Summer thunderstorms come and go as fast as they come. The sky cleared early in the morning. Li Wu and Li Langzhong came to Ran'er's fence courtyard at the same time. Also there were Grandpa Li and Li Shun, who heard that Ran'er was sick. Li Cheng's family lives far away, so he came to visit Ran'er in the afternoon.

Li Langzhong gave Ran'er a good needle, and Qinglian brewed a bowl of brown sugar water for each of the four of them, and went to boil medicine for Ran'er. Two quarters of an hour later, Li Langzhong turned on the needle, checked the pulse again, watched Ran'er finish drinking the medicine, and said to Li Wu:

"It's okay, the fever has receded, and after taking these medicines, I will completely recover."

Ran Er saw that Lang Zhong was leaving, so he hurriedly asked Qinglian to get the medical money. After pushing for a long time, Li Langzhong reluctantly collected ten copper coins, which made Ran'er feel very unhappy. The money for catching medicine, no matter what, Li Wu didn't take it, and he didn't tell Sù Ran'er how much it was. Seeing that Ran'er was fine, he instructed Qinglian to boil medicine for Ran'er on time and went back. Since the morning, he has been busy boiling water and boiling medicine for Ran'er, and the pigs have not bothered to feed, and the door of the chicken coop has forgotten to open. Qinglian served Ran'er to lie down, first went to open the door of the chicken coop, and was busy feeding the pigs. Yiqiē packed up and came to the house, and saw that Ran'er had already gone to the ground and was about to cook, so he couldn't help but shout anxiously:

"What is my sister doing? If you don't go back and lie down, don't you think Lian'er's cooking is not delicious? ”

Ran Er felt that it was almost good, and seeing Qinglian's nervous look, she didn't want to make her anxious, so she returned to the kang according to her words, just leaning against the wall and not lying down. Watching Qinglian chop vegetables, light the fire, and cook one by one. I can't help but sigh in my heart, they all say that the children of the poor are in charge of the house early, and this is really the case. If there is a father and mother who love, how can Qinglian, who is not yet seven years old, do these things.

In a trance, Ran'er suddenly remembered that last summer, she and Qinglian watched the big swallow feed the little swallow in the grass pavilion. Don't say it's Qinglian, if the mother is here, I'm afraid I won't do much, right? There are many things in the world that can't be done, but they just haven't gotten that far. People are forced to be in a hurry, and the potential is enormous.

Ran'er was thinking nonsense on the kang, Qinglian had already made lunch, and what Qinglian meant was to lie on the kang and eat by herself. Hurriedly said to Qinglian:

"Lian'er, my sister is really fine. I don't believe you touched it, the fever has subsided, but it is only a little weak, and my sister is not used to eating on the kang. ”

Qinglian really stretched out her hand and tried it, although not long after Lang Zhong started the needle in the morning, Qinglian tried it once, but she was frightened by Ran'er's illness at night, and she always felt unsteady in her heart, and felt that Ran'er's body temperature was the same as her own, so she didn't force Ran'er to sit on the kang to eat. After the two sisters finished eating, Qinglian went outside to clean up again, entered the house and said to Ran'er:

"My sister is lying down and resting at home, and Lian'er will go to the field to take a look, and she can help more or less."

"Okay, you can do as much as you can, but don't get tired."

Since it had just rained, the ground was still a little wet, and it was impossible to play the field, so the families just turned over the soaked ears and grains. These living green lotuses can still be intervened. Seeing Qinglian coming to the field, stretching out his hand to help with the work, Li Cheng said to Qinglian:

"Your sister is still sick, you are not at home to take care of your sister, what are you doing here? Let's go back quickly, it's just to dry this afternoon, and there's not much to do, so I don't need anyone. ”

Li Cheng said as he snatched the wooden fork from Qinglian's hand and pushed Qinglian a few steps outside the courtyard. Everyone also persuaded Qinglian to go home to take care of her sister, and Qinglian saw that she was indeed not busy, so she agreed and went back.

After Qinglian left, the people in the courtyard couldn't help but start talking about the life experience and experience of the two sisters, and they all felt sorry and distressed about it. The two sensible children, who have no father or mother at such a young age, are really sad to watch. However, Li Cheng said to everyone with great satisfaction:

"Don't look at the two sisters who are young, not only can they read and write, but the bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest, who has taken that thing seriously for generations, people can use it to pickle into sour bamboo shoots and sell them for money at a young age. I've eaten it, and it tastes really good. ”

"Yes, the chickens, dogs, and pigs at home are all serving well."

"The crops in two acres of land are no worse than those of other people."

"You don't know yet, do you? In the spring of the year when the drought struck, the eldest was only seven years old, and they knew that they had bought six stones of rice early, and in the summer they had bought another four stones, and they had failed to harvest for two consecutive years. ”

"Is that really the case?"

"Why am I lying? If you don't believe me, ask my father to go, but he saw it with his own eyes. Our family was starving that year. ”

"Xiao Ran'er is ten years old, right?"

"Almost. I don't know which kid will be cheaper in the future, not only sensible, but also literate and hyphenated. When Li Shun got married, the couplets and happy characters of the new house were written by Ran'er. The handwriting was later seen by the gentleman, and they all said that the writing was excellent. ”

When the people in the courtyard heard this, they were all amazed. One afternoon, the people in the courtyard didn't say anything else, and the topic had been talking about the young ladies, and even some trivial things were taken out as strange things.

