Chapter 207

With the last rays of the setting sun, the rumbling tractor came to a steady stop in front of Old Su’s house.

The Su family’s “three treasures” (Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and Yao Bao) were eagerly waiting at the door. Even before the tractor stopped, they rushed up and shouted, “Aunt, Uncle Fantuan, Zhuzi, Xiao Doubao…”

When they were young, time seemed to pass slowly. For adults, a year or two might pass in the blink of an eye, but for children, it was indeed a very long time.

Xiaobao rushed to the front, and the first person to get off the tractor was Han Cheng. He half hugged Su Xiaoxiao, and before Su Xiaoxiao even landed on the ground, Xiao Bao hugged them both tightly. “Auntie, Uncle, Xiao Bao missed you so much!”

Han Cheng looked at the half-grown boy, who had already risen to the height of his ears. Just by looking at him, Han Cheng knew that he hadn’t missed out on exercising in these years. He couldn’t help but recall the first time he came to the Sujia village with Su Xiaoxiao. Back then, Xiao Bao was just a little kid who hadn’t even reached his waist.

Watching the children grow up, it felt like time was flowing like water.

Han Cheng patted Xiao Bao on the shoulder and said, “You’ve grown up.”

Xiao Bao was delighted, flexing his biceps. “I exercise every day. I’m even taller than Da Bao now.”

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed his nephew’s head and said, “Yes, you’ve grown and become strong.”

Xiao Bao was so happy to be praised by his aunt. 

Da Bao held onto Yao Bao and also came to hug their aunt and uncle.

Su Xiaoxiao bent down to pick up Yao Bao. “Does Yao Bao still remember Auntie?”

The little guy was only a few months younger than the twins. The last time they came back to Sujia Village, he couldn’t even walk steadily. Now he could run and jump, and he was almost as tall as Xiao Tangyuan. 

Yao Bao smiled shyly. “I remember my beautiful auntie, and I remember my beautiful sister too.”

Su Xiaoxiao and Xiao Tangyuan are the two most beautiful people in Yaobao’s memory. Although he couldn’t even speak fluently when he met them last time, he can still remember them.

Fantuan and Zhuzi also got off the tractor, and they picked up their younger siblings.

The cubs hadn’t seen each other for so long, and each of the kids was more excited than the next. Da Bao and Yao Bao rushed to hug Xiao Doubao and the twins. Fantuan and Zhuzi also competed to hug Yao Bao. After the older ones hugged, Xiao Doubao and Xiao Tangyuan also vied to hug Yao Bao. Yao Bao always liked sticking to his sister Xiao Tangyuan the most, so naturally, he was delighted, his eyes squinting with joy. A group of children held hands and danced in circles, their laughter echoing throughout the village.

Li Yufeng ran out while still wearing an apron, and her eyes turned red when she saw them.

When the cubs saw Li Yufeng, they let go of each other’s hands and ran towards her, shouting, “Grandma, Grandma,” and began to act spoiled in her arms.

“It’s only been a little over a year, and you’ve all grown so much. Good, good, good, you’re all Grandma’s good grandchildren.” Li Yufeng hugged each of the kids, and when she hugged Xiao Tangyuan, she couldn’t help but burst into tears of joy. “Our Xiao Tangyuan is so big now, and she’s becoming more and more like her mother.”

Xiao Tangyuan reached out to help wipe her grandma’s tears and said, “Grandma, don’t cry; it’s better to be happy.”

Li Yufeng took Xiao Tangyuan’s hand and kissed it. “Grandma isn’t crying; Grandma is happy; seeing you all makes Grandma very happy.”

Su Xiaoxiao also came over and hugged Li Yufeng and her daughter, calling out “Mom.”

Her daughter was the apple of Li Yufeng’s eye. Her shouting “Mom” brought tears to Li Yufeng’s eyes again. She didn’t want her daughter to be just a figure on paper. Even though they exchanged letters, which always brought comforting news, seeing her in person was different.

After they finished reminiscing about the past, Han Cheng began directing several young men to move things.

In the past two years, both Da Bao and Xiao Bao have grown strong enough to handle half the load of an adult. They could carry bags of pig feed and fertilizer weighing a hundred and eighty cats easily, much stronger than Fantuan and Zhuzi, who hadn’t done much physical labor.

After unloading everything and putting it away, Su Zhenhua went to park the tractor, and the four boys started back-to-back height comparisons.

Da Bao said, “I’m the big brother, so I must be taller.”

Xiaobao said, “My dad said last year that I looked a little taller than you, and you were just a little stronger than me.”

