However, happiness was short-lived. At the end of the month, news of war broke out. When Grandpa heard this news on the radio, he remained silent for a long time before getting up and silently smoking his pipe. When Dad saw this, he felt heartbroken and wanted to persuade him, but Grandma pulled him aside.
“It’s nothing. He’s just missing your brothers. Let him have some peace and quiet. I never thought that even in peacetime, there would still be war. I don’t understand politics, but Changyi, listen to your mother. Don’t let any more of our children join the army.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than Grandpa's voice came from the main room: "What do you know, you woman? As long as the country needs us, we'll join the army. What's wrong with joining the army? What's the point of having so many sons if not to protect our country? Without the sacrifices of my first few sons, would we have the life we have today? We can't forget our roots. As long as my status as a landlord doesn't ruin the future of my children, let them all join the army if they can!"
The old man slammed his hand on the table, startling the grandmother into silence. The father stood beside him, his back straight, his expression blank, though his gaze was fixed on the portraits of his uncles on the wall, as well as the precious family photo.
He swallowed hard, then slowly stepped inside, lit three incense sticks for his uncles, before turning to look at his father.
“Dad, you’re right. Our Tao family isn’t cowardly. As long as the country needs us, we’ll rush to the front lines without hesitation. As long as our children are capable in the future, whether they join the army or do something else, I won’t interfere. You can relax and enjoy your retirement. With so many ordinary people supporting the country, things will be fine!”
The conversation between the father and son brought tears to the eyes of Xiao Jiu, who was being held in his mother's arms. While it was deeply moving, it was also regrettable that within three generations, they couldn't become the owners of the house…
She looked up and around, then sighed softly, realizing it was probably beyond saving.
When the older brothers reach marriageable age, I'm afraid no one will want to marry them.
Even if this ingredient isn't the most serious, just being even slightly involved will make it very difficult to get through the darkest period.
Don't be fooled by how well things are going in this family now. In a few years, when the storms start, who knows if they'll be caught up in it all and have to endure the trials and tribulations?
Don't say that you can leave this place while the household registration system is not perfect. It's useless. Even if you change your household registration, you still need the original household registration. Without the original household registration, it's not easy for you to settle down anywhere. Everything is written clearly on the original household registration. No matter where you go, the treatment will be the same.
The elderly believe in returning to their roots; this is their home, so how could they leave so easily!
After National Day, the autumn harvest began. During the harvest, only Tao An and the old lady were left to take care of her, while the rest of the people went to the fields to busy themselves with the harvest.
Of course, the three sisters went to different places, all dressed up in full protective gear. Whether it was cornfields or sorghum fields, the cornfields were very tall, which helped them avoid being looked at by those with ulterior motives.
When they went home, my sister and her family brought back sorghum stalks. After peeling off the outer skin, they could eat them like sugarcane. This was a unique snack from their generation. They would eat these to quench their thirst when they were thirsty in the fields, and it was incredibly satisfying.
Carry the peanut vines home, chop them up, and put them in the woodshed. You can feed them to the sheep; sheep love to eat this.
Corn stalks and sorghum stalks can be dried and used as firewood. After harvesting the grain, the stalks are cut down and taken home. We dare not leave them outside, or someone will steal them. In those days, everything was precious, and speed was crucial. If you were slow, someone else would be fast, and in the end, you might end up with nothing.
After harvesting these, there are also sweet potatoes and potatoes planted in the yard. Because they were well taken care of at home, the harvest was quite good.
The potato she had accidentally thrown away earlier grew into a potato that, while not quite the same size as the original, was still considerably larger than a regular potato.
Grandma immediately decided not to eat these potatoes, but to use them as seeds after the New Year.
"Look how high its yield is, and how big the fruit is. We'll keep it and plant another batch next spring,"
After the autumn harvest is finished, it will be almost the end of October. The land will be divided for winter wheat planting. Before plowing and leveling the land, fertilizer must be spread first. The roots of corn and sorghum also need to be dug out with a hoe so that the land can be plowed.
When it's time to plow the fields, the whole family goes out. During the autumn break at school, Grandma continues to stay home with her two youngest children and cook for them.
With the addition of the three Tang sisters this year, the autumn harvest was noticeably easier than the summer harvest.
Grandma stacked up the wheat straw from the summer harvest and made a lot of woven products. Whenever she had the chance, she would put them out in front of her tavern. Although they didn't sell for much money and all the effort was put into them, it was still better than burning them as firewood.
Grandma was very skillful, and her sisters helped out a lot. Over the months from summer harvest to autumn harvest, they actually earned 100,000 yuan. None of them wanted the money; they used it all to supplement their household income.
After the Tao family planted their winter wheat, it was time to harvest the radishes and cabbages. Taking advantage of a spare moment, Zhao Lingli went to inquire about the situation of Tang's parents.
I was shocked when I found out what I was hearing.
"Your mother suffered a miscarriage after being beaten by your father, but he refused to take her to the hospital. She bled so much that it scared Cao Amei so much that she fell off the bed and crawled to the door to get someone to take her to the hospital. She can never have children again. Now your father and she are getting a divorce, and no one is going to harvest the crops in the fields. In the end, the old lady had her other sons harvest them, but all the harvested grain ended up in other people's homes. Now your parents have nothing to eat, so they shamelessly went to your grandmother's house. They can't be driven away, they can't be beaten, they just stay there. Your mother stayed in the hospital for a few days, then secretly ran away. In the end, people found her home. The couple had no money, and in the end, the old lady was forced to pay them..."
Upon hearing Zhao Lingli's words, Tang Cuihua was not only stunned, but also suddenly felt enlightened.
"Is this what the older generation meant by 'evil people will be punished by other evil people'? How did they suddenly come to this conclusion? If they stay at their grandparents' place from now on, they can't just stay there without food. They're lazy, don't do any work, and still want to eat every day. I bet they'll disgust those uncles and aunts to death."
Zhao Lingli couldn't help but laugh: "Who says otherwise? If that's really the case, I don't recommend you go home. If the three of you go home, you'll be slaves to that couple, with endless chores and never enough to eat. Judging from their appearance, they probably won't go hungry. As long as they don't go hungry, you don't need to pay any attention to them. Just let that family of awful people torture each other."
The three sisters nodded in agreement. "Auntie is right. We didn't expect them to suddenly become so clever. They must have been incredibly lazy to come up with this trick. People always say that if one monk carries water, two monks can carry it together. But they're different from others. All they do is try to take advantage of each other, afraid of being taken advantage of. Now look what's happened! They've all become beggars. We don't know what they're after!"
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