Chapter 30 Losing the Child
In the evening, when the sun was about to set, Lin Shu began to water the vegetables.
You can either water the vegetables early or late, but you can't water them when the sun is strong, or the roots will rot.
Lu Dasao and Lu Ersao came back together, and when they saw Lin Shu watering the vegetables, she immediately dropped her hoe and ran over, "Old Third, you take a break, I'll do it!"
She easily lifted the bucket of water that Lin Shu couldn't lift, and didn't water it one scoop at a time, but used a big hoe to clear the drainage ditch in the vegetable patch, and poured a bucket of water directly from one end.
She went to the corner of the toilet and brought over the big urine pot with cooked urine, filled it with water, and watered the vegetable patch.
Fertilizers must be cooked before watering the vegetables, otherwise the roots will burn.
Fertilizer is scarce these days, so every bit of it must be saved.
Lin Shu also used the method of making fertilizer from the modern balcony vegetables she learned to make a fertilizer pit. She buried some old vegetable leaves and tree leaves that chickens, ducks, and pigs didn't eat in the ground, watered them, and let them rot. After a month or so, it became fertile humus soil.
Seeing how energetic the sister-in-law was, Lin Shu really liked it. She took every opportunity to brainwash her and praised her, "Sister-in-law, you are really capable, you are the most beautiful! Look at your healthy and beautiful skin, this is the color of nature! Look at your black and bright eyes, this is the sign of health and beauty! Look at how strong you are, this is the combination of strength and beauty..."
Sister-in-law Lu was dazed by Lin Shu's flattery, and her face turned red, "Really? Am I really beautiful?"
Lin Shu gave a positive and loud answer: "Of course! In my eyes, you are the most beautiful!"
Sister-in-law Lu was shy for a while, and looked at the water scoop, and saw a big black face plate inside.
Not to mention, the eyes were clearly black and white, and bright.
She felt relieved, "Mrs. Third, you don't have to worry about fetching water and watering the vegetables in the future. You can be responsible for cooking. When the vegetables grow up, you can stew the eggplants."
Lin Shu: "..."
Mrs. Lu added, "The stewed squash for lunch is also delicious! I love it!"
Lin Shu said happily, "Hey, I promise to make different dishes for you every day so that you can enjoy it."
Mrs. Lu's second wife felt sour and her stomach ached. She rolled her eyes to the west. You two sisters-in-law are ganging up on me, right?
Mrs. Lu was full of confidence and called on her second sister-in-law, "Mrs. Second, hurry up and catch the bugs and feed them to the chickens."
Bugs are easy to breed in summer, and you can't catch them all even if you catch them every day.
Second Sister-in-law Lu rolled her eyes very hard, and walked to her room, smiling: "Okay, wait a minute."
She changed her clothes and came out, glancing at Lin Shu.
Because of the work, Lin Shu's face was rosy at this moment, and she was really more beautiful than peaches and plums, charming and seductive.
Second Sister-in-law Lu twisted her mouth, why are you so rosy and happy when your man is gone? Who are you showing your beauty to?
She couldn't bear to see Lin Shu happy, she liked to see Lin Shu sulking, and couldn't help but sarcastically said: "Old Third Family, why are you so happy? Someone gave you money?"
Lin Shu turned her head and glanced at Second Sister-in-law, not pretending to be with her, not clinging to her thighs or seeking her benefits, what was there to pretend? She smiled and said, "Second sister-in-law, look how good my eldest sister-in-law is to me, my parents are also so good to me, and my two children are handsome and obedient. If I am not happy, why would I cry?"
She saw that the second sister-in-law has been abnormal recently. She always bullied the original owner with a smile in the past, but now she can't even smile.
When the second pair of shoes is ready, she will cry?
She knows too well how to make the second sister-in-law Lu angry.
The second sister-in-law Lu dare not resist her mother-in-law, dare not bully the eldest sister-in-law, so she will secretly bully the original owner to feel superior.
I'm really used to your problem.
Sure enough, the second sister-in-law Lu's expression was distorted.
When she was a child, her grandmother was in charge of the family, so she wanted to curry favor with her grandmother so that she would favor her. Later, when her grandmother died and her mother was
in charge of the family, she wanted to curry favor with her mother again. But among the sisters, her grandmother loves the eldest sister from her uncle's family the most, and her mother loves the youngest sister the most, and she is nothing. When she
arrived at her husband's house, her mother-in-law was in charge, so of course she wanted to curry
favor with her. It was better before, but ever since Lin Shu
came home, her mother-in-law has never been very nice to her, let alone favoring her. She tried several times but couldn't force a smile, so she went back to the house angrily.
Sister-in-law Lu came back with water easily, watered the vegetable garden, and filled the water tank.
Soon, other people came back one after another.
