After Ye Qingyun finished settling the matter,
the twins pointed excitedly at the brimming basket.
“Mom, is that something tasty?”
Ye Qingyun rubbed their little heads.
“You two really have sharp eyes.”
She took out the fried glutinous rice sticks and gave each child a small handful, then hid the rest on top of the cupboard.
Children had no concept of moderation.
The moment they craved a snack, they wanted to eat until they were completely satisfied.
If she didn’t hide them well, the two pounds of rice sticks would disappear in a single day.
She had learned that lesson the hard way.
Snacks could never be left where children could easily reach them.
The four children were overjoyed to have the treats.
The last time they had eaten fried glutinous rice sticks was when they were visiting their maternal grandmother in the city.
Mother Fu survived on a meager salary and couldn’t bear to spend money so freely.
Buying a little for New Year’s or a holiday was already considered a luxury.
Whenever Fu Min got something nice, she immediately wanted to go outside and show it off while sharing it with the village children.
Here, as a girl from the city, she was quite popular.
The village children all liked gathering around her.
The other three had never been to the production team’s gathering place before and wanted to go too.
Ye Qingyun happened to be planning a visit to her elder brother and sister-in-law’s house.
She placed the pig’s tail from the basket into a bowl, wrapped a generous handful of the rice sticks in newspaper, locked the door, and headed out with all four children.
As soon as Wang Tiezhu returned to the village, he went to see Liu Amei, carrying half a jin of baijiu along with the piece of polyester-cotton fabric Ye Qingyun had bought for him.
Ye Qingyun didn’t know how to make clothes.
The original owner knew a little, but there wasn’t even a sewing machine in the house.
Expecting her to sew everything by hand from memory was simply unrealistic.
Besides, she didn’t have the time.
Taking care of four children’s every need already kept her spinning like a top.
Though Wang Tiezhu said nothing, he took it to heart and quietly went to visit his sweetheart.
The mother and her four children arrived at the production team’s gathering area.
This time of year wasn’t especially busy.
Children who didn’t attend school and weren’t needed to help the adults all gathered here to play.
The moment Fu Min arrived, several children immediately came over to invite her to join them.
She proudly tilted her chin toward the twins and her little brother.
“Come on.”
Xinyu and Xinyang were still shy and clung to their mother, not daring to go.
Fu Xiangdong, on the other hand, was thrilled.
He loved playing with the older boys.
Letting go of his mother’s clothes, he ran over on his short little legs.
Seeing this, Fu Min grinned and followed after him.
Left with no choice, Ye Qingyun held the twins’ hands and knocked on her elder brother’s door.
Wu Younian had already led the team out to the fields.
His wife, He Chunfang, was at home weaving a straw rain cape.
The rainy season was approaching.
Last year’s cape had been chewed full of holes by rats, so she was taking advantage of the free time to repair it before it became necessary.
“Second Sister?”
Recognizing Ye Qingyun, He Chunfang hurriedly put down her work, stood up, and brought over a stool for her to sit on.
“Weren’t you going to town? You’re back already?”
She was about to make some brown sugar water for the twins when Ye Qingyun stopped her.
Patting the girls gently, she signaled for them to greet their aunt.
“Auntie.”
Xinyu and Xinyang called timidly.
The two little girls were fair and adorable, with soft, sweet voices that instantly melted He Chunfang’s heart.
Afraid of frightening the shy children, she simply smiled gently and nodded.
Ye Qingyun handed over the wrapped rice sticks and the bowl containing the pig’s tail.
“Sister-in-law, I bought these at the supply cooperative while I was there.”
“You and Big Brother have taken such good care of us lately.”
“This is just a small token of my appreciation. Please don’t refuse.”
He Chunfang was pleasantly surprised, though also a little embarrassed.
“H-How can I accept this…”
She had never expected this younger sister from the city to deliberately buy meat as a gift to thank them.
Thinking back to the old Wu Ermei…
Whenever she had something good, she hid it away, afraid her brothers might ask for a share.
He Chunfang sighed inwardly.
Blood really was thicker than water.
