Father and Mother Su returned to the village at night, and the house was quiet.

The two of them went into the room in the dark and lit the oil lamp…

Xiao Qingyang and Xiao Qingxing woke up: “Dad, Mom, you are back?”

“Yes, we are back. Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

After confirming that it was their parents’ voices, the two little ones ran over, catching their shoes: “Mom said she’d be back today, so we were waiting for her.”

“You just took a nap.” Xiao Qingyang exposed Xiao Qingxing.

“I wasn’t asleep yet. Otherwise, why would I wake up when I heard my parents’ voices?” The two siblings were arguing in front of their parents.

With their parents not around, the two little ones had been living very cautiously these past few days. They dared not speak loudly and had been very well-behaved, fearing their grandma would be unhappy.

Father and Mother Su smiled and touched them. Mother Su looked at the two children distressedly. When she looked at Qingyang, she stared at him for a long time and said softly, “Your sister bought you a lot of cakes and pastries. There are some you haven’t eaten before. Do you want to eat some?”

“Yes!” Xiao Qingxing jumped up.

Qing Yang hesitated: “Let’s eat tomorrow. My sister said that you can’t eat after you rinse your mouth, or your teeth will get damaged.”

“Then can’t I rinse my mouth after eating?” Xiao Qingxing retorted weakly.

“Can’t we eat it tomorrow? You just fell asleep.”

Father Su and Mother Su watched the two children bickering with a smile. Old Su heard the noise and came out of the room: “Is Dahai back?”

“Hey, Dad, we’re back.”

“I’m glad you’re back. Go to bed early.”

“Yes.”

After Father Su replied, he and Mother Su watched the two children fall asleep, washed up, and went to bed. His feet were sore and swollen from walking, and he was very tired.

The next day, everyone in the Su family got up. Mother Su took the cakes sent by Su Qingyu and distributed them to Youfu, Yougui, and several other children as well as everyone present. The rest was kept by Wang Shi.

“Wow, this cake is more delicious than the previous ones!”

“Yes, it’s beautifully made too! Grandma, I want another piece!”

“You can only eat one piece, and then have it in the afternoon.” Wang Shi refused.

“No! I want another piece!”

Yougui followed Wang Shi into the main hall and persuaded her to give him another piece. He happily put it into his mouth, but after eating it, he felt that it didn’t taste good. Seeing Qingyang Qingxing slowly tearing it apart and savoring it carefully, he wanted to grab it again…

Several children were making a fuss.

Old Su said something, then picked up his hoe and went to the field. Su Dahai followed behind him.

Old Su looked back at him and asked, “How is business at Qingyu’s store?”

“It’s okay, better than farming. She can save some money in a year.” Su Dahai picked up some and told him.

“That’s good. I’ve worked hard in the fields for a year and there’s nothing left. I still have to wait and see if God will give me food to eat.”

After he finished speaking, he saw Su Dahai following him and asked in confusion: “Do you have something to tell me?”

Su Dahai hesitated for a long time before saying that he would send Qingyang and Qingxing to the town to help.

Old Su looked at him steadily and said, “What can the two of them do? Two hundred coins can hire a laborer in the town to help.”

Su Dahai muttered, “How can I hire a good family with 200 coins? Besides, you can’t beat or scold the people you hire, so it’s better to hire your own family.”

“Then let your fourth brother go. He will eat and sleep in the inn, and the fee is only two hundred coins.”

Su Dahai was speechless for a moment.

“It would be more convenient for Qingyang and Qingxing to go instead of my fourth brother.”

“What’s inconvenient? Isn’t Su Dahu still living in the hotel? Your brother is the uncle and nephew of Qingliu and Qingyu, so it’s more convenient for him than for outsiders.”

“Your fourth brother could normally come with us to do odd jobs. That way, he wouldn’t just be earning 200 wen…”

“It’s more than that, but he has to cover his own food and lodging, and sometimes he doesn’t even have 200 wen left at the end of the month. Sometimes, if he runs into someone harsh, he can’t even get his wages.” The more Old Su talked, the more he felt that letting Su Siquan go to town was a good idea.

“Dad, Qing’an’s store has just opened. It’s a small business and doesn’t need so many people. Qingyang and Qingxing are mainly there to help run errands and take care of Yaya, and…”

Su Dahai thought that Qingyang would be able to go to a private school in the future, so he didn’t want Su Siquan to go. But he was tongue-tied in front of Old Su…

Old Su looked at his eldest son and sighed.

Maybe they were not born to the same mother, so there was always a gap. He only cared about his own little family and only thought about his other siblings.

“Okay, go ahead. But you have to tell Qingyu that if the store business is good, she should think about her fourth uncle and her family.”

Su Dahai let out a long sigh and responded loudly: “Don’t worry, Dad. Qing’an is thinking about the family. Now that the rent for the store has not been paid yet, she bought food and daily necessities for the family. If she starts another business in the future, I will ask her to think about the family as well.”

“Yeah.” Old Su was satisfied.

After digging a few times with the hoe, he stood up and asked Su Dahai: “Qingyu’s store can sell so many old chickens and ducks in a day. Do you think we should raise more at home? And plant more vegetables in a vegetable garden? It doesn’t matter whose vegetables she buys. It’s always better to buy from your own family than from others.”

Su Dahai was stunned for a moment, and said, “Then I’ll ask her later.”

The next day, before dawn, Mother Su woke up the two children. When they were still half asleep, she and Father Su changed their clothes. They each carried one child out of the house and sent them to the village head’s ox cart.

Looking at the twins leaning in Su Dahai’s arms, Mother Su said, “I won’t go, you can just take them there. Don’t forget to tell Qingyu what Dad said, it’s good to have more income at home.”

She naturally had her own selfish motives. If the family had more income, and Youfu and Yougui wanted to go to school in the future, the family would have money to support them, so that her mother-in-law wouldn’t have to stop Qingyang from going to school.

She and Su Dahai didn’t sleep for two nights, thinking about Su Qingyu’s words, and finally made up her mind to send Qingyang to study.

As parents, they can’t just sit back and do nothing for their children. If he can’t make it, then that’s his fate. As long as they have a clear conscience as parents, that’s enough.

“Yes. I will be back in the afternoon. In a few days, I will go to the neighboring town with the villagers to do odd jobs and save some money.”

The twins slept in their father’s arms all the way and only woke up when they were almost in town.

Thinking about seeing their two sisters and Yaya soon, they were so excited that they could not sit still and complained that the village chief’s ox cart was too slow.

“Grandpa Village Chief, you must not have fed your cow! Look, it doesn’t even have the strength to run.”

The village chief laughed and said, “You guys rode in a horse-drawn carriage with your sister last time, and you compared it with an ox-drawn carriage. My ox-drawn cart is pretty fast, and it’s only three years old.”

Xiao Qingxing looked at the strong bull and wrinkled her nose: “Humph, it can’t even walk as fast as me! It’s as slow as a snail!”

The old cow felt disliked and turned its head with a moo and blew a breath of hot air at her, which made Xiao Qingxing feel very disliked.

The villagers on the ox cart all laughed.

He urged her: “Qing Xing, go down quickly and compete with it to see who runs faster.”

“I don’t want to!”

Everyone laughed.

The village chief asked Su Dahai about Su Qingyu’s store. Many of the villagers in the car had Su Dahu come to buy vegetables and poultry, and they all knew about it and asked about it…

(End of this chapter)