Time quickly entered July. The sun was so hot that it seemed to burn people's skin.
Qian Shulan sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her seven-month-old baby. Since she learned to sit half a month ago, she can now sit very steadily.
Zhengguo and the little donkey ran in from outside and saw his grandmother smiling brightly.
Jungkook grinned as he held up his diploma, “Granny, we’re graduated!”
Qian Shulan was watching her granddaughter pouting non-stop. Seeing such a young child doing such cute actions melted her heart.
Zhengguo and the little donkey also wanted to laugh when they saw it.
But seeing that his grandma didn't react at all, Zhengguo felt sad. He repeated, "Grandma, Little Donkey and I have graduated."
Qian Shulan said "Oh", and then realized what was going on, "Really? Where will your job be assigned?" Then she reached out to take the graduation certificate he handed over.
Zhengguo hid his diploma behind his back, avoiding Qian Shulan's hand, and looked at her aggrievedly, "Grandma, don't you love me anymore?"
Qian Shulan held her granddaughter and turned to face him. "Why do you say that?"
Zhengguo pursed his lips, almost crying, "I came in and told you twice before you heard me. You just don't care about me anymore."
Ever since the little guy was born, his grandmother seemed to focus all her attention on him. He hasn't chatted with her for a long time.
Now that his grandmother was indifferent when she heard about such a big thing as his and Little Donkey’s graduation, Zhengguo felt that the grandmother who loved him the most in the past was gone.
Qian Shulan was stunned for a moment and looked at him with a frown.
He is obviously a sixteen-year-old boy, but now he acts like a child, being jealous of a baby.
At first she wanted to laugh seeing his aggrieved look, but then she turned her head to glance at the silent little donkey next to her and found that he was also looking at the baby with envy.
Qian Shulan frowned and thought. She slapped her forehead suddenly. She seemed a little stupid. If she always favored the baby, her grandchildren would definitely be jealous of the baby, right
When the baby grows up, how will he integrate into this family
She can't stay with the baby forever, so she will still need the help of these relatives in the future.
After figuring it out, Qian Shulan immediately extinguished the passion that had been burning in her heart for half a year.
Qian Shulan put the baby in the bed and pulled the two children to sit down. "Grandma didn't hear you clearly just now. Let me see your diploma. I'll make you a delicious meal later."
After hearing this, Zhengguo and the little donkey felt a lot better.
After taking the graduation certificates handed over by the two men, Qian Shulan asked them carefully about their assigned jobs.
Zhengguo pursed his lips and said shyly, "I was assigned to the machinery factory in the provincial capital. At first I could only be an apprentice."
Qian Shulan couldn't help but frown, "Provincial capital machinery factory? Zhengguo, you want to go to the provincial capital? Isn't this too far?"
Zhengguo nodded, "My major only recruits workers in the provincial capital. There are no suitable factories in the county, so there is no way to assign a job."
Qian Shulan was very reluctant to let you go. "How can grandma feel at ease if you go to such a far place when you are only sixteen years old?"
Although Zhengguo has always behaved like an adult, it can be seen from his lack of understanding of the relationship between men and women that he is still a child. Qian Shulan is really worried that he will fail in the relationship between men and women. Especially since the Ten Years Movement will begin in a few years, will Zhengguo, as a worker, also be involved in that struggle
Seeing that grandma still cared about him as before, Zhengguo felt very warm in his heart. He immediately hugged her arm, curved his mouth and began to act coquettishly, "Grandma, I will definitely be careful. I remember everything you told me before."
Qian Shulan thought about it and still felt a little worried. "I'll take you there on the day you start working."
Jungkook thought about it and nodded in agreement.
The little donkey also hugged Qian Shulan's arm and began to tell the good news, "Grandma, I was assigned to work as an accountant in the county department store."
Qian Shulan was extremely surprised. "Your major is really good, and it's so close to home. I can go home every week during the rest period."
The little donkey scratched his head and laughed, "I chose accounting as my major so that I can be closer to home in the future."
Qian Shulan nodded and stood up from the bed. "Help me take care of the baby. I'll go cook a delicious meal to celebrate for you."
Then he said to the little donkey, "Go to the old house and tell your aunts to stop cooking and eat lunch at my place."
The little donkey nodded immediately.
After the little donkey ran out of the yard, Qian Shulan started to cook in the kitchen.
Zhengguo sat on the edge of the bed, watching the baby patting the bed with his chubby little hands, while secretly glancing at him. The little rosy face, pink lips, and big eyes that blinked from time to time were so adorable.
Zhengguo was so itchy that he hugged the baby, smelling the milky scent on her body and muttering, "No wonder grandma likes you so much, you're so cute." It was so cute that his heart almost melted.
He kissed the baby's soft little face and found that the touch was really good, like a piece of tender tofu, and he couldn't stop.
After a while, he kissed the baby's face with saliva. The baby looked at him accusingly with her big black eyes, and she pursed her lips and was about to burst into tears.
Zhengguo was extremely anxious. He looked out the window and didn't see the grandmother come out. He leaned down in front of the baby, clasped his hands together and begged, "Hey, don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry!"
