Chapter 188

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Roasting sweet potatoes is a technical job.

It indeed requires a professional stove, roasting while turning them over, so they won't get burnt.

If using the fire from the stove pit, roasting directly over the fire, most will be charred black on the outside while still raw inside.

Song Qingshan naturally knows this principle too; he took a few small sweet potatoes and threaded them onto iron wire.

After threading them into a circle, he used a wooden stick to hold them, roasting the sweet potatoes in the stove pit.

Although the preparatory work was done quite thoroughly, this did not prevent the sweet potatoes from getting burnt...

Those that should get burnt still got burnt...

When Song Qingshan took the sweet potatoes out, he counted them: over a dozen small sweet potatoes, six or seven were burnt, two should still be uncooked, only three or four were good.

Meng Shi almost flared up to scold Song Qingshan for being good-for-nothing, but considering he had worked relatively diligently today, she merely pursed her lips, gave him a light kick, then took the sweet potatoes into the house.

"Daughter, your dad roasted these sweet potatoes for you, have a taste."

Song Qiushui took the sweet potato, her hands still a bit burned, but then she asked puzzledly: "Mom, didn't I bring back a whole big pile? How come only these few are left?"

Meng Shi was extremely embarrassed, complaining: "It's all your dad, that useless waste, good-for-nothing. He burnt the remaining ones, honestly... I said he's good-for-nothing, yet he argues back all day long."

Song Qiushui didn't mind at all: "No matter, the burnt ones are even more delicious."

So Song Qingshan eagerly brought up those few burnt sweet potatoes.

Song Qiushui ate until her mouth was all black.

Chai Mi also tasted a bite, feeling the flavor was very good.

She arranged for Meng Shi and Song Qingshan to eat together too; the two declined for a while, then also sat at the table.

There weren't too many formalities; they all live in the same village, Chai Mi and Song Qiushui have a good relationship and visit often, so eating together happens quite a lot.

Song Qingshan even wanted to drink a couple of cups, but was scared back by Meng Shi's glare.

"Qiu Shui, don't just eat sweet potatoes; eating too much of that stuff causes heartburn." Meng Shi reminded her.

Heartburn is a local dialect term, meaning food that is too dry or too spicy, causing a burning sensation in the stomach after eating.

Song Qiushui didn't care either.

After eating, because she hadn't slept well last night, Song Qiushui returned to her own room and fell asleep head-on-pillow.

Originally Song Qiushui wanted Chai Mi to stay a bit longer, but Chai Mi also knew Song Qiushui was sleepy, and she herself felt a bit unwell too.

Tossing about all night, it was indeed uncomfortable.

She glanced at the time; it was already nearly twelve noon, so Chai Mi led Chai Xiu home.

Arriving home, Chai Mi broke out in a full body of sweat from the heat.

Although it was only a few hundred meters of road, today's weather was truly too hot.

Chai Mi muttered: "What ghost weather, this hot. If it doesn't rain soon, we'll have to figure out how to water the fields again; nine years out of ten are drought, this damn place is truly miserable."

In her previous life, Chai Mi's hometown was also mostly dry with little rain.

And a drought would last for many years.

Liaoxi's drought can be said to be a long-standing problem, fundamentally unsolvable.

Chai Mi also knows a thing or two; it might be due to terrain. Although Liaoxi is only a hundred eighty li from the sea, it just doesn't rain...

It's just particularly weird.

Generally speaking, at this straight-line distance, there should be a lot of rain, but actually it's located at the edge of the Mongolian Plateau, with high terrain...

Anyway, once the dog days of summer arrive, it doesn't rain.

Come autumn, it rains to death.

And Chai Mi feels that maybe in recent years the population has grown too large; listening to the older generation, this place used to be a vast flat grassland.

Now...

Just listen to the names of nearby villages, and you can see a glimpse: such as Shang Taizi, Wohu Gou, Yangjiao Gou, Bota Gou, Xi Gou...

"Sigh..." Chai Mi sighed.

Chai Xiu asked carefully: "Sister, what if it doesn't rain? We're far from the river... the big well seems to have dried up too."

The big well Chai Xiu speaks of refers to when the xiang and county organized a village-wide battle, digging many large wells over ten meters wide; whenever there was a severe drought, they would use diesel engines to pump water for irrigation.

But first, Reform and Opening-up happened, production was contracted to households, and individual families couldn't afford diesel engines; diesel was too expensive.

Second, those wells have basically dried up too, with no water left.

"No matter, let's see in a few days; if it really doesn't work, we'll pray for rain."

"Ah... Sister, didn't you say that stuff is feudal superstition?" Chai Xiu was a bit confused.