Fantuan said, “Xiaobao, don’t stand on tiptoe. I think I’m even taller than you.”

Xiao Bao, who had a crew cut and sun-kissed face, looked particularly strong and spirited, naturally refusing to concede, “You only have longer hair than me, so you look taller.”

Zhuzi remained silent and leaned over silently.

It’s quite amazing. Da Bao is the oldest, Xiao Bao and Zhuzi are the same age, and Fantuan is the youngest, but their ages differ by less than two years. Their body shapes are similar. Da Bao and Xiao Bao have been helping with farm work for the past two years, so they appear slightly stronger. Fantuan eats more and exercises more, so he doesn’t look skinny either. It’s just that Zhuzi seems particularly thin but with good genes—Zhang Hongtu is six feet tall, and Yali is nearly five feet six, so Zhuzi is actually the tallest. But in reality, there’s barely a two-centimeter difference between the kids.

As the referee, Su Xiaoxiao made a decisive decision: “Zhuzi is the tallest; the three of you are the same height. Alright, the sun is setting. Hurry up and take turns to wash your hands and shower; dinner will be ready soon.”

Xiao Bao had a sudden idea and said, “Auntie, how about I take them to the reservoir to swim and bathe?”

Before Su Xiaoxiao could say anything, Li Yufeng immediately disagreed: “No! Have you forgotten your grandpa’s rules? There are a lot of snakes, insects, rats, and ants on the road at night. What if you get cramps or get bitten by a water snake?”

Last summer, during the hottest time of the year, two kids almost drowned when they went swimming in the reservoir at dusk. If Su Zhenhua hadn’t happened to pass by on his way back from the farm and saved them, they would have been lost.

After that incident, Su Weimin posted a notice, writing about the incident as a warning to everyone and explicitly stating that children under the age of eighteen were not allowed to swim in the reservoir without adult supervision. Once discovered, points would be deducted immediately, and the consequences would be borne by themselves.

Since then, no children have gone swimming in the reservoir alone again. The deepest part of the reservoir is several meters deep—not something to be trifled with.

Han Cheng said, “We won’t go tonight. I’ll take you tomorrow during the day.”

The kids were obedient; although a little disappointed, it didn’t last long. The boys filled every available bucket and basin with water and squeezed into the shower room.

Thanks to the spacious shower room in the countryside; otherwise, with so many people squeezing in, they wouldn’t be able to move.

Xiao Bao said while carrying water, “By the way, how is Xiao Yu now?”? I haven’t seen Xiao Yu for a long time. “

Fantuan shook his head. “We haven’t seen him since we went to the capital. He’s lazy. We send him three letters, and he only replies with one, and his handwriting is still so ugly. But he often calls my dad and your dad. He even clamored to come to the capital to find us a while ago.”

Zhuzi said, “Qingfeng Town is not far from here either. Why don’t we give him a call tomorrow and ask him to come and play for a few days?”

The kids exchanged glances. Fantuan said, “That’s a good idea. We’ll call him tomorrow, so he doesn’t have to run to the capital and make a fool of himself.”

After entering the shower room, FFantuan began to complain about the experience of bathing in the public baths in the capital during the winter. He had already complained about it in his letters, but he vividly described it again; even Xiao Doubao couldn’t help but join in the complaints. Only Xiao Roubao found it particularly amusing, making the other three, who had never experienced northern bathhouses, eager to see for themselves.

The Su family’s three Bao also began discussing the events that had occurred in the village over the past two years. Before long, it seemed they had started a water fight inside, with laughter and joy filling the air.

Han Cheng took Xiao Tangyuan to organize things, Su Xiaoxiao helped in the kitchen, and Li Yufeng, seeing her daughter’s radiant face, knew she was doing well. Hearing the laughter and joy of the children, she couldn’t help but feel at ease and exclaimed: “Our kids are really well-behaved. If it were other families with so many boys, it would be chaos every day. But our kids seem to have had a special bond since they met. Not to mention fighting, they have never even tried to argue. Xiao Bao seems a bit hot-tempered, but he has never actually argued with Da Bao or Yao Bao. He always gives in to them. They study diligently, especially since the resumption of the college entrance examination. He always lets them do everything, and studies seriously, especially after the resumption of the college entrance examination. Da Bao and Xiao Bao would always say how they want to go to the capital to go to university, that’s why they study hard, and every year, they always come top of their class. They’ve also taken good care of Yao Bao. Your elder brother and sister-in-law are truly the most worry-free parents. They’ve hardly had to worry about anything.”

