If you say that this era is tough, it really is tough, but have you noticed that as long as you are diligent, you won't go too hungry?
Lazybones like Tang Youtian and Cao Amei wouldn't grow a single grain of food even if you gave them ten or twenty acres of land; they'd be better off starving to death.
In contrast, everyone in the Tao family, from top to bottom and from near to far, is diligent. They study hard, have a proper attitude towards life and work, and are optimistic and positive. How could their lives not be good?
You only see people eating dumplings and steamed buns every day, but you don't see them working in the fields, weeding, getting sunburned and peeling, their dark skin covered in sweat, and getting dizzy from the sun when they stand up and grabbing a tree to relieve their dizziness. Did you see any of that?
No one lies around waiting for a free meal to fall from the sky. Even little Tao An knows that only by enduring hardship can one rise above others. Unfortunately, some people simply don't understand these simple truths, and it's no wonder that they'd lose all sense of shame just to get a free meal every day.
They were like rats crossing the street; every household would slam their doors shut as soon as they saw them, which shows just how shameless they were.
That day, Xiao Jiu was playing by herself by the back gate. She looked around and, seeing that no one was there, quickly took out a thick stack of dried seaweed, weighing about four or five pounds, from the warehouse. She then sat down on it and continued playing in the dirt until her grandmother came. When she saw the seaweed, she stared wide-eyed and asked where it came from. Xiao Jiu thought for a while before tilting her head and saying...
"I found it in the middle of the road!"
"How long has it been?"
"It's been such a long, long time,"
"Who must have dropped it? Oh dear, this is a valuable item! They must be so worried!"
Xiao Jiu was afraid that her grandma would be waiting for someone at the door, but her grandma turned around and closed the door.
"Since no one has come looking for them for so long, perhaps they've even forgotten about it,"
Xiao Jiu nodded in satisfaction after seeing her move.
That's right, that's more like it. Otherwise, if she "picks up" something again next time, and you guys are sitting at the door waiting to return it, should I take it or not?
Now that Grandma has brought it home, she used the soaked kelp to make a delicious kelp and tofu soup for them at noon, and also made a cold kelp salad with chili and cilantro. The whole family enjoyed it very much.
In the afternoon, Grandma washed a whole yard full of kelp that had already been steamed. This kelp can be dried and stored away to be added to pork stew with vermicelli in the winter – it'll be delicious!
Although she deserved the most credit, Grandma only dared to praise her secretly in the kitchen, afraid that bringing it up at the dinner table would be detrimental to educating her older siblings.
Moreover, she said the seaweed was bought, not picked up. Anyway, she took advantage of her young age and ignorance, and she didn't care. It's just that her grandmother had to consider so much.
She tried her best to improve the family's meals, but Grandma was always uneasy, afraid that people would come looking for her. This is probably a typical case of feeling guilty.
However, in this era of scarcity, especially since they are not near the sea, even the cheapest things from the sea are hard to find here. She chose kelp because it yields a lot of vegetables, so she brought out a large package of five pounds, enough for them to eat for a long time.
Modern salt doesn't contain added iodine, so eating more seafood is good for your physical and mental health.
This year, we had quite a few vegetables at home, thanks to the wood ear fungus, perilla, water spinach, and ginseng that she provided, as well as green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants that Grandma grew herself. We even kept sending them to the county town. They only ate what they grew at home. The vegetables grown in our small vegetable garden were all sold by Dad to buy meat.
As for the lazy couple in Taoyuan Village, especially Cao Amei, Tang Youtian was already thinking of remarrying, so even if he felt tired, he would force himself to be diligent. On the other hand, Cao Amei would rather be beaten by Tang Youtian than work in the fields.
During the summer harvest, their family handed over grain to the state and then distributed some to their brothers. Since they weren't the ones who originally farmed the land, they had to give up half of the grain. The remaining grain wasn't enough for the two of them to eat until the autumn harvest. They were lazy, so how much grain could the land possibly yield?
The lazy woman is driving Tang Youtian crazy, but this Cao sister, who can't hold her pee, is completely convinced of her own reasoning.
"I'm really tired, I'm not kidding you. I feel like I can't breathe when I work, and my stomach feels like it's going to sag. You Tian, I'm not kidding you, I can't work anymore."
This is not a lie. Cao Amei suffered from severe malnutrition, uterine prolapse, organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, and blood deficiency. Although she looked like a normal person, only she knew the extent of her suffering.
However, why would Tang Youtian, who didn't care about her before, care about her now? Not only does he not care, he also thinks she is deliberately being mean and not doing any work. She gets beaten every day, and the beatings are quite severe. This silly woman actually thinks that being beaten means she doesn't have to work in the fields.
Tang Youtian was so angry that after several outbursts, he managed to restrain himself from hitting her. If it weren't for the fact that the person in question was going to jail, he would have strangled this lazy bum in a heartbeat.
Anyway, the two of them finally managed to plant their few acres of land.
Although the quality of the crops was poor, completely dependent on the weather, they didn't even prepare the land before digging a hole and throwing the corn kernels in—that was considered farming.
Unlike the Tao family, who first tilled and leveled the land, planting corn doesn't require so much trouble, since it's not like planting wheat. But they weren't afraid of hard work, so they spread fertilizer, tilled and leveled the land, and then went to the field every day to check on the plants. If a plant wasn't growing well, they would pull it out and transplant the ones that were growing well to the newer ones.
Because you need to plant about two or three seeds in each hole, there's a chance to make up for it later.
I transplanted them this morning, and soon after, I took water to irrigate them. I'm very attentive to these crops.
But look at how Tang Youtian farms! He only puts one corn kernel into each hole because he didn't buy that many seeds. Everyone else saves seeds, but he buys his own. If he's worried about the money, it will only create a vicious cycle. If this one doesn't grow, he won't have anywhere to replant.
The neighbors whose land is next to his are in trouble. If their corn seedlings don't sprout, the two of them will go and pluck theirs and transplant them over. Can you believe how unethical that is?
However, any signs of transplantation are easily noticeable, so the couple is often scolded by others because of this. If it weren't for the fact that the Tang family has a large number of members, especially men, making it difficult for others to take action, the couple would probably have been beaten countless times by others.
No one has a good word to say about Tang Youtian; they all use words like "scoundrel," "fool," and "bastard" to describe him.
The disappearance of the Tang sisters was met with no accusations of filial impiety. Instead, everyone was relieved that they had escaped such a family, otherwise, who knows where these heartless couple would have sold them off to!
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