Reborn in a small mountain village in 1991

Chapter 12 The Surprise from My Sister!

"Sister! Big sister!" The voice reached the ears of the people inside the house without the person even entering.

"Hey, hey, did you hear me? Stop shouting, it's for slaughtering pig feed."

The eldest sister put down her knife and spread out the chopped pig feed to prevent it from piling up overnight and turning sour by the next morning.

"Let me see how much we've harvested this afternoon?" The eldest sister came out, and the little radish heads stopped arguing and all looked at her with bright eyes.

"No, no, my sister saw it this morning, but I need to show it to my second brother this afternoon." Xu Yaomei hugged her eldest sister's leg and pushed her backward.

"Okay, okay, I won't look. I'll go get you some water to wash your faces and hands."

After saying that, the eldest sister picked up the basin under the eaves and went to the kitchen. She took a broken bowl, scooped some hot water from the thermos, added some cold water from the water vat, and touched the water temperature. It was neither too cold nor too hot, which was suitable for the child at this time.

Rural earthen stoves typically have two openings, one smaller, which is used for cooking and is the most frequently used stove.

The other one is larger, and often a big iron pot is placed on it. Families with many livestock will use it to cook pig feed, and occasionally they will also wash the pot clean to grind soybeans and make tofu.

In the middle of the stove, there would be a dusty earthenware jar, mostly buried in the firebox, with four or five centimeters of the jar's opening left above the stove. Often, for convenience, a broken bowl would be picked up and placed on top to prevent dust from settling in.

When cooking over a fire, you only need to add two ladles of water to the pot, and the flames and residual heat will slowly warm the water in the pot.

Once the meal is cooked and the firewood has gone out, the residual heat continues to heat the water. Even after half a day, the water is still slightly warm, making it very convenient for washing up and doing other things.

The older sister carried the water out and called to the children running around in the courtyard, "Come and wash your face and hands."

She wrung out the towel and handed it to them. The two children each took half and rubbed their faces together. As they rubbed, they secretly glanced at each other and grinned.

After washing their faces, they washed their hands with the same water. Several pairs of little hands were put into the basin together, each rubbing their own hands in turn, creating a lively scene.

When Xu Chunsheng returned, this was the scene he saw. He was puzzled as to why there were so many children in his house.

"Wash your hands? Count me in, want some?" Xu Chunsheng teased the group of children.

Upon hearing his voice, a group of children turned to look at him in unison.

The bolder ones would shout out, "Little sister, brother is back!"

Even the timid ones sniffed and stared intently at Xu Chunsheng.

Feeling a little awkward being stared at by so many little girls, Xu Chunsheng quickly looked down at himself and found nothing wrong.

"Second brother, second brother."

Xu Yaomei darted out from among the radish heads, not caring that her hands were still wet, and grabbed her brother's clothes, trying to climb onto Xu Chunsheng. Xu Chunsheng quickly bent down and picked her up, leaving two wet handprints on his own clothes.

"Little sister is harvesting Ophiopogon japonicus today too!"

Xu Yaomei whispered in her brother's ear.

"Um?"

Xu Chunsheng was puzzled and confused.

"Put me down, put me down."

Seeing that Xu Chunsheng didn't understand, Xu Yaomei struggled to get down from the ground.

Xu Yaomei pulled Xu Chunsheng to a corner next to the thatched hut, pointing to small piles of Ophiopogon japonicus on the ground, saying, "This is Xiaojun's, this is Xiaomei's, this is Xiao Erge's..."

Fortunately, Xu Yaomei has a good memory. There are so many children, and not many can remember who is who, and she doesn't make any mistakes.

There were seven or eight piles of Ophiopogon japonicus neatly arranged there. When Xu Chunsheng returned, he was busy sorting medicinal herbs and returning the donkey, and he didn't even notice that there were seven or eight clumps of Ophiopogon japonicus there.

You can tell from the ophiopogon japonicus roots that each one has been washed, although there are still a couple that have some mud on them. Overall, they look quite clean and in good condition.

"These are all the ones we dug up today, aren't they amazing!"

Xu Yaomei tilted her head back, pouted, and raised her chin, looking incredibly stylish. "Brother, hurry up and get the scales! We're going to have a competition to see who can dig up the most!"

After saying that, Xu Yaomei called out to the friends who had been watching this corner, "Line up! Line up! If you don't line up, we won't be taking your Ophiopogon japonicus tomorrow."

Seeing his younger sister standing with her hands on her hips, Xu Chunsheng turned around and went into the house to get the small scale, feeling both amused and exasperated.

