The ninth day of the first month of March is Zilu's eighth birthday, Shen got up early in the morning to cook a poached egg for his second son, took out a pair of new shoes, and said: "My mother still wants to make a new dress for Lu'er, and when I am busy with this time, my mother will make up for it, and when the conditions are better next year, my mother will definitely let you go to school." Zilu agreed with red eyes.

"Second brother, don't worry, you will definitely be able to go to school next year, I will do what I say. Still, hehe, you're still going to do my job. Ziqing said.

"You stinky girl, how can you guarantee it? Why are you everywhere? If you don't earn any money then, how ashamed you will be? Okay, it's time for my mother to go out and do things. ”

Shen Shi saw that it was sunny this day, so he took Zilu to cut rape, she said to cut slowly, how much can be cut, pick it back and put it on the mat in the yard, let Ziqing watch not let the chickens step on it, and often turn it, Ziqing asked Zishou to hold a bamboo pole to catch the chickens, and it took two busy days to collect half of it.

Fortunately, the spring ploughing holiday began, Zeng Ruixiang and Zifu were resting, Zeng Ruixiang came back and saw the well in the yard and hurriedly asked: "Yumei, why do I have a surprise every time I come back, where is the silver this time?" ”

"Let's get to work first, and we'll talk about it in the evening. Take advantage of the good weather in the past two days, and quickly collect the rape, otherwise, this heart is always unsteady. We must also get a good grasp of planting peanuts. After Shen finished speaking, he was busy.

With the help of Zeng Ruixiang and Zifu, the rape in the field was quickly recovered, Ziqing and Zilu stayed at home to turn over the dry, and took a mallet to beat the dried branches from time to time, and when they were all dry, Shen Shi rubbed the pods on the branches with his hands, Ruixiang ploughed the paddy field again, the sand was leveled, Ziqing was surprised that her father could do all the farm work, and was not trained to be a nerd.

One day Ruixiang went to the old house, came back with a unhappy face, Shen didn't ask anything, just gently put on the dinner, one person served a bowl of bone broth, since the last time Ziqing bought back the stick bone soup, Shen always stewed every three or five times. Tell everyone to eat.

Zeng Ruixiang looked at the children in front of him, the big one knew to take care of the little one, the little one knew to let the big one, the humble and the one who let go, after eating, the eldest son took the initiative to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, the second son helped, and the daughter swept the floor, so he said to Shen: "Yumei, you have worked hard, you have taught the children very well." ”

After going to bed, Ziqing listened to the conversation between his father and his mother, and realized that her father went to the old house today, and the old man didn't pay much attention to him, and he was still angry. Tian cried again about the difficulties of the days, it turned out that Xia Yu's family affairs were not successful, people disliked Xia Yu's health was not good, and asked for fifty taels of silver to marry, Zeng Ruixiang's salary over the years did not leave a copper, all to Tian's, thinking that no matter what, they were living in one place, and they didn't need silver, so as not to cause trouble, but just like that, the children still couldn't eat enough and wear badly, after the separation, their own family was in this situation, and they always had to build the house when winter came, and they couldn't let the children squeeze into the wooden house in the winter to be frozen, But Tian's family is not considerate of these at all, and he is his own mother, and Zeng Ruixiang is not easy to say. The Shen family told the old man and the Tian family about coming that day, and Zeng Ruixiang didn't say anything more.

It rained for a day the next day, and Shen said that fortunately the rapeseed was harvested, Ziqing took the opportunity to ask: "Mother, how much rapeseed has our family collected?" ”

"A little more than a stone."

Ziqing converted, two hundred catties, and the yield is still low, "Then how much rapeseed can produce vegetable oil?" ”

"Sixty pounds, we don't need to buy oil this year. My mother will send it to extract oil in half a day, and the remaining slag cake can be thrown away to make fertilizer before planting seedlings. ”

Ziqing found that no matter what questions the children had, Shen always answered them patiently, maybe she subconsciously also wanted to instill more common sense in life to the children, so Zifu was very calm at a young age, and he knew a lot, Ziqing compared, in addition to his major, other aspects were worthy of a tie, but he lived to be twenty-two years old, Ziqing was very indignant in his heart.

Gossip less, the rain stopped, Ziqing went to his vegetable field to see, the bracken has grown a lot taller, Ziqing liked to eat water spinach in his previous life, and changed the name, the little cabbage has already been eaten, this rain, it is very crowded, Ziqing pulled some home, and said to Shen at dinner that he could pull some cabbage and pick some bracken to sell, isn't there less vegetables now? The bracken should not have been sold yet, and it can be sold at a good price.

"It's okay, but my mother wants to order the peanuts first, (that is, the meaning of planting) it rains and peanuts are just right, and if you don't order it, my mother is afraid that it will be too late." Shen said.

"Then I'll go tomorrow to get some peanuts, and I'll go too, and I'll go with my little brother." Ziqing said. Shen said that the sun had to come out to bring the boy out. Otherwise, it's not good to catch a cold.

Coincidentally, the second day was a cloudy day, Zeng Ruixiang took the Shen family and they all went to order peanuts, Ziqing had to take a small hoe to remove the grass and loosen the soil and then dig earthworms, looking at the fruits of his labor, the mood is always very happy, can you build a house this year, just point to this watermelon. So Ziqing was very careful. Not only chicken manure, but also the daily rice washing water and the blood water that washes the bones are poured into it. Of course, the chicken manure should be left for a period of time to rot and ferment before it can be used.

Zeng Ruixiang and Shen took their two sons for a busy day, and finally finished ordering the peanuts.

The next day, when Ziqing got up in the morning, the family was older than her and went out, there was breakfast on the table, and a small bowl of rice soup sitting in hot water was for Zixi, Ziqing went out and saw the soil by the well, and then went to the vegetable field to see, the bracken was basically pinched, and guessed that Shen must have gone to the city to sell vegetables. Ziqing went back to the house to see that the two younger brothers hadn't woken up yet, so she cleaned up the well platform first.

At ten o'clock now, Shen and Zilu came back, Shen also bought a piece of azure cotton cloth and a piece of coarse white cloth, saying that he wanted to make a jacket for the man at home, "The money for selling vegetables today is not enough, fortunately I also brought some, Ziqing, this time the money is not enough, my mother did not buy you flower cloth, your father is out all the year round, and you can't always wear old clothes, your eldest brother will have his tenth birthday in a few days, and his mother will make it for him first, and next time he sells vegetables, his mother must buy a beautiful flower cloth for Qing'er." ”

"It's okay, mother, my eldest brother's clothes are torn again, and he should wear better to school. However, mother, next time I buy flower cloth, I will wear the same as my mother, and my mother will also make new clothes. Ziqing often washes clothes and knows that the cotton cloth is not strong at all, and it will fade if it is washed a few times, and it will be broken if it is beaten a few times, and it is impossible for children from poor families to always make new clothes, so the clothes are always patched and patched, and basically in the end they can't see the original state of the clothes.