Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

Li Jianguo brought Li Youcai back home. Zhang Xiuhua had already cooked the dishes. When she saw them come back, she invited them in to eat.

In the Northeast, people eat at the kang table, unlike in the South where people eat around a table.

Jidong, Baolin and Jilin stared at the kang in a daze, as if wondering how they were going to eat? Should they take off their shoes and get on it?

Seeing the three children standing on the side, looking at a loss, Li Jianguo asked Yaoyao and Youcai to sit on the kang, and the three children just sat on the side.

Zhang Xiuhua was not used to eating like this, so she discussed with Li Jianguo, "Is there a carpenter here? Let's make a table. Then the children can use the table to do their homework."

Li Youcai glanced at her and said, "In winter, it's warm to sit on the kang."

Zhang Xiuhua smiled at him and said, "It's OK in winter. But the weather is not too cold now, so why don't we eat at the table?"

Li Jianguo nodded. "Okay. I'll ask the old carpenter in the village to help make a table. We don't lack wood here, so I can just go to the forest and cut one. Next spring, you can take the children to plant two more trees."

The trees on the hill next to them were collectively owned. If anyone needed wood, they could apply to the team, but they had to replant after cutting it down.

"Can we use it right after we cut it?" Zhang Xiuhua remembered that the wood needed to be dried in the shade after it was cut. But the weather in the northeast would drop below zero soon, so it might be too late, right?

Li Jianguo smiled and said, "It's okay. He must have some ready-made wood at home. We can just exchange it with him."

Li Youcai and Li Yaoyao took off their shoes and went to the kang. The two children probably always liked to work, so when they took off their shoes, there was an unpleasant smell. Baolin's nose was particularly sensitive, and she sneezed several times immediately. She covered her nose and took two steps to the side.

Seeing Youcai and Yaoyao blushing with embarrassment, Zhang Xiuhua hurried to help them out, "Is the dish I cooked too spicy?" She was a little embarrassed, "I saw a few chili peppers in the vegetable garden, so I added two. I don't know if you can handle spicy food?"

Li Jianguo asked everyone to sit down and eat, and then he answered her question, "Yes, they can be eaten! It's cold in the Northeast, and chili peppers can warm the body. Every household will grow a few."

Jidong and Jilin sat on the edge of the kang, Baolin was arranged to sit next to Yaoyao. Zhang Xiuhua didn't want to take off her shoes, so she pulled a chair and sat down.

Zhang Xiuhua made two dishes: stir-fried green beans with chili peppers and stir-fried sweet potato stems. The staple food was white rice and chopped sweet potatoes cooked together.

Although there were only two dishes, the portions were large because Zhang Xiuhua discovered that the dishes were not served on plates but in enamel bowls. And they were 9.5 inches in size. In the south, such bowls are used for soup.

Seeing that the children did not move, Zhang Xiuhua picked up a chopstick for Yaoyao and Baolin first, and said, "Eat quickly!"

Li Yaoyao was a little flattered. She looked up at her, then quickly looked away.

Li Jianguo also picked up food for Jilin and Youcai who were sitting next to him.

Li Youcai tasted it proudly and his eyes immediately widened. He had a round face and his eyes widened like that, which looked quite funny.

Li Jianguo hadn't seen his son for a year, so he couldn't get enough of looking at him. Seeing that he liked it, he served him more. "If you like it, eat more. Your Aunt Zhang is a good cook. Be diligent in the future and she will cook for you."

Li Youcai didn't have time to agree because he found that others were scrambling for food.

Jidong and the others had never eaten fried beans before. Zhang Xiuhua, in particular, was very generous with the amount of oil she put in when cooking. It was clearly just a vegetarian dish, but it tasted like meat.

Li Jianguo saw the children competing in eating, so he ignored them and looked at Zhang Xiuhua, "Where did you get the seasoning?"

He just went to his eldest brother's house and they were not there.

Zhang Xiuhua explained that she brought all these seasonings from home. After all, they were bought with money, they would be useful in the future, and they didn't take up much space, so it would be a pity to give them away, so she took them all.

Li Jianguo nodded and said, "After the autumn harvest is over, I will go to the public marketing cooperative to buy some seasonings."

