Chapter 65: Fen fen fen fen fen

"???"

The moment a string of question marks popped up in Lin Zhao's mind, she looked closely and saw a line of explanation appear beneath the four characters.

After reading it, her expression was a bit complicated.

"Small medicinal pill, specifically treats love-brain."

"No additives, no side effects, refreshing taste, similar to mint."

"Still worrying that your child is a lick-dog, a love-brain, a slave to love, making their own father worry, their own mother annoyed, and their own grandparents weep bitterly?"

"Come, come, come, feed them the medicine; one pill lasts a lifetime. Cultivate a clear-headed, independent, and self-reliant good child; you deserve to have it."

Lin Zhao: "..." She had a feeling this pill was pointing at her cubs in a damnably accurate way.

After all.

In the original book.

The Seeing Seeing Dazai, Hearing Hearing Erzai, and Fourth Cub were all... not very clear-headed.

This text introducing the pill didn't disappear for a long time.

Lin Zhao felt the cold mockery and was somewhat speechless. She clicked to extract it and put it into her storage ring, out of sight, out of mind.

Then, she drew again.

"Advanced version dog food × 500 jin."

"The taste is top-notch, the favorite of the canine star."

"A warm reminder, this dog food has magical effects; explore it slowly yourself."

Lin Zhao: "..." It was even playing coy!

Both draws were mediocre, but both were useful.

Actually, what she wanted most was an ointment to remove or fade scars; the child's skin was tender, and she worried the tooth marks on Hearing Hearing Erzai's hand would stay with her son forever.

After these two draws, only 58 points remained.

Back to square one in an instant.

Lin Zhao didn't mess around anymore; she lay down lightly, held Fourth Cub, and closed her eyes.

The people in the Gu family's old house entered dreamland, while a faint light shone from the room of the Wei family's second branch.

The two Stones were wearing small patched pants, sleeping soundly, occasionally being bitten by mosquitoes, scratching the itchy spots in a daze.

The skin not exposed to the sun was scratched into red marks by their dog-gnawed fingernails.

"Fumigate with more mugwort; the two Stones are being bitten so badly they can't sleep well." Gu Chan stopped pasting matchboxes, massaged her brow bone with the back of her hand, tilted her head to look at Wei Xiangdong beside her, and said in a low voice.

After three consecutive hours of work, her eyes were so dry she couldn't squeeze out a tear.

She closed her sore eyes, opened them, closed them again, opened them again, repeating this several times to relieve the fatigue.

Wei Xiangdong stood up and went to fumigate the room with mugwort, focusing around his wife.

Half a minute later.

Gu Chan looked at the man helplessly and reminded him again, "Fumigate a bit over by the sons too."

Wei Xiangdong frowned.

"A real man is afraid of what mosquitoes? Those two little ones sleep like dead pigs; they won't be woken up by bites."

Was this the reaction a real father should have?

Even though she had long known her man's temperament, Gu Chan was still choked up.

"Are you fumigating or not?" She glared.

Wei Xiangdong stared fixedly at his wife. A few seconds later, he withdrew his gaze and honestly went to the bedside to fumigate.

The stinky brats had thick skin and rough flesh; they weren't little girls, so why did they need mugwort? Why be so delicate?

After waving his hands perfunctorily, Wei Xiangdong sat back down beside his wife.

Gu Chan estimated it wasn't early anymore, looked at the man, and said, "Why don't you sleep first? I'll finish pasting these few and then sleep."

Wei Xiangdong didn't listen and pasted matchboxes with her.

He hated manual labor the most. If he had to do this kind of work that required sitting down and taking it slow, he would rather hunt on the mountain, or work in the fields.

But, Wei Xiangdong couldn't bear to let his wife do it all.

So he took the initiative to learn from Gu Chan. During the process, he ruined one and earned a roll of the eyes, but fortunately, he learned it in the end!

"Didn't your third sister-in-law say it wasn't urgent?" Wei Xiangdong yawned and said casually, "You aren't planning to finish pasting all these in one night, are you?"

"But we have to be able to finish them." Gu Chan retorted in a low voice, her voice a bit hoarse.

She patted the remaining materials on the table, "We'll sleep after finishing this stack."

It was a rare opportunity to earn money, and it had just started, so shouldn't they perform well?

It was an opportunity that Zhaozhao had a hard time finding.

"Why don't you sleep first? I'll paste these." Wei Xiangdong felt sorry for his wife.

Gu Chan shook her head, "Let's paste together, finish early and then sleep."

Wei Xiangdong didn't speak again and lowered his head to speed up the pasting.

When they finished and lay down, they were dizzy, and their waists, necks, and arms were so sore they felt like they were going to run away.

Being this tired, they naturally couldn't get up on time in the morning.

Country folk go to bed early and get up early.

