"Shall we go with Mom to take a look tomorrow?" Liu Shile thought for a moment before tentatively suggesting.
Zhang Sumei didn't want to suffer any more humiliation. She really wanted to say, "Go if you want, I'm not going," but when she thought about her family's situation, she couldn't bring herself to say it.
With the eldest brother nodding in agreement, she also felt that it made sense. The cooperative was eager for someone to cooperate with them, so why would they refuse her request?
However, we can't just let her agree like that. If they all go, who will chop the firewood at home? They're about to go to school, so how can we not fill up the backyard and the eaves?
She glanced at the brother and sister and shook her head. "Shile, come with me tomorrow morning. After we finish asking, your second brother should be back by then. We can go chop wood together then."
Liu Shihua nodded indifferently, and Liu Shile thought for a moment but didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit acceptance of the arrangement.
Liu Shile prefers peace and quiet, and a noisy home is not what she wanted. Anyway, her second brother wasn't going to Shangli alone, so she wasn't really worried about anything.
"Ugh, ptooey! What a nasty thing! It tastes awful!" Just then, Liu Shiping spat out loudly.
Everyone looked over and saw that he was holding a kiwi fruit that he had bitten half off.
His face was full of anger, and he threw the fruit in his hand at Liu Shihua, but his aim was not very good and he didn't hit anyone.
Seeing that her son had been wronged, Zhang Sumei's suppressed anger resurfaced, especially when she saw the hairy fruit.
"You're up in the mountains chopping firewood and you still have time to pick these destructive plants? Throw them away right now! I think you're just not doing enough work. Tomorrow, you'd better chop five more bundles of firewood!"
Her face was already gloomy, and in her anger, it almost dripped with tears.
Liu Shihua was originally excited to tell his family the correct way to eat this hairy fruit, but his mother's words were like a bucket of ice water, chilling him to the bone.
He strode over and straightened the firewood that Liu Shiping had messed up, then picked up his basket and left, saying somewhat angrily, "If you don't like it, don't eat it again!"
After saying that, he picked up his basket and went into his house. The sound of the door closing was quite loud; at least it could be heard in the yard.
Everyone has a temper, right? They would start cursing at you for things that had nothing to do with them. It would be strange if Liu Shihua could keep putting up with it.
Anyway, he had eaten a delicious meal in the mountains before coming back, so he wasn't afraid even if he was punished by not being allowed to eat tonight.
"Look at him, look at him! What kind of attitude is this?!" Zhang Sumei never expected that this usually mild-mannered brat would dare to give her attitude, and she was furious.
Liu Shile ignored her completely, as if she hadn't heard her. She put the kiwis from her basket into her own room and then went to the kitchen to help.
She wouldn't sulk and refuse to eat like her second brother. If she did, wouldn't their shrewd mother find out something?
Nobody's stupid. There are plenty of wild animals in the mountains. Do you think those two would dare not eat? Doesn't that mean they ate and drank their fill outside before coming home?
If she really figures this out, she'll definitely make them find a way to get some wild game to nourish them.
Liu Shile felt that she had done enough for this family, and she was not willing to accept any more requests from her adoptive mother.
Zhang Sumei was so angry that she almost vomited blood. One of them gave her the cold shoulder, and the other completely ignored her. Were they really going to rebel?
Before she could say anything more, Liu Weisong spoke up from inside the house, telling her to stop making a fuss, saying that it wasn't easy for the children to go to the mountains to collect firewood, and so on.
Zhang Sumei was also furious, but she didn't say anything more because she suddenly thought that if she continued to talk, these two outrageous people might refuse to work with the peaches.
If that's the case, what will the family burn all winter? She'll probably have to spend money to buy firewood, which is not worthwhile for her.
Thinking this, she barely managed to suppress her anger, took her lucky son's soft little hand and led him into the house, giving him two milk candies to eat.
Once inside, he began to indirectly criticize people and events, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Liu Shihua and the others to hear.
Liu Shihua stuffed some cotton into his ears and then started practicing his health-preserving boxing in the room. Although he always practiced this boxing in the morning, he took it out to practice now since he had nothing else to do.
As for Liu Shile, he completely ignored her, remaining calm with a slight smile playing on his lips, which left Liu Shixi stunned for a moment.
In the past, whenever my younger sister heard her mother say something like that, she would lower her head sadly, act slowly, and occasionally shed tears.
But now, she seems completely unconcerned about what her mother said. So what exactly has my sister gone through to become like this?
"Lele, Mom didn't mean it, don't take it to heart?" Finally, Liu Shixi tentatively spoke up, looking at her younger sister earnestly.
Liu Shile naturally noticed the glances her older sister kept casting over her. With a slight upturn of her lips and a look of surprise, she said, "What are you saying, sister? Mom didn't say anything to me. Why would I take it to heart?"
Her answer really startled Liu Shixi, who looked at her sister in surprise. No, had her sister become mentally challenged?
Seeing her younger sister's clear and pure eyes and somewhat surprised expression, Liu Shixi felt both happy and worried, wondering whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for her sister to become like this.
These thoughts remained only in her mind, but she smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, yes, Lele, you're right. Look at your older sister, she loves to overthink things."
After saying that, she actually started cooking seriously, and occasionally reminded them to be careful in the mountains, especially now that it's summer and there are a lot of snakes, rats, insects and ants, so they should be careful, and so on.
Liu Shile listened, nodding with a slight smile from time to time, and occasionally recounting some interesting stories that happened to them on the mountain.
Liu Shixi felt a little longing, but she also knew that her family couldn't be left alone for long, so she could only admire that kind of freedom in her heart for a moment, but she had to return to reality.
The thought that her younger brother and sister brought the cow home made her realize that if she could get a job because of it, she would definitely treat them even better in the future.
Liu Shixi is now grateful. Although it costs money for her younger siblings to go to school, she feels more confident because of their presence.
Otherwise, she would be struggling to support the family all by herself now, and she doesn't know if she could do it.
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