"Qing Qing, you little scoundrel, you said youd come to play with me, but its been so long and I havent seen you once." Xiu Shui asked, pinching Zi Qings face as soon as she entered the door, pretending to be angry.

  "Auntie, I really couldnt get away, you see, my little brother is only a few months old and cant be left alone. My mother is busy from dawn till dusk with farm work and Ive been staying home most of the time since I moved here. Really, otherwise Id have picked some cucumbers for you to eat?" Zi Qing said, pulling on Shuixius sleeve, explaining herself as she saw that Shuixiu was a bit unhappy that she hadnt visited her in such a long time.

  "Dont deceive me, the cucumbers these days are not edible. Look, I brought you peaches instead. The peach trees at our doorstep have almost been stolen clean. If we wait any longer, Im afraid you wont get to eat them. Its always me being considerate of you, thinking of your well-being in everything." After saying that, she unwrapped the four hairy peaches wrapped in a handkerchief, walked to the well to wash them with water, and then handed them over to Zi Qing and Zi Shou.

  Ziying took Zixi out and put her in a basket to sunbathe, instructing Zishou to keep an eye on her. Then she took the hoe and brought Xiaoxiu to the vegetable field. "Hmph, there really are cucumbers to eat." After saying that, she personally picked one, wiped it on her clothes, and put it in her mouth.

  Ziying chose a marginal potato seedling and started digging. As soon as she opened the edge of the soil, Ziying saw the potatoes. After digging them out, she found that under one seedling there were three or four big ones plus several small ones, which was not bad. Ziying dug another one.

  "What is this? Ive never seen it before, it looks like a taro but isnt." Xiu Shui asked curiously as she squatted beside him.

  "Come on, Ill cook potatoes for you to eat." After finishing speaking, the two of them picked up the potatoes from the ground and washed them clean at the well. Ziqing put a few small ones into the small pot used for steaming rice, added water, and cooked them. The new potatoes were very tender and not too big, so it only took about twenty minutes. Ziqing then turned off the fire, steamed them for a while longer, took them out, peeled off the skin, dipped them in white sugar, and handed them to Xiushui.

  "Ah, delicious, really fragrant, I want more." Zi Qing let her have some. She peeled one for Zi Shou and handed it over, then found a spoon to feed a little bit into Zi Xis mouth. Zi Xi smacked his lips and swallowed, staring at Zi Qing with wide eyes, "Little thing, you know whats delicious too." Zi Qing fed him two more bites before daring not to feed him anymore.

  She finished two of the delicious dishes here, and was just wrapping up the leftovers with a handkerchief to take back home. "I dont care, Im taking them away," she said. "You have plenty at your place, you can just cook some more."

  "Alright, you can take these big ones back and cut them into pieces to stew with meat. Just dont go shouting it everywhere." Zi Qing was afraid that the Tian family would find out and get angry.

  After seeing off Xiushui, Shens family brought back Zilu as well. This time, Shens family really bought a piece of floral fabric and five pieces of blue fabric. The floral fabric was light purple with small flowers, very elegant, and Ziqing liked it very much. Zilu also wore new clothes, but his were shorts.

  Zi Qing saw her mother put a package of copper coins into a special wooden box under the bed, and asked how many copper coins were sold today. Shen Shi said, less than one string of money, cucumber five cents, celery four cents, pepper five cents, bean sprouts five cents, all new dishes, and coincided with the festival, so they sold well.

  Zi Qing saw that Shens mood was good, so she told him about the matter of asking Tian for a stone of wheat as a Dragon Boat Festival gift. Shen listened and sighed, saying: "What can be done? Give it to them. If we dont give it, this matter will spread outside and people wont know whats going on. Theyll think our family is really unfilial and our reputation will be ruined. It will have an impact on everything we do in the future. Anyway, its just a matter of one or two silver coins. Consider todays meal as free, and dont go out and talk nonsense about this. Remember?"

  Zilu and Ziqing nodded busily, Zilu said: "When harvesting wheat, I went to Grandpas house to pull the cow, Auntie said that Grandpa went to help Eldest Aunts family harvest wheat. Originally, Grandpa wanted to come and help us, but Grandma said that Eldest Aunt had children and couldnt do the work, so Grandpa went. He also went to help Eldest Aunt with transplanting seedlings, Auntie seemed very angry."

  "Luer, dont listen to these things. Your aunt is angry and wants to use you to pass on messages, just to make your mother unhappy and stir up trouble. We wont fall for it. If others can help you, remember to be grateful, but if they cant, dont hold a grudge. Do you know why I bought five pieces of the same blue fabric today? Its because when we were building the wall, several uncles from our family came to help, but none of them accepted any payment from us. When your brother comes back home, you two will take this fabric as gifts for them. Next time, Ill buy some more and make clothes for you kids too. First, Ill make some for your father and brother, and then you can pick out some old clothes from your brothers closet to be made into new ones. If I were to make all new clothes for everyone, Im afraid your grandmother would get upset again. Besides, I want to save up some money to build the house." Shen said all this in one breath, and Zi Qing quickly poured her a cup of water.

  "Dont worry, sister, we understand." Zi Qing said hastily, and Zi Lu also nodded in agreement.

  After school, Shens family indeed sent the two of them to deliver the cloth and instructed Zifu to express his gratitude. After they left, Ziqing suddenly remembered the matter of the sweet potatoes and hurriedly took her mother to dig them up.

  "Right, Mother saw that there are people selling sweet potatoes in the city today. I was just thinking why our sweet potatoes havent ripened yet. On my way back, I got distracted by Grandmas affairs and forgot about it. These two days, vegetables can be sold at a good price, but unfortunately, the vegetables I picked were too harsh, tomorrow wont be able to pick much either. Now its fine, Mother can sell sweet potatoes tomorrow." Shen said with glee.

  When the children came back, the mother and daughter were still digging. Shen let her two sons pick up the sweet potatoes and carry them to the well to wash them clean. She picked a few small ones herself and went back to cook. Zi Qing followed her to start the fire. Zi Qing asked her mother to stir-fry some dried chili peppers in oil, add some garlic, and then just stir-fry the sweet potatoes. Shen looked at her suspiciously and asked: "Who told you this? Did the old man who sold us the sweet potatoes also tell you how to eat them?"

  "Thats right, if he doesnt tell you how to eat it, others wont know how to eat it either, who will buy it? The boss also said that it can be cut into pieces and cooked with meat, but our family didnt have any meat today?" Zi Qing explained.

  At dinner time, the potato shreds were very popular. While eating, Zishou suddenly said: "The big sister cooked in the afternoon was also delicious, sweet." Facing three pairs of inquiring eyes, Ziqing hurriedly told about Xiaoxiu coming over to deliver peaches in the afternoon and said that she had also sent a few more for her to bring back.

  "Tomorrow, let Ronger and me go sell vegetables, Fuer will go to your aunts house, send a few sweet potatoes over, pick a few cucumbers, and cut some celery. If your aunt knows that your cousin ate our familys sweet potatoes first, they might not be happy, dont stir up more trouble. Also, tell your aunt and uncle that the wheat will be sent over when your father returns, but dont mention that Im selling vegetables, or your aunt will have other ideas."

  "Whats going on with Mazi?" Zifeng still didnt know.