The way he scratched his ears and cheeks was very much like a monkey, which made the baby who was about to cry laugh out loud, and the tears in his eyes blinked down.
Zhengguo quickly reached out to wipe it off for her, touched her little face, and praised her generously, "You are so good!"
Seeing her laughing happily, Zhengguo wiped the sweat from his forehead and then let out a long sigh.
The little baby started smacking his lips again and kept grinning at him.
Zhengguo touched the baby's soft little hand, looked at her big eyes which became even darker and brighter because she blinked away tears, and thought secretly in his heart, how could this baby be so cute.
After Qian Shulan finished cooking a dish, she brought it from the kitchen into the living room. She turned her head and saw Zhengguo playing with the baby in the room. The baby's eyes were red, and it was obvious that he had been crying.
She kept her gaze on him for a little too long, and Zhengguo felt a little guilty, not daring to look up at his breasts.
Qian Shulan pretended not to notice and asked Zhengguo with a smile, "Is your sister well behaved?"
Jungkook was stunned for a moment, then nodded, “Very good!”
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "You can take her to play here. I still need to cook a few more dishes."
Zhengguo picked up the palm-leaf fan and fanned the baby. When he heard his grandmother's words, he smiled and said "OK".
When grandma went back to the kitchen, Zhengguo's heart was relieved immediately. He kissed the baby's face and muttered, "Grandma didn't blame me." The big stone in his heart was finally put down.
I heard the little donkey running over and saying that the old lady was going to make everyone a delicious meal to celebrate.
Sun Daqin and Li Chunhua immediately ran back from the chicken farm.
Zhou Xuemei also brought the twins over here, and of course she did not forget to go to the school to inform Xiaotao to come over for dinner.
Finally, except for a few workers from the county town and Zhengkang and Xiaohe from the town, everyone else came.
As soon as everyone entered the yard, they smelled the delicious food.
Everybody was delighted.
Xiao Tao sniffed and said exaggeratedly, "I haven't smelled such a nice scent in a long time."
Xiaolian was in a similar situation. Her family's food supply was very tight, and it was not easy to provide for Xiaohe, a junior high school student. "Yes, this smells so good."
Sun Daqin went to the kitchen to help her mother-in-law light the fire. Seeing her mother-in-law preparing so many dishes, she was very happy. "Mom, are all these dishes sent by my brother-in-law?"
Qian Shulan shook her head and said, "No, I planted it myself behind the house."
Sun Daqin glanced at the celery and cucumbers in the basket. They were so juicy and tender that she was extremely envious.
Only my mother-in-law has a place to grow these vegetables. Their family is already worried about food. Fortunately, Zhengguo has graduated and will soon be a worker, so their family can relax a lot.
When the food was served, all the children who were playing with stones or sandbags in the yard came over.
Seeing their dirty hands, Qian Shulan hurriedly said, "Go wash your hands over there!"
So everyone ran over to wash their hands.
After washing, he quickly ran to the main room.
Qian Shulan let the baby sit in the stroller and took a small bowl to feed her steamed eggs. The seven-month-old baby can already eat complementary food.
Qian Shulan scooped out a small half from a large plate of steamed eggs and handed the rest to Zhou Xuemei, "This steamed egg is still tender, give it to the two babies. The older children can have scrambled eggs!"
The other children had no time to eat eggs. They either ate fried cicada monkeys or fried chicken with green beans.
As they kept chewing the food, the mother of the children could only remind them, "Slow down! Don't choke!"
Seeing the children eating so voraciously, Qian Shulan's eyelids twitched. It seemed that their food had really deteriorated a lot after the separation.
"Mom, your cooking is still the best." After Sun Daqin handed Zhengguo a chicken leg, she also picked up a piece of chicken for herself. Her mother-in-law's cooking skills were as good as ever.
Zhou Xuemei also followed suit. Seeing her two sons eating so happily, she felt extremely satisfied.
In order to save money, they would only cook eggs once every two months to improve the children's diet. They would not make egg custard like this because it was too wasteful of firewood.
Looking at the children wolfing down their food, Qian Shulan shook her head and sighed, "The children come to my place for lunch on the first Sunday of every month. I will improve their food. You adults don't have to come here. I don't have that much food."
Eating sweet potato pickles all the time would affect the children's development, right? However, she didn't plan to make it too sumptuous, at most one meat and three vegetables. If it was too sumptuous, it would make them suspicious.
Hearing this, the eyes of adults and children all lit up. Although adults couldn't come to eat, the children could at least have a good meal.
Qian Shulan added, "After dinner, you can share the vegetables I picked. Danzhi, you get some too! I don't grow many vegetables, so if there are any extra, I'll give them to you!"
The four of them were very happy. They only grew corn and sweet potatoes, and it was impossible for them to grow vegetables. The vegetables they ate at home were delivered by Fang Yonglin every ten days or half a month. Because they could only wait for him to deliver them when he was on his day off, sometimes they were wilted when they were delivered. But there was nothing they could do. It was impossible for him to neglect his work and deliver vegetables to them, right
They wanted to get it themselves, but who knew when they would get the food? And it was not convenient for them to walk there. The family's bicycle was ridden by Zhengkang. Although it belonged to the family, few people knew how to ride it except him.
