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

After they left, the villagers began to busy themselves with farming.

This year, many more families are planting vegetables than in previous years. Without enough money to build greenhouses, they choose to plant radishes and vegetables, which can be sold anyway.

Li Jianguo is still growing oyster mushrooms. Although some people may follow suit this year, the cost of greenhouses is high, so there won't be many people who follow suit, and he can still make money this year.

As for the eldest brother's family, since Xu Chunying is going to the south to take care of her grandson and daughter-in-law, they don't plan to grow strawberries and instead grow oyster mushrooms.

When Zhang Xiuhua returned home, Xu Chunying asked Zhang Xiuhua while growing mushrooms, "Your daughter-in-law is also pregnant. When will she give birth?"

"August. Four months later than Hongwu's family." Zhang Xiuhua said with a smile.

"When will you go to take care of him?" Xu Chunying asked curiously.

"I have a job and can't take care of her, so I asked her to find a nanny locally." Zhang Xiuhua said with a smile.

Xu Chunying was a little surprised when she heard this. "A local person as a nanny? That would cost a lot of money, right? Can't you go and take care of her? Are you obsessed with money? If you don't take care of her, won't Youcai be angry?"

Zhang Xiuhua knew that she loved her children very much, so she didn't say much. "I can't lose my job. Besides, the young couple can handle it, and my in-laws can help. I don't have to worry about it."

Xu Chunying sighed, "It's good to have talent, finding an only child. My daughter-in-law's parents-in-law didn't even offer any help."

Zhang Xiuhua smiled and said, "Each has its own merits."

Although Xu Chunying openly expressed her envy of Zhang Xiuhua, she whispered to her husband in private that she felt that Zhang Xiuhua was a little confused. "If they are not biological children, then they are not biological children. Xiuhua did not take care of her grandson because of work. But Jianguo still spoiled her."

When Li Jiandang learned the reason, he also felt that Zhang Xiuhua had gone too far. "She would rather let my second brother lose his stable job than help take care of our mother. This woman is so cruel."

He felt that Zhang Xiuhua was very selfish, but as the eldest uncle, it was not easy for him to interfere in his second brother's family affairs, so he could only keep his dissatisfaction to himself.

Xu Chunying muttered, "I want to see if she will take care of Jilin's wife when he gets married?"

Zhang Xiuhua's only biological son is Jilin. If she can treat them equally, she will have nothing to say. If she only takes care of Jilin's wife and not Youcai's wife, it is obvious that she does not regard Youcai as her own son.

Li Jiandang felt that it was too early to do this. "Let's not take care of her. If she gets sick in the future, do you think Youcai's wife will take care of her?! Big cities are stressful now, and Youcai is in the capital, and the pressure is no less than Hongwu's. If we, the elderly, don't lend a hand and rely on them alone, when will they be able to get promoted? They will definitely blame us in the future."

When children are working outside, the elderly have to help them. Otherwise, it will be difficult to settle down in a foreign land if they rely on the younger generation alone. Every family has gone through this. How can they expect to live comfortably?

Xu Chunying reminded her, "Hongwu is a public office. It's different if you have talent. Talent is a chef."

"That's even harder." Li Jiandang felt that his income from working was unstable, so he had to earn more. Working for the state, at least the state would not fire him.

"Do you want to remind your second brother?" Xu Chunying asked tentatively.

Li Jiandang shook his head, "Forget it. Last time my second brother resigned, the whole village was talking about us behind our backs. If we mess up Xiuhua's job this time, we will definitely be criticized. Whether she lives a good or bad life in the future is up to her. We won't get involved."

He was too embarrassed to mention it to his wife. He had talked to his second brother before, but he didn't listen. Instead, he thought that he had problems managing his children and couldn't spoil them in everything. Look at what he said. If he didn't spoil his own child, would he spoil other children?

Xu Chunying sighed, "I just think she is too confused, and I can't help but want to give her some advice."

"You've already reminded her. Whether it's good or bad, she has to bear the consequences herself. It's enough for us to have a clear conscience." Li Jiandang asked her if she had packed her things.

"I've packed everything." Xu Chunying was a little nervous. "I'm going to the south. I'm unfamiliar with the place and I don't speak the language. What should I do?"

"What's there to be nervous about? You don't have to work, you're just going there to buy groceries and cook. You're going to spend money, so why would those vegetable sellers look at you in a disapproving way?" Li Jiandang felt that his wife was being a little overly worrisome.

The couple was chatting animatedly, and Zhang Xiuhua and Li Jianguo were also talking about them.

"My sister-in-law even advised me to go and take care of Zhenzhen." The whole village has this atmosphere. As long as the elderly can still move, they have to support the next generation. So Zhang Xiuhua didn't waste any time to persuade her sister-in-law not to go.

Li Jianguo was thinking about this. "Have you found the confinement nanny that Zhenzhen is looking for?"