When Xu Chunsheng came out, he saw these children holding up their clothes with one hand and using the other hand to scoop up the ophiopogon japonicus cut from the ground onto their clothes.

Those who were quick had already picked up their clothes and were holding them tightly while waiting for Xu Chunsheng to weigh them.

Those who are slow are still picking them up little by little. They often move the food around, and as soon as they put some Ophiopogon japonicus on one side, it falls out on the other side.

"Come on, come on, first one over here. Oh my, two ounces and eight mace, here's three cents and seven fen for you, right?" Xu Chunsheng said to the little boy who was first in line.

The little boy nodded repeatedly, thinking Xu Chunsheng was amazing for being able to calculate the amount of money so quickly, whether it was right or wrong was not his concern.

"Xiao Mei costs three taels and two mace, and forty-one cents."

"Xiao Jun, three taels and five mace, four jiao and six fen."

……

Just like a waiter, Xu Chunsheng would shout out every time he weighed a child, making the children laugh.

During the weighing process, you could hear adults calling their children home, mixed in with Xu Chunsheng's shouts.

After all the children had their Ophiopogon japonicus weighed and received their money, a few of them gathered outside the courtyard and whispered among themselves, secretly giving Xu Yaomei some things.

Xu Chunsheng sat in the chair and said, "Take good care of your money, don't drop it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the children ran off in a swarm.

Xu Chunsheng hurriedly shouted, "Slow down! Slow down!"

"Am I that scary? You ran away after saying just one sentence?"

Xu Chunsheng spoke to his parents, who were also resting nearby.

It turned out that while Xu Chunsheng was busy collecting the small vendors' Ophiopogon japonicus, his parents had already returned from the fields. Seeing this scene, they didn't disturb him and just sat under the persimmon tree to watch.

When Xu's mother saw Xu Yaomei skipping back, she said to her, "Yaomei, where's yours? Come here quickly and let your second brother weigh it for you, so we can see what our Yaomei has to show for herself today."

"I found it myself, so it's free."

The youngest sister imitated her father, turned her back, raised her hand and waved it by her ear, "And I made money today too. I led them to dig for Ophiopogon japonicus, and each of them gave me two cents."

After saying that, she took out the things that the little guys had given her earlier from her pocket. There were more than a dozen coins, and she couldn't hold them all in one hand. Even without looking at the face value, the quantity was quite impressive. Goodness, she's so young and already playing the "lottery game".

"Wow, little sister has so much money!"

The eldest sister came out of the house carrying a pot of water, placed it on the wall, and said to Xu Yaomei.

"That's right, I didn't accept any from the younger brother either. He's family, so I didn't say a word."

The younger sister put the coin back into her pocket and patted it.

She made the whole family laugh, and their fatigue from the day was dispelled.

A little while later, the eldest sister called from inside the house, "Come and eat!"

Just as the family sat down at the table, a shout came from outside: "Xu Hongjun, Xu Hongjun, have you eaten?"

Before the Xu family could respond, a couple in their forties or fifties walked straight into the house—You Xiaoxia's parents.

Seeing them made Xu Chunsheng feel physically uncomfortable, as if the work he was supposed to do for free in his past life had fallen into his hands again.

"Oh dear, we've come at a really bad time. You haven't eaten yet?"

After the woman finished speaking, she grabbed Xu Yaomei by the waist and lifted her down from the high stool. "Little girl, why are you sitting on the table? Go play over there and let your uncle and aunt sit down and rest."

Xu Yaomei was a little frightened when she was suddenly put on the ground, and looked at her mother with red eyes.

"Little sister, come here, Mommy will hug you."

Tao Hong waved to Xu Yaomei.

"It's Brother You, have you eaten yet?"

Xu Hongjun was a little unhappy that they had frightened Xu Yaomei, but out of politeness, he still said, "Eldest son, go and get two pairs of bowls and chopsticks from your Uncle You and Aunt You."

Snapped!

Suddenly, Mr. You slammed his hand on the table, his face contorted with rage: "You still have the appetite to eat? If you don't make this clear today, none of you are eating!"

"Brother You, let's talk this out. Don't scare the child." Xu Hongjun frowned.

Xu Yaomei, who was standing nearby, was so frightened by the noise that she buried herself in her mother's arms.

"How am I supposed to explain this properly?"

Mr. You continued to slam his fist on the table, making a deafening noise as he struck the porcelain bowl on it.

"We're here to ask the Xu family one question!"

"Does Xu Chunsheng even want to marry our Xiaoxia?"

"If you want to marry her, hurry up and gather the dowry money, and make a good impression!"

"Help us with the work in the fields, don't think you're someone special!"

"If you don't want to marry, then you should make this clear now and call off the engagement!"