When Tiantian and Panpan saw their grandfather coming back, they immediately put out the small teapot like a treasure, "Grandpa, drink some tea!"
Father Lu's eyes lit up, "Hey, can you mend it for me? I was thinking of taking it to the commune to mend it."
Panpan began to discuss with his grandfather about how the mender could make money, and he told his mother that his mother was not very enthusiastic.
Alas, if your mother is not the head of the household, she doesn't know how expensive firewood and rice are. You should talk to grandpa and grandma.
Fang Dihua came back with a 1605 pesticide bottle. There was no pesticide in it, but it was enough to fill the borer holes after rinsing the bottom of the bottle.
At noon, when she went home to bring lunch, Lin Shu asked her for pesticide, which scared her. She thought that her third daughter-in-law was fine, so why did she suddenly ask for pesticide? She was relieved when she heard that she wanted to irrigate the trees. She
was afraid that Lin Shu would not be able to operate it and be poisoned by the pesticide, so she said that she and Lu Laodi would do it after dinner.
When serving the meal, Lin Shu said to Lu Ersao, "Second sister-in-law, you should also pay more attention to Cuicui. She comes back so late every day and she will be hungry."
Lu Ersao immediately became alert, glanced at her mother-in-law, and subconsciously felt that Lin Shu was trying to deceive her.
She snorted and laughed, "Old Third, do you want Cuicui to come back and work for you? Then just order her around. What else can a little girl do if she doesn't work?" Lin Shu: "It doesn't matter whether she works or not. The main thing is that Cuicui eats so late, it's not good for her health. She should come
back earlier to eat." In fact, in the Lu family, children don't do any work before they are ten years old, no matter if they are boys or girls. The brothers Lu Ping and Lu An now go to cut grass and send it to the production team every day to earn two or three work points, but Lu Cuicui does nothing. Except for the girls from the brigade secretary and the brigade leader's family, no other girl can do nothing at the age of nine and play outside every day. Lu Cuicui is also unique. The main reason was that Fang Dihua and Lu Dasao were capable and supplemented the labor force in the family, so Fang Dihua did not let the children do housework. In addition, Lin Shu was in charge of the family, and Fang Dihua and Lu Dasao did the hard work, so she was not tired, so she never thought of asking Lu Cuicui to help.
Lin Shu naturally didn't want her to work, but she wanted Lu Ersao to pay more attention to the child, so that Lu Cuicui wouldn't become more and more strange.
Lu Ersao believed that Lin Shu was targeting her.
At this time, Lu Cuicui came back from outside.
She originally wanted to jump directly to the pigpen from the south and then go back to her own home, but she happened to make eye contact with Lin Shu.
She took back the steps she had taken, walked back in an orderly manner, entered the house and said to Lin Shu: "Auntie, I got up late this morning and bumped into my younger brother and sister in a hurry. I was wrong."
She was thin to begin with, and she stood there shivering with her legs and arms tucked together. She looked a little pitiful.
Lin Shu: "I didn't stop you from eating the test paper in the morning. I just wanted you to develop a good habit of washing your hands before and after meals to avoid eating bugs. You are so thin, maybe there are bugs in your stomach. I'll ask Grandpa to get some insecticide for you later."
Lu Cuicui was not afraid of Auntie Lu at first, because she would get angry over trivial matters and never dare to speak loudly, so she would take it out on Auntie Lu when she was angry with her mother.
But when she met Lin Shu's eyes just now, she suddenly felt a little nervous for some reason, thinking that Auntie Lu's eyes were different from before.
Now they looked a little...hard, not so soft.
She was afraid that Lin Shu would complain to her grandmother and mother, and she would be scolded by her grandmother or even beaten by her mother, so she hurried over to admit her mistake. She
thought that if she said it in front of so many people, Third Aunt would definitely feel embarrassed to embarrass her, and her mother would not be able to take the opportunity to beat her.
Who knew that Third Aunt would actually curse her to have worms in her stomach!
Was she trying to scare her on purpose?
She heard people telling stories outside, and they also said that someone had worms in their stomach and had their intestines eaten up, which was too scary.
Third Aunt is so vicious!
Fang Dihua also glanced at Lu Cuicui, "Tsk, why is this girl so skinny?"
Fang Dihua went to work in the morning and came back after dinner in the evening. Lu Cuicui was even busier than her, so the two of them really didn't see each other very often.
Father Lu said, "There might be worms. Next time I go to the county, I'll get some medicine to get rid of the worms for the children."
He motioned Lu Cuicui to wash her hands and come to eat.
Lu Cuicui stole a glance at Lin Shu, but happened to bump into Lin Shu's bright and moist eyes. She was looking at her all the time!
Lu Cuicui lowered her head quickly, washed her hands, and sat next to Lin Shu very obediently, whispering, "Auntie."
