The next day, work began.

The whole family — four adults and two children — set out in a grand procession.

Su Ze and Zhou Wanwan carried Dabao and Xiaobao on their backs, while behind them Su Huaiyuan and Qiao Jiuru each carried a stone weighing about three or four jin (around 1.5 to 2 kg).

These stones were prepared as stools for the two little ones.

At the production team’s headquarters, the family appeared together in front of the other members for the first time.

The members had already seen Su Huaiyuan and his son Su Ze yesterday, and many had also seen Zhou Wanwan in the afternoon.

But this was the first time they saw Qiao Jiuru and the two children, Dabao and Xiaobao.

“There are two children too.”

“Such small kids, this is really troublesome.”

“These two children are so good-looking, and they look so much alike.”

“Twins, probably.”

“They look like twins to me.”

“Definitely twins.”

“And both boys, too.”

“Yes, two boys, and they seem to be just over one year old.”

“They really look well.”

…

The male members didn’t comment much on Dabao and Xiaobao, but their eyes were full of envy.

The women whispered to each other, their hearts filled with admiration.

Dabao and Xiaobao, with wide eyes, curiously looked at the crowd.

They were neither shy nor afraid.

They had seen big scenes like this before in the capital university dormitory, so they were not intimidated.

Qiao Jiuru was used to these envious looks — son preference was everywhere, and besides, Dabao and Xiaobao really were good-looking.

After Cai Qingwen arrived, he stood quietly beside the Su family, though without exchanging words.

His complexion was much better than when he came last night, and the look he gave Qiao Jiuru was full of gratitude.

After taking a cough suppressant yesterday, Zhou Meihua stopped coughing.

Before sleeping, she took an anti-inflammatory pill as Qiao Jiuru instructed, and she slept very well throughout the night.

In the morning, he cooked millet porridge for his wife, told her to drink brown sugar water, and watched carefully as she took another cough suppressant and anti-inflammatory pill before he felt assured enough to go to work.

Qiao Jiuru said it was best to take the cough suppressant and anti-inflammatory medicine continuously for a week, eat more nourishing food, and after recovery, take some qi- and blood-nourishing pills for maintenance.

Today, Bai Lianshan also wasn’t surprised to see Qiao Jiuru’s family of six appear; he just glanced a bit longer at Dabao and Xiaobao.

Seeing their good spirits made him feel relieved.

Today’s task for the production team was still to dig the land.

They had to dig all the fields before allowing the precious livestock to work on the soil.

Su Huaiyuan, Su Ze, Qiao Jiuru, and Zhou Wanwan each received a hoe and the day’s assignment: two mu (about one-third of a hectare) of land per person.

Not too much, not too little.

After applying ointment last night, Zhou Wanwan and Su Ze also took a pill to strengthen their bodies, went to bed early, and felt better than yesterday.

Their hands no longer hurt, and they brought gloves today, no longer reluctant to do fieldwork.

The land allocated to the family was all together, and today Cai Qingwen proactively asked to work beside them.

Dabao and Xiaobao were set down on the field — it was their first time on the soil and their first time seeing such a big field, so they were endlessly curious.

“Dabao, Xiaobao, Grandma placed these stones here for you. You can sit here and watch Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, and Mom work. Don’t wander off, okay?”

Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan looked over the two mu of land assigned to them, chose a spot for the kids, held their little hands, and made them sit and wait.

“Okay.”

“Grandma, I’ll listen.”

“I’ll listen too.”

From today on, Dabao and Xiaobao understood that their grandparents and parents were going to work, so they needed to behave and be obedient, nodding nicely.

“If you want to pee, call Grandma. If you’re thirsty, tell Grandma too. Here are two little sticks; you can poke holes in the dirt or draw pictures — anything you want.”

Qiao Jiuru worried the two grandchildren might get bored, so she came up with this plan to let them entertain themselves.

Unfortunately, though she had collected some comic books and picture books in her space, given the current situation, she didn’t dare to take them out to pass the time for Dabao and Xiaobao.

The two boys were delighted to have their little sticks, quickly sitting on the stones they chose and poking at the ground with the sticks.

With parents arranging and caring for their sons, Su Ze and Zhou Wanwan felt at ease and began working vigorously once in the field.

They were not dull; with their higher education came higher intelligence, and they had strategies for everything.

The young couple worked while learning and correcting as they went.

After arranging the two grandchildren, Su Huaiyuan and Qiao Jiuru chose a different direction to work from others: they dug facing directly towards Dabao and Xiaobao.

This way, they not only worked but could also occasionally look up and see the two kids in the distance — killing two birds with one stone.

Bailianshan patrolled various small teams’ fields and was surprised to find Su Huaiyuan’s family working quite briskly, though not yet skilled — but this already exceeded his expectations.

Originally, he thought the Su family wouldn’t adapt to such heavy, monotonous labor, but they adapted quickly and had a more serious attitude than most first-timers.

Dabao and Xiaobao had a great time playing — poking at the dirt, then glancing at their grandparents and parents nearby, then back to playing.

Qiao Jiuru timed their breaks to let them pee and run a little in the field.

By noon, the family of four adults had completed half of their task.

Back home, Qiao Jiuru had everyone eat some biscuits first to fill their stomachs, then started boiling water to make noodles she had prepared earlier.

There was no time to cook a full meal, so noodles were quick, simple, tasty, and filling.

Each person had two eggs with noodles and cabbage, a full and satisfying meal.

After lunch, they applied ointment to their hands and shoulders, rested for an hour, and went back to work in the afternoon with renewed energy.