Jian Dan was eavesdropping behind the door, and just as she was about to feel a pang of heartache, she was amused by the child, which caught her off guard.
"Cough cough,"
Seeing the two children turn around, she quickly coughed a few times in a mock manner, then put her hands behind her back with a serious expression, as if she hadn't been the one laughing just moments before. She glanced up at the sky; the midday sun was blazing hot.
Don't you take a nap at noon?
The three children shook their heads in unison.
"Aren't you going to sleep?"
Thinking about it simply, it makes sense. People in rural areas don't have this habit. They're probably too tired to have any free time, and they raise their children very freely.
"Alright, let the rest of the melons grow for a few more days. I'll call you then. Do you want to sleep here for a while, or do you want to go home?"
The boy hesitated, and Xiaohua was starting to want to go home. She rarely stayed outside for so long. Although she had a lot of fun and enjoyed the food, she was already missing her mother and grandmother. However, she was a little embarrassed to speak loudly, so she tugged at Huzi's clothes with pleading eyes.
Tiger is acting like a big brother.
"Sister Jane, let's go home then. Just call us next time you need help."
They said they worked all morning, but in reality they only picked a dozen or so seedlings, less than twenty, and about forty or fifty melons of various sizes. The larger ones weighed more than ten pounds, and the smaller ones weighed five or six pounds. The workload for several people in one morning was still quite considerable.
It was clear he was getting restless, so Jian Dan didn't insist on keeping him. He went to the woodshed and found a few small baskets.
"Two watermelons each, go pick them yourselves, I'll take you home in a bit."
Tiger waved his hands repeatedly.
"No, no, Sister Jane, you've already cooked such delicious food for us, and there's even meat in it. We can't have any more of your watermelon."
"Don't you want your grandparents to have some too? This is all earned through your own hard work,"
Tiger's eyes lit up.
"Sister Jane, are you saying that I earned this myself?"
“You’ve been helping me all morning. Nobody does work for free, you know. You get work points for your work, right? I can’t let you work for me for nothing, you have to get paid.”
The child was quite concerned and asked her in a very serious tone,
"Sister Jian, we eat so much, and you still pay us? Aren't you going to go broke eating us out of house and home? You won't go hungry, will you?"
A simple buzz cut,
"You're overthinking it. Your sister doesn't have that little bit of wealth."
The children then felt relieved and picked out a few melons. Two melons would weigh at least twenty pounds. Tiger could carry them, and Black Egg and Little Flower could carry one each, so they simply carried two.
It's sunny here, and there aren't many people outside, so I won't get seen and gossiped about. I deliberately chose this time. Even though it's a labor exchange, the items are likely to be defective, and since it's a child, it wouldn't sound good if people talked about it.
Simple is still brainwashing the children.
"Did the food you used to eat all come from the labor your family members did?"
"Mmm, my grandpa and dad found these fruits for me on the mountain, they're delicious,"
"Me too, my aunt gives me delicious food too,"
Rural children are all tough. Tiger is only a little bit old, but he can do all kinds of housework at home. Even during the autumn harvest, he can follow behind the adults and carry a basket to pick up any leftovers. So when they helped her harvest watermelons, they didn't feel bad about it. It's not that they didn't care about the child, but he's just used to doing chores at home.
"So what will you say when you go back?"
Upon entering the village, we didn't encounter anyone. The first place we went was the educated youth compound. We glanced inside briefly and saw Lin Zhaodi washing clothes. We greeted her simply but didn't go in, saying we'd come over later.
There were only a few houses ahead of us, and that was Liu Sanye's house.
With the children not home, the adults didn't rest after dinner. Liu Guangming was fiddling with his wood again, the old lady was sitting under the eaves mending clothes, and the old man was fixing something nearby.
The courtyard wall wasn't high, and Tiger could shout from afar.
"Grandma, Grandma, we're back."
Xiao Hua pursed her lips, too embarrassed to call out, but her face showed relief, and her steps quickened considerably.
The old lady paused.
"I think I heard Tiger calling me,"
The old man scoffed.
“I don’t usually think about the kids this much. Tiger has been running around outside all night and I haven’t mentioned him once. What’s wrong with him today?”
"grandmother,"
As she got closer, the voices became clearer, and the old woman put down the array she was holding.
"You old fool, you're talking about me? Listen to that, isn't that Tiger and Little Flower's voice?"
Tiger was the fastest, rushing into the yard first.
"Grandma, Grandpa, we're back."
The boy's face was flushed from the sun, his eyes were bright, and he was showing his little white teeth. As he spoke, he put the basket on his shoulder down. The basket weighed about twenty pounds. He didn't feel it was a big deal when he was carrying it, but when he put it down, he lost his balance and almost fell over. The old man quickly stepped in and lifted him up, gently putting him down.
The top was covered with watermelon vines that had just been pulled up; the old man didn't recognize them at first.
"Didn't you go to do some work? What's wrong? You went up the mountain?"
The two children behind her, and Jian Dan at the very end, also entered the yard. Jian Dan smiled as soon as she entered.
"I brought your two helpers back. See if any of their hairs are missing?"
The old lady pointed at her.
"You! You're all done? Why are you still carrying a basket?"
I helped the two children put down their baskets, then put my own down and set it aside.
"I've finished half of it, and now that I'm done, I have nowhere to put it. I'll just leave it there to grow. Besides, it's shady against the wall over there, so it can still grow a bit longer."
He took a stool and sat down next to the old lady.
"Let me make this clear first, this isn't something I'm giving you. They worked hard all morning, this is their wages."
The old lady laughed heartily, not caring at all whether it was hard or not. What rural child doesn't work? How hard could it be? You could tell from their faces that they were very happy.
A look of surprise,
"Oh my, my Tiger can earn money now? And Little Flower too, Grandpa and Grandma will enjoy your good fortune first."
Both children had bright, sparkling eyes, clearly pleased with the praise; their little faces were slightly flushed.
Without standing on ceremony, Uncle Liu grabbed a basket and started working himself.
"Wow, you actually grew it? Not bad, not bad. It's been so many years since I've eaten this stuff!"
Looking at his eldest grandson, he also had a satisfied expression. Glancing at his stomach, which wasn't bloated at all, he wondered if he had eaten a lot of watermelon.
"Tiger, are you tired?"
"Not tired"
Tiger was still excited.
"Grandpa, Sister Jian's backyard has so many things planted, and she even gave us watermelons, cooked meat for us, and made flatbreads!"
As she spoke, she patted her stomach, then suddenly remembered...
"Grandpa, Sister Jian's puppy is so cute, it just follows me around."
He simply looked down, glanced around, but couldn't find it, and coughed lightly.
"Those are guarding the house."
The mention of dogs made Uncle Liu a little uncomfortable, and he thought of the dying Big Black dog again.
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