This year, Dazhuang is two years old and is a little kid who doesn’t walk very steadily.

Dazhuang isn’t really big, he’s skinny and dirty all over, and he’s a very quiet child.

His name is Zhang Mingcheng, but they call him Dazhuang in hopes that he will grow sturdier.

The first thing Dad Chen did when he brought his grandson home was to prepare a basin of warm water. With gentle and careful movements, he helped his grandson wash from head to toe until he was clean.

After the bath, Dazhuang turned out to be quite a fair-skinned child, with brows and eyes resembling his father, looking quite delicate.

“Good boy, sit next to your third uncle.” Dad Chen said as he took the dirty clothes to the well.

Chen Yuping waved at Dazhuang with a warm smile, “Come here.” He held a half bun smeared with shrimp paste, thickly spread and smelling very fragrant. “Here, eat the bun.”

Dazhuang glanced at it but didn’t move his feet.

After a while, Chen Yuping saw he wasn’t responding, so he got up and walked over, crouching down with a gentle smile, “Want to eat the bun? They say the buns made by your uncle are delicious. Smell it, doesn’t it smell nice?” After a pause, he added, “Your dad likes them too.”

“Thank you, uncle.” Dazhuang said in a soft voice, his speech a bit unclear but with a hint of milkiness. He reached out to take the bun, eating it slowly, taking small bites, but his eyes were darting around as if he was on guard, in a state of tension.

Chen Yuping didn’t want to disturb him. Seeing him eat, he busied himself with other tasks, but his heart felt a little sour.

Fortunately, Dad Chen had brought him over.

After washing the dirty clothes, Dad Chen turned and looked at his grandson, who was still standing there eating the bun, and said nothing, continuing to help his third son, but he would occasionally glance back. Once Dazhuang finished half the bun, he quickly poured a bowl of warm water, “Drink some water.”

Dazhuang obediently drank the water.

“Come sit in the kitchen.” Dad Chen took his hand and helped him onto a small stool, even ruffling his hair affectionately.

Liu Guixiang came in carrying Qiaoniu and, upon entering the kitchen, smiled widely: “Long time no see, Dazhuang! Do you remember me? I’m your second aunt, and this is your cousin Qiaoniu.”

Seeing Dazhuang look at her, Qiaoniu beamed, flapping her little arms as if wanting a hug, appearing very lively.

“Second aunt.”

“Mm.” Liu Guixiang replied sweetly, “Dad Chen, can you watch Qiaoniu for a moment? I’ll go get the basket.”

“I’ll go.”

“It’s fine, Dad Chen, I can handle it.”

So, Dad Chen took care of his granddaughter.

Liu Guixiang not only brought back the basket but also a bag of honey cakes: “Dazhuang, have some, they’re sweet. You can’t bite them, just let them melt in your mouth.” Worried he might choke, she broke off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

The sweetness made Dazhuang’s eyes light up. He looked at his second aunt and gave a shy smile.

“When Dazhuang smiles, he has dimples,” Chen Yuping thought, feeling his heart soften.

Dad Chen said, “Just like his father.”

“Dazhuang, will you play nicely with your sister?” Liu Guixiang placed Qiaoniu in the basket and moved it closer to Dazhuang.

Dazhuang nodded, curiously reaching out to gently hold his sister’s hand, but Qiaoniu grabbed his finger instead, pulling and grinning broadly, looking very happy. Dazhuang watched and began to smile too.

Seeing the two getting along well, Liu Guixiang felt reassured and went back to help her third brother.

With a little guest in the house, Chen Yuping thought about making two dishes suitable for a small child for lunch.

Shrimp with tofu and stir-fried corn. Since there were no pine nuts at home, he chopped up some pork belly, frying it until fragrant and slightly browned before adding the corn, which turned out to be very delicious.

He also made a three-flavor soup, frying the small fish until crispy and flavorful, seasoning them lightly with salt. Finally, he prepared steamed pork belly with preserved vegetables and sliced some cucumbers for a cold dish.

