Lin Xiuqing was stunned for a moment. Ask her to take care of those children
But she already has three children in her family, plus an old lady, plus she has to cook for Ye's mother. This family is already busy enough for her, and now she has to add six more children
Several children call her aunt. It's okay to take care of them for a few days, as it only requires some rice and grain. But if she has to send money to them every few days, her family will not be able to bear it.
As the saying goes, if the kids are eating their parents out of money, how can I afford to feed so many mouths
And it's not just a matter of adding a few more mouths to feed and spending more rice.
The point is, with more children, there will be more things that come with it, and she doesn't have the time to take care of so many children.
Ye Xiaoxi alone is enough to keep her busy, and she can't ask the old lady to do all the housework. If she has more children, she will have to work harder.
Why would she take on things for nothing
What if the child gets hurt? If she is not taken good care of, she will be blamed. That is such a thankless task.
Aren't the families of the eldest and second sisters-in-law from this village? Wouldn't it be easier to send it to their grandparents
Seeing that Lin Xiuqing didn't say anything, Sister Ye quickly said, "I can bring their daily rations over. You just need to help cook more. They can eat whatever they have."
"Yes, yes, we can't let them eat your food. We will bring the rations here in advance..."
This is not just a matter of food...
Although their family has always eaten dry food, only breakfast is liquid food, while the two families next door eat porridge, and only when they go out to sea, they will cook dry food for dinner.
Lin Xiuqing has a headache.
She put down the quickie with a forced smile, "Sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, you just said that I'm the one who takes care of the whole family, and Xiaojiu is still young, so I can't be busy at all."
"If you can send all six of them to me, it's not a big deal for one or two days. I'll bite the bullet and help you take care of them for a day or two. It doesn't matter if there's food or not. As uncles and aunts, don't we need to feed the children? Even if you leave it to me for many days, I won't be able to handle it..."
Ye Yaodong also frowned. He didn't expect that he just made a suggestion, but it pitted his wife...
Mother Ye also frowned, "Your maternal family is also in the village, why don't you leave the child with their grandparents? You can bring the food rations over and ask their grandmother to cook for a few more children. They are all in the village anyway."
"Yes, the children's maternal families are in the village. Wouldn't it be better for them to go to their grandparents' homes to eat? If all of them were given to me, there would be nine children. How could I take care of them all?"
"There's no need to watch them... They can play by themselves and go to school at a certain time..."
Ye Yaodong also put down his quickie and said, "It's not as simple as you say. They are not wooden men who would disappear after dinner. It's better to let their grandparents take care of them. If they sneak away to play in the water at the beach or skip classes, Qing won't be able to take care of the three children by herself."
The old lady also smiled and said, "If the child's grandparents live with you brothers and eat with you brothers, you can invite them over and cook a meal for the children at noon in your respective homes, and let the in-laws eat at your home as well."
Father Ye also agreed, "Yes, yes, yes, you can cook at home, and let your in-laws eat at your house. You go out early and come back late, so you can also ask your in-laws to help cook dinner for you. This way, when you come back tired after a day, you don't have to light a fire to cook. The children will have something to eat, and you will have something to eat too, so you don't have to work hard. When the goods are brought back, you will still be busy later."
Mrs. Ye Dasao and Mrs. Ye Ersao looked at each other in surprise.
Without waiting for them to speak, the old lady smiled and said, "Don't think that everyone is partial to Ah Qing and speaks for her. She is indeed very busy, and everyone can see it. Not only does she have to take care of the old, but she also has to take care of the young, and she has to take care of the two in the middle. How can she take care of it all?"
"And you guys crammed six of them in at once for her to take care of. Anyone who hears this will frown. It would be best to let the children's grandparents come over to take care of them. They don't do much anyway, just come over to cook for lunch and dinner."
"I'm just old, and everyone dislikes old people for being 'lazy' and dirty. Otherwise, I could come over and help you cook a couple of meals..."
"You'd better give up. You might fall down if you keep poking around with a cane." Ye Yaodong was the first to object.
Mrs. Ye laughed awkwardly, "We were not thoughtful enough. We didn't think about it more. We just thought that Ah Qing was next door to us and it would be convenient for us to go back and forth, so we came to ask her for help."