"She found it. This time when I went there, she found it." Zhang Xiuhua smiled, "I've seen her too. She's a nice person, very considerate and caring, and very good at coaxing children. She used to be a confinement nanny for someone else's family. A regular customer of the store introduced her to her. I heard that good nannies are hard to come by, and you have to find someone you know to introduce you."

Li Jianguo suddenly realized, "That's good. If they are short of money, we can give them some more support. We can't let others find fault with us."

Zhang Xiuhua smiled, "Don't worry, I've already given the money to Zhenzhen. This child is very good."

Li Jianguo thought of something else, "Have you chosen a name for the child?"

Zhang Xiuhua slapped her forehead and said, "I forgot about this. Zhenzhen told us to pick nicknames and they would pick full names."

Li Jianguo was really stumped. Youcai was named by his mother, and Yaoyao and Zhuzhu were named by him. He liked the names of double-character names more. "How about we give them another name with double-character names?"

Zhang Xiuhua thought it was okay, and a nickname with a double character would be more intimate. "What's your name?"

"The boy's name is Tiantian? The girl's name is Lele?" Li Jianguo blurted out.

Zhang Xiuhua thought it sounded very ordinary, "Let's give it a more special name."

Li Jianguo couldn't think of anything more special.

Zhang Xiuhua smiled and said, "The child was born in August, so why not name him August?"

"It's okay for a girl, but it's a bit inappropriate for a boy." Li Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "Then let's call him Tiaotiao. Children love to jump around. This name makes him look lively!"

Zhang Xiuhua thought it was a good name. At least the chances of having the same name as someone else were smaller. "Okay. Let's name the girl August and the boy Tiaotiao. I'll tell them later."

After discussing the business, Zhang Xiuhua asked, "Your eldest brother is not at home, and you are the only one taking care of your mother, so where does he eat?"

But she knew that Li Jiandang was spoiled by Xu Chunying and had never cooked at home.

Li Jianguo didn't take it seriously. "I can cook, and he has good hands and feet. There's nothing he can't do."

Zhang Xiuhua asked him, "Did your elder brother really leave your mother to you alone?"

Li Jianguo was not sure either. "I think given my eldest brother's personality, he will definitely stay the same as before. But I'm worried that he won't be able to handle it."

"It's definitely too busy. He has to deliver goods, farm, and cook for himself." Zhang Xiuhua clapped her hands, "He doesn't have three heads and six arms, how can he possibly be so busy?"

Li Jianguo thought for a moment and said, "Let him decide for himself. Let's not meddle in his business."

Of course Zhang Xiuhua didn't want to care about it either. She was afraid that he would be too busy taking care of his mother-in-law every day and wouldn't be able to farm.

She thought for a moment and said, "If you can't handle the land at home, why don't you subcontract it to someone else? Don't tire yourself out."

"Don't worry. The fruits can only be picked in July. During this period, I can just focus on the mushrooms in the field." Li Jianguo said with a smile, "The water pipes we have are very good. Now I don't have to water each plant one by one. It saves a lot of effort."

When building the house, Zhang Xiuhua installed extra water pipes, which were laid from top to bottom, with a hole dug next to each fruit tree. This way, when the water valve is opened, water will drip down the pipes to the bottom of the tree, saving a lot of effort.

"The fruit trees in our family are very short, so it is easier to pick fruit than those in other families." The more Li Jianguo thought about it, the more he felt that he managed his own orchard well and it was not tiring at all.

It is very tiring for Zhang Xiuhua to manage the orchard at home. She doesn't like doing farm work. But Li Jianguo is different. He is strong and used to working, and he keeps the orchard in good order.

In a blink of an eye, Xu Chunying left the village and headed south.

With Xu Chunying's departure, Li Jiandang's life was completely disrupted.

First, there was no one to wash the clothes, and second, no one to cook three meals a day. He used to think that the work was not worth doing, but now he had to do everything by himself, which was a waste of time. So he began to find ways to save time.

Just cook one meal out of three a day, and then heat up the remaining two meals and eat the leftovers.

This year, the family didn't raise any piglets, but they still had to take care of their mother. He had to wash his own clothes. It seemed simple, but washing and drying clothes every day was actually very tedious.

He had to get up early to deliver the vegetables, then send the pigs to the slaughterhouse and then to the county. He simply didn't have that much time.

In less than a week, the villagers discovered that Li Jiandang's house was in a state of disrepair.

Aunt Wang Er was straightforward. When she met him on the road, she pointed at his hair and asked, "How long has it been since you washed your hair? Isn't it time to change your clothes?"

Li Jiandang was also a man who cared about his reputation, so he started washing clothes and hair as soon as he got home. After he finished everything, he wanted to fall asleep immediately, but he still had to go and massage his mother's feet.

After he finished the foot massage and fell asleep, he suddenly remembered that he had not done something, but he was too sleepy to remember what it was.