have meat at every meal. The two of them had been so afraid of going hungry at their aunt's house that they developed a liking for meat and became unable to live without it.
Neither of them has ever gone hungry, and Xu An's cooking is even better than Grandma Xu's.
If Grandma Xu's cooking is a passing grade of 60, then Xu An's cooking would be an 88. How could the two of them be picky?
After finishing the meal and cleaning up the dishes, I first drew well water to wipe Grandma's body, then gave the two little ones a bath, and finally took a bath and washed my own clothes.
It was already 8 p.m. when all the work was finished.
Uncle Dongliang should be back from the construction site by now, Xu An thought, closing the courtyard gate and walking towards the back of the house.
Xujia Village is rectangular in shape, with houses arranged in four rows, each row containing six to seven houses, for a total of 26 houses.
The brick and tile houses like Xu An's were mostly built by his grandfather's generation. There are seven such houses in the village, and they are mostly inhabited by his grandmother's generation.
Most of Xu's father's generation have already started their own families and careers, and have chosen another piece of land in the village to build new houses. The new houses are easy to identify; they are those with square tiles about three or four centimeters square on the exterior walls.
By the time it came to Xu An's generation, some of the earlier-born were already in their late twenties and had established their own families and careers. The newly built houses of this generation were simply painted with waterproof paint on the exterior walls, with the main focus being on the interior decoration and furnishings.
Grandma San had two daughters and four sons. Uncle Dongliang was her youngest son, twenty-five years old this year, and still unmarried. Her two daughters were already married, and of her three sons, one had settled in the city, while the other two were married and had built their own houses in the village. Uncle Dongliang now lived with Grandma San in the old house.
As soon as I got closer, I heard Third Grandma scolding Uncle Dongliang. I stopped and listened for a few moments. It was Third Grandma scolding Uncle Dongliang for not coming home for dinner until seven or eight o'clock every day. She said he would ruin his stomach sooner or later.
"Mom, do you think I didn't want to eat at the construction site before coming back? Today, when I went to line up for food during mealtime, before I even got my food, someone over there found half a steel wool ball in their food, and the steel wool ball had black grime left from wiping the pot on it."
"I can tolerate sand and bugs in the food normally, but steel wool and plastic bags are unbearable. I'm afraid if I eat this, I'll have to be rushed to the hospital, and the money I earn won't even cover the IV drip."
"The person who did this is so careless; they even threw a steel wool pad into the food to cook."
Xu An knocked on the gate of Third Grandma's house and called out, "Third Grandma, Uncle Dongliang, it's me, Anzi. I have something I'd like to ask Uncle Dongliang."
The door creaked open, and Uncle Dongliang opened it, holding a large bowl in his right hand, shoveling rice into his mouth as he opened the door.
"Anzi, what's up? Is it urgent? If not, let's talk after I finish eating."
Before he could finish speaking, the large bowl in his hand was snatched away by Third Grandma.
“Anzi must have something urgent to tell you. You can eat anytime, go quickly.”
Xu An, both amused and exasperated, pulled at Third Grandma: "Third Grandma, it's nothing serious, I just have something I want to ask Uncle Dongliang, it won't delay anything."
Hearing what Xu An said, Third Grandma stopped what she was doing and put the bowl back into Uncle Dongliang's hands.
Xu An said it would be a lie to say he wasn't moved.
Since her parents passed away four years ago, Grandma Xu has been able to raise her one half-grown child and two infants on her own, all thanks to the help of the villagers.
A few days ago, Grandma Xu broke her leg, and it was Uncle Dongliang who helped take her to the hospital.
Uncle Dongliang took a chair out of the house and handed it to Xu An, then continued to eat his rice, stuffing his mouth full, before looking up and asking, "Anzi, what's wrong?"
"I just wanted to ask you about things at the construction site."
Uncle Dongliang's pupils suddenly dilated. He stiffened his neck and swallowed the food he hadn't fully chewed. His voice trembled slightly. "Anzi, you're not thinking of going to work on a construction site like me, are you? You have to listen to your uncle. You have to go to university and study hard. Working in the fields and on a construction site is not only hard work, but you don't earn much money either."
Don't be fooled by the seemingly high wages on construction sites; payments are usually made only every six months or a year. If you run into a heartless construction boss, you might work for free for a year and even have to pay out of pocket.
Xu An reached out and wiped away the few grains of rice that Uncle Dongliang had sprayed on his face, saying with a wry smile, "Uncle Dongliang, don't get agitated. I don't want to work on construction sites for the rest of my life. It's summer vacation after the college entrance exam, and I don't have much to do at home, so I just want to find something to do and earn some money."
"Oh, want to do odd jobs? Odd jobs are fine. But with your skinny frame, construction work isn't really suitable for you." Uncle Dongliang looked Xu An up and down, expressing his disdain for Xu An's thin body.
"No, Uncle Dongliang, Heping and I went to a few construction sites in the city this afternoon and found that most of the food there wasn't very good and didn't have much oil. So we're thinking of making some boxed lunches to sell at the construction sites. What do you think of that?"
Uncle Dongliang subconsciously wanted to say that Xu An was being ridiculous, but before he could say anything, his eyes suddenly lit up and he stared straight at Xu An: "Tell me in detail."
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