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

After breakfast, Aunt Wang came to find Zhang Xiuhua. She was going to buy piglets and wanted Zhang Xiuhua to help look after the chicken farm.

Zhang Xiuhua was just about to say this, "My sister-in-law came over last night and asked me to buy one for her. We'll be back in a while, and let the two children help take care of it, they won't leave!"

Aunt Wang hesitated, "Is it possible?"

"It's okay. My Jilin doesn't like to go out!" Zhang Xiuhua told her not to worry.

She turned around and told the two children to stay at home and watch over the chicken farm. "We'll be back in two hours. You can go out again after we come back, okay?"

Jilin and Zhuzhu nodded in agreement. They hadn't finished their homework yet.

Zhang Xiuhua and Aunt Wang pushed a cart to the next village to pick up piglets.

Aunt Wang was a little confused. "Your sister-in-law goes out to sell vegetables every day. How can she have time to feed the pigs?"

"It seems that she gets up early to cook the pig food and asks her mother-in-law to help feed the pigs at noon. She comes back in the evening to feed them again." Zhang Xiuhua guessed it herself. After all, her mother-in-law is the only one at home.

Aunt Wang sighed, "Your sister-in-law works so hard. Look at her getting up early every day and she's still so energetic."

"Three children are going to school. High school tuition is so expensive, and they have to eat well and pay for tutoring." Zhang Xiuhua sighed, "This is just the beginning. Her two sons will need money to get married and buy houses in the future!"

Aunt Wang nodded. "We as parents are happy that our child is successful, but the pressure is also increased. If he doesn't get into college, he can get married in the village, which means building a tiled house for a few hundred yuan. To buy a house in a big city, it would cost at least ten times more."

Zhang Xiuhua also agreed that unless the children returned to their hometown to work hard, how could they be willing to come back after seeing the prosperity of big cities? There were not so many jobs for them to choose from in their hometown.

"Your sister-in-law is relatively okay. You have six children. Even if your daughters don't need to buy a house, they still have to prepare dowries. You also have three sons! Your pressure is twice as much as your sister-in-law's!" Aunt Wang sighed, "Does Jianguo earn enough money to spend?"

"He's currently making 102 yuan." Zhang Xiuhua had nothing to hide, because this amount of money was not enough for their family.

Aunt Wang smacked her lips and said, "It's enough for our small place. We'll have to think of a way in the future."

Zhang Xiuhua found it a little funny to hear her worrying about herself, "Don't worry, raising chickens can make money, right?"

Aunt Wang also laughed, "Yes! Fortunately, the chicken farm can make money. Otherwise, I would be miserable. When will it end?"

The two left, and Zhuzhu and Jilin were doing their homework on the other side.

At first, they could sit still, but without adults to supervise them, their initiative was much worse. They went to get water and snacks.

Just when Zhuzhu was thinking about picking some wild fruits on the mountain, a stranger came outside.

He rode his bicycle outside and shouted, "Grape seedlings! Who wants to buy grape seedlings?"

When Jilin heard about grapes, his eyes lit up. Since he came to Northeast China, he had never eaten grapes, only raisins. But he always missed the taste of fresh grapes. If he planted a grape at home, he could eat fresh grapes in the future.

He immediately stopped the vendor and asked, "Can grapes be grown here? No one in our village grows them."

"Of course you can," the vendor said as a matter of course, "My family has been growing grapes for more than ten years."

Jilin was a little worried. "But it's very cold here in winter. Won't the grape seedlings freeze to death?"

The vendor laughed and said, "What you say is very interesting. Winter in Xinjiang is similar to ours. There are many more grapes grown there than here."

This is true, Xinjiang raisins are famous throughout China.

Jilin no longer hesitated, "How much is a grape seedling?"

"One dollar and fifty cents." The vendor pushed his bicycle back and opened the basket at the back, revealing pieces of seedlings.

The seedling only showed a few small teeth, and the leaves had not yet fully grown. Ji Lin bargained with the other party, "One dollar!"

The vendor refused to give in. "Look at how thick our seedlings are and how vigorously the leaves are growing. In summer, the vines will cover the entire yard and produce many bunches of grapes. You can sit under the grape trellis and eat them right away."

Jilin and Zhuzhu were drooling at what he said, and he stopped bargaining, "Okay then. I want one."

He paid the money, picked out the one with the thickest roots, and asked Zhuzhu to use a shovel to dig a hole and bury it.

The two of them directly chose the place closest to the rack so that it would be convenient to extend the vines in the future.

After planting the grape seedlings, Zhuzhu asked Jilin, "You paid for the seedlings. Do you still have to pay for them as the head of the family?"

Jilin scratched his head, "But mom is not at home. I can only buy it with my own money. I'll ask her for it when she comes back!"

Zhuzhu hesitated, "But mom only gave us one dollar and fifty cents for living expenses."

"Buying grape seedlings is not considered living expenses. It's an investment!" Jilin crossed his arms, "Unless you don't want to eat them!"

Zhuzhu shook her head decisively. Of course she wanted to eat it! "I'm worried that my mother won't agree."

"Don't worry. Mom will definitely agree!" Jilin has confidence in his mother, "I can definitely convince her. You can see that we have four fruit trees at home and you know she likes fruit, too."

Zhuzhu was successfully persuaded by him.

After looking at the time, Zhuzhu urged Jilin to make the sweet and sour pork quickly. This dish is time-consuming and needs to be prepared in advance.

Jilin took the recipe Youcai wrote and started to follow it.

When he finished cooking this dish, Zhang Xiuhua finally came back. The piglets had been sent to her sister-in-law's house. Her hands were a little dirty. After washing her hands, she saw Jilin carrying the dishes out and immediately smiled, "It seems that I am lucky. I will have food to eat when I go home."

Jilin put the dishes on the table. He was not in a hurry to eat them. He took his mother's hand first and said, "Mom, I just bought a grape seedling. In the summer, the grape vine will extend outward and grow bunches of grapes. We can build a rack. Bunches of grapes will emerge from under the rack. How pleasing! Isn't it?"

The scene he described made everyone happy. Zhang Xiuhua patted him on the shoulder and said, "That's a good idea! Why didn't I think of growing grapes here before?"

Ji Lin was praised and smiled proudly at Zhu Zhu, "Mom, will you reimburse me?"

Zhang Xiuhua nodded, "Okay! This is not considered living expenses. Since it is an investment, I agree. But if you want to buy something for the house, you must get my consent. If you buy it without asking me, you may not get the money."

Zhuzhu and Jilin nodded.

Zhang Xiuhua squatted down and looked for a long time, "Where are the grapes?"

Jilin thought that there were too many weeds around and his mother didn’t see it, so he stretched his finger forward and pointed his finger at the small sprout that had emerged, “Here!”

Zhang Xiuhua looked at him in surprise, "This isn't a grape seedling!"

Zhuzhu and Jilin were stunned and said in unison, "How is that possible! That man said his family has been growing grapes for more than ten years."

Zhang Xiuhua rolled her eyes. "Do you want to believe him, a stranger, or me? Although I have never grown grapes, I have seen them. These are not grape leaves at all."

Ji Lin: “…”

Jilin still believed his mother and ran out immediately, trying to catch up with the vendor, but he had already left.

He returned home in a daze.