Hearing what Old Lady Li said, Li Xu suddenly felt happy.
When Li Xu is happy, he wants everyone to be happy too.
Then he pretended to take out some White Rabbit candies from his pocket and shared them with his three younger brothers and sisters and Old Mrs. Li.
"Come on, everyone, try this candy. I had to exchange it with a friend for it."
The three little ones' eyes widened as soon as they saw the candies. They tore open the candy wrappers and put them in their mouths, saying things like "So sweet", "So delicious", etc.
When Li Xu saw that Mrs. Li didn't eat it, he knew that she was reluctant to eat it and wanted to leave it for her grandchildren.
Then he took out another one, peeled it, put it into Mrs. Li's mouth, and asked, "Grandma, is it delicious?"
Mrs. Li said with a sweet look on her face, "It's delicious, really delicious."
"If it tastes good, eat more. This is a gift from your grandson to you. Don't be reluctant to eat any good thing." He took out a few more candies and handed them over.
"Okay, I'll eat it." Old Mrs. Li said with a smile.
Li Xu realized how much truth there was in this sentence and stopped talking.
Then Mrs. Li and Li Hui went into the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Li Xu was talking to his brothers in the yard when he suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Isn't it school time today? Why are you fishing at home this morning?"
Li Xu has forgotten the time at home every day. He suddenly remembered that today is not a holiday.
This question was not asked to Li Hui because Li Hui failed to get into junior high school after finishing elementary school and now she is earning work points at home.
Li Xu's father, Li Jiakang, had never been to school before. He suffered a lot from illiteracy when he went to work in the city. It was not until a literacy class was set up that he learned a few words.
Realizing the benefits of studying, Li Jiakang let all the children in the family go to school. As long as they can continue their studies, he will fully support them. Otherwise, few other families would support a girl to study until the third year of high school. Currently, Li Mei is the most educated person in the Li family.
Li Jiafu had a good relationship with Li Jiakang, and under Li Jiakang's influence, he supported his children's education. Even Mr. and Mrs. Li would subsidize their pension funds for their education.
Li Jianguo and Li Jianjun stammered, "Well... Third brother, our teacher is sick so we're on vacation."
Li Xu guessed that this was the excuse they used to deal with their families. Nowadays, adults in rural areas are busy all day long, and nine times out of ten they would not bother to verify the truth of this statement.
Li Xu frowned, "What a coincidence, your teachers are sick at the same time. Why don't you tell the truth?"
The two little brothers still hesitated and refused to tell the real reason.
Li Xu thought for a moment and then asked, "Did you two skip class?"
Hearing this, their expressions changed instantly. They glanced at the kitchen and said hurriedly, "Brother, Third Brother, please be quiet. We can't let my grandma and the others know about this."
"You dare to do it, but you're afraid others will find out? How many days have you two been skipping classes?"
"Not even a few days."
"Why are you skipping classes? Do you know how many people want to go to school but don't have the chance?"
Li Jianguo said a lot of things again, and the summary was that he wanted to play and didn't want to go to school.
Li Jianjun said that after seeing Li Jianguo skipping class, he also wanted to skip class.
Li Xu exclaimed in his heart, "What a guy!" He thought that Li Jianjun had only been in elementary school for a few days and he already knew how to skip classes. He had to be beaten.
Then, no matter how the two brothers tried to persuade Li Xu to keep it secret for them, Li Xu remained silent.
The two brothers didn't shut up until lunch was ready.
Several people carried baskets and basins and walked together to where Li Jiafu was working.
Mr. Li, Second Aunt Duan Xiaoyun, and Li Qiang are also here.
After Li Xu greeted them, everyone sat down on the ground and started preparing for lunch.
She took out two bowls of side dishes and some bowls and chopsticks from the basket, and placed the basins on the ground for Mrs. Li to distribute to everyone.
More food was allocated to the main laborers and less to the children. Li Xu also asked for less food.
Li Xu looked at the lunch in the bowl, which was cornmeal porridge mixed with a few wild vegetables and sweet potatoes.
This sweet potato was the lunch that Li Xu brought in the morning. Li Xu asked Old Lady Li to put it in the rice and eat it together.
This kind of food is already very good in rural areas nowadays, as many people can't even afford to eat.
When Li Xu was chatting with Li Jiafu before, he heard that several elderly people in the brigade starved themselves to death last month in order to save food; and many people were so hungry that their bodies were swollen.
Li Xu didn't know what to say about this.
The disasters during this period were not only caused by natural disasters, but more by man-made reasons.
Li Xu is just an ordinary person. He does not have the ability to save everyone. The best he can do is to protect his loved ones.
Li Xu endured the stinging sensation in his throat and finished the bowl of food. Then he took out a piece of candy and put it in his mouth, and distributed a few more to everyone.
Only a few elders looked at the candy with some hesitation. Old Mrs. Li said, "Take them all. This thing is rare. Consider it your grandson's filial respect to you elders."
When the elders heard what Mrs. Li said, they all took the candies and said a few words of praise to Li Xu.
After hearing what Old Lady Li said, Li Xu's face turned black. He thought that the rescue had failed and this "third grandson" could not be changed.
Seeing that everyone had eaten the candy, but Li Qiang was the only one who didn't want to eat any, Li Xu asked curiously, "Brother Qiang, everyone else has eaten, why don't you eat any?"
Li Qiang blushed when he heard this, scratched his head, smiled and said nothing.
At this time, Duan Xiaoyun joined in the conversation, "Are you planning to leave it for Old Qin's daughter to eat?"
Li Qiang's face turned even redder, and he almost wanted to lower his head to the ground.
"Old Qin's daughter? Who is she?" Li Xu was confused.
Before Duan Xiaoyun could explain, several younger ones started talking at once, saying they knew.
Li Xu was so noisy that he couldn't hear clearly, so he asked Li Hui to explain.
Li Hui stood up and said with a blushing face, "Sister Qin's name is Qin Hua. She is also from our village. She will be our future sister-in-law."
Li Xu frowned when he heard this, "Don't talk nonsense, you can't talk nonsense."
Li Hui, on the other hand, became anxious. "I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, ask my mom."
Li Xu looked at Duan Xiaoyun, and Duan Xiaoyun nodded.
Li Xu said in disbelief, "That's impossible. Brother Qiang is only 17 years old, not even the legal age. How can he get married?"
Duan Xiaoyun explained, "Nowadays, there are too many people getting married at the age of 15 or 16 in the countryside. They just get married first and then get a marriage certificate when they reach the required age. Some people don't even get a marriage certificate and just live like this. Everyone knows they are husband and wife.
It is because of the food shortage in the past two years, otherwise more people would get married.
The family your brother Qiang is going to marry is the daughter of the old Qin family. The family has a large family and cannot support so many people, so they want to marry her off in exchange for some food.
Your father subsidizes our family with some food every month, so we're a pretty well-off family in Qinghe Brigade. The Qin family asked someone to recommend us a while ago, and your brother Qiang took a liking to us immediately."
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