"Alright, the wheat at home will be ready for harvest in a couple of days. You're not allowed to go anywhere now." The weather can change in an instant, so we have to be prepared.
Anping then stopped in his tracks; harvesting wheat was more important than earning money to buy meat.
"Mother, stop making a fuss. Once the wheat is harvested, we'll have money to buy meat," Anping said, squatting down to comfort her.
Zhuang Shuhui finally calmed down. "Then it's settled. I still want to eat yesterday's braised pork. I won't eat anything else."
"You, haven't you had enough?" An Bihua shouted.
“You know perfectly well where yesterday’s meat came from, yet you still want to eat it. Don’t you even consider whether they’re willing to sell it to you? If I said I wanted to eat meat, they might not even sell it to me.”
Zhuang Shuhui sensed something was wrong: "What did you say? You paid for the meat yesterday?"
"Otherwise, did the wind blow it in?"
Now it was Zhuang Shuhui's turn to jump up in anger, "I knew that little bitch was no good. Her mother-in-law died, our family put in so much effort, we only got a few pieces of her flesh, and she still wants money? Is she crazy for money?"
“Listen to this, has your mother gone mad?” An Bihua shouted, stomping his feet.
Anping couldn't stand it anymore; they had been arguing for half their lives, and they still hadn't stopped even in their old age.
"Dad, Mom, you should both say less. There are so many children in the family. As grandparents, you should set a good example." Anping saw her son peeking around and was afraid that he would imitate her.
An Bihuai snorted coldly. How dare her eldest son say such things? He's been messing around outside, making a fool of himself. He doesn't even think about what kind of example he's set for his son.
He couldn't expose his son's shortcomings even in front of his grandson.
Anping saw the disdain in his father's eyes and realized that he had misspoke.
"Father, I misspoke. Please punish me." Anping said dejectedly.
Anbi Huai's heart skipped a beat. Seeing his son like this, he couldn't bear to say anything more.
After Yuan Doudou and Anji fell asleep, she quietly got up.
She went into the kitchen, took the earthenware pot out of the water vat, and brought out the cool, refreshing strawberries.
Add the strawberry pieces to the pan and stir-fry over low heat until the rock sugar melts.
Simmer slowly until it looks thick, add a few drops of aged vinegar, and continue simmering for another 15 minutes. If the strawberry jam doesn't disperse when dropped into water, it's ready to be taken off the heat.
Yuan Doudou brought over a ceramic jar that had been cleaned and dried beforehand. She waited for the strawberry jam to cool to room temperature before filling the jars with it. She filled ten small jars in total, wrapped them in kraft paper, tied them with hemp rope, and secured the openings.
After the strawberry jam was made, Yuan Doudou went inside to rest, while Anji was fast asleep.
She glanced at the clothes by the bed; there was a small hole in the knee of her pants.
When her mother-in-law was alive, she would stay up all night to mend any clothes that were torn.
Now that her mother-in-law is gone, she has to rely on herself.
Yuan Doudou went into the inner room, found the sewing kit, which contained all kinds of threads, each color of thread was neatly wound, and it was very convenient to use.
She found the black thread, picked up the needle, aimed at the eye of the needle, and tried to thread the thread through it.
First failure.
The thread was uneven, so Yuan Doudou smoothed it out and tried again. Oh dear, it almost went in.
On her third attempt, her muscles were tense as she aimed at the needle hole and pierced it in one go. Yuan Doudou breathed a sigh of relief.
Threading the needle is only the first step; the rest is much more difficult.
She painstakingly sewed the hole shut, stitch by stitch, only to find that the knee area was all wrinkled up and looked awful.
No, she remembered the scraps of cloth in the sewing kit; it turned out these scraps of cloth were useful.
Yuan Doudou used scissors to remove the previous stitches, found a piece of cloth of a similar color, and covered the hole with it. It was just the right size.
She sewed around the edge of the fabric, moving slowly and making large stitches.
Yuan Doudou was covered in sweat from exhaustion; sewing clothes was really not easy.
Anji woke up and saw his mother sewing clothes for him. He thanked her and said, "My mother is so good."
"Okay, put it on." Yuan Doudou cut off the excess thread after the knot was tied.
Angie picked up the pants, flattened them, and put both legs in at the same time. The left leg went in smoothly, but the right leg got stuck halfway.
"Mother, what's wrong? I can't get in!" Angie cried out anxiously.
"How could this be? Take it off, let me see." Yuan Doudou was also full of doubt; it couldn't be.
Yuan Doudou picked up the pants, reached inside, and realized she really couldn't fit into the pants she had sewn.
Huh? What's going on?
She turned the pants inside out and was speechless. She had actually sewed the stitches up to the second layer, which meant she had sewn the pants shut from the knee down, so of course she couldn't wear them.
"Hey Angie, wait a minute, I'll go find you a clean pair of pants."
Yuan Doudou was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear into the ground. She regretted not having seriously learned needlework from her mother-in-law.
Anji got dressed and watched his mother sew clothes.
"Ouch!" The needle pricked my finger, and it hurt.
"Mommy, let me blow on it for you." Angie lowered his head and gently blew on his mother's fingers.
In an instant, Yuan Doudou's heart was almost melted.
"Anji is such a sweet little boy." Her face lit up with a smile, and her hand no longer hurt.
What does "a warm-hearted man" mean? Does it mean that men, like the weather, also have different degrees of warmth and coldness?
Without hesitation, Yuan Doudou replied, "A warm man is someone who is considerate and knows how to care for others, like a warm quilt when it's cold, bringing warmth to people."
“I get it, Uncle Wang is such a sweetheart,” Angie blurted out.
Uncle Wang? Wang Qiqiang? "Anji likes Uncle Wang?"
Anji nodded emphatically, "Uncle Wang is very good to me. He gives me delicious food and takes me out to play. I am very happy when I am with him."
I see. It's normal for boys to like boys.
Anji doesn't know his father is alive yet. Yuan Doudou doesn't dare tell him, afraid that he will call for his father every day.
"Okay, then when Mommy has time, I'll take you to visit Uncle Wang." Her family's situation was special, and it wasn't convenient for outsiders to come and go frequently.
"Okay, let's go now, okay?" Angie couldn't wait to go out and play.
Yuan Doudou figured there was nothing else to do, so she decided to take him out for some fresh air.
As dusk fell, the setting sun cast its golden rays upon Ping'an Village.
The wheat fields along the roadside resemble a golden sea, promising a good harvest this year.
Yuan Doudou brought Anji to Zhang Aiju's house, where Zhang Aiju was sharpening a sickle in the yard.
"DouDou, you're here." Zhang Aiju greeted him with a smile.
Angie greeted Grandma and went to see the little rabbits; the little white rabbits had grown up.
"Auntie, is it time to harvest the wheat?" Yuan Doudou asked casually. Her family's small plot of land was not planted with wheat, but with soybeans.
"Yes, we can harvest in a few days." The villagers are all making preparations.
Yuan Doudou had also seen her family harvest wheat, but they used large machines, chugging along, and could harvest ten or so acres of land in half a day. The harvested grain was then bought up right there in the fields.
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