She didn’t return to her family because both her parents were gone.

Today, she was limping around the house, working.

Huzi was the same age as Panpan and Tiantian but spoke less clearly, was carefree, and liked to play.

Unlike Chang Xiaogang, who harbored resentment towards the Lu family, Huzi was oblivious and happily played around.

He often got beaten himself, running around and falling into ditches while chasing cicadas, or catching snakes and bringing them home only to be punished.

So, he thought it was nothing unusual if his mother was beaten too.

Tiantian and Panpan quickly refused to play with him.

Chang Xiaogang snorted, “Cowards!”

Cowards who lost their fathers!

Hua Hua, hearing this, immediately retorted, “Are you calling Panpan a coward?”

Chang Xiaogang quickly backed down, “No, we’re just going to play. Hua Hua, do you want to come with us?”

Panpan said, “Hua Hua, does your family have anything to repair? I need to ask my mother.”

—Hmph, not letting Hua Hua play with you!

Hua Hua immediately agreed, “We’ll go home and ask too.”

When she called out, the other children also went home to ask.

Panpan and Tiantian held hands and ran home.

Chang Xiaogang, seeing that Panpan had turned Hua Hua and the others against him, was furious. “We’ll go to the west woods to look for cicadas and make them jealous.”

The repairman looked up and said, “There are snakes in the west. Cowards shouldn’t go there.”

Chang Xiaogang retorted, “You’re the coward!”

He dragged Huzi and ran off.

On the way, Chang Xiaogang scolded Huzi, “Are you dumb? Why are you still playing with her?”

Huzi replied, “My grandma says my mother deserves to be beaten.”

Chang Xiaogang said, “It’s her grandma who’s bad!”

Tiantian and Panpan ran home.

“Mom, do we have any broken bowls or basins? Let’s take them for repair.”

Zhao Meifeng had already left because she didn’t want to do free labor for Lin Shu.

Lin Shu smiled and said, “I’ll take your grandfather’s small teapot to be repaired later. Are you hungry? Wash your hands. I’ll make you some potstickers soon.”

Children get hungry early because they eat early.

Panpan was anxious, “I’m not hungry. Mom, give me the teapot so I can take it for repair.”

Tiantian joked, “Mom, he wants to be a repairman now.”

Panpan’s big eyes were sparkling.

How old are you, and you’re so obsessed with money? Are you completely focused on making money?

It seems that the this old mother can really win effortlessly.

She went to find the Yixing purple clay teapot that Old Man Lu had.

The signature at the bottom was by a famous artist. Unfortunately, it had cracked into two pieces on the ground recently because of Lu Cuicui.

Panpan was very anxious, tiptoeing with his little chubby hand reaching out, “Mom, give it to me. I’ll go!”

He was a man and could help his mom do many things.

Lin Shu gave him 30 cents and told him and Tiantian to go fix the teapot.

She would check it later.

She estimated that repairing the teapot would cost about 30 cents, maybe even more because a repair nail costs 5 cents each.

At that time, fine craftsmanship was quite profitable, but labor points were worthless.

When Panpan and Tiantian went to repair the teapot, Mrs. Xu Laoyuan from the west, known as Jin Ping’er, also came out to repair a teacup.

She used to be a young concubine in a wealthy landlord’s family.

Although she was often mistreated by the main wife, her food, clothing, and daily needs were still better than ordinary people’s.

She had a habit of drinking tea from a delicate porcelain lid bowl, which she had taken from the landlord’s house when the landlords were overthrown.

She continued using it after marrying Xu Laoyuan.

She even used this bowl for drinking water.

A few days ago, her lid bowl was broken by her little grandson, causing her so much pain that she couldn’t eat for several days.

She had small feet, making it inconvenient to go out. Xu Laoyuan was unwilling to take her to the commune to repair the teacup because repairing a delicate porcelain cup would cost over 60 cents, which was enough to buy two large bowls of food.

The repairman was working on the Yixing teapot that Panpan and Tiantian had brought, and he said, “This one needs copper nails. Each nail costs 10 cents. Ask the adults.”