Lin Shu said lightly, "Go home and eat before going out in the future. It will be uncomfortable to have an empty stomach."
Lu Cuicui lowered her head and nodded, but she felt in her heart that Lin Shu was trying to trick her into coming back early to work. If she came back early, she wouldn't be able to go out, and if she came back later, she wouldn't have to work.
The Lu Ping brothers finished eating long ago. They went out to play for a while, and when it got dark, they started looking for cicada monkeys and came back to pick up Tiantian and Panpan.
Looking for cicada monkeys has endless appeal to adults and children. It is addictive and cannot be missed for a whole day.
Many adults will go with their children if they have nothing to do at night.
In the past, the eldest and second brothers Lu also went, but now the vegetable patch at home has not been completely repaired, so they also want to help repair it.
The yard is too big, and Lin Shu has many requirements. In addition to the vegetable patch, there is also a corridor. Anyway, it is estimated that it will not be completed in a short time.
The Lu family quickly finished their meal, and Fang Dihua led her sons and daughters-in-law to repair the vegetable patch. However, the old Chang family in the back had not eaten yet!
When Chang's second daughter-in-law got off work in the evening and went home, she was forced to listen to the women's jokes about Song Chunfang, which made her, her sister-in-law, ashamed.
She was embarrassed and angry, but she was embarrassed to quarrel with her sister-in-law and aunt-in-law who worked with her every day. In the end, she had to use the excuse of having something to do to avoid the crowd and take the small road home.
When she entered the yard, she saw her parents-in-law and her eldest uncle sitting there sighing to each other, and no one was cooking!
Were they waiting for her to come back and cook again?
She was immediately unhappy.
Old Mrs. Chang glanced at her and said unhappily: "Where did you go to be lazy? Don't you know to hurry home and cook? I'm hungry, hurry up!"
At noon, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a quarrel over cooking.
The second daughter-in-law of Chang said with a sullen face, "When will she come back? She caused trouble and made the whole family lose face. She hid at her parents' house, not cooking or doing any housework, but she was free."
Now she was made to suffer and clean up the mess!
She did nothing but had to suffer. How could she be so unlucky?
The old woman Chang said angrily, "How can you not be exhausted by comparing with others all day long? Why don't you compare with others?" At noon, she was still angry even though she didn't beat the second daughter-in-law. She scolded, "Why are you so ignorant? Don't you know the situation? Your eldest sister-in-law has to hide? After a while, everyone will forget about it. Can you not come back to cook? I asked you to cook for two days and you are not happy!" She
deserved to be beaten every day!
She really hated the Lu family.
The pigs in the pigpen were squeaking, they were so hungry. Old Mrs. Chang then remembered that she hadn't fed the pigs at noon!
She scolded again: "Second wife, I asked you to feed the pigs at noon, but you ran away without feeding them?"
She was going to deliver lunch to the men at noon, and asked Chang's second wife to feed the pigs, but this damn woman ran away without feeding the pigs.
The children ran home after playing outside after school, especially the children in the eldest wife's house. When they came home and saw that there was no food to eat, they were unhappy on the spot.
Chang Ergang: "Second wife, why haven't you cooked yet?"
Old Mrs. Chang called the second wife again.
When Old Chang heard the second Chang's wife throwing things around, he sighed and said, "Old woman, you are tired, go and cook."
Old Chang was not young anymore. She worked in the fields during the day and had no strength at night. Damn it, she was not as strong as Fang Dihua.
She shouted at the second old woman. She envied Fang Dihua for having her own things at home. She either ordered her son or ordered her daughter-in-law. She had always been comparing herself with Fang Dihua, so of course she had to keep up.
But Fang Dihua ordered her son more, but she was reluctant to order her son and only wanted to order Chang's second daughter-in-law.
The rage in Chang's second daughter-in-law's chest grew stronger and stronger, and she slammed the ladle into the pot with a bang, "Should I cook or feed the pigs?"
Her slam scared the Chang family members in the yard. They turned their heads to look at her, somewhat puzzled as to why she was so angry.
Such a big trouble happened at home, and the eldest sister-in-law was bullied to the extreme. She couldn't show some sympathy to the family? She
even took the opportunity to make trouble. What kind of mentality is this?
How can she be so ignorant?
Old Mrs. Chang changed her rude face when she scolded her daughter-in-law at noon, wiped her tears and started crying on the spot, feeling aggrieved like Dou E, "Why am I so miserable? I have worked hard all my life. When I fled famine, I almost starved to death to feed a few children. I finally moved here and was bullied by others. It's okay for outsiders, but my own daughter-in-law also bullied me..."
Old Mrs. Chang: "Hey, not that, not that, don't cry, it's ugly, isn't it embarrassing to let people hear it?"
