Seeing her anxious, Xiao Jiu smiled and advised, "Miss, thank you for your kindness, but I'm really not suitable for it, and I don't have the time. My grandparents are getting old, and I have to go home to be with them. My parents can't help it either; it's my own choice, and it has nothing to do with them."
When Officer Li heard the little girl's clear explanation, he was even more pleased. He was about to squat down and say a few more words of advice when Xiao Jiu nodded politely to him, took her mother's hand, and left.
"Jiu'er, if you like, it's possible,"
“Mom, I don’t like it. I don’t plan to develop in this direction in the future. Showing off like that won’t do you any good.”
That's true. They're just ordinary temporary workers right now. If she gets involved, who knows whose interests she might offend, or she might get framed by some villain. Her parents are business people; they've seen all kinds of people.
Their initial refusal already indicated that they knew this wasn't a suitable matter for them to get involved. Xiao Jiu, being a girl from the modern world, naturally had more to think about, so her explanation now shocked Zhao Lingli.
"You little rascal, how do you know so much?"
"Of course it's because my grandma taught me well. Mom, you know how low-key she is. She said that if it's not your territory, you should never show off, lest you attract unwanted attention. Don't you agree?"
Zhao Lingli wholeheartedly agreed, “I really do listen to you, that’s right, your grandma is right. Your dad and I are just temporary workers right now. There are hundreds of people in this factory, and it’s a very complicated situation. Every year, just getting a permanent position requires going through all sorts of assessments, not to mention that the kids in the family compound also have to participate in this. We don’t have the confidence to compete with the kids of permanent employees!”
"However, this doesn't mean my Jiu'er isn't good enough. On the contrary, it's precisely because you're so outstanding that your mother is worried you'll steal the spotlight from others,"
"Mom, you don't need to explain, I understand. I'll go home with Dad at noon."
Zhao Lingli patted Xiaojiu's head, her eyes filled with relief and guilt. She felt ashamed because they had sacrificed their daughter for work. Although it wasn't a demanding activity, if their daughter could participate, she might develop a hobby in the future. After all, not everyone has the talent for this.
Unfortunately, his whole family is now secretly preparing for a year of famine. They absolutely cannot lose their jobs, and they cannot afford to make even the slightest mistake.
Dreams can be discovered later, it's the same. Right now, keeping your job and your food supply is the most important thing.
——
The autumn harvest began in mid-October. First, we picked corn. My eldest sister, second sister, third brother, and youngest brother were busy in the fields in town, while my grandparents, Xiaojiu, and my fourth and fifth sisters, who came to help, were helping to harvest corn in Xihe Village.
Xiao Jiu took the initiative to cook and deliver meals, because it would make it easier for her to supplement everyone's nutrition. Whether it was meat, vegetables, or staple food, she would add as much as possible, and even went to great lengths to rent an oxcart to deliver meals to her older brothers and sisters in town.
When my older siblings get busy, they work day and night. They don't even get to eat properly, and they still have to go home and cook, which is a waste of time. The key is that they might not even be able to cook well. Xiaojiu was worried about that. Luckily, she is now six or seven years old, so she can reach the stove and has the strength to knead dough. After thinking it over, she decided that she would cook and deliver the meals to everyone.
It was a bit tiring, mainly because it was a lot of work, but fortunately she didn't skimp on the one-cent fare for the round trip. On the surface, she only brought one bucket of food, but in reality, the bucket only contained stir-fried vegetables. The steamed buns, rice, and other things were all stored in her spatial storage. Anything that could be displayed openly was something she wasn't afraid of them seeing.
Summer and autumn are seasons with abundant resources, including a good variety of vegetables. Eggplants, green beans, and tomatoes are mostly ready for harvest, but chili peppers can only be harvested before the first frost.
My grandparents planted the bok choy and radishes at home a long time ago, after they pulled up the first batch of green beans and eggplants.
Grandma would give her a dollar every day to buy meat, which she would then use to cook for both families.
The autumn harvest is so hard, and meat costs 75 cents a pound. A dollar can buy a little over a pound of meat. Although it's not much, it's enough for a family to stew a big pot of vegetables, and it tastes delicious.
Xiao Jiu knew how to weigh meat and calculate costs, so her grandmother trusted her enough to let her go with the villagers to buy meat.
She's very good at picking meat. People see that she's young and try to give her leaner meat or lymph node meat to get rid of her, but she refuses.
"I want pork belly, Uncle, cut me some pork belly." The meat coupons were a reward that my father earned by saving every penny.
My parents saved it up specifically to supplement their nutrition during the autumn harvest.
After taking the meat home, she put it in her spatial storage. It was genuine local pork, which she kept for future consumption.
People don't have much oil or fat these days, but there's plenty of pork fat in the space, so we can use it to render lard for everyone to stir-fry.
She brought home a little over a pound of meat, but the meat she took out was all in chunks, some weighing one or two pounds, and some two or three pounds.
She sliced all the meat, added plenty of oil, and rendered all the fat into lard. Then she scooped it into an oil jar along with the lean meat. After the lard solidified, when stir-frying vegetables, she would scoop out a spoonful of lard. It contained not only oil but also meat. Although it was a small amount, it was still made with animal fat, and it tasted very fragrant.
If it's a stew, like a big pot of mixed vegetables, she'll add more meat; if it's a separate stir-fried dish, she'll add less.
This summer, her family also made preserved eggs, and since it was hot, she would make a cold dish with them and onions.
Hot dishes usually consist of potatoes, sliced meat, and carrots, but sometimes they may be replaced with stewed pumpkin or stewed cabbage and tofu.
The staple food was either steamed buns made by Grandma in advance, or rice made from a mixture of millet, sorghum, and rice.
When eating rice, it's especially good to have side dishes, so you need to cook more.
The rooster we raised was caught before the summer harvest, and now that the autumn harvest is here, we're taking it out to slaughter and provide nutrition for the whole family.
I must say, the stew made from these free-range chickens raised on their own is really delicious. Carrots, potatoes, and chicken are a perfect match. Add some glass noodles, and sprinkle some chopped green onions and minced garlic on top when it's done. Even without spices or other seasonings, the aroma is so enticing that the waiter would lick the bowl clean.
Around the beginning of November, the autumn harvest will be over. This year, the land will be left idle. No winter wheat was planted because the yield of wheat is too low and not worth the effort. Next year in February or March, sweet potatoes and potatoes will be planted. Once dried, they will be used as grains, just as much as wheat.
Since there's no need to plant winter wheat, it saves a lot of trouble. Before planting wheat, you need to plow and level the land, making it flat and neat before planting the wheat seeds. You also need to choose a cloudy day to plant, and the land needs to be moist after rain, which is more conducive to germination. It's very hard work, but no matter how hard you work, the yield is not high. An acre of land will always yield only a hundred or so catties. Nobody is in a good mood for that.
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