When Xu An got back to his doorstep and opened the gate, he saw two sulky little buns.
The two little ones didn't welcome Xu An when he came in; instead, they glared at him and then played with the pile of sand on the ground, looking aggrieved.
What's going on?
Xu An thought back and realized that he hadn't forced the two to write or study today, nor had he made them drink the milk they hated. So why was he suddenly angry?
Xu An placed the iron pot in the corner, walked over, and squatted down next to the two little ones.
"Can you tell your brother why you're angry?"
The two turned around at the same time, leaving Xu An with only a small, chubby back view.
“If you don’t tell your brother, then he won’t know why you’re angry.”
The two little heads huddled together and whispered something that Xu An could hear.
"Should we tell your brother?"
"I don't want to talk to my brother."
“But my brother is so stupid, he won’t know if I don’t tell him.”
"Oh, so should we tell our brother?"
After whispering among themselves, the two reached an agreement, and the little head finally turned to look at Xu An.
“Brother, you haven’t played with us in a long time. You don’t take us with you when you set up your stall in the morning. We have to play by ourselves.”
As they talked, the two of them started to get upset, their little faces wrinkling up like meat buns.
Xu An reflected on the past two weeks and realized that he had indeed been busy every morning before dawn.
Even after closing up shop, there are still many things to do at home.
The vegetables in the garden need watering and fertilizing, weeding, and trellises to support their climbing vines;
The yard at home is still muddy, and it's impossible to walk on it when it rains, so it needs to be leveled.
Kitchen waste, pots and pans all need to be cleaned, washed and dried.
We also need to consider the current price of vegetables, what dishes to make tomorrow, and how to keep costs to a minimum.
After all that work was done, it seemed that all that was left for Xu Kang and Xu Le was to study and have a short chat before going to bed.
Thinking of this, Xu An felt a little guilty.
I want to be reborn so that I can keep them by my side, spend more time with them, and take better care of them.
As a result, I'm so busy all day long that I've completely neglected these two little ones.
Xu An put his arms around the two little shoulders and said in a negotiating tone, "How about I set aside one day every week to play with you from now on?"
How many days are in a week?
"Seven days."
"Seven days, one, two, three, four, five... so many days, I can't count them all on one hand."
"Brother, can you play with us for one day out of every three days?"
"If I play for one day every three days, I won't earn any money. If I don't earn any money, I won't be able to buy meat. If I can't buy meat, you won't have any meat to eat."
Meat!
Their eyes lit up instantly, and they were then torn between going out to play or eating meat.
After a very difficult decision, I sighed like an adult.
"Okay, brother, you work hard so we can eat meat."
Children have extremely short memories; one moment they look worried, and the next they're excited.
"Brother, where shall we go to play today?"
Hmm, where should we go for fun? Xu An's gaze swept over every object in the yard, finally landing on the woodpile next to the kitchen.
After half a month of hard work, the pile of firewood that was more than a person tall has now been reduced to only calf height.
I remember there was an unused plot of land next to Uncle Guosheng's house, which was overgrown with weeds that were perfect for firewood.
Further away there is a bamboo forest where you can collect bamboo leaves and dried bamboo.
"How about we go play in the bamboo grove next to Uncle Guosheng?"
"Okay!" The two just wanted to go out and have fun, but they didn't care where they went.
Xu An told the two to change into some clothes that wouldn't get dirty. He put the iron pot in the kitchen, picked up a sickle and tucked it into his waistband, then found two hemp ropes and put them in his pocket, and rolled up a fertilizer bag and held it in his hand.
Xu An got ready and walked to the bedroom door to see how the two had changed their clothes.
As a result, Xu Le tried to put the pants on his head, but couldn't get them on. He got so angry that he squealed and made a series of cute but meaningless syllables.
Xu Kang fared slightly better; he had put his shirt on properly, but he had put it on backwards.
She probably felt uncomfortable with the collar around her neck, so she kept pulling on the collar and didn't dare to let go.
With her other hand, she held the pants in one hand. As her chubby little legs moved, the little hand holding the pants moved too. She struggled for a long time but still couldn't put the pants on.
Two silly little devils.
Xu An walked into the bedroom, both amused and exasperated, and tidied up the clothes for the two of them.
The vacant lot of Guosheng's house was originally an old house. The owner of the house immigrated overseas many years ago, and no one lived there. The house aged quickly and collapsed completely after a typhoon.
Later, the family decided to rebuild the house so that their children could have a place to live, and they cleared out the land.
But then something happened, and after the cleanup, there was no further activity, and the land was left idle and overgrown with weeds.
This weed could actually be called a shrub; it grows straight with only one main trunk and no branches.
After being dried, it is very easy to ignite and burns very vigorously, making it ideal as firewood.
Xu An led the two to a path between the wasteland and the bamboo forest. He told them not to play in the river or on the main road. The two then went into the bamboo forest to play hide-and-seek.
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