Just past five o'clock, the doors of various rooms opened, and footsteps sounded one after another.

Wei Mother looked at the tightly closed door of the second branch, frowned, didn't say anything, and carried a wooden basin to wash clothes.

"Lazybones! A house full of lazybones!" Wei Eldest Sister-in-law spat and cursed at the room of the second branch in a low voice.

Knowing her brother-in-law was in the room, she didn't dare to be presumptuous and only dared to satisfy her mouth.

A clear, youthful voice came from behind her.

"Why don't I call my father and mother out so you can say what you have to say to their faces, Eldest Aunt?" Big Stone's tone showed no joy or anger.

He stood there, his pitch-black eyes staring at Wei Eldest Sister-in-law, his face expressionless.

Little Stone stood behind his brother, poked his head out to look at his Eldest Aunt, and withdrew his gaze in an instant.

His father was at home, so he wasn't afraid of the fierce Eldest Aunt. The little guy cheered himself up and clenched his hands into little fists.

Wei Eldest Sister-in-law was startled. She opened her mouth to scold, but the wooden door a meter behind her creaked.

"Why aren't you back in the room after peeing? Do you want me to invite you?" Wei Xiangdong leaned against the door frame, looking at the two Stones.

"No need, we're coming." Big Stone didn't pay attention to his Eldest Aunt anymore and walked unhurriedly toward his father, with Little Stone following behind him.

Back in the room.

Wei Xiangdong told his two sons to stay away from the bed so as not to wake his wife, and asked in a low voice, "What was that woman nagging about again?"

"She said we were a house full of lazybones." Big Stone complained.

"Fuck!" Wei Xiangdong cursed.

Damn it, who the hell was a lazybones?!

Achan was much more diligent than that troublemaker!

"Fine, before we split the family, you two play however you want, don't do anything; whoever wants to do the housework can do it." He was furious.

"Split the family?" Big Stone's eyes lit up, his tone expectant.

Wei Xiangdong covered his mouth, glanced at the bed, and seeing his wife hadn't been woken up, let go of his troublesome son.

"What! You don't want to split?" He said deliberately.

"How could I not want to!" Big Stone spat twice to get rid of the salty sweat taste in his mouth, glaring at his father like a little wolf cub, looking as if he wanted to scratch him a few times.

He held back and asked, "When are we splitting?!"

Little Stone also had a belly full of questions. He sat down next to his father and frowned, "Father, if we split the family, where will we live?"

Wei Xiangdong pulled his youngest son's thin face; there wasn't much meat, it was dry and thin, not fun to pinch at all.

They had to split the family quickly and get some meat on the mountain. The two stinky brats were too thin; wouldn't they not grow tall? He was a bit worried.

"Since we've split the family, why live at home? We'll move out."

Little Stone had a soft temperament and didn't dare to refuse even after being bullied by his father like that, only looking at Wei Xiangdong pitifully with a pair of clear, spring-like black eyes.

Big Stone couldn't stand it, rescued his soft-hearted brother, glared at his father secretly, "Father, where can our family move to? You aren't going to let us live in a cow shed, are you?"

Just after throwing out one question, without waiting for Wei Xiangdong to answer, he threw out a second, "Does our family have money?"

Wei Xiangdong squinted at him, "Are you trying to ask if there's still money for you two to study after we move out?"

Big Stone had a serious face and argued with his father, "Isn't me wanting to go to school for our family's sake!"

"Father, you didn't graduate from elementary school, and that's how your life is."

"I'm different. Mother said my brain is active and I can study. If I study hard, I can definitely change my fate."

"When I learn skills, I'm going to take my mother to the city."

I heard that people in the city live in buildings, can eat meat several times a month, and women don't have to work in the fields.

He must take his mother to the city!

"Thump!"

Big Stone took a hit on his forehead. He covered the spot where he was hit, gritted his teeth, and was so angry he wanted to run away from home.

"Disrespectful." Wei Xiangdong felt no guilt at all for disciplining his son.

What did he mean by his life being like that? He was only in his early thirties; he hadn't even lived half his life!

"Put your heart back in your stomach. I promised your mother that any child she gives birth to can study if they want to, and can study as long as they want."

He could afford it.

"My brother and I are basking in Mother's glory again." Big Stone was sarcastic to his father.

Wei Xiangdong didn't hear it and looked at him with an expression that said, 'at least you have self-awareness,' "As long as you know, so you two must be filial, otherwise..."

He shook his sandbag-sized fist.

Big Stone looked contemptuous, "..." Father is so childish!

Little Stone muttered, "..." Father is so fierce!"

At noon, Wei Mother only found out that the second branch family hadn't gone to work. She calculated the lost work points in her heart and felt a sharp pain from heartache.

Thump, thump, thump, she knocked on the door of the second branch.