Chai Mi patted Chai Xiu's head: "If praying for rain doesn't bring rain, we'll talk then; at least spiritually we make an effort first."

Chai Mi and Chai Xiu soon arrived home; Father Chai Youqing perhaps couldn't sit still, and was using the pressurized well to press water for watering vegetables.

Chai Youqing was sweating profusely from the heat.

Chai Mi's family has a water pump, a centrifugal pump.

But...

Chai Youqing didn't use it, instead pressing water at the pressurized well, then carrying water with a shoulder pole to water the vegetables.

Chai Mi watched in a daze...

Watering vegetables at high noon in such scorching heat is truly... inconceivable.

Isn't he hot?

But Chai Mi wasn't that treacherous and mean Huang Shiren; holding to the principle that no matter what, at least Chai Youqing was very diligent, she did not stop Chai Youqing from working, but just said in a low voice to Chai Xiu: "Xiu'er, don't learn from your dad pretending to work; this work can be done anytime. From now on, when the weather is too hot, don't work unless there's a special situation; if you get heatstroke, there won't even be enough money for medicine."

Chai Xiu nodded obediently: "I know, Sister."

Chai Mi then went into the house, changed out of the clothes she wore to go out, and then washed herself. She changed into a clean and cool short-sleeved shirt, and for the first time wore a pair of relatively loose pants, wearing slippers, and cut a watermelon she had put aside the day before yesterday.

Fortunately, the watermelon wasn't very cold, and it tasted just average, just very sweet.

Chai Xiu said while eating watermelon: "Sister, other people's families all have vegetable cellars; why don't we dig one too? Anyway, you see how capable our dad is; letting him be idle is also being idle."

Chai Mi shook her head: "He doesn't do proper work; if you ask him to dig a vegetable cellar, he'll just be a useless person. Don't count on him. But since you say that, we should save money to buy a refrigerator. That thing is good; just plug it in and it's convenient."

"Doesn't that cost electricity?" Chai Xiu said in a low voice.

"Hiss... Xiu'er, don't make trouble. How come you've become just like your dad lately? Wanting to butt into everything? Really." Chai Mi said with dissatisfaction: "You just eat and drink honestly. In a few days I'll send you to school, so I don't have to coax you all day."

Although Chai Xiu was eight years old, she was still ultimately a child.

Whether going out to play or staying at home, Chai Mi sometimes didn't feel very reassured.

Chai Xiu bit her lip, thinking when had her sister ever coaxed her? Didn't she always play by herself?

But she didn't dare to talk back to Chai Mi.

She silently bit her lip as a wordless protest.

Chai Mi held the watermelon, went out of the house to call Chai Youqing: "Dad, eat some watermelon. The day after tomorrow, go to my maternal grandmother's home once and bring my mom back."

Chai Youqing, hearing he could go pick up his wife, immediately had energy to work.

"Not eating, not eating, you two eat."

"Hmph, if you don't eat then forget it, don't later say I didn't save any for you." Chai Mi said this, but still left a few slices of watermelon, put them on the table, and then returned to her own room.

Just about to take a nap, she found the front yard old house seemed noisy.

Chai Mi walked out the door, narrowed her eyes and looked.

Only to see in front of the old house, smoke was billowing out from inside the room.

(Koukou: also a local dialect, meaning with all one's might... similar to doing one's best.)

Pitch-black smoke came out from the house, then drifted up along the eaves.

And under the eaves, Chai Zhongxiao and Wang Huirong were blaming each other.

"Day after day, I've had enough of living with you. I say, I asked you to buy some food, and you brought back a few white melon seeds?" Chai Zhongxiao's tone wasn't good from anger.

(White melon seeds are a local abbreviation for white melons, probably zucchini. In this era, this kind of zucchini generally grows especially large; although hard to eat, the output is increased. When especially large, the zucchini turns white, and the pulp inside needs to be scooped out before eating.)

"And these white melon seeds are so old they're cracked, are you feeding them to pigs?" Chai Zhongxiao was very dissatisfied: "Our daughter is coming back today, you're not unaware, are you planning to not prepare a single dish and just eat dry rice?"

Wang Huirong was extremely wronged.

Although what Chai Zhongxiao said were real problems, she had no money; she went to the small shop, but Song Qingshu wouldn't give her credit, and they even fought.

She was almost sixty years old, lay hard on the ground for two hours, and now felt her waist was about to break.

She, Wang Huirong, hadn't complained anywhere, but instead came home and was scolded by Chai Zhongxiao?

Wang Huirong was also angry in her heart.