At just two years old, Dazhuang could eat on his own and did so very well without making a mess.

He finished the shrimp and tofu and corn that were served to him, and after drinking a bowl of three-flavor soup, when asked if he wanted more, he shook his head and put down his bowl and chopsticks.

“Do you like the dishes your uncle made?” Chen Yuping asked him with a smile.

Perhaps feeling a bit familiar after spending the morning together, Dazhuang’s eyes brightened as he nodded, indicating he liked them.

Not long after lunch, Chen Yuchun arrived.

“Dad!” Dazhuang, sitting next to the basket, saw his dad and raised his voice a bit, his eyes sparkling as he rushed over with his little arms and legs.

Chen Yuchun picked up his clean son, feeling a bit emotional at the corner of his eyes.

It’s good to have his real dad.

Father Chen glanced at his eldest son: “How could you bear to leave him in the old house?”

“Where’s An ger?” Father Chen asked. The little grandson was only four months old.

“He’s sleeping with his father.”

“Don’t worry, you can leave the child here, we’ll take him back in the evening.”

Chen Yuchun pursed his lips: “There are a lot of things to do at home…”

“Not that much,” Father Chen interrupted: “Your father and I discussed it. You can leave the child here during the day, and if you need to work in the fields, go ahead. Later, your father and I won’t bother Zhang’s family.”

“Big brother, just leave Dazhuang here. He’s very obedient and easy to take care of,” Chen Yuping added with a smile.

Liu Guixiang chimed in: “Qiaoniu likes her brother a lot, the two of them played very well together this morning.”

With this back and forth, Chen Yuchun felt warm inside. He initially didn’t want to trouble his father and dad but ultimately decided to leave Dazhuang behind.

It was indeed better to leave the child at Chen’s house, he felt more at ease.

Since Father Chen wasn’t working in the fields, Chen Yuping could also move about. He planned to go into the mountains to see if he could find some mushrooms or wood ears to bring back, even if he didn’t find firewood, that would be fine.

“I’m going into the mountains, you stay home,” Father Chen disagreed, saying it would be too hot to go up the mountain in this weather.

“I’ve been in the mountains many times this season, and I know the area well. Besides, Dad, you only know a few edible mushrooms, I’ll be careful when I go.”

Chen Yuping took a bamboo basket into the mountains.

A villager passing by to buy skewers noticed he wasn’t around and casually asked.

Father Chen felt a bit helpless: “This child doesn’t listen. It’s hot, but he still wants to go into the mountains, I can’t stop him.”

“What are you going into the mountains for?”

“We’ve almost run out of mushrooms at home, and you all love them.”

“It hasn’t rained for almost half a month, where are the mushrooms to pick? By the way, Uncle Chen, ask Ping ger if he wants dried mushrooms, I have quite a few at home.”

“Alright, I’ll ask him later.”

After the person left, Liu Guixiang said, “Not only dried mushrooms, but there are also hardly any vegetables left in the garden.”

The Chen family had only one vegetable garden. Although Chen Yuandong had been separated, he still went to the old house to pick vegetables. The couple didn’t eat much, and they often went to the old house for meals. It wasn’t worth the effort to start a new garden, it would be quite a waste of time.

A vegetable garden serving two families was more than enough to eat, and they could also dry plenty of vegetables. Now, with the business of making skewers, the demand for fresh vegetables was high, and one garden clearly wasn’t enough.

“If we buy them from the village, won’t we hardly make any money?” Father Chen pondered: “You see, if we sell two skewers for one wen, it’s from our own land and has no cost. If we buy it, we have to factor in the cost.”

Liu Guixiang thought for a moment: “Let’s wait for Ping ger to come back and see what he thinks. The vegetables in our garden can last for a few more days, but we can’t dry any more vegetables.”

“That’s no problem, we don’t eat dried vegetables much in winter anyway.”

It was still far from evening when Chen Yuping returned, his bamboo basket empty and without any firewood.

However, he was holding a small baby in his arms.