Chang Dazhi frowned and said nothing.
Old Mrs. Chang cried even more sadly, "Old Second..."
Just then, Chang Er came back carrying a load of firewood and saw his mother crying in the yard, while his wife stood stiffly in the house with her neck stiff and her face sullen.
"Mom, what's going on?"
Old Mrs. Chang cried immediately, "Old Second, your wife wanted to beat me at home this afternoon. When I said something to her, she threw pots and bowls at me. If you are still my son, go and slap her!"
Chang Er heard it, and without asking why, he strode into the house and slapped his wife, "You are so ignorant? What can't you see? And you make mother angry?"
He winked at his wife and pushed her to cook quickly while he went to help feed the pigs.
Old Chang was still there, weakly saying, "A harmonious family is the root of everything. Our family has always been a harmonious family, with friendly brothers and sisters-in-law. But we don't beat our daughters-in-law, and we can't let people laugh at us."
He always boasted that his family was harmonious, unlike some families that were noisy and calculating.
He was most afraid of losing face, being unable to compete with the Lu family, and being laughed at by the Lu family.
Ever since the eldest daughter-in-law was beaten by Fang Dihua, his face was really thrown to the ground and stepped on every day.
Fang Dihua had always been jealous of her family, so she deliberately humiliated them, but why was her own daughter-in-law so ignorant?
Old Chang was just daydreaming when his second daughter-in-law's sharp roar came from the room, "Chang Erzhi, fuck your mother! If you dare to hit me, I will fight you!"
"Bang--" She picked up the soup pot and smashed it hard on the wall.
Not only did the old Chang family get scared, but the old Lu family who were working in front were also scared.
Then the members around had entertainment programs. Those who hadn't eaten ran into the alley with bowls of steamed buns and pickled vegetables, and those who had eaten went to watch the excitement with palm-leaf fans.
Of course, they had to grab the best seat!
Big Brother Lu also wanted to watch the excitement but was stopped by Fang Dihua.
Fang Dihua said unhappily: "Who the hell are you following?"
You see how lively others are, don't you know that you are a big excitement?
You steal your father's wine to drink, get up at night to steal peaches to eat, steal the children's cicadas and monkeys in the morning, and you lie down to avoid cutting grass and firewood while letting your second brother do it... Look at what you have done, and you still have the nerve to watch other people's fun?
Brother Lu immediately continued to cultivate the soil with a shovel in a wronged manner, and looked at Sister Lu with his eyes.
He wanted Sister Lu to help plead for him to go and watch the fun. Sister Lu
didn't dare to plead with her mother-in-law, so she quietly dropped her hoe and slipped out to help her husband watch the fun, so that she could tell him gossip when she came back.
Lin Shu: "..."
Go and compete for a red flag bearer to join the fun.
Lin Shu often heard the quarrels between the old lady Chang and the second daughter-in-law Chang at home. Either the second daughter-in-law Chang disliked her mother-in-law's partiality to her eldest sister-in-law, or the old lady Chang scolded the second daughter-in- law Chang for being lazy and cunning.
Ever since Song Chunfang was beaten by Fang Dihua and sent back to her parents' home to avoid the limelight, the conflict between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law has become more intense.
They used to be like the Lu family, with one daughter-in-law cooking at home, and the mother-in-law and the other daughters-in-law going out to work.
Now Song Chunfang has returned to her parents' home to avoid the limelight, and the mother-in-law is reluctant to spend her work points and refuses to let someone else cook at home. She has no granddaughter who can do housework, so she only lets the second daughter-in-law Chang go to work. The second
daughter-in-law Chang feels that she works so hard, and when she goes home, she has no food to eat and has to cook for the whole family. Of course she will complain.
Lin Shu could understand it very well. She said that it was easy to stay at home without having to work in the fields, but in fact, there were a lot of things to do inside and outside. After working in the fields, there were still a lot of things to do inside and outside. Whoever did it would be angry.
At this time, the sharp voice of Chang Er's wife rushed into the eardrum, "This life is unbearable, it can't be lived! Either divorce or separate the family!"
But the voice soon disappeared because there were too many people who tried to persuade them to stop fighting (watching the fun). When they saw Chang Er's wife fighting with Chang Er, they stopped fighting and just watched the fun.
Old Chang was embarrassed and scolded his son.
Chang Er carried his wife into the house.
The Lu family was working in the dark under the starlight. Lu Ping carried Tiantian on his back, and Lu An held Panpan. The children ran back home, "Grandma, something bad happened."
Fang Dihua was startled, "What happened? Did he fall?"
Lu Ping put Tiantian down, took a breath and said, "Hu Zi and Chang Xiaogang are missing. Grandma Hu Zi went to find him for dinner but couldn't find him. Chang Xiaogang's brother is also looking for him."