Ye Qingyun disliked the endless back-and-forth of polite refusals.
Although He Chunfang hadn’t spent much time with her, she had already realized Ye Qingyun was a straightforward person.
Seeing the sincerity on her face, she accepted the gifts with a smile and insisted that Ye Qingyun stay for dinner that evening.
Ye Qingyun shook her head.
“It’s only a pig’s tail.”
“Your family doesn’t even have enough to fill your own stomachs.”
“I still have food at home, so I won’t come mooching off yours.”
He Chunfang had never expected her to be so blunt and was left speechless.
“Then… next time?”
Ye Qingyun smiled.
“Sure.”
“You can get back to your work, Sister-in-law. I’ll be going now.”
She gestured for her not to see them out and left with the twins, heading back to the gathering place.
Watching their older sister and little brother having so much fun, the twins began itching to join them.
Ye Qingyun encouraged them.
“If you want to go, then go.”
Xinyang looked at her older twin sister.
Xinyu wore a serious little expression and thought for a full three seconds, as though making an extremely important decision.
Finally, she nodded firmly.
Xinyang broke into a delighted smile.
After glancing back at her mother, she grabbed her sister’s hand and happily joined the older girls.
Ye Qingyun looked up at the sky.
There was no clock in the house, nor did she own a watch.
She estimated the time solely by the position of the sun.
It was only around three in the afternoon.
Still early.
She wondered how the two young educated youths assigned to gather pig fodder were doing and decided to check on them at the pig farm.
Just as she was worrying about who would watch the children, Wang Tiezhu sauntered over.
The village children immediately tried to avoid him.
Fu Min quickly stopped them.
“Grandpa Wang is here!”
“He knows magic! He can turn into a bird!”
With a dramatic wave of her little hand, she declared,
“Come on! Let’s have him turn into a bird for us!”
The children were skeptical.
But their curiosity won out, and they all followed.
Wang Tiezhu had originally come looking for Ye Qingyun so she could go home and cook braised pork for him.
Instead, he found himself instantly surrounded by a crowd of children.
Standing outside the crowd, Ye Qingyun discreetly made a hand signal to her master, reminding him to bring all the children home later.
Wang Tiezhu thought indignantly,
If you’re not going home to cook my braised pork, where exactly are you planning to run off to?
“I’m going to check on those two young educated youths at the pig farm,” Ye Qingyun said.
Before he could reply, she had already strode away.
Wang Tiezhu froze.
Then he exploded.
“Hey!”
“You’re on leave today!”
“Do you even know what taking leave means?”
This was making him look incredibly lazy!
Ye Qingyun raised an eyebrow.
Do you really need any help looking lazy?
Didn’t you already earn the title of the laziest man in the entire production brigade?
Wang Tiezhu was speechless.
The fifty-year-old man flew into a rage.
Pulling off one of his shoes, he hurled it at her.
“You little brat!”
“I’m going to beat you up today!”
The shoe went flying.
It missed completely.
Ye Qingyun merely shrugged.
“Fu Min.”
“Pick up Grandpa Wang’s shoe for him.”
After reminding the children not to play too wildly, she completely ignored Wang Tiezhu’s stream of grumbling and quickly headed toward the pig farm.
The so-called pig farm was nothing more than a crude livestock shed housing three pigs.
Beside the pigsty stood an earthen stove with two large cauldrons.
It took two full pots of pig feed just to satisfy the three pigs for a single meal.
“Sister-in-law Chunhua?”
Ye Qingyun called toward the pigsty.
No one answered.
Chunhua was responsible for cooking the pig feed and cleaning the pigsty.
She usually arrived a little later and was probably still at home.
The large basket used for carrying pig fodder beside the stove was already empty.
The two young educated youths were nowhere to be seen.
Most likely, they had already gone to the hillside to cut clover.
Ye Qingyun glanced at the three lazy pigs sleeping soundly in the pen.
There didn’t seem to be anything for her to do here.
Just as she was about to head home—
Mo Qiuyu and Qi Xue returned, looking thoroughly bedraggled.