Early in the morning, around five o’clock, this is when the weather is coolest.
Xiao Yuan got up, went to the yard to take a look, and the clothes that were sunning were already dry.
He quickly put on clothes and went to gather firewood.
By this ti, most of the Xiao Family had also woken up.
Xiao Qun went to the fields for a walk, He Fangfang was busy cooking.
Xiao Hei went to rake hay, and Xiao Li went to collect dung, anyway, no one was idle.
Xiao Yuan collected the firewood and piled it outside the yard, and when he entered the house, He Fangfang had breakfast ready.
Breakfast was also thin porridge with so pickles and flat cakes.
Xiao Yuan ate a cake, drank so watery porridge that you could almost see your reflection in, and felt an even stronger urge to improve the living conditions quickly.
Xiao Hei got up to serve porridge, He Fangfang said to Xiao Qun, "The other day, a sister-in-law in our village said she wanted to introduce a wife to Heizi."
Hearing this, Xiao Qun couldn’t even keep eating, "Really? Then gather so eggs to send over, let them have a good look at Heizi for us."
Xiao Hei happened to co over with porridge, and He Fangfang asked him, "Your aunt said there’s soone for you to et for marriage, what do you think?"
Xiao Hei took a sip of porridge with his head down, "What can I say? With our family’s condition, as long as the girl doesn’t mind, it’s fine."
Isn’t that the truth? With the Xiao Family’s conditions, they are among the poorest in Yangjiazhuang, with so many siblings at ho, just getting a room would an going into debt to build a house, the eldest’s wife has to take care of the younger siblings and two elderly, who would want to marry into a family like this?
Xiao Hei is already twenty-three or twenty-four, and there’s still no talk of marriage for him, isn’t it just because the family is poor and the reputation is bad.
To be honest, Xiao Qun is okay, but his grandfather and father didn’t do well, so their bad reputation also affects him, making his seven children seem shorter than others when they go out.
"If you’re willing, I’ll ntion it to your aunt another day to have her introduce soone to you, but let’s be clear, the girl has a slight issue, your aunt said she looks pretty, just that she’s mute."
He Fangfang laughed and told Xiao Hei, "But she wasn’t born mute, it was illness when she was young, it doesn’t affect having kids."
Xiao Hei didn’t look too happy, but he knew his family’s situation, so he nodded and agreed, "Okay, ask my aunt to put so effort into it."
He Fangfang laughed upon hearing that, "Another day, let your aunt take you to et her, my son is so handso, that girl will definitely be interested, if it works out, we’ll hold the wedding in the fall, once you’re married, the second son can start looking too. By the way, your aunt also ntioned a girl from town for the second son, she used to be an official worker in so factory, had an accident where her hand got caught in a machine, they managed to save it, but she lost a hand, but she has a disability compensation from the factory, can support herself, the girl doesn’t ask for much in a partner, just looks, and the second son is the best looking in the family..."
Xiao Yuan couldn’t listen anymore.
As He Fangfang was speaking, he slamd his chopsticks on the table, "Mom, don’t worry about my marriage, just rember for my brother and sister, I can find my own wife."
"What?"
He Fangfang widened her eyes, "You can find your own? What nonsense are you talking about, second son? Everyone within dozens of miles knows about our family ... those with no issues and good looks, would they be willing to be with you?"
Xiao Yuan stood up, "Anyway, don’t worry about my affairs, I have it under control."
He took his shepherd whip and walked out, "Don’t agree to introduce anyone for , if you agree, I won’t be happy, I’m going to herd the sheep."
"This child."
He Fangfang felt suffocated and muttered, "You have aspirations, but they are too high for our family’s conditions, you’ll end up delaying yourself, fine, I won’t interfere, won’t that do?"
Xiao Qun gave He Fangfang a glance, "Don’t worry about the second son’s affairs, as handso as he is, with a little tidying up, he’s better looking than those stars on TV, maybe he can charm a wife on his own."
