”The Li family is doing better now, but that’s only compared to the past. Li Zhouzhou’s husband can’t farm, and he can’t make a name for himself in school. We’ll still have to rely on Zhouzhou in the future. If Li Da gets too old and can’t work anymore, Zhouzhou will be the next Uncle Wang.”

　　”In my opinion, Xing Ge’er is lucky. He married into the Wang family, which has a rich family background and Wang Shitou protects him. When she first got married, her mother-in-law was complaining about her. Now she has a big fat boy, and he is stable. This is what we call happiness.”

　　When talking about Xing Ge’er, no one in Xiping Village would say anything bad about him. They all gave him a thumbs up and praised him for being lucky, capable, sweet-mouthed and good-looking. They were both from the Li family, with an age difference of less than a year. The two brothers grew up together and were cousins, so naturally they were compared to others since they were young.

　　However, after Li Zhouzhou grew rapidly to the age of thirteen or fourteen, there were fewer comparisons.

　　The difference is too big to compare.

　　Li Zhouzhou didn’t take it to heart. He had heard it since he was a child, so what was there to remember? Besides, the only person in the village who could talk to him was Xing Ge’er.

　　Xing’er is living a good life, and he is happy for Xing’er.

　　Li Zhouzhou doesn’t envy others. Now that he has a husband, it doesn’t matter if he’s a little tired. He doesn’t feel it’s hard. As long as he works hard, his life will get better and better.

　　He raised his voice at the gate of the yard and shouted, “Are there any tofu left?”

　　The person who was talking inside quickly changed his tone and talked about something else. Someone also said to him, “Come on, there’s more.”

　　Li Zhouzhou went in and nodded to greet everyone. Uncle Wang came out carrying two boards of tofu covered with a layer of linen. Because it was snowing, they couldn’t buy it in the yard, and the kitchen was small and there was not enough space for everyone, so they had to take it under the stone mill shed.

　　”Don’t push, we’ve got plenty to do today.” Uncle Wang said.

　　It was no use. Those who were still pushing for the money continued to do so. “I came here first, give me the five cents first.”

　　”My child is waiting at home. I want three cents.”

　　Uncle Wang was too busy to handle all the work, collecting money and cutting tofu. A boy of about seven or eight years old came out from the inner room. He was wearing a cotton coat and looked very thin and small. He said, “Dad, I’ll help you.”

　　”Hurry up and go in, or you’ll get cold.” Uncle Wang urged his son to go back to the house. It was snowing so heavily, and his son was weak, so he was afraid that he would catch a cold. He would have to see a doctor and take medicine, which would cost money and be painful.

　　”Father.”

　　”Go into the house.” Uncle Wang had a stern face, but he couldn’t scare his son away.

　　There were many people buying tofu, and it was cold, so they all rushed to buy and go back early. Some took the money and stuffed it into Uncle Wang’s hands, saying that they had paid. Uncle Wang could only take care of this side first. Even though they were from the same village, some people would give less money when they saw that there were many people and it was busy.

　　”You gave me one cent less.” Uncle Wang called out to the person who had just paid. He spread out his hand and there was only four cents.

　　The man laughed twice and said, “Oh, there is really a penny missing. I didn’t notice it.” He took out a penny from his waist and gave it to him.

　　”Dad, I’m here to collect the money.”

　　Uncle Wang was so busy that he couldn’t take care of it. He wanted to cut tofu, which cost five cents for a large piece and three cents for a small piece, so he had to let his son collect the money.

　　”Dad, it’s Aunt Zhu’s three cents.”

　　”This one costs five cents.”

　　Uncle Wang’s son was named Xiaotian, and there was a reason for this name. It was August of the 31st year of Kangjing, and Uncle Wang was harvesting peanuts in the field with a big belly. The midwife said that the baby would be born in half a month, but Uncle Wang gave birth halfway through.

　　If Li Zhouzhou, who was also picking peanuts in the field at the time, hadn’t seen it and hurriedly carried Uncle Wang back, Xiaotian would have been born in the field. Later, when choosing a name, they had to choose between peanuts and Xiaotian. My mother-in-law said Xiaotian was a better name, so we decided on Xiaotian.

　　He helped collect the money, and that made things much quicker. Those who had finished their purchases but had not yet left would praise him for being so smart and for helping your father.

　　It’s just a pity that this child is well-behaved and filial, but he is weak and sickly.

　　We finished shopping quickly, said goodbye and left. If the weather was good on a weekday, I could buy a piece of tofu and chat with everyone in the yard for a while. But now it’s snowing and it’s very cold, so I’m not in the mood to chat.

　　All the people who were there had left, leaving only Li Zhouzhou.