After the bumper harvest of summer grain, the original soaring grain prices also dropped, although it has not dropped to about 450 wen when Ran Ran bought the first rice, but it has already dropped to 800 wen and one stone. The ten stones of rice that Ran'er bought in two installments, plus the three stones produced in the field the year before last, and a little grain stored at home, there is not much left to eat. As a result, the sisters have been eating pasta almost every day since they came down to wheat. Qinglian is nothing, but she can't adapt to it for a while, and she has to eat rice every three or five days.

Ran'er is May 18, and Qinglian is June 13. There was only a gap of twenty-five days in the middle, and seeing that Ran'er's birthday was coming, Qinglian said to Ran'er:

"Sister, Lian'er has moved her birthday to May 18, can you spend a day with your sister?"

"Little Lian'er, who did you see who had a birthday? Unless your birthday is Chinese New Year's Eve, or if you commit a taboo, you will not move your birthday. ”

"Sister, don't you think the birthdays of the two of you are lively together? Also save money. ”

"Lian'er wants to save money, right? Fans of small fortune. ”

"That's it, Lian'er's birthday will also be May 18 in the future."

Lian'er ignored Ran'er's opposition and made a return for the first time.

Because of Xiaohua, the sisters are no longer as idle as before, and it is not enough for Xiaohua to eat only on wheat bran. The sisters have one more thing every day, that is, they go to the edge of the field to cut pigweed for Xiaohua. Cut it back, chop it, mix it with wheat bran, and feed it to the flowers. As for Xiao Hei, since the beginning of spring, he has stopped feeding it, and let Xiao Hei go out with the rhubarb to forage for food on his own.

The two sisters celebrated their birthdays together, Ran'er was ten years old, and Qinglian was six years old (25 days apart). In the blink of an eye, it entered June, and it was ambushed. The year before last, because of the drought, the sisters did not pick up the grass mushrooms, and last year it was rainy and rainy, although they picked up some, but because they could not be dried in time, they were all rotten. This year, the weather was good, and the sisters picked up some grass mushrooms. Wear it on a string, hang it on a fence wall, and it will dry in the sun for most of the day. Except for a small part to eat by himself, he took it to the Yangzhuang market and sold it. One of them came down to the sky, and he also earned almost 1,500 yuan.

Ran Er and Qinglian did not forget that Jì Chunshui entered the hospital examination this year. I've been keeping an eye out for relevant news. Spring water is the tenth day of the first month of June, and the thirteenth afternoon appears. According to the convention, it is June 24 lists, and if Chunshui passes the exam, the news will be transmitted to Yangzhuang on the same day. Ran Er thought about postponing this month's eggs to the afternoon of the 24th, and inquired about the results of the Chunshui Academy test by the way.

On June 24, after lunch, feeding the chickens and pigs, closing the fence door, Ran Er carried the eggs with a hook, and Qinglian jumped in front of Yangzhuang. In advance, the sisters had already sealed 400 yuan with red paper, and wrote on the red paper "Congratulations to Chunshui Brother Academy for the high school test", and the payment was Ran'er and Qinglian. Qinglian's name was written by herself. The sisters thought that if the spring water didn't hit, they would take it back, and if they did, they wouldn't have to go on a second trip. Zhou Ji Wine Store and Grandpa Li's family are the ones who take care of the two sisters the most, and Ran'er thought that she would just take this opportunity to give back a little.

When I arrived at Zhou Ji Liquor Shop, it was the end of the hour, and the news had not yet come, and after calculating the egg money with the shopkeeper Zhou, the two sisters sat on the stool in the shop, chatting with the shopkeeper Zhou, while waiting for the news of the spring water. Shen Shizhong, heard the sound of gongs and drums coming from afar, as the sound got closer and closer, the shopkeeper Zhou couldn't sit still, and hurriedly came to the door to see if it was the messenger who reported the good news, and whether it was from Zhou's house? Without much effort, two officials with two gongs and drummers stopped at the door of Zhouji Wine Shop. Ask the shopkeeper Zhou:

"This is Zhou Chunshui's house?"

"Exactly, big brother of the officer, please come in."

"Zhou Chunshui High School Sixth Place, let's come to report the good news and congratulate Mr. Zhou."