If Li Yufeng hadn’t mentioned this, Su Xiaoxiao wouldn’t even notice. It seemed like all the kids at home were like angels. She hadn’t seen them fight or argue. The older ones took care of the younger ones. Because she was used to seeing their relationship, Su Xiaoxiao felt it was normal.

“Come to think of it, Mom is right. Although we have four children, I find it quite easy to raise them, especially after opening the restaurant. I don’t even have to worry about meals; it’s almost the same as the lives of other single classmates.” Occasionally, she could still have some private time with Han Cheng. She joked that they fell in love after marriage; they only had time for romance after the kids grew up.

Speaking of restaurants, Su Xiaoxiao had mentioned it before, but Li Yufeng hadn’t asked further. “Are you sure it’s okay to run the restaurant? Can it be sustained? There are people in our county who run them secretly, but it seems they don’t make much money, but they haven’t been caught.”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Don’t worry, Mom. I estimate that in a few years, we’ll be issued a license. By then, it will only become more regulated. We’ll be contributing to the country, paying taxes, and the country welcomes that.”

Anyway, the girl understood the policy better than she did. Li Yufeng nodded and placed some chopped pickled vegetables on the fish head. She even generously scooped up a few crumbs of lard from the jar and sprinkled them on top. Finally, she sprinkled a little sugar on it before putting it in the pot to steam.

“The current policy is getting better and better. Recently, I heard your father talking about implementing the land contract responsibility system. They’ll divide the land among households, meaning all the land in our team will be distributed to each household for independent farming. This way, lazy people won’t be supported. Ever since those educated youth gradually returned to the city, there has been a shortage of labor in the team. Those who are lazy get assigned heavier tasks, and they start complaining. Your dad’s idea is that from now on, we won’t support the lazy. If a family can’t grow rice, they’ll go hungry. No more free meals.”

Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment. It seemed that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the contract responsibility system was initiated, dividing the land among households. Her dad was very enlightened. Their Sujia Village might even have been one of the first villages to implement this system, which would be recorded in history.

“Mom, Dad’s idea is very good. After this policy is fully promoted, the breeding farm and other side businesses in the village will definitely implement a contracting system. Remember to ask my second brother to contract the breeding farm, so that we can earn more for more work. Besides the part we turn over, the rest will be ours.”

Li Yufeng pushed a handful of firewood into the earthen stove and nodded, saying, “I never thought about that. However, the scale of the breeding farm is not large now. After Teacher Yang and his family returned to the city, they have been managed by your second brother, and he’s been doing well. Oh, how is Teacher Yang’s family?”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and said, “It’s great. Before coming here, we went to Shanghai to see them, and they were all doing fine.”

Li Yufeng once again sighed, “Our two families really have fate. Let’s treat them as relatives in the future. They’ve really helped Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and your second brother a lot. Without them, the children wouldn’t study so well, and your second brother wouldn’t have learned scientific breeding.”

Su Xiaoxiao put her arm around Li Yufeng’s shoulder and said, “Dad and Mom have been good to them too. That’s called good deeds being repaid.”

Li Yufeng tapped her daughter’s nose and said, “Alright, you win. Go see if your dad and your sister-in-law are back. The fish head will be ready to serve once it’s steamed.”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll go take a look.”

Su Weimin is a busy man in the commune now. Since Su Zhenhua took over as team leader, everyone was accustomed to going to him for team matters. He never had a moment’s rest.

This one helped kill the fish, while someone came to find Zhang Chunying. She is now the director of women’s affairs, and she will also follow up on matters related to women and children.

When they returned, the fish had become overcooked.

A group of children surrounded them, calling them “Grandpa and Second Aunt” nonstop, temporarily forgetting about any worries.

The kids were indeed well-behaved, but with so many children, the constant chatter gave everyone a headache.

Su Xiaoxiao finally caught the opportunity and asked Su Weimin, “Dad, sister-in-law, where have you been?”

Zhang Chunying sighed and said, “It’s all because of Liu Shuixian.”

Su Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment and said, “Liu Shuixian? Widow Liu? What’s wrong with her? By the way, isn’t she in high school? Didn’t she participate in the college entrance examination?”

Zhang Chunying said, “Of course, she did. She took the exam last year but didn’t get in. She said she would take it again this year. I saw her studying all the time. But I don’t know what happened. Just before the exam, she suddenly said she wanted to go back to the city with a young educated youth. As a result, she missed the exam. Now the educated youth doesn’t want her, and she missed the college entrance exam. She’s making a fuss at home, and Dad and I just went to handle this matter.”

This time, Su Xiaoxiao really didn’t know what to say.