Qian Shulan tilted her head and asked, "Chunhua, when will you and Lao San discuss building a house?"
Li Chunhua, who had been concentrating on eating, looked up at her mother-in-law and said, "Next month."
Qian Shulan nodded and said nothing more.
Sun Daqin and Zhou Xuemei both looked at Li Chunhua with envy.
They also want to build red brick and tile houses like their mother-in-law, and more than a dozen families in the village have already built such houses.
But they still owed money and couldn't build it at all.
After lunch, the school-going children continued to go to school for their afternoon classes.
Zhengguo and Xiaomaolu went back to take a nap. They would report to the factory next week, so they planned to go touch the cicada monkeys in the evening.
The three daughters-in-law and Wang Danzhi helped wash the dishes and set the table. Each of them walked out of the courtyard holding the vegetables that the mother-in-law had distributed to them.
Qian Shulan took the baby to the room for a nap.
She was holding a palm-leaf fan and humming a song, and the baby closed his eyes and gradually fell asleep.
After a while, Qian Shulan also lay on the bed with her head tilted.
After sleeping for more than an hour, the baby woke up.
Qian Shulan held the baby and taught her to speak. After about half an hour, Sun Daqin came running over in a hurry.
"Mom, I'm so sorry. I slept so soundly."
Qian Shulan looked at her and said, "Next time, set an alarm clock. Didn't I buy one for you?"
Sun Daqin touched her hair and smiled awkwardly, "I forgot."
Qian Shulan was too lazy to say anything more to her. After handing the baby to Sun Daqin, she went to the kitchen to start making soup.
After the soup was ready, Zhou Xuemei came over with her two children.
Seeing Zhou Xuemei also coming, Sun Daqin was a little puzzled.
Qian Shulan came out of the kitchen and said to Sun Daqin, "I asked her to come."
Qian Shulan brought the stewed bone soup and served a bowl to Sun Daqin.
It is definitely not possible to really treat everyone equally. She is the director of a chicken farm, and she has very little time to begin with, and taking care of a baby is already the limit.
If she takes care of two more children, she will become a mother, and she will not have time to think about how to reform them. So apart from being able to be fair and just on the surface, she is really not good at anything else.
Qian Shulan served two bowls of bone soup to the twins. "Give them to the two babies. Look at how skinny they are. You two can't mistreat your children just to save money."
Zhou Xuemei was helpless when she mentioned this. Food is still in short supply.
Although their team was given 360 kilograms of food, it was sweet potatoes, not fine grains.
Even adults can’t stand eating sweet potatoes every day, let alone children.
The children's appetite had been damaged, so this year they planted some corn in their private plots. After paying the public grain tax, they had several dozen kilograms left, which they ground into flour to feed the children.
But eating only these two things every day was not enough. So the three children in the family became less and less interested in eating.
She felt bad for being so thin, but what else could she do
Seeing her mother-in-law stew such delicious bone soup for them, and thinking back to when she was in confinement after childbirth, her mother-in-law also stewed bone soup for her, she suddenly had complicated feelings.
It's all her own fault. If she was as capable as her mother-in-law, her child wouldn't be so thin.
The two children ate with relish, and after finishing they looked at Qian Shulan.
Qian Shulan had already stewed the bones before. After putting them in the space, every time Sun Daqin came over, she would put them back into the pot and boil them for a while before adding some ingredients.
Qian Shulan took the meat out of the soup and put it into the bowls of the two children. "Watch them eat. Don't swallow even the bones."
Zhou Xuemei nodded immediately.
After dinner, Qian Shulan asked them to take the children away so that she could go to the chicken farm to take a look.
Seeing her mother-in-law walking so fast, Sun Daqin hugged her daughter and said to Zhou Xuemei, "Look at the old lady's walking speed, it's almost the same as that of a young girl."
When Zhou Xuemei mentioned this, her heart skipped a beat. When she was digging the ground before, she found that her strength had increased a lot.
In the past, carrying 300 kilograms of food was the limit for her, but now 500 kilograms is enough.
Thinking about the high-end supplements that my mother-in-law had asked my uncle to give her, I guessed that it must be the work of that thing.
I was thinking to myself whether I should learn how to grow vegetables in a greenhouse. After all, these vegetables can be sold for a lot of money in the winter and can also increase the family income.
She asked Sun Daqin to help her look after the twins, and she immediately went to her private plot to turn the soil.
Only if one is as capable as the mother-in-law, her children will not become beggars.
The author has something to say: The reason why Zhou Xuemei does not hate her mother-in-law is because her right and wrong value is 8 points, which is relatively high. She feels that the child is her responsibility, so it is natural for her mother-in-law to help take care of the child, but it is also understandable if she does not help.
By the way, my grandmother loved my little cousin very much and took care of her since she was young. When I was little, I envied her very much, but after growing up, I no longer felt that way at all.