Shopkeeper Zhou invited the officials and musicians to come to the shop, and Ran'er and Qinglian were also busy making tea and pouring water for the four of them. The four of them just sat down slightly, waiting for the shopkeeper to seal four red seals, two big and two small. The big one is for two officials, and the younger one is for two musicians. The official took it in his hand and shook it, and bowed to the shopkeeper Zhou with satisfaction:

"Mr. Xie Zhou, there are other families going to report the good news, let's go."

The news of the sixth place in the Chunshui High School Exam spread in Yangzhuang in an instant, and Ran Er and Qinglian saw that someone was already walking towards the wine shop, so they got up and took out the red envelope that had been prepared in the basket and put it on the counter.

"Uncle Zhou, this is a little bit of Ran'er and Lian'er's thoughts. Don't dislike it, uncle. ”

For the shopkeeper of Zhou, who deals with copper coins all day long, he can estimate the number of copper coins in the red envelope with just one glance. There should be four hundred Wen, and Shopkeeper Zhou knows that this is not a small amount for the helpless little sisters. I wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, the sisters are still young, and there will be many places to use people in the future, if I don't accept this congratulatory gift today, I am afraid that the sisters will be embarrassed to speak if they have something in the future. So he smiled heartily and said:

"Okay, it's not too little, I'll accept the gift. However, when the banquet is held another day, you two sisters will come. ”

"Uncle, we won't come here for a banquet, when the eggs are delivered one day, the uncle will have to take care of our lunch."

Seeing that Shopkeeper Zhou accepted the congratulatory gift happily, Ran Er didn't pretentiously reply.

"Isn't that easy? Last year, Lian'er predicted that the big brother of Chunshui would win this year, and now it has come true, and Lian'er will have to eat more at that time. ”

"Okay, Lian'er likes to eat it the most."

Qinglian's words made Shopkeeper Zhou laugh.

"Uncle, let's go back first."

Seeing that someone had already entered the wine shop, Ran'er and Qinglian hurriedly said goodbye to Shopkeeper Zhou and left.

I have always received the favor of the Zhou and Li families, and today I finally paid off, and Ran'er's mood is much more relaxed, and she feels a lot lighter when she walks. Back at home, the two sisters sat in the small building of the rain pavilion to read and write. At this time, a swallow couple who came in spring had hatched a nest of baby swallows, and the two of them counted for several days before they were sure that it was five. Whenever the big swallows flew back, the five little swallows crowded into each other, opening their small red beaks and making a chirping sound. Large swallows can only feed one small swallow at a time. Qinglian couldn't help but wonder,

"Sister, do you say that the big swallow is mistaken, and always feed a little swallow every time?"

"No, like some twins who look alike, others can't tell who is who, but their mothers can't be mistaken."

Today, Qinglian looked at the five little swallows competing for food, and said to Ran'er:

"Sister, look how happy the little swallow is."

Ran Er knew that the scene of the big swallow feeding the little swallow caused Qinglian to feel sentimental about her life experience. didn't want to dwell on this matter, so as not to make Qinglian sad, so Ran'er said softly to Qinglian:

"In a little more than a month, when the little swallow is full of feathers, it will leave the nest and learn to fly. After the autumn, with his parents moving south, he will have to live independently. is the same as people, such as Uncle Shun, now that he is married, he and Grandpa Li have separated from each other to live their own lives. ”

"Didn't Lian'er and her sister live by themselves a long time ago?"

"Yes, people always have to leave their parents, it's just that sooner or later it's different."

After a while, Qinglian had no intention of practicing calligraphy and reading, and asked Ran'er again:

"I used to hear my sister tell the story of twenty-four filial piety, saying that crows have the grace to feed. Sister has seen it? ”

"Nope. However, since it is written like that in the book, it can never be wrong. ”

"No wonder people regard 'children want to be raised but not treated' as one of the four great sorrows of life."

Qinglian said with a sigh like an adult.

"Lian'er, let's not talk about this. It's time to mow the hogweed. ”

After cutting the pigweed, the sisters mixed the pig food for Xiaohua, and waited until they went to bed at night before feeding Xiaohua to eat. Just got it done, Aunt Shun came. Since they met the two sisters, the three of them are very talkative, and when Aunt Shun has nothing to do, they often come to Ran'er's fence yard to play. Now that she is pregnant, her family does not let her work, she is idle and bored, and she comes more often.