Mrs. Ye also smiled reluctantly, "I forgot that you are also very busy. Nine children are indeed too many. Then we should go back to my mother's house and ask my parents to come and help us."
Lin Xiuqing nodded, "Okay, your maternal family is so close, it would be best if you could come over anytime. I want to ask my parents for help but it's hard to ask them. They are so far away, let alone help, it's hard to even talk."
"Yes, being close has its advantages."
"That's not good. We can get there in no time by walking..." Ye Chenghu suddenly muttered in a low voice.
Lin Xiuqing glared at him and said, "Why are you butting in when adults are talking?"
"Then we'll go first. We need to go and talk early, otherwise everyone will fall asleep soon."
Lin Xiuqing nodded.
Ye's mother suddenly said, "You go ask first. If the mother-in-law is not available, I will come back early to cook for you for two days. Anyway, there may not be work every day. When there is no work, I will sit there with my legs crossed and chat, like a matchbox."
Ye's mother was also worried that her two daughters-in-law had their own ideas. She thought they were partial to Aqing and Dongzi's family, so she wanted to help them if she could.
The mother-in-law has a difficult time. It is really hard to balance the three sons. The palm of the hand is made of flesh, and the back of the hand is also made of flesh, but there will always be a focus.
Dongzi and his wife are indeed more filial than the eldest and second oldest couples, and they do their best.
After she said this, Mrs. Ye Dasao and Mrs. Ye Ersao were immediately happy. Now they had nothing to worry about.
Who knows if their mother is free? If she is free, of course it would be the best, and everyone would be happy. If she is not free, they can only hope that Ye's mother will come back early to cook for them.
Sister Ye responded happily, "Okay, okay, I'll go back to my mother's house and ask. If my mother is not available, then I'll have to ask her for help."
"Well, go ahead."
After the matter was settled and the people left, the happy atmosphere of the family returned.
Ye Yaodong couldn't help but complain, "I don't know what they are thinking. We help them earn money, but we still have to take care of their children? Why not just give them money directly?"
Lin Xiuqing smiled and said indifferently, "Doesn't this prove that I'm reliable? They trust me, haha. They do live next door to each other, so it's normal for them to think of me first. If we go out for a day or two, they will definitely think of entrusting the child to them first..."
"No, it's me. I will definitely send the child to my mother. If she has to go to work, then she can take the child to work with her."
Mother Ye rolled her eyes at him and said, "You really are good at making plans for me! You really are good at assigning tasks for me."
"It's a must. If I don't call my own mother, how can I call someone else?"
"You deserve to be treated like a slave."
"No, don't be so exaggerated. How can you be treated like a slave? You are still working, but I have already started to provide for you and my father in our old age. How can I ask you to be treated like a slave? Don't go out and ruin my reputation."
"You are just good at talking. I raised you with all my heart. I paid when I should pay and worked when I should work. Isn't that just working like a slave for you? What I earn from work now will be yours when I get old..."
"Don't say that everything will be ours when we get old. There are still many decades to go. If you can save enough money for your retirement, I will be very grateful."
Talking back has become an instinctive reaction for Ye Yaodong. It seems that he has mastered the skill to perfection when he opens his mouth, and anything can come out of his mouth.
"So what if it's been several decades? What money can we spend when we're old? We've all been saving it for you to share later." Ye's mother knocked on his bowl in annoyance, and then quickly put away her own bowl.
"Eat quickly and let me wash the bowl after you finish. You've been eating for a long time and you're so talkative. I'm going to make you angry to death sooner or later."
"I learned this from you. I guess a good tongue is hereditary, right?"
“You are awesome!”
He was already great
Let his mother give him a hand and stop talking back.
Everyone at the table had long been accustomed to the bickering between the mother and son. If they didn't say a few words to each other one day, the sun would definitely rise in the west.
Ye's mother put the bowl next to the stove. There was a pot of freshly boiled water in the pot. She wanted to scoop the water into the thermos to keep it warm first.
Seeing the funnel placed at the highest point of the stove, she stood on tiptoe to pick it up, then put it into the opening of the thermos, and then used a ladle to pour water into it.
After both thermos were filled, there was still a little hot water left in the pot, so she scooped a ladle of cold water and added it in, making it just warm enough to wash dishes.