Zhang Xiuhua asked him if she could go to the fields to earn work points.

Only by earning work points could she get food. If she didn't earn work points, she was afraid that the amount of food distributed according to the population would not be enough.

Li Jianguo nodded. He moved his household registration here just to earn work points earlier. Especially during the autumn harvest, there were more work points.

Zhang Xiuhua looked at her three children and felt reluctant to let them go. "Can we stop them from working in the fields to earn work points?"

Li Jianguo laughed, "They don't have to work in the fields to earn work points. But they can go to the farm to pick beans."

Li Yaoyao's eyes lit up when she talked about this. "I can pick more than 100 kilograms of beans every year."

She looked at Zhang Xiuhua with a bit of shyness, but everyone could see the desire for praise in her eyes.

Zhang Xiuhua curled her lips and praised her, "Yaoyao is really amazing."

She picked up some food for Yaoyao and said, "Can you take Baolin and the other two to pick beans together?"

Li Yaoyao has never been taken seriously. When her mother was alive, she didn't like her and always called her a "money-loser". Her aunt had children at home and didn't care about her either. When she heard Zhang Xiuhua praising her, she blushed with shame, but she couldn't help but feel excited in her heart, "Okay! I'll take them!"

Li Jianguo looked at his eldest son, who was competing with Jidong in eating, and rubbed his head. "Yaoyao and the others are too young. You are the eldest brother. If you go with them, remember to watch them and don't get lost. OK?"

They live in the northernmost part of the Northeast, bordering Russia. The area is vast and sparsely populated, and the weather is cold. Generally, few human traffickers would go to such a far place to abduct children.

As long as the children don't go into the woods alone, the adults will let them run around.

Li Youcai didn't expect that he would have to go with them, and was shocked. "I want to earn work points."

Li Jianguo laughed, "No need. We are back, you can just take them to pick beans."

Li Youcai was certainly happy to do it. Harvesting beans and corn was hard work, and my back and waist would ache after a day's work. How much better would it be to pick beans? No matter how much I picked, it was my own. And no one was watching.

He was so excited that he wanted to eat two more bowls of rice, but when he looked up, Jidong had put down his chopsticks without him noticing. Did he give up so quickly? How boring.

Zhang Xiuhua saw through all of Li Youcai's little thoughts. This kid had a straightforward temper and was simple-minded. He was easy to tame.

She looked at Jidong, "Are you full? Do you want another bowl?"

Jidong had been hungry for many years before, but after he came back, his appetite became very big. However, no matter how big he was, he could not eat as much as Li Youcai did since he was a child, and he was full after eating only one bowl of rice. He thought Li Youcai was staring at him, wanting to compete with him to see who could eat first.

He put down his chopsticks first, indicating that he won, and that was enough.

Li Youcai rolled his eyes and only ate one bowl of rice. This amount of food was too small.

He happily ordered another bowl, so Jidong watched the ten-year-old Li Youcai eat three bowls of rice. He opened his mouth and was stunned for a long time. He wanted to share this with his aunt, but he was afraid that Li Youcai would think he disliked him for eating too much, so he held back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

The other children were also full. Baolin rubbed his stomach exaggeratedly, "I'm so full. I haven't had a full meal in a long time."

In Liushui County, Zhang Xiuhua would exchange the food she was given for money to buy some cloth to make clothes and shoes for her children so that they could have clothes to wear. If there was not enough food, they could only eat until they were 60% to 70% full.

Zhang Xiuhua rubbed her daughter's head and said, "Eat your fill. You have to pick more beans when you go to pick them later."

Baolin patted his chest and saluted, "I promise to complete the task!"

She imitated Li Jianguo, who saluted a police officer on the way here. Many passengers showed admiration. Baolin felt very proud and followed suit.

Zhang Xiuhua and Li Jianguo did not stop the children's interest. They prepared a urea bag for each of them. There were baskets at home, but the baskets were too heavy and it was tiring to carry them. Urea bags were not as good as them because they were light and not tiring to carry.

Several children ran out happily. The farm was a little far from here, and it would take half an hour to run. They had to go there early, otherwise they wouldn't be able to pick up much before dark.