Chapter Six

Bi Chunliu still remembered Grandma Wang.

It was said that when Grandma Wang was young, she had suffered a lot of hardships, and in her old age her legs and feet gave her trouble. Whenever she walked, her feet hurt, and she couldn’t get around on her own—she always had to be carried by others. Fortunately, all of Wang’s children were filial. Ever since she couldn’t walk, they often carried her outside to sit in the sun, or to the big tree in the middle of the village to chat with the other old ladies, so she wouldn’t have to be shut indoors all day.

The siblings greeted her with smiles.
“Yes, Grandma Wang. We came back to see our grandma. Third Uncle sent word that she was sick. Are you out here sunbathing?”

Sick? Wasn’t that old lady just wandering around the village yesterday? Grandma Wang immediately felt something was off. Then she realized—this was probably just Old Lady Guo’s excuse to trick the girls back home.
“The weather’s nice today, so your Uncle Wang carried me out. Your Third Uncle said your grandma was sick? Maybe it was some days ago. I just saw her strolling around the village yesterday. Don’t worry too much—your grandma’s as sturdy as an ox. Living to eighty won’t be a problem for her!”

“See, Second Brother, I told you Grandma’s fine!” Bi Qiuguo whispered from behind.

Bi Chunliu hadn’t expected Grandma Wang to be so spot on. In her past life, her grandmother had indeed lived long! In an era where the average lifespan was under seventy, Grandma had made it past eighty, far outliving her peers.

Chunliu even recalled that in her last life, while buying vegetables at the market, she overheard someone from Tongxi Village boasting that the place had good soil and water, so the elders lived long. They mentioned an old lady surnamed Guo—her son and daughter‑in‑law had died years earlier, yet she was still going strong.

Not even Chunliu herself had lived to eighty in that life.

“Grandma Wang, what’s with these seeds?” Chunliu quickly shifted the subject, not mentioning illness again.

Grandma Wang glanced at her, surprised. Hmm, looks like Chunliu understood my meaning. Haven’t seen her for a while—she seems sharper now.
“Ah, these? Your Uncle Wang bought them in a hurry and didn’t check carefully. Some are good, but some are shriveled. I have to sort them.”

Chunliu squatted down, picked up a few seeds, and frowned.
“So many bad ones? Can’t you take them back to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange? These probably won’t even sprout.”

The three younger siblings immediately squatted too, each picking up two or three seeds, squinting at them seriously and even craning their necks to compare with each other’s. They shook their heads like seasoned farmers.

Chunliu: …

Grandma Wang looked at the four children crouched in front of her and grinned.
“Of course we did. When he brought them back, I saw right away it wouldn’t do—what would we eat later if we planted these? I sent him straight back. Fortunately, the new leader at the cooperative is decent. He immediately gave us a fresh bag, didn’t even take the bad ones back. I figured I’d pick out the good ones from here, plant them in the yard, and feed the rest to the chickens. No sense wasting them.”

“Is that so? Oh? Did the cooperative change leadership?”

Grandma Wang glanced around, lowered her voice.
“Yes. I heard the last one got reported for ‘lifestyle problems.’ Just a few days ago, they sent him off to the farm…”

Qiuguo looked up, scratching her head in surprise.
“Huh? Wasn’t the last leader already fifty or sixty? And he still had lifestyle problems?”

She remembered last year when she and Wang Di had been sent by Grandma to the meat station to buy pork. While they stood in line, Wang Di had secretly pointed to the head of the cooperative next door, eyes full of longing, and whispered that she wanted to marry a capable man like him one day. Just looking at him, she said, you could tell his family never lacked meat or eggs! Wang Di’s mother had told her too: it doesn’t matter if a man is old or ugly—so long as he has money and ration tickets, life would be good.

Qiuguo had looked at the man’s bulging belly and balding head and thought: …well, if you say so.

Grandma Wang gave a disdainful snort.
“Men—” She was about to launch into a lecture but, seeing the four bright‑eyed children before her, she waved her hand instead.
“Forget it. You’ll understand when you grow up. In this world, it’s always the women who end up suffering.”

“Oh…” Qiuguo sighed. Adults were always like this—whenever they didn’t want to explain, they said, ‘you’ll understand when you grow up.’

But Chunliu, who in her previous life had lived well past Grandma Wang’s current age, immediately understood from the old lady’s tone and expression what she meant. Smiling, she said:
“Grandma Wang, we’ll let you get back to your work. Grandma’s waiting for us. We’ll come chat again when we have time.”

Grandma Wang nodded.
“Good, good. Off you go, children.”

As the four siblings walked away, Grandma Wang muttered to herself with a nod:
“No wonder they’re city children—so thoughtful and well‑mannered, speaking gently and politely with their elders. Truly good kids.”