Chapter 13 – Could the Farmer Uncles Stop Growing Vegetables…

The children worked together, not only pulling out all the weeds in the courtyard, but also loosening the soil on the ground with plastic shovels.

Chu An pushed a borrowed wheelbarrow, ready to head to the place Ni HouziLai Boyuan had mentioned to pick out a load of beautiful stones.

But the few children glanced at her, then glanced again.

Chu An was puzzled. “What?”

Mei Qiukuai said: “Boss, you’d better take a break. We’ll handle the work.”

If Chu An finished everything, what would be left for them to do?

Huo Ran, for once, agreed with Mei Qiukuai and gave a reserved nod.

Huo Mian even huffed and puffed as she dragged over a bamboo chair, motioning for Chu An to sit.

Chu An immediately understood their intention and readily said: “Alright, I’ll rest, and I’ll leave this challenging task to you to complete!”

The children chorused: “We guarantee to finish the mission!”

Chu An went inside to bring out some washed fruit and tea for the children, then sat back comfortably on the bamboo chair. She watched them chanting “One-two, one-two” as they unloaded the stones from the wheelbarrow into the courtyard, then laid them one by one according to the shape Chu An had planned.

The chosen stones were indeed plump and smooth. Chu An overheard them discussing: “Put the cloud-shaped stones here, the pearl-like stones in the middle.” and couldn’t help but smile.

The way the children described it, it really was like paving the courtyard floor with clouds, pearls, and suns—a different kind of romance.

By evening, the backyard renovation was basically complete.

The yard, once overgrown with weeds, was now neatly paved with small stones. The loosened soil on both sides had enough space left for planting flowers and trees. It seemed the children’s hands-on skills were actually quite impressive.

Chu An praised them generously, awarding each one a crude medal carved from apple slices. The easily-pleased children, their cheeks flushed, followed her to return the wheelbarrow.

Knock, knock, knock.

The courtyard gate was rapped on. Li Xia, who had been chatting with Cui Sinan, poked her head out and saw Chu An with a line of children behind her.

“Oh, so many little ones.”

“Yes, they’re the great heroes who helped me renovate the backyard!” Chu An said with a smile.

The children holding apple-slice medals puffed out their chests.

Chu An handed a few apples to Li Xia. “Aunt Li, thank you for your wheelbarrow. These are apples Zeye bought yesterday—please have some.”

Li Xia waved her hand in embarrassment. “Oh, it was just lending a wheelbarrow, no need to give me fruit.”

“Aunt Li, don’t be so formal with me.” Chu An exchanged a few polite words until Li Xia accepted the apples.

In a courtyard community, mutual exchanges were the norm. Chu An wasn’t interested in deliberately cozying up to people, but it never hurt to build a good relationship with the neighbors in passing.

Li Xia, always a warm-hearted person, smiled even more brightly after taking the apples. “I just brewed some black tea—why don’t you bring the kids in to have a taste?”

She stepped aside and added: “Coincidentally, Little Cui is here too. You’re about the same age, so you’ll surely have something to talk about.”

Only then did Chu An notice Cui Sinan, the mother of the novel’s protagonist, standing behind her.

She nodded politely to Cui Sinan and smiled at Li Xia. “Thank you, Aunt Li, but I still have to get back to plant the flowers. I’ll visit your house another day.”

Huo Mian waved her plastic shovel. “Yes, we still have to plant flowers!”

Cui Sinan’s expression was somewhat strange. Ever since she had met Chu An in the canteen last time, she had given up on the idea of trying to approach Huo Zeye.

After all, with such a beautiful wife, the chances of Huo Zeye divorcing her should be slim.

But even though Cui Sinan had given up on that idea, she still felt uneasy. Now, looking again at Chu An’s hands as she handed over the apples—clean, pale, clearly untouched by much housework—she felt a subtle and indescribable shift in her mood.

What use was beauty? If a woman didn’t know how to do housework, wasn’t she just a decorative vase at home?

Marrying this kind of woman was no different from inviting an ancestor to live in the house.

Logically speaking, whether Chu An did housework or not had nothing to do with Cui Sinan. But it was one thing for her to slack off herself—now she was even making the children help with chores.

Cui Sinan couldn’t bear it any longer. She felt it was her duty to give the other woman a reminder.

So she smiled and asked: “Comrade Chu, are you planning to have the children help you plant flowers?”

Chu An didn’t know the intention behind the question. “Yes.”

“Oh my, the seaside sun is fierce! What if the children get sunburned?” Cui Sinan shook her head, giving her a look that seemed to say, You’re still too young to think things through.

Chu An felt a subtle shift in the air. “No need to worry. The backyard has walls that block the sun—it won’t reach them.”

Seeing that she wouldn’t take the hint, Cui Sinan sighed heavily. “Comrade Chu, I’m telling you this for your own good—children are still young. Don’t make them do such heavy, tiring work.”

Cui Sinan thought she was kindly offering advice, but her lofty, lecturing tone left Chu An slightly annoyed.

Before Chu An could respond, Huo Ran jumped in anxiously. “What do you know? We can do this!”

If this strange aunt really convinced Sister-in-law not to let them fix up the backyard, what would they do?

The other rascals were even less restrained, chiming in one after another:

“We’re working willingly! Mind your own business!”

“Yeah! Why can’t we plant flowers?”

…

Cui Sinan was stunned. She had seen children desperately avoiding work, but never ones fighting over the chance to do it.

Had Chu An fed them some kind of brainwashing potion?

“Children should be polite!” Chu An scolded lightly, then looked up at Cui Sinan with a smile. “You see, they want to help me fix the backyard.”

So perhaps you should take care of your own matters first.

Even Li Xia, who had been watching from the side, gave Cui Sinan another look.

Little Cui was usually gentle and courteous—why did she seem so sharp today?

Having been publicly left in an awkward position, Cui Sinan forced a pale smile. “I was being nosy.”

Chu An didn’t give the brief episode much thought. She bid Li Xia goodbye and headed to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy flower seeds. The rascals had all been called home by their parents to prepare for dinner, so on her way back with the seeds, Chu An took the chance to give the two cubs a little lesson on flower care.

“Flowers need proper watering—more in summer, less in winter. Pay attention to adequate sunlight, and during their growth period, fertilize regularly…”

Huo Ran listened without understanding much, covering his head in confusion. “Planting flowers sounds so troublesome!”

Of course it did—which was exactly why she had chosen low-maintenance, easy-to-grow flowers.

Chu An thought so inwardly, but outwardly she said: “Actually, it’s the same with vegetables. You don’t just fertilize them—farmer uncles also have to protect them from big bugs that chew up the leaves. It’s very hard work.”

Then she shifted the topic. “Since farmer uncles work so hard to grow vegetables, can we be picky and waste them?”

Huo Mian struggled internally for a long time before finally shaking her head. “No—way—”

Chu An’s sharp gaze turned to the other cub.

Huo Ran pulled a face and said: “Farmer uncles really do work hard… so… can we ask them to just stop planting?”

Chu An: “…”

This brat.