The three brothers of the Lin family returned to the Ge family.

Lin Dajun: "Grandma Ge...Grandma Ge..."

Old Lady Ge came out of the house and said, "The first army, the third army, the fourth army, you are back."

Lin Sijun: "Grandma Ge, we are back. We brought some food with us."

Old Lady Ge: "Glad you're back. You stayed here for several days. Did you have fun in the county town?"

Lin Dajun: "My sister asked us to stay a few more days. We played in the county town. My sister even gave us money. But the county town wasn't that fun. Alas."

Lin Sijun: "Grandma Ge, please cook for us. We have bean sprouts and fried yam with pork slices. My sister asked us to eat with you."

Old Lady Ge: "Okay, okay..." She followed the three brothers and could also share some of the food they brought from the county. However, the three brothers of the Lin family lived happily with Old Lady Ge, because Old Lady Ge would cook for them and wash clothes, so the three of them actually had an easy life.

After lunch, the three brothers carried their backpacks and went up the mountain to dig yam.

Lin Yiyi, who was in the county town, didn't know that the three Lin brothers had had a fight with Qi Bocai.

Because October 1st was the National Day holiday, the town residents' welfare for October was put on September 30th. Lin Yiyi didn't know about this. Grandma Wang wanted to take her, but she was small and there were a lot of things at home, so she only waited until noon to go with Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu pushed the cart, and Lin Wudi sat on the cart and giggled, and Lin Yiyi watched him from the side.

The two of them first went to collect 44 kilograms of food, one kilogram of eggs (half a kilogram was from last month), six kilograms of meat (two kilograms was from last month), two bars of soap, and one kilogram of oil. After collecting them, they put them on the cart and went to collect coal and firewood. Although it is called collecting, it still costs money, but the things are really cheap. These things only cost 17.4 in total. If you go to Brother Wang, it’s just the price of three kilograms of meat. Xiao Yu’s 24 kilograms of commercial food last month have been eaten up, leaving only 6 kilograms of flour and 5 kilograms of potatoes. The reason why there are some left is because she used wild boar meat to exchange for some food before, and she also bought a lot of vegetables. Otherwise, 24 kilograms of commercial food alone would not be enough for the two of them.

The rations we received this time included 16 kilograms of flour, 7 kilograms of rice, 21 kilograms of coarse grains, and the rest together made up 22 kilograms of flour.

After returning home, Xiao Yu moved the food and coal to the utility room and went to work. Tomorrow is Saturday and October 1st. This time, with the weekend, they can have two days off, so they decided to go back to the countryside.

Of course, we have to bring things back to the countryside. It happens that Cui Ping's second batch of bean sprouts will be ready tomorrow, so Lin Yiyi decides to take all four pounds of bean sprouts, as well as five pounds of flour and three pounds of meat. Among them, one pound of flour and one pound of meat are for Lin Dajun and his friends. Of the remaining three pounds of meat at home, half a pound is cooked in the evening, and the rest is pickled.

Because they had to leave early the next morning, Lin Yiyi made 14 steamed buns with half a pound of braised pork and a pound of flour in the evening. She would eat half of them in the evening and the rest tomorrow morning.

When there were steamed buns in the past, Xiao Yu would only eat 3 per meal, never more. But there were more steamed buns at night, and he actually ate 5. Lin Yiyi wanted to lift up his clothes to see his belly.

The next morning, the family of three got up early.

When Cui Ping came to get the bean sprouts, she saw Xiao Yu. This was her first time seeing Xiao Yu, and she was a little surprised. In fact, people who saw Xiao Yu for the first time were all like her, because no matter how they looked at it, Xiao Yu and Lin Yiyi were not a good match. The height difference between the two was too big. Fortunately, Lin Yiyi had fair skin and had gained some weight after being raised in the county town for about 20 days. So apart from the height difference, there was no other mismatch.

After Cui Ping left, the family of three rode their bicycles to the countryside.

In October, even if it is a famine, people in the countryside will start working because the grain harvest is coming. Corn in early October, sweet potatoes in mid-October, and rice in late October. Even if the quantity is small, there is still a lot.