Ran Er and Niang are different, Ran Er Niang has always refused to be thousands of miles away at that time, and she doesn't want to have too much contact with the people of Xia Village. And the Ran'er sisters have now gradually integrated into the lives of the people of Xia Village, and they seem to have become a part of it.

Qinglian went home and told Ran'er about the scene in the courtyard, and Ran'er said:

"I won't go to Ming'er, my sister will rest for another day, and my sister will go the day after tomorrow."

"But my sister is still sick."

"How can it be so powerful, it will definitely be good the day after tomorrow."

On May 18, Xiao Jiyao turned 100 years old. The elderly want their children to live a long life, so they attach great importance to the 100-year-old ceremony. A child's centennial celebration is not celebrated at the end of the 100th day, but on the 90th day. Therefore, Xiao Jiyao's 100th birthday ceremony was chosen on May 18. It just so happened that the birthday of the two sisters was one day. At this time, the wheat has been harvested and put into the warehouse, and the seedlings have basically been planted, so it is the leisure season of the villagers. There were many people who came to participate in Xiao Jiyao's 100th birthday ceremony, and Ran'er and Qinglian picked up thirty eggs early and came to Grandpa Li's house.

Seeing that it was another heavy gift of thirty eggs, Grandpa Li's family said that they would not accept anything this time. Let Aunt Shun symbolically pick out ten eggs, and put another twenty boiled eggs into the basket. Ran'er and Qinglian pushed for a long time, but in the end they had to accept ten.

The two sisters took turns teasing Xiao Jiyao for a while, then hugged them into their arms and kissed Xiao Jiyao's pink face. Qinglian said to Ran'er:

"Sister, Xiao Jiyao is much more handsome now than when he washes the three."

Qinglian still remembers Grandma Li's words of praising Xiao Jiyao Changjun at that time.

"That is, don't you all say that children see the wind and look the same every day. It's been more than three months, and the longer I get, the more handsome I get. ”

After a lively lunch, the two sisters were worried about the chickens and pigs at home, so they said goodbye to everyone and went back. Not long after I got home, spring came. When I entered the door, I asked:

"I just heard that Ran'er is sick, are you okay, Ran'er?"

"Brother Chunshui, my sister has been better for more than ten days, and now I came to ask, isn't it too late?"

Qinglian was the first to make fun of Chun Shui Dao.

"Lian'er, don't talk nonsense. Didn't Brother Chunshui say it, I just heard that my sister was sick. Brother Chunshui, Ran'er is not a serious illness, and it is not worth running alone from such a big distance. ”

"One is to see if Ran'er is okay, and the other is to say goodbye to Ran'er and Lian'er."

"Brother Chunshui is going to go far away?"

"I'm going to study at the county school and prepare to take the tribute exam in two years."

"Will Brother Chunshui be a big official in the future?"

"Hehe, what kind of official are you doing, it's just a show of fame now, it's not too late to say this when you win the lift."

Chunshui answered Qinglian's question with a smile, but her eyes kept looking at Ran'er. Ran Er is eleven years old this year, her appearance is very similar to her mother, her waist is slender, she always has a gentle smile on her face, her eyebrows and eyes are beautiful, and she looks quiet and graceful.

Qinglian saw that Chunshui had been staring at Ran'er, and walked quietly between the two, blocking Chunshui's sight, and asked:

"Big brother has eaten, hasn't he?"

"After eating, my father asked me to bring the eggs back when I came, and you were left to run."

When the two sisters saw this, they began to carry eggs to the ox cart, counting one hundred and fifty eggs, and Chunshui took out three hundred yuan and handed it to Ran'er, but Ran'er only received two hundred yuan. Say to Chunshui:

"Brother Chunshui, Ran'er and Lian'er don't have any gifts to give, those fifty eggs, Brother Chunshui will take them to school and eat them."

"That's not going to happen. Not to mention that it is not easy to bring on the road, there is a canteen in the school, so there is no need to bring food at all. ”

insisted on leaving all the money, so he said goodbye to the sisters and drove away in an ox cart.

Sunrise and sunset, the clouds are gone, and the two sisters are guarding the fence yard, guarding the mother's grave, pickling sour bamboo shoots in spring, picking up grass mushrooms in autumn, feeding chickens and pigs, calculating the harvest in the field, and living the life of the sisters. Whether Chunshui goes out to study, or Xiao Jiyao's 100-year-old ceremony, there is no fundamental connection with the Ran'er sisters. It's just that people live in the world and always have to deal with people, especially like the Ran'er sisters, who need people's help everywhere, so they don't exist like their mothers who are independent in the world, and gradually integrate into the lives of ordinary people in Xia Village and the surrounding areas.

As Ran'er grows up day by day, Ran'er's figure is gradually replaced by Ran'er in the eyes of the people of Xia Village. Because Ran'er is sensible, polite, and gentle, everyone in the village, including those who know Ran'er, like Ran'er from the bottom of their hearts.

Although Ran'er is still young, many families in the village have begun to think about Ran'er. According to local customs, girls go on blind dates in thirteen or fourteen to find their in-laws, and they get married at the age of sixteen or seventeen. Therefore, starting from this year, Ran'er and Qinglian obviously felt that the people in the village were more affectionate towards the sisters. The number of people who came to the fence courtyard also increased. Most of them are mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, some of them come to play in their spare time, and some of them go to work in the fields and come in for a walk by the way. Ran'er's fenced courtyard is no longer as deserted as before, and it is gradually becoming lively. Of course, not all visitors want to pay attention.