"Can that be blamed on me?" Wang Huirong's voice wasn't small either: "Blame me for everything, I let the daughter-in-law get beaten and it's my fault, the glass got smashed and it's my fault, I didn't bring back any dishes and it's still my fault! You don't give me money, am I supposed to buy things with my head?"

Slap!

Chai Zhongxiao gave a big slap!

Wang Huirong instantly like a kite with a broken string was directly slapped flying two or three meters by Chai Zhongxiao's big slap, falling stiffly on the bamboo mat at the door.

(Badou is actually a word from elsewhere; locally it's generally called Xiao Lu. It's a container woven from locust tree branches for holding things.)

In the badou were placed some cow dung.

This cow dung was picked up today because Chai You De wasn't feeling well and suddenly became diligent, running outside to pick it up to dry for burning.

As a result, after Chai You De picked it up, he forgot about it.

He not only forgot to keep striving, but also forgot to dump the cow dung out to dry.

As a result...

The result was that Wang Huirong flew directly out like this, not biased, her head just happened to hit into the badou first.

Of course, it could also be good luck...

If it was bad luck, her head would hit the wall, and maybe she'd be gone.

It was precisely because Wang Huirong had good luck, hitting her head on a load of cow dung.

And the quality of this cow dung wasn't great...

In the Northern Region, picking up cow dung to burn doesn't lose face. In this era, picking up cow dung is very common. Because making fire for cooking requires firewood.

This is different from later generations; cooking with electric rice cookers, boiling water with electric kettles, stir-frying with electric woks, burning coal for heating when cold, using fans or Kong Tiao when hot.

In this era, the life of the whole Nong Cun basically cannot do without firewood.

Firewood is generally corn stalks and sorghum stalks. Those with conditions can go up the Mountain to get some firewood, or steal some branches and wood; if that doesn't work, drying some Ye Zi is fine. Of course, actually anything can be burned for fire: corn pulp, sorghum shells, sesame stalks, wood roots, apricot tree forks, peach wood stakes, jujube tree sticks, window shutters, donkey dung balls, broken paper shells, plastic bags...

But before, when Chai Zhongxiao's family burned fire, it was Chai Youqing who got it.

Now for more than ten days Chai Youqing hasn't brought firewood home.

Chai Zhongxiao's old house is almost at the point of having no firewood to burn.

Chai You De knows his father Chai Zhongxiao's character very well. How could his father Chai Zhongxiao possibly lower his head to pick up firewood?

Wouldn't that lose face?

Chai Zhongxiao, as Head of Household, is like the Supreme Emperor in the family.

Chai Zhongxiao, besides talking and issuing orders, doesn't do a bit of work.

Regarding this point, Chai You De knows it well.

As for his own mother Wang Huirong, with her physique, she could fall flat walking; she's even more unlikely to get firewood.

And her own wife Che Lianyun went to work every day; when she wasn't working she wouldn't go gather firewood either.

Chai You De also couldn't bear to let his fine eldest son Chai Dajun go gather firewood, so Chai You De dragged his own broken body and, relying on himself, picked up a bit of cow dung.

The old saying goes well: can a living person really be suffocated by holding their urine?

That is naturally impossible.

But Chai You De's legs and feet weren't too good after all; one leg had just been broken, so he couldn't walk too far — if he walked too far his body couldn't bear it. So when other people picked up cow dung, they picked up the kind that had already dried.

At least they would also pick up some clumped cow dung.

But Chai You De didn't; he belonged to the principle of whatever falls into the basket is food — seeing cow dung, he tossed it into the basket.

And today, he also happened to catch the cow whose dung he was picking; it seemed its stomach wasn't too comfortable, and it had a bit of diarrhea.

By rights, this kind of cow dung couldn't be brought back.

But Chai You De really couldn't find a second piece of cow dung for burning, so he put that diarrheic cow dung into the basket.

Wang Huirong's head collided like this.

Instantly that watery cow dung, mixed with a hint of sour stench from that cow's poor digestion, came rushing straight at her face.

Wang Huirong immediately cried out.

But her face was full of cow dung, and she was extremely disgusted and nauseated; she opened her mouth…

The result was she got a mouthful of cow dung soup…

Afterwards Wang Huirong's whole person was stunned: ah ah ah ah… I ate cow dung…

She scrambled up in panic, threw the basket hard, but the cow dung soup all over her face made it so she couldn't even open her eyes.

Afterwards a clang sounded.

Wang Huirong's head hit the window.

And the glass on the window had long since shattered, leaving only a few glass shards…

Wang Huirong smashed her face into glass shards.

Blood flowed hua-hua down her head.

Cow dung soup also flowed hua-hua down her head…

That scene, words cannot fully describe.