When Xiao Yu and his friends arrived at the Xiao family, except for Grandma Xiao and the two children, all the other members of the Xiao family were not there. Everyone went to work. Grandpa Xiao, at his age, did not fall behind and could follow the team to pick up leftovers. The leftovers were private property.

Take corn for example. After a good harvest, there are many things that can be picked up, such as corn cobs, which can be processed and fed to pigs. In the past, when pigs were raised, pigs not only ate pig grass, but also all kinds of edible things in the fields. Although pigs are not raised now, it is not certain when the harvest will be good, so we have to pick up the leftovers and put them away. In addition, some people eat them because corn cobs are similar to sugar cane. Although they are not as sweet as sugar cane, they are also a little sweet.

There are also baby corn shoots, which are the kind of corn with just the tips of its stalks. The corn kernels haven't come out yet and they are very tender, similar to bamboo shoots. There are always one or two of them on each corn stalk, and you can eat them for several meals if you pick them up.

These things are usually picked up by the elderly and children in the family. People of Grandma Xiao's age would usually go, but she had to take Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu with her, so she didn't go.

When Grandma Xiao saw her grandson, her eyes narrowed with joy: "Xiao Yu'er, Yi Yi, why are you here?"

Xiao Yu: "It's the National Day holiday, and the residents' welfare for this month happened to arrive, so we came here while my parents went to work?" Xiao Yu knew that holidays were not popular in the countryside.

Grandma Xiao said, "Yes, they are all picking corn."

Xiao Yu pushed the bicycle into the main room: "I'll go find them." Although his household registration has been changed, he can still help his parents so that they can work less.

Of course Grandma Xiao wouldn't say anything. This is a very normal thing for them.

Lin Yiyi took out the things she brought, four pounds of flour, two pounds of meat, and three pounds of bean sprouts: "Grandma, you can make these at noon to nourish Dad and Mom."

Grandma Xiao: "Hey, that's good." Grandma Xiao felt that she was doing the right thing. If they followed the eldest wife, the second wife would definitely not bring so much meat. These two pounds of meat made people jealous. "Dajun and the others have to go to work too, let them come over for lunch." Lin Yiyi was polite to them, and of course they were polite to Lin Yiyi.

Lin Yiyi said, "No need. The three boys are very hungry. I brought some for them as well." One pound of flour, one pound of meat, and one pound of bean sprouts, much less than what was given to the Xiao family. However, with flour and meat, it was also enviable.

Grandma Xiao: "These three children went back to Shanglin to work, and they didn't know you were coming back today." Fortunately, the two brigades are close, so it is convenient to go back and forth to work.

Lin Yiyi: "It's good to have a job. They are not young anymore and need to learn to take care of themselves. However, last week they learned a lot about herbs from Dr. Lin and learned that Chinese yam can be eaten. Last week, they dug more than 30 kilograms of Chinese yam and sent it to the county town."

Grandma Xiao: "Isn't it the white vegetable that the army sent that day that looks a bit like radish?"

Lin Yiyi: "Yes, that's it. When my parents are free, we can go up the mountain to have a look. Yams are durable and can be stored in a dry place for several months."

Grandma Xiao: "Oh, that's good. Now we can't even find wild vegetables in the mountains."

Lin Yiyi: "The leaves of yam are not edible, so they are not dug up as wild vegetables. Their roots are all underground. If no one knows about them, they will definitely not be dug up."

Grandma Xiao: “That’s great.”

Lin Yiyi: "Grandma, I'll take these things to the Ge family."

Grandma Xiao: "You should go later. I'm sure that Old Lady Ge is also picking up corn at this time."

Lin Yiyi thought so too.

Qin Xiangju worked very skillfully. She wore gloves that she made herself and were very thick. Her hands would not hurt when she was breaking corn with the gloves on, so she broke the corn very quickly. When she was working hard, she heard Lu Xiaochun next to her say, "Sister-in-law, is there a distinguished guest at your house?"

Qin Xiangju: “What?” What distinguished guest is there in her house?

Lu Xiaochun said, "Look, Xiao Yu'er is here. Hey, maybe he brought you some delicious food from the county town again."

