Chapter 12

After resting for two minutes, Yan Mingli picked up the sack again. Although he had some strength left, he did not dare to delay any longer.

Tying the straw sandals around his waist tighter, Yan Mingli continued to trot down the mountain barefoot.

The long legs that are constantly stretched straight contain a strong power of perseverance, rolling up the leaves in the fallen leaf pile, which are carried up by the sweat on the soles of the feet and return to the ground between ups and downs.

Occasionally, sharp thorns poking out from the weeds would scrape against exposed ankles and calves, quickly tearing out strips of flesh and blood.

But Yan Mingli just ran without stopping. The pain was nothing to him. What he cared about was whether his younger brothers and sisters could survive, not the minor pain.

Finally, when the sun was about to rise overhead and the members were about to get off work, Yan Mingli returned home sweating profusely.

After quickly unlocking the door and fastening the bolt, Yan Mingli raised his arm to wipe the hot sweat that was still coming out of his forehead, and then pulled up the hem of his clothes to wipe his face.

Yan Mingxue, who had been squatting in the kitchen, stood up quickly the moment he heard the sound of the door being unlocked, and then ran to the yard on tiptoe.

When he saw the sack in his eldest brother’s hand, his eyes immediately lit up with dazzling light.

“Brother, brother, what is this?” Yan Mingxue was extremely happy when he saw such a big sack. He covered his mouth and asked in a low voice.

“It’s all food.” Yan Mingli untied the hemp rope and opened the sack to show her.

“Brother, you’re amazing! You’re truly the most amazing man in the eyes of the aunts and aunties.” Yan Mingxue’s unintentional words made Yan Mingli’s forehead twitch. Couldn’t she just forget these words? The morning’s education was in vain.

“Brother, I smell the fragrance of rice.” Yan Mingcheng followed him out of the kitchen, staring at the things in the sack and swallowing hard.

What did he see? Not only were there bright yellow corn grits, but also white rice, and a lot of eggs buried in the coarse rice. Was that brown sugar wrapped in oil paper?

“Brother, are these all ours?” Yan Mingcheng didn’t dare to blink, for fear that the food would disappear if he blinked. He had never seen so many delicious foods before.

“They are all ours. Let’s talk inside.” Yan Mingli tightened the mouth of the sack, picked it up, and brought the two little guys into the bedroom.

After bolting the door, Yan Mingli carefully placed the sack next to the cabinet, then opened the cabinet and took out four grain bags and the small gourd ladle he usually used to scoop rice.

Yan Mingcheng and Yan Mingxue squatted quietly beside the sack, staring with wide eyes as their eldest brother took out one, two, ten, a total of twenty eggs and put them into the grain bag.

Then, like a magic trick, he scooped out a small bag of rice, half a bag of coarse rice, and then a full bag of corn grits.

“Brother is so awesome!” Yan Mingcheng, who was as excited as Yan Mingxue, received a glare from Yan Mingli. He grinned without knowing what was going on. It seemed that his brother didn’t like him praising him for being awesome.

It wasn’t over yet. The eldest brother finally took out the oil-paper package that made them salivate from the sack, and after opening it, he revealed the black and red candy inside.

“Brother, it’s brown sugar, brown sugar.” At this moment, Yan Mingxue felt that he was the happiest child in the village, even happier than Erni.

As expected, my brother was right. Even without a sister-in-law, we can still have eggs and brown sugar water.

The two younger ones thought this was the happiest thing in the world, but unexpectedly the eldest brother took out three bills from his waistband and put them in his palm.

“Brother, is this the great unity?” Yan Mingcheng asked curiously, looking at the 10 yuan in his brother’s hand.

Although the village would distribute dividends at the end of the year, he only received some loose change each time. This was the first time he had seen such great unity in his family.

“Well, this is the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. People’s representatives are coming out after a meeting. Look, it says People’s Bank of China.” Yan Mingli pointed to the upper left corner of the Great Unity sign and continued, “This is Mongolian, this is Tibetan, this is Uyghur, and this is Zhuang.”

“Brother, what’s on the other side?” Yan Mingxue tilted her head and stared at the back of Yan Mingli’s hand, trying to see the other side of great unity through her fingers.

“It’s Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and it has our national emblem.” Yan Mingli turned the money over to show them.

“Brother, if we have money and food, we won’t be hungry anymore.” Yan Mingxue touched her empty stomach, not knowing when it would become full like Li Tiezhu’s.

“Well, big brother won’t let you go hungry again.” Yan Mingli rubbed her head and promised.

He has found a way to make money. Although it takes a toll on his body, he is still young and can hold on until his younger brothers and sisters grow up.

“Brother, where did you get this money and rice?”

After the excitement and joy, big questions began to emerge in Yan Mingcheng’s little head.

At the same age, he thought more than Yan Mingxue. He knew that money and rice were good things, especially rice, which was the best food.

If a family in the village mixed a handful of rice into their multi-grain porridge, the children would run around the village holding the bowl with a few rice specks in it to show off.

What’s more, there is so much money. He still remembers the satisfaction of the aunts and ladies gathered under the evergreen tree at the entrance of the village when they talked about the great unity.

It seems that you only need a small piece of paper to buy whatever candy, pork, and cakes you want, and as much as you want.

“Little kids, don’t ask too many questions. Anyway, we didn’t steal them.” Yan Mingli couldn’t tell them that these things were obtained by selling his blood. They were only six years old and not old enough to shoulder the burden of the family.

“Brother, you have to take care of yourself.” Seeing that his brother was unwilling to say more, Yan Mingcheng’s eyes immediately showed worry that was not suitable for his age.

He knew that his elder brother definitely didn’t do anything bad to get these things, but he was afraid that his elder brother would do something very hard.

It is said that children from poor families grow up early. Yan Mingcheng wants to help his elder brother take charge of the family and take good care of his younger sister.

He didn’t want to lose his elder brother. He wanted his elder brother to live well. When he grew up, he would buy shoes and cotton clothes for his elder brother, and find a beautiful wife for him.

“Yes, I know.” Yan Mingli nodded, but did not make any promise.

Of course he would try his best to take care of his younger siblings while taking care of himself, at least nothing would happen to him until they were sixteen years old.

“You stay here, I’ll bring in the chicken soup.” Yan Mingli locked the grain bag in the cabinet and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Soon he came in carrying a clay pot, three earthen bowls and three pairs of chopsticks.

Yan Mingxue took the dishes and placed them on the bench, while Yan Mingcheng quickly closed the doors and windows to ensure that not too much smell would drift out from the gaps.