Zhao Xiaocao could smell it too; it smelled really good, even overpowering the aroma of the pastries in Zhao Erhua's hands.
The four children charged towards home, and Zhao Erhua reached out to stop them. But at that moment, Wujin and Yezi, who were standing at her feet, suddenly appeared and grabbed Zhao Erhua's trouser leg, dragging her backward.
Zhao Erhua screamed in fright, "Whose dog is this! Get out of the way!" With that, she kicked it.
The two dogs, Wujin and Coconut, were also very clever. They skillfully dodged Zhao Erhua's feet and worked together to tear off her trouser leg.
"Crunch..." The crisp sound of fabric rustling echoed throughout the bamboo forest.
Zhao Erhua's face turned black with anger. "Waaah... You're bullying me, Zhao Lantern and Zhao Wanzi, I'll never let you get away with this!"
While Zhao Erhua was suffering a loss, the four children ran home in a flash.
Wujin and Yezi followed behind, running around like little kids.
Seeing that half of Zhao Erhua's legs were exposed, Zhao Xiaocao helplessly comforted her, "Don't cry, they've all run home."
As she spoke, she took another deep sniff of the fragrance of the bamboo forest.
Why does my second aunt's family cook such delicious food every day? Why can they only eat wild vegetables and thin porridge? My grandma is so annoying. If she hadn't kicked my second aunt's family out of the house, maybe she could eat such delicious food too.
Reluctant to leave, Zhao Xiaocao ran back to the place where she had spied on the other day and looked through the cracks in the dilapidated temple.
The Zhao family, each with a golden-brown fried pancake in hand, ate with gusto, their mouths glistening with oil. And looking at the large pot, there were still pig's trotters sitting there, and a bundle of pork on a stool…
Zhao Xiaocao's eyes reddened as she watched, and she swallowed hard.
If Zhao Erhua hadn't called her, she really wouldn't have wanted to leave.
Zhao Erhua looked distressed. "Xiaocao, can I stay at your house for a few days?"
Zhao Xiaocao was stunned by the question, "Huh? What would you do at my house?"
"Waaah... I secretly ate all the snacks by myself, and my pants are torn too. If my mom sees this, she'll break my legs... Waaah..." What should she do? Zhao Erhua was terrified.
Zhao Xiaocao was speechless. If you wanted to show off, why didn't you do it earlier!
But she wouldn't dare bring outsiders home; they'd have to provide meals after dark... and her family wasn't well-off either.
"Erhua, take it easy. Everyone gets beaten up eventually. I'll get beaten up too if I go home this late. Think about it: would you rather go home and get beaten up, or go to my house and get beaten up?" Zhao Xiaocao patted Erhua's shoulder and analyzed seriously.
Before Zhao Erhua could react, Zhao Xiaocao continued, "Since we're going to get beaten anyway, why don't we each go home and get beaten ourselves? Sigh!"
After saying that, Zhao Xiaocao walked away looking disappointed and melancholy.
When Zhao Wanzi got back, she gave a long, detailed account of what had happened in the bamboo grove, and she especially praised Wujin and Yezi.
He Tiantian smiled as she looked at the two puppies crawling on the ground. "In that case, Mother will reward Wujin and Coconut with two pieces of meat. You don't have any objections, do you?"
All four children, including Sister-in-law Yulan, shook their heads in unison, having no objections.
He Tiantian scooped a pig's trotter from the stew pot and tossed it to Wujin and Coconut. The two puppies, rewarded, happily gnawed on the bone.
After returning home, Zhao Xiaocao vividly recounted what happened at the dilapidated temple, wishing she could count exactly how many pieces of meat she saw in the pot at He Tiantian's house.
Actually, she did this firstly out of envy, and secondly to divert her grandmother's and mother's attention.
Otherwise, she would definitely get a good scolding if she came home so late.
"Brother, you didn't see the meat at Second Aunt's house. The pot was almost overflowing." Zhao Xiaocao swallowed, her face full of envy.
Hearing this, Cheng was so angry that she could barely hold her chopsticks, and the wild vegetable porridge in her bowl felt so hard that she couldn't swallow it.
But she dared not speak, because last time she had angered Old Lady Zhao by talking about making money through cross-stitch.
Old Mrs. Zhao put down her bowl and said with a stern face, "Go south or north. After we finish planting the sweet potatoes at home, there won't be much work left in the fields. You two go to the county and see if you can find some jobs."
Zhao Xiangnan and Zhao Xiangbei nodded.
"Da Niu is seventeen, Tie Zhu and Zhao Pang are fifteen, Zhao Shou is thirteen and doing alright, Xiao Cao and Feng Nian are a little younger at ten and will stay at home. The rest of you will all go with your father to the county to find work and earn money." Old Mrs. Zhao's eyes swept around the table and then over her group of grandsons.
"Don't just stay at home all day tending to that small plot of land, you're useless. By the way, Niu's wedding is next month, so we need to clean the whole house, inside and out. The new bride needs her own room. Xiaocao, you can share with Fengnian for now," Old Mrs. Zhao continued to instruct.
"What?!" Zhao Xiaocao's hair practically stood on end when she heard this. She had finally managed to live in a room by herself. "Grandma, I want to live in a room by myself. What kind of nonsense is it to make me squeeze in with Fengnian? He's a boy!"
Old Mrs. Zhao slammed her cane on the ground in anger. "What's wrong with a boy? He's your brother! You'll be married in a couple of years. A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl; why do you want your own house!"
Cheng was also very dissatisfied. She wanted to keep Zhao Xiaocao's house for Zhao Pangcheng's wedding next year.
"With so many people in our family, six rooms are definitely not enough. Now every household in the village is building houses with adobe bricks, so we need to build three more rooms."
“Mother, my brother and I have been busy these days. We’re still a bit short of adobe bricks if we’re building three rooms. We’ll make some more tomorrow,” Zhao Xiangnan replied.
The next day, before dawn, every household in the village got up and started planting sweet potatoes.
Everyone wants to get as much work done as possible before the sun comes up, because once it gets close to noon and the sun is strong, there won't be much work to do.
Early in the morning, Sister Yulan took the children out of bed and went to the fields.
He Tiantian was left at home to make breakfast for them and then deliver it over, taking care of their logistics.
Planting sweet potatoes isn't too difficult; all four children are very familiar with it. So this time, Sister-in-law Yulan didn't ask Liu Yonghe to take leave from the mine; she could finish the job by herself.
He Tiantian made a pot of fried dough sticks in the morning and also brought a clay pot of warm water. When she returned after delivering breakfast, seeing that it was still early, He Tiantian decided to plant the tomato seedlings she had bought yesterday.
The open space behind the house has been renovated and is now free of weeds.
He Tiantian took a wooden bucket to the river to fetch water, but could only carry half a bucket at a time. The most important thing when planting tomatoes is to keep them moist. After filling a hole with water, she planted the seedling, covered it with soil, and then watered it again.
She spent the whole morning planting vegetables but still couldn't finish. With noon approaching, He Tiantian had to put down her work and go make lunch.
[Author's Note]: The fake sisterhood between Zhao Xiaocao and Zhao Erhua~
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