Qin Xiangju looked up and saw that it was indeed Xiao Yu. In response to her sister-in-law's teasing, she smiled and said, "That's right. Our second son and his wife are very filial every time they come here." As she spoke, she shouted at Xiao Yu, "Second son, why are you here?" She couldn't call Xiao Yu'er anymore, so she could only call him at home. Now that her son is the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau, it would not be manly to call him Xiao Yu'er again.

Xiao Yu walked over and called Lu Xiaochun "Auntie" first, then said to Qin Xiangju, "I just received this month's town resident benefits yesterday. It just so happens that today and tomorrow are holidays, so I told you to send them one by one."

Lu Xiaochun said: "Oh, people say that sons forget their mothers after they get married, but sister-in-law, you are really lucky. Your son is filial and your daughter-in-law is also filial."

Qin Xiangju said: "What filial piety does this kid have? If his wife hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have known to come back to see us. But our family is really filial. Not only is she filial, but she is also blessed..."

Lu Xiaochun: "That's right. Yiyi is capable and can make money with his pen, but Xiaoyuer is the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau. If Yiyi is incapable, he is not worthy of Xiaoyuer."

Breaking corn is a woman's job, while men are responsible for moving things and weeding the ground. Xiao Yu is strong and can move things quickly, so with Xiao Yu's participation, the Xiao family completed the task today very quickly.

As soon as the Xiao family arrived at the gate of the courtyard, they smelled a fragrance. It was the smell of meat. People of that era had particularly sensitive noses.

Grandma Xiao: "Now that you are back, it's time to eat."

Qin Xiangju: "I'm coming, I can smell the fragrance from far away. What delicious food did mother make?"

Grandma Xiao: "Yi Yi brought back two kilograms of meat and made braised pork at noon."

When Qi Bocai and Liang heard this, they felt a little hungry and wanted to join in the fun.

Qin Xiangju: "Oh, I don't know how long it has been since I last had my mother's braised pork. Today, I am taking advantage of the second son's wife."

Lin Yiyi: "It's obvious that grandma did this because she saw how hard you, dad, and grandpa worked. I'm just taking advantage of everyone."

Grandma Xiao not only made braised pork, but also dry rice today, with rice at the bottom and sweet potatoes on top. When serving the rice, she gave all the rice to Lin Yiyi and Xiao Yu, and kept the sweet potatoes for herself. Not to mention that Lin Yiyi likes to eat sweet potatoes as a staple food, even if she doesn't like it, she can't eat the rice by herself and let the elders eat sweet potatoes. Lin Yiyi divided the rice with Grandma Xiao and Qin Xiangju, and served a few sweet potatoes herself.

Of course, Grandma Xiao and Qin Xiangju were unwilling and wanted to return the rice to her. Xiao Yu said, "You guys eat it. She likes to eat sweet potatoes. She also ate sweet potatoes when she was in the county town."

Qin Xiangju and Grandma Xiao don't think that Lin Yiyi likes to eat sweet potatoes. They think she is being frugal and saving the good ones for Xiao Yu.

The people in the first and third wives went to work, and there was no one to cook at home, so they took out the food and gave it to Grandma Xiao, asking her to cook it. The so-called food was sweet potatoes. After Grandma Xiao cooked their sweet potatoes, she put them in a basket. Now they were going to eat, so she gave the basket to the first and third wives: "Your sweet potatoes are here."

Liang took two sweet potatoes and did not dare to look at the table. She hurried back to her room. Back in the room, she and Xiao Bin ate the dry sweet potatoes, thinking about the braised pork and fried bean sprouts on the dining table in the main hall, and she felt very uncomfortable. But she had no choice, because this was given by the second house to honor the elders.

Qi Bocai looked at the braised pork eagerly, licked her lips, and saw Lin Yiyi sitting next to her, but Lin Yiyi didn't even look at her. She had quarreled with Qi Bocai, so why should she call her sister-in-law for the sake of face? That was impossible. If she called her that, others would think she had a good personality, so she could get over anything.

Qi Bocai snorted and went back to his room, but soon Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu arrived.

The two of them held the bowls and looked at the adults shyly. The bowls were empty.