Jin Ping’er handed over her cup.

The repairman didn’t lift his head but just looked at the cup, “Fine porcelain, 10 cents per copper nail. Your cup will cost 60 cents.”

Jin Ping’er: “Oh, you really dare to ask for that much. No matter what kind of nail it is, how much can such a small nail cost? It’s just your labor for drilling the hole. Each nail should be 5 cents. Don’t overcharge.”

The repairman remained silent and continued working on other people’s cups.

Panpan, very interested, watched Jin Ping’er. Yes, it was possible to negotiate prices like this.

In his childish voice, he said, “The one who just said 5 cents for a nail, then aren’t these small ones worth 1 cent each?”

Jin Ping’er muttered softly, “Are you earning for the commune or for yourself? If it’s for the commune, we don’t need your receipt. Isn’t it the same?”

The repairman said, “Alright then. Both the teacup and teapot will cost 5 cents per repair nail.”

Panpan happily squatted there, starting to examine the tools.

Soon, a few girls, including Huahua and Yuanyuan, also came out with their big bowls to be repaired.

Panpan immediately said, “They’re all here to have their bowls repaired because I called them. Uncle, you won’t lose out at all if you give me 5 cents.”

The repairman glanced at him and then went back to his work, “Hmm.”

Panpan said, “This drilling is really interesting. I want Grandpa to make one for me too.”

Jin Ping’er asked, “Repairman, are you from the commune?”

The repairman, still focusing on his work, replied with a grunt.

Jin Ping’er said, “You should go to the countryside more. It used to be that craftsmen went door to door, but after the cooperative was established, people got lazy and stopped going to the countryside.

It actually depends on whether the commune leaders are strict or lenient.

If strict, they don’t let craftsmen go to the countryside, saying it’s a remnant of capitalism that needs to be cut off.

Some leaders are lenient and understand that craftsmen have a tough life, so they let them go to the countryside to work and symbolically pay the commune a little.”

Lin Shu wasn’t neglecting the children completely.

She would occasionally go to the door to check, looking towards the west and calling out.

Tiantian and Panpan would immediately respond, and sometimes Huahua and the other girls would join in, making it quite lively.

The little teapot was repaired and cost a total of 45 cents.

Panpan ran back home to get the money, then ran back to carefully carry the teapot home with Tiantian.

When they got home, the two kids filled the teapot with water and placed it on the table, staring intently with their big, shiny eyes to see if it leaked.

If it didn’t leak for several minutes, it meant the repair was successful.

The two kids kept exclaiming, “Wow, it’s amazing, it really doesn’t leak!”

Lin Shu cleaned the teapot, scalded it in boiling water, and then made a small pot of tea for Old Man Lu.

The tea leaves weren’t particularly fine—conditions didn’t allow for that at the time.

Old Man Lu’s tea drinking didn’t affect his sleep; rather, the taste made his sleep even better.

Panpan said, “Mom, put it in the east room for Grandpa. Don’t leave it here where it might get accidentally knocked over.”

Previously, it was left on the dining table, and when Lu Cuicui grabbed a corn bread,

she accidentally knocked it to the ground. Old Man Lu wasn’t too affected, but Panpan was heartbroken.

Fortunately, the floor was mud; if it had been tiled or cement, it would have cracked into several pieces.

At noon, Fang Dihua returned home from work to bring lunch. Passing by the west riverbank, she saw Huzi and Chang Xiaogang hanging around.

Fang Dihua shouted, “Aren’t you two going home to eat? What are you doing hanging around here?”

These two kids were so wild; without an adult to lead them, they dared to play by the riverbank, where there was a deep pit. It was dangerous.

Her own kids never played in such places alone.

Huzi was frightened of Fang Dihua, saying, “We’re going home.”

Fang Dihua replied, “Hurry up and go home!”

Huzi immediately grabbed Chang Xiaogang and started running back, but Chang Xiaogang pulled him onto another small path, grumbling, “Why are you scared of her? We’re going to the forest in the west to find cicada larvae and roast them. I brought matches. We’ll cook them there.”

Huzi thought it sounded fun, so he followed him westward.