The one who opened the door was Wei Xiangdong, yawning and standing without a proper posture.

"Mother, what are you doing? Knocking on the door is just knocking; why so hard? If you break the door, I'll have to fix it. What exactly is the matter? If nothing, I'm going to sleep a while longer."

What?

Still want to sleep!

Wei Mother was so angry she punched her son and said angrily: "Still sleeping! The sun is already shining on your butt and you're still sleeping!"

"If you don't go earn work points, what will you eat and drink? Hurry up, pack up, and go to work with me this afternoon."

"Not going." Wei Xiangdong interrupted his mother's nagging.

"Eldest Sister-in-law said our whole family are lazybones. Since she said so, we might as well just lie down." He spread his hands, looking indifferent and carefree.

Wei Mother choked and cursed her eldest daughter-in-law in her heart.

"With her temperament, why bother with her..."

Before she finished speaking, Wei Xiangdong interrupted listlessly, "I have a bad temper, I can't stand being wronged, not going, not going, not going, even if there's no food, I'm not going."

After speaking.

He turned back into the room and closed the door casually.

Wei Mother pushed hard with her hand and said loudly: "Then what do you want to do, ah! I can't control what you love to do, but don't lead Achan and the two Stones astray."

"I want to split the family, split it tonight." Wei Xiangdong stated his purpose.

He looked at his mother, "I don't want to endure it anymore! If we don't split the family for one day, I won't go to work for one day, my wife won't go, and the two Stones won't go either. We'll just eat white rice and be lazybones."

Wei Mother was stunned.

The second son couldn't even endure half a year?

"Didn't you say wait until the end of the year?"

Wei Xiangdong was in a bad mood, and his tone was also bad, "It's not that I can't endure it, it's that some people are asking for a beating. Mother, if you don't want the family to have no peace all day, you'd better split early."

His wife had agreed to let him go up the mountain. If it weren't for not wanting to benefit the eldest branch, he would have come back with a rabbit in his left hand and a chicken in his right hand long ago!

The man's disgusted gaze drifted past the door of the eldest branch, and he continued without leaving a gap: "If it weren't for considering you, Mother, I would have moved out with my wife and children five years ago!"

"It's meaningless, this life is meaningless."

He was sick of Wei Eldest Sister-in-law, who always jumped out to find fault with his wife, and his own brother, who always played dead and let his wife jump around.

And there was also—

He wanted to do something bad at night, but two cold stones were stuck there. They were stuck there, annoying as hell!

Wei Mother didn't know the hidden thoughts behind Wei Xiangdong's irritable face.

She also knew that the eldest daughter-in-law had an annoying temperament, but the old lady wanted her children and grandchildren to be by her side.

It would be different after splitting the family.

"Dong ah..."

Wei Xiangdong made a stop gesture, "Calling West is useless, I just want to split the family."

Acting pitiful was also useless. Wei Mother's expression was awkward, and she put away her pitiful look, "Split, split tonight, split all of you out."

She glared fiercely at her son, "I can't control you, this unfilial son, and I don't want to control you. Let the two Stones come back to see me often."

"Or you can let them stay." Wei Xiangdong sneered, but his expression was serious and expectant.

Wei Mother's mouth twitched, not wanting to speak again, and turned to leave.

The little old lady ran fast.

Split, split, split, split, split, split immediately.

The next morning.

Early in the morning after washing up, Lin Zhao planned to go to the kitchen to cook two handfuls of noodles for breakfast, but saw Huang Xiulan walking towards her, delivering a freshly made poached egg.

"Third Sister-in-law, don't you like the poached eggs I make? Taste it and see if it's still the same taste as before." She rinsed the chopsticks and handed the bowl and chopsticks to Lin Zhao together.

Since it was ready-made, there was no need to cook again.

"Thank you, Eldest Sister-in-law."

Lin Zhao sat down and started eating. There were two full poached eggs in the bowl, and the soup was very special, Gu Eldest Sister-in-law's secret recipe, with sesame oil, and a few green vegetables for garnish.

Delicious and good-looking.

She nodded with satisfaction.

Huang Xiulan smiled and heated the cornmeal buns skillfully.

The Gu family ate little in the morning, half a coarse grain bun per person, then drank some water, and the early morning passed, just waiting for the noon meal.

Food was in short supply. If they ate like last night for all three meals, the jar containing food would have been empty long ago!

Lin Zhao finished the soup quickly. Tie Dan came to take the bowl at high speed, and seeing the oily bowl, his mouth grinned wide.

She knew his thoughts, wanting to pour some water into the bowl to drink as egg drop soup.

"Not allowed to pour water to drink!" Lin Zhao stopped him.

Tie Dan's eyes lost their light instantly. He held the bowl, his expression pleading, and said softly: "Third Aunt, just pretend you didn't see it."