Qin Xiangju frowned and said, "Didn't your mother prepare food for you?" This shameless Qi Bocai has been withholding food from the children since the family split up, forcing them to come here to beg. Qin Xiangju feels sorry for her grandchildren, but can she really starve them?

Xiao Rui shook his head: "Grandma, I'm hungry."

Xiao Zhu: "I'm hungry too, grandma."

Grandma Xiao: "Is she done yet? She keeps the child's food and rushes him here every mealtime. Is she sure we won't let him go hungry?"

Lin Yiyi thought to herself, this is indeed true.

Lin Yiyi said, "Mom, grandma, let me say something unpleasant. You and mom love your grandchildren, so you naturally don't want to let them go hungry. But... the food you gave out not only fills the children, but also fills your stomachs. My eldest brother is both a son and a grandson, how can he bear to starve his own mother and grandmother? Isn't this too unfilial? My brother Yu just can't bear it."

That's true. If it was a good year, it would be fine, but now, they fed the children and left them hungry. Why did Xiao Wu just watch his wife do this?

Xiao Yu: "This is also simple. When the grain is collected and it is time to distribute it, the brigade will directly allocate Xiao Rui and Xiao Zhu's grain to you and deduct it from your eldest brother's household registration."

Lin Yiyi thought to herself, Brother Yu either keeps silent or says something harsh when he opens his mouth.

Old Lady Ge had already prepared the meal, waiting for Lin Dajun and his team to return from the Shanglin Production Brigade. The dishes she cooked were brought by Lin Yiyi. She didn't cook braised pork, as she couldn't bear to cook so much at once, so she cooked shredded pork noodles. She went to the brigade to pick up some leftovers, picking up some small corns, so she came back early and was just in time to cook for the children. Not long after she came back, Lin Yiyi came.

Lin Dajun: "Grandma Ge, we are back."

Lin Sijun: "Grandma Ge, it smells so good, what are you cooking?"

Lin Sanjun...

The three brothers looked very energetic. They carried the baskets on their backs and took them directly into the kitchen. Old Mrs. Ge saw that there were quite a few small corns in the baskets and knew that the children must have picked them very carefully.

Old Lady Ge said, "I made noodles with shredded pork and bean sprouts."

Lin Sijun: "Wow, there are noodles and meat today. Grandma Ge, have you gone to buy meat?"

Old Mrs. Ge: "No, it's your sister who came and brought you flour, meat, and bean sprouts. Your sister gave you a whole pound of meat. You must be filial to such a good sister." Although there is no such thing as a younger brother being filial to his older sister, there is an exception. What if the younger brother is raised by his older sister?

The Lin brothers were very happy to hear that their sister had returned: "Sister is back? That's great. We have to go to work now. We can't go to the county this week."

Lin Sijun: "That's right, we can't send yams to my sister anymore."

Old Mrs. Ge served them some noodles, but she didn't eat any of them. She was too embarrassed to eat other people's children's food. However, she served herself a bowl of noodle soup. Although it was a light soup, it contained oil, so it warmed her stomach and was delicious.

Suddenly, some shredded pork and noodles went into her bowl. When she looked over, it was Lin Sanjun. Her eyes turned red. Although this child didn't talk much, he was very considerate.

Seeing this, Lin Dajun and Lin Sijun thought about it and also gave some to Old Lady Ge. My sister said that Old Lady Ge was kind to them, cooking and washing clothes for them, and they couldn't eat alone.

Three boys who lost their parents and an old man who lost his children, live together due to an accident, but the atmosphere is inexplicably harmonious.

After eating the noodles, it was still early for work, so Lin Dajun took his brother to Xiao's house.

Xiao Family

"sister……"

“Big sister…”

Before they entered the Xiao family's yard, the loud voices were heard. Lin Dajun and Lin Sanjun carried backpacks, while Lin Sijun was empty-handed. Lin Dajun: "Sister, we are worried that we can't go to the county this week. These are the yams we dug these days, and the small corns we picked up. You can take them back to the county." Then he exchanged them for meat and flour.

Lin Yiyi now has some understanding of the Lin brothers. When they were young, these three white-eyed wolves were innocent and naive. Lin Yiyi: "You keep it for yourselves, let Grandma Ge cook it for you, and nourish your body."