He Fangfang glared at Xiao Qun, "Got it, got it, are you going to say again that the second son looks like your grandfather, who also had a good face, or else..."
What follows is not suitable to say in front of a table full of children, so He Fangfang stopped talking automatically.
Yang Family
Yang Erchou got up early and went to the town’s morning market to buy a few pounds of ribs, Li Cuixia had been up early making breakfast.
Anning got up, read for a while, and recited so English. Hearing Li Cuixia cooking, she called outside, "Mom, boil a few eggs for to eat in the morning when I am hungry."
"Got it."
Li Cuixia responded from the kitchen, "If you’re hungry, eat so cake first. With this weather, the cake won’t keep, better eat it early."
"Okay."
Anning put down the book and went to the cupboard to get a few pieces of cake.
She didn’t eat them, but wrapped them in wax paper and put them in her drawer.
By the ti Li Cuixia finished cooking, Yang Erchou was back with the at.
He gave the ribs to Li Cuixia, "Stew them later, we’ll eat ribs for lunch."
In the morning, Li Cuixia cooked noodles and made so pickles, also mixed so cucumber salad.
Anning served herself a bowl of noodles, and while Yang Erchou was eating, he said to Anning, "Your sister said she’d send so donkey-hide gelatin over, should arrive in a few days, she wants you to eat so dates or sothing first, we do have dates at ho, so after eating, take a handful and eat them, and after that, have a few every day."
"I know."
Anning replied, "After I finish eating, I’ll go for a walk to exercise while it’s still cool."
"You should indeed exercise more."
Yang Erchou nodded, "You can’t always be sitting reading, after reading you should go out for a walk while it’s cool, when it gets hot, we can read at ho."
Anning obediently agreed.
After eating, Yang Erchou needed to go to the factory at the village head, and Li Cuixia had to go there to work too.
Anning asked them to go ahead, as she would clean up the dishes and the kitchen.
Once they had left, Anning quickly tidied up the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, stuffed a few boiled eggs in her bag, and, looking at the pork ribs that had water but were not yet stewed, took so with a plastic bag.
She went back to her room, packed the shoes she made last night, so cakes, eggs, and pork ribs, thought for a mont, and then found a clean glass jar to fill with so milk powder.
After getting everything ready, Anning shouldered the small floral-patterned bag that Yang Anzhen made for her and went out.
Xiao Yuan was herding sheep under the hill.
The place had plenty of grass and was not easily accessible, so people rarely ca by.
When Anning found him, he was sitting on a large rock watching the sheep graze.
Anning walked over and imdiately saw Xiao Yuan’s shoes barely hanging on his feet, with his skin broken in many places due to poor shoes.
Seeing those scarred feet, Anning felt genuinely uncomfortable.
"Change into the shoes."
Anning took a pair of shoes out of her bag and handed them to Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan looked up and smiled, "My wife really cares about ."
"Stop blabbering, quickly change."
Anning handed over the shoes.
Xiao Yuan took them, didn’t change imdiately, but looked around, found a small puddle, took off his worn shoes, washed his feet and dried them before putting on the new shoes.
"These shoes are nice, so comfortable to wear."
Xiao Yuan stood up and walked around, finding that these shoes fit particularly well and were very comfortable for walking.
Anning handed him an egg, "Hurry and eat."
Xiao Yuan, not hesitating, took the egg, peeled it, and ate it. As he ate, Anning picked up his water bottle, unscrewed it, waited until Xiao Yuan had eaten half of the egg, and handed the bottle to him to drink.
After the egg, Anning continued to feed him, giving him two pieces of cake, and handed over the ribs, "Take these, you can roast them yourself outside or cook them at ho, also here’s milk powder, hide it well, and make so to drink every morning."
Even then, Anning was not fully relieved until she took out the money from her pocket and handed it to Xiao Yuan, "Take so ti to go to town, buy yourself so decent clothes."
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