Originally, neither side gained an advantage in this matter, and Ding Ermao even started it. Considering that they lived on the same street, they didn't fight to the bitter end. Who would have thought that at lunchtime, the old lady of the Ding family would come to their door with Ding Ermao to argue, and even make Xiao An apologize to her Ermao.
Er Mao had already thought that what happened in the morning was over, but when he got home, his parents told his grandmother about it. The old lady felt sorry for her grandson and actually dragged him to their door to argue. He was embarrassed and waved his hand at Grandma Tao with a red face.
“It wasn’t my idea to come; my grandma insisted on dragging me here. Grandma Tao, I know what happened this morning was my fault. I shouldn’t have hit Tao An. My dad has already scolded me, but my grandma…”
"Er Mao, what are you saying? How is it your fault? If Tao An hadn't cursed first, would you have hit him? You're so young and already behaving badly, coming up here and cursing. Tao An, you come here right now! Look what you've done to my grandson, there are bloodstains all over him. You have to apologize to my grandson, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what? Your grandson is injured, but isn't mine injured too? I only refrained from arguing with your daughter-in-law because of you and Lao Ding, and now you're accusing me first? If we're really going to get to the bottom of this, it's because your daughter-in-law was gossiping behind my back. What does it matter to her if my little Jiu is ugly? Is he our son or not? Does that have anything to do with her? Will he be filial when he grows up? Does that bother her? Why is she always watching our family? Has she eaten your rice or your bread? Get out! I won't sell you any more wine, and I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore."
The old lady of the Ding family had really angered the grandmother. The grandmother didn't want to say anything more to them, so she grabbed a broom and chased them away. Just then, the grandfather of the Ding family rushed over, followed by the guilty daughter-in-law of the Ding family.
Even if the old lady of the Ding family was strong, she had no choice but to back down when she encountered the even more violent old man. The old lady's bound feet couldn't keep up with the old man's pulling force at all. He kept dragging her out by the arm, and even after they had gone a long way, you could still hear the old lady's complaints.
"Could you slow down? I'm exhausted, I can't keep up, old man..."
As soon as the Ding family left, the Tao family returned one after another, carrying farm tools and wearing straw hats. They saw the old lady standing at the door with a broom, her face still showing lingering anger.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Grandma, wanting to avoid trouble, shook her head: "It's alright, you must be starving. Go back and wash your face, there's a watermelon chilled in the well. We'll have garlic noodles for lunch. I'm going down there now."
The watermelons were grown in their backyard. They weren't very big, but because they grew in their own yard, they wouldn't be stolen. They also had plenty of fertilizer, so they were ice-cold and sweet to eat—absolutely delicious.
After a hard day's work, eating a slice of watermelon like this can definitely wipe away 80% of the fatigue in your body.
Grandma's hand-pulled noodles are amazing. The tomato and egg sauce is red with a hint of yellow, and the noodles, rinsed in icy well water, are chewy and refreshing. Drizzle a big spoonful of tomato and egg sauce, a small spoonful of garlic sauce, and a few leaves of perilla, and you can hear the slurping sound of the noodles.
There were many people in the family, so Grandma made a lot of milk. After they all finished eating, Grandma went to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. Grandma then brought the bowl over and carried her to the grape trellis to drink milk.
This healing life makes Xiaojiu enjoy life even more.
In her past life, her parents were busy, so she was sent to kindergarten when she was just over two years old. From then on, she began her busy life. She lived at school for 12 years of primary, junior high and high school, and rarely enjoyed the warmth of family affection. Although they loved her very much, that feeling was completely different from what she felt now.
It seems that a life without money is happier. When everyone is trying to earn money through hard work, there is naturally less time to spend with family.
Life is not perfect; we can only do our best.
Grandma fed her until she was full, then held her upright and patted her to help her burp. After that, she strolled around the yard and coaxed her to sleep before taking her inside for a nap.
Almost every day at noon it's like this. She's probably too sensible and easy to take care of, so Grandma is increasingly inseparable from her and likes to take her with her wherever she goes. It's as if with her by her side, she has found a spiritual sustenance.
The busy harvest lasted for about seven days, and finally the harvest was over. All the wheat was taken to the threshing ground for sun-drying and threshing. On windy days, people would run over to filter out the husks from the wheat grains, making the grains cleaner.
The busy farming season ended in mid-June, after about twenty days of work. My parents were several shades darker from the sun; it was very tiring.
In these twenty days, the wheat grains have been hulled, dried, and stored away, and corn for the next season has been planted in the fields.
Corn is easier to grow than wheat. One person digs a hole with a hoe, another person scatters two or three corn kernels into it, and then fills the hole with soil. That's how you plant it.
There's also an art to choosing when to plant corn; the best time is after rain, because the soil is moist, which helps the corn germinate.
When everything was finally finished, Xiao Jiu was almost four months old. She could easily roll over to either side, and she could hold her head up for longer periods of time.
She developed chubby cheeks, and her smile revealed dimples. Her cheerful giggles made the old lady smile every day.
Grandpa hadn't seen his wife so happy in many years, and as a result, he couldn't help but think more highly of Xiaojiu, and he started spending more time holding her.
He was always serious and rarely smiled, and he treated his children and grandchildren very seriously. But when Xiao Jiu touched his beard and got pricked and panicked, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. His hearty laughter stunned his son.
As a father, he felt a little panicked about the soft, fluffy thing. Every time he held her, he felt like she was about to fall off at any moment, which was very awkward.
He also complained, "Are all girls' children this limp and weak? Why didn't I feel this way when my sons were young? Look how small she is, can she even survive?"
This tiny little thing now weighs over ten pounds, and it's so cute and chubby.
"Who said our daughter is dark-skinned? You must have something wrong with your eyes. Look, she's even fairer than us. Her eyes light up when she smiles, and she has dimples. She's so pretty."
Xiao Jiu knows she's not exactly beautiful, but no one would complain that their child is ugly; even the ugliest child can be described with adjectives to praise them.
She never expected that her grandfather and father, who used to be afraid to get close to her, would suddenly like to come over and hug her. She couldn't refuse them, could she?
Pulling their beards, tugging at their hair, and hugging their necks—these have become boastful compliments for them. It's unbelievable. No wonder Grandma says they've never seen the world.
And her brothers are even worse. Whenever they're home, they come over and disturb her sleep, hugging one and pinching the other. It's so annoying...
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