Lin Dajun: "We kept it. When we dug yam, we took Grandma Ge with us. She dug with us these past two days."

Lin Sijun: "Today, Grandma Ge made us shredded pork noodles. The meat and flour were the ones you brought."

Lin Yiyi: “Is it delicious?”

Lin Sijun: "It's delicious, I want to eat it every day."

Lin Yiyi chuckled: "You are so beautiful. The next time you get meat will be next month. I will give it to you guys after I get the meat next month."

Lin Sijun: "Sister, please don't forget it."

Lin Yiyi: “Well, no.”

After chatting with the Lin brothers for a while, they went to work. Lin Yiyi and Xiao Yu were about to leave. They didn't plan to stay overnight at the Xiao family. They brought things when they came, and they also brought things when they left. Lin Dajun and his team dug more than ten pounds of yam in the past two days, plus the baby corns, which weighed about 20 pounds in total. The Xiao family also wanted to give baby corns, but Lin Yiyi didn't want them.

It was almost 2 o'clock when they returned to the county town. As soon as their bicycles arrived at the door, Grandma Wang ran out of the house: "Yi Yi, Yi Yi..."

Xiao Yu led Lin Wudi into the yard. Lin Yiyi stood at the gate of the yard: "Grandma Wang."

Grandma Wang asked, "Do you know? Did you sprout beans for the director's wife, Cui Ping?" They were all from the same area, and although the steel plant and the Public Security Bureau were not part of the same unit, everyone knew about it because they had lived there for a long time.

Lin Yiyi nodded.

Grandma Wang: "Oh, you silly child, please stop giving her bean sprouts. Do you know what she does with the bean sprouts you give her? She sells them for money."

Lin Yiyi was stunned. After thinking carefully, it was indeed possible. Otherwise, why would Cui Ping ask her to distribute five kilograms of soybeans at a time? After the sprouts were completed, there would be 20 kilograms of bean sprouts. However, Cui Ping, the wife of a director, should not do that.

Grandma Wang said, "You don't know, when I went to buy vegetables from my nephew's place today, I ran into an old comrade from our former family compound. He said that Xiao Wang's bean sprouts are 2 yuan per catty, while Cui Ping's bean sprouts are 1.8 yuan per catty."

Lin Yiyi calculated that bean sprouts cost 1.8 yuan per pound, and 20 pounds could be sold for 36 yuan. The original cost of 5 pounds of soybeans was only 25 yuan, so she could earn 11 yuan. Don't underestimate 11 yuan, it is a temporary worker's monthly salary, and it is also the annual income of an ordinary person in the countryside.

Others may not know that Lin Yiyi can grow bean sprouts, but Grandma Wang lives next door and comes over from time to time. She also saw Cui Ping taking bean sprouts, so she knew that Cui Ping's bean sprouts were grown by Lin Yiyi. But she didn't think much about Brother Wang's bean sprouts.

Grandma Wang also thought about buying some mung beans and soybeans and asking Lin Yiyi to help her sprout them. Everyone knows that these beans will definitely produce more sprouts, but... Brother Wang's mung beans and soybeans are no longer for sale, so he kept them for her to sprout. So, Grandma Wang had an idea.

Lin Yiyi said, "I understand. Thank you, Grandma Wang. By the way, I brought back some baby corns from the countryside. My brother and his friends picked them up from the ground. You can take them home and try them. They taste good, with the aroma of corn." Lin Yiyi went back to the house and took out about a pound of baby corns.

Grandma Wang accepted it and said, "Thank you, my lady."

Lin Yiyi sent her to the door, then turned around and told Xiao Yu about this: "This is the third time I have distributed bean sprouts to her, and there are still two kilograms left. If she really wants to sell them, she can sell five kilograms of soybeans in half a month. She can earn 11 yuan in half a month, but it's all for nothing."

Xiao Yu: "Then next time she comes to get it, just refuse her."

Lin Yiyi: "Of course, I promised Brother Wang that I will not sell bean sprouts anymore. It would be bad if Brother Wang misunderstood Cui Ping's matter."