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At noon, the couple returned home only to find their children missing, with a pile of sweet potatoes and potatoes on the ground.
Zhang Lan, unaware of the situation, asked, “Zhenhe, how did these things end up in our house? Could someone else have given them to us?”
Wang Zhenhe noticed the missing basket in the corner of the house and understood what had happened. “Wife, with everyone struggling for food, who could have given us these things? The children must have picked them from the fields. You go prepare lunch, I’ll go meet these little rascals.”
Initially, Zhang Lan didn’t fully grasp the situation, but after her husband left, she realized. Touched by the children’s thoughtfulness, she worried about them, wondering how they were coping in the cold weather.
With teary eyes, she started cooking. Today, she specially made a dish using the potatoes the children had gathered, adding some oil. She also added diced sweet potatoes from the children to the corn porridge, and steamed an egg mixed with oysters wrapped in a circle of bread.
When Wang Zhenhe arrived at the fields, their four children were still busy. Their small figures pierced his eyes.
While other children in the neighborhood were playing around, their children were already toiling for the family’s livelihood.
“Children, I’m here,” he shouted loudly at the kids busy picking things in the field, bent over at the waist.
His call startled all four children. “Dad, come over here quickly,” Mingyuan shouted from a distance.
Seeing Wang Zhenhe, Wang Qian and the others quickly started gathering the things from the ground into the basket. They had a bountiful harvest that morning, likely enough to sustain the family for a month.
As he approached, he realized how capable his children were. There was still a pile on the ground. “Dad, take these back home first, then come back with an empty basket. That should be enough.”
“Qianqian, didn’t we agree you wouldn’t come today? Why did you sneak out? Does your head still hurt?” Wang Zhenhe crouched down, touching his child’s reddened face and cold hands.
Wang Qian stuck out her tongue, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Dad, I’m feeling much better today. I took medicine this morning, and I’m full of energy now.” To prove she wasn’t lying, she extended her little arm and gestured.
Picking up his youngest daughter, he called out to his sons in the distance, “Mingyuan, Mingcheng, you two stay here and watch. Dad will be back soon. I’m taking your sisters with me.”
The two children waved to show they understood. “Xuan’er, hold your sister’s hand. Dad will get the basket, and then we’ll go home together for lunch.”
The three chatted as they walked.
Halfway down the hill, Wang Qian noticed some familiar straw in the field. “Dad, was soybean planted in this area last year?”
Wang Zhenhe turned to see the curious look on his daughter’s face and chuckled. “My clever daughter. This entire area was planted with soybeans.”
Wang Qian, pulling her sister’s hand, sneaked a quick look around the field. “Sis, look, there are still soybeans on the ground. We can come back this afternoon to pick them. Once the field is plowed, we won’t find any.”
Being a local, Wang Xuan was still quite innocent in her thoughts and didn’t quite understand her sister’s intentions. “Sis, what’s the use of those soybeans?”
Wang Qian felt it necessary to give her simple-minded sister a little lesson. “Sis, why do we plant soybeans in our production team?”
Of course, Wang Xuan knew the answer. “To make soybean oil.”
Wang Qian continued, “Can’t we pick up these unwanted soybeans and make our own oil? Even if we can’t make oil, we can sprout them to eat. In a few days, once the field is plowed, there will be nothing left.”
It finally dawned on Wang Xuan what her sister meant. “Oh, I understand. We’ll come pick them after we finish lunch.”
Wang Zhenhe, walking ahead, had no inkling of this, while the two children behind had already made plans. When the father and his two daughters returned home, Zhang Lan had already prepared lunch, eagerly awaiting the children’s return.
As Wang Zhenhe entered with two baskets, Zhang Lan was surprised. She hadn’t expected the children to have gathered so much, almost matching what they had collected last year.
“Zhenhe, where are the kids?”
“Mom, we’re back.” The two girls entered the house hand in hand.
“Wife, I need to go back. The two boys are still on the hill, and we haven’t brought everything. We’ll be back soon.”
Without saying much more, Wang Zhenhe picked up the baskets and two crates from the ground and headed out.
“Hey, come back early to have dinner,” Zhang Lan shouted at their retreating figures.
The two sisters warmed up on the kang for a while after washing their hands. Zhang Lan helped the children take off their big woolen hats and felt their foreheads. Not feverish. She heaved a sigh of relief.
“Girls, are you hungry? If so, you can eat first. I’ll save your dad and brother’s portions in the pot,” Zhang Lan, fearing the two children might be hungry, planned to feed them first.
But Wang Xuan shook her head. “Mom, we’re not hungry. We’ll eat when dad and the others come back.”
Holding her eldest daughter’s hand, Zhang Lan noticed that the children’s hands were chapped and ice-cold. Looking at their yellowish faces, she could tell their nutrition was lacking, and they were thin and dried out.
Her own children were like this, but her mother-in-law even made them help her younger sister-in-law wash clothes. It was heartbreaking to think about.
“Mom, sis and I are going to pick soybeans this afternoon. When we pick a lot, we can sprout them at home to eat,” the younger daughter snuggled up, holding her mother’s hand.
Full of affection for this darling child, Zhang Lan hugged her and sat her in her lap. “Qianqian, wear more clothes when you pick the soybeans, and don’t forget to take your medicine at noon.” She touched the large bump on the child’s head, which had started to soften. “Does it still hurt?”
Nestled in her mother’s arms, Wang Qian looked blissful. Since her parents’ divorce in her past life, she hadn’t experienced this kind of maternal love. “Mom, it doesn’t hurt anymore. A few more days of medicine, and I’ll be fine.”
“Mom, today we picked a lot of sweet potatoes and potatoes. It should last us for a while. We didn’t expect to find so much in the field,” Wang Xuan told her mother about their day’s work.
“I never expected you to be so capable. You’re much better than us adults,” Zhang Lan looked satisfied. Her children were thoughtful and took care of the family. With such children, even if she lived a bit poorly, she would be content.
The three of them sat on the kang for a while, and Wang Zhenhe returned with full baskets, while the brothers also carried full baskets.
Wang Zhenhe put down what he had been carrying, took a long breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, “Finally, we’re home. Kids, let’s wash our hands and have dinner.”
Zhang Lan quickly poured water for them to wash their hands. Seeing what they had brought back, she was shocked. “Zhenhe, the kids picked all this. How come there’s so much more than what we collected when we were on duty?”
Wang Zhenhe’s wheat-colored face immediately lit up with a smile, and his deep eyes exuded a faint sense of pride. “Can’t you see how capable our kids are? They covered a large area and picked it all. They’ve worked hard this morning. Let’s eat quickly. We’ll be back to work soon.”
This meal filled the children up, and finally, they could enjoy a different taste. The sweet potato rice was deliciously sweet, and the children didn’t hold back.