They ate well last night, and after a night, it had already been digested. Today, the stomach was still hungry, so children who couldn't eat good things were naturally greedy.

"Not allowed." Lin Zhao spat out the coldest words to Tie Dan in a gentle tone. His head drooped, "But it's very wasteful."

Tie Dan stared at the dregs in the bowl, wishing he could lick a few mouthfuls.

Lin Zhao couldn't bear to watch. It was nothing for them to be like that usually, but they couldn't eat her saliva; she couldn't get over that hurdle in her heart.

"Don't eat it. I'll have your mother cook you some noodles and give you each a poached egg."

Afraid that the greedy cat Tie Dan would disobey, she added: "If you don't listen to me, there won't be any for you."

Tie Dan's eyes pulled away from the bowl, licked his mouth, and leaned over: "Really?"

He gestured excitedly with his hands, "Is it that kind of thin, long white noodle? The kind Seeing Seeing Dazai and Hearing Hearing Erzai talked about?!"

Tie Dan was seven years old this year, just at the age where he could eat. The Gu family had many children, so it was impossible to let them eat until they were full, so it was no wonder he was even greedy for dog food.

There wasn't much meat on him, and his face was even more shriveled, and because he always ran all over the mountains and fields looking for food, his face was shiny black.

"Yes!" Lin Zhao's voice was light and slow.

Tie Dan put the bowl into his mother's hand without a word, looking at her eagerly, "Third Aunt?"

He didn't lick the bowl. What about the noodles? Could he eat them now?!

Seeing him so greedy, Huang Xiulan twisted her son's ear in anger.

"Third Sister-in-law, don't worry about this kid. At his age, his stomach is never full, no matter how much he eats, he's never full, and he's always hungry. Don't worry about it, the morning will pass by in a flash."

Born into the Gu family, they could at least eat seven-tenths full, while other children in the village could only eat five-tenths full.

Tie Dan was about to cry.

Was it easy for him to eat a mouthful of white noodles, ah?!

The seven-year-old big friend looked at his Third Aunt nervously, his hands clasped together, his breathing almost stopping.

Don't think it's an exaggeration; those who haven't tasted white noodles are really super greedy!

Lin Zhao laughed dumbly and gave the noodles to Huang Xiulan, "Cook them. This is my first day back at the old house, consider it my treat to the children."

Hearing this, Tie Dan jumped on the spot happily, "Thank you, Third Aunt, I'll help Seeing Seeing Dazai and Hearing Hearing Erzai wash clothes today."

Yesterday the twins said they wanted to wash clothes, but didn't have time because of the move, and said they would wash them today.

"Okay, then Tie Dan will be working hard." Lin Zhao said with a smile.

"Washing clothes isn't hard work." Working in the fields is hard work.

Seeing his mother cooking noodles with his own eyes, Tie Dan went to call people happily.

Lin Zhao went back to the room to get a few eggs for her Eldest Sister-in-law, and seeing that the time was almost up, she pushed her bicycle out to go to work.

The Gu family children had noodles to eat as soon as they woke up, and were so happy they almost fainted.

White noodles, eh.

These were white noodles, not mixed with any black flour at all. Taking a big slurp, it was so fragrant it made people want to cry. Is this really a delicacy of the human world?!!

"White noodles are so delicious! Grandma, when can we eat them every day?" Tie Dan drank the soup with great appreciation, wiping away the fine sweat from his forehead.

How would Gu Mu know? Who doesn't want to eat white noodles every day?

She didn't discourage the children and said: "Study hard, become a high school student, eat commodity grain like your Third Aunt, and you can eat them every day."

The Gu family children kept this in their hearts.

Especially Bang Bang.

He was about to enter the fifth grade. Previously, he didn't pay much attention to his studies, and his exams were always in the middle.

Previously, his understanding of school changing fate wasn't so profound. After Third Aunt suddenly became a city person, he suddenly awakened. He flipped through books whenever he was free, and did so for several nights in a row, shocking Gu Yucheng and Zhao Liuniang.

"Bang Bang, I heard your Third Aunt say you're going to take the junior high school entrance exam in another year?" Gu Mu remembered something and asked.

Bang Bang nodded, "Yes, the higher-ups issued a document saying they want to change the school system. Next, they will implement the 'five-four' system, which is five years of elementary school, two years of junior high school, and two years of high school."

Gu Mu thought about it in her mind and said: "To high school, you have to go for a total of nine years."

"Yes." Bang Bang said.

He wanted to go to high school, at least to junior high school. Third Aunt was right about one thing: academic qualifications are a stepping stone.

Those factory recruitments eliminate most people based on academic qualifications; they all want junior high or high school graduates.

Gu Mu calculated in her heart that wanting to support every child to high school graduation was not a small number.

She didn't dare to think, didn't dare to think carefully. ===== CHAPTER 66 =====