Chapter 27.2

“When digging, pay attention to safety and don’t get separated, okay?” Ning Shu reminded.

“Okay,” the children responded.

At County Second High School,

Lin Xiaojing is 18 years old this year, in her third year of high school. She started school late, with average grades.

When she took the high school entrance exam in junior high, she took it twice.

The first time she didn’t pass, so she repeated a year before finally getting in.

Seeing that she’ll be graduating from high school next year, many of her classmates are already looking for jobs in advance.

Some classmates have even stopped coming to class, either to avoid being sent to the countryside or because they’ve taken over their family’s work, or they’ve found work with the help of their family.

And her?                                                              

Lin Xiaojing thought about the situation at home. Her parents and elder brothers are all farmers, without any influential background.

Although her third brother is a military officer, he isn’t around here. Moreover, she caused trouble in the past, leading her third brother to marry that bad woman, Ning Shu.

How could she have the face to ask her third brother for help?

After that bad woman Ning Shu married her third brother, it was fine, but what about her? Lazy, indulgent, and not taking care of the three nephews.

Every time she thinks about it, she regrets deeply.

“Lin Xiaojing…” Someone on a bicycle stopped next to Lin Xiaojing. “Are you going home? I can give you a ride.” It was one of Lin Xiaojing’s high school classmates.

County High School ends at four o’clock. Because tomorrow is Sunday and there’s no school, if it gets too late, some students who live far away will reach home after dark.

Lin Xiaojing usually walks home. By five o’clock, someone from her family will wait for her at the commune, so she can be picked up before it gets dark, avoiding her walking alone in the dark, which is unsafe for a young girl.

“No, thanks.” Lin Xiaojing is very cautious about interactions between boys and girls now.

Since the incident involving Lin Guodong and Ning Shu, she’s afraid that if she gets close to any male classmates, she’ll be pressured into marriage.

“Don’t be polite. We’re classmates, we should help each other.” The boy stood in front of Lin Xiaojing, trying to pull her. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

Lin Xiaojing stepped back. “I said no, please leave.” This boy has been pestering her lately, even sending her food at school.

She has declined, yet he keeps insisting, leading many classmates to misunderstand their relationship.

“Why are you so polite?” The boy grinned. “Lin Xiaojing, do you dislike me?”

“I don’t dislike you,” Lin Xiaojing frowned. Why is this person so annoying?

“If you don’t like me, then you must like me now,” the boy’s eyes lit up.

“I don’t like you either. Please don’t bother me,” Lin Xiaojing stepped back a few steps. She noticed someone passing by had stopped to watch them, making her nervous, afraid of being misunderstood.

Lin Xiaojing tightened her backpack and then, while the boy was pushing his bicycle, she turned around and ran.

“Lin Xiaojing…” The boy wanted to chase after her, but it was inconvenient with his bicycle. “Hah, you can run but you can’t hide.”

The boy’s name is Zhang Zihao. He found Lin Xiaojing attractive, so his interest in her was genuine.

Originally, he wasn’t in a hurry. But recently, there’s been a lot of pressure to go to the countryside, and it’s difficult to avoid.

To stay in town, there are only two options: having a job or getting married. For the moment, his family can’t arrange a job for him, unless one of his parents gives up their job for him.

But if they give him the job, his salary won’t be that high right after entering the factory. Moreover, his parents are unwilling to give up their jobs.

So, the only option left is marriage. But he doesn’t want to marry a girl he doesn’t like, which is why he’s interested in Lin Xiaojing.

However, Lin Xiaojing hasn’t shown any response to him, which makes him a bit anxious.

Today, he saw Lin Xiaojing immediately after school and chased after her.

No, he can’t keep waiting like this, or else he’ll have to go to the countryside.

Lin Xiaojing ran desperately… she ran and ran, not knowing how long she had been running.

She finally stopped, gasping for air, and saw no sign of Zhang Zihao behind her. She felt weak and sat down on the ground.

At Qinglin Bay Production Base,

“Babies, you’ve done a great job,” Ning Shu looked at a large basket and three small baskets placed together, feeling very pleased.

The three little ones were too tired; they had collected quite a lot of wild vegetables in the afternoon.

The three little ones, with their rosy cheeks, looked adorable.

“Great… great…” Sanbao, who had spent the afternoon playing outside with his mother, was also happy.

He just learned a new word, “great,” and immediately said it.

“Yeah, Sanbao, aren’t your brothers great?” Ning Shu rubbed his little head, which had a few beads of sweat on it.

“Great… Sanbao great…” Sanbao pointed at himself with his tiny finger, his eyes shining as he looked at his mother, clearly wanting praise too.

“Yes, Sanbao and your brothers are all great together,” Ning Shu couldn’t leave him out, of course.

“You play nicely with your brothers, Sanbao, while I go make dinner. Hai Cai, stay for dinner tonight.”

“Okay.” Although he didn’t understand, it didn’t stop Sanbao from feeling like he did.

“Okay,” Lin Haicai replied out of habit.

Ning Shu went into the kitchen, first tidying up the things in the sack and putting them in a basket.

Currently, there were 3 pears, 4 tangerines, and 18 apples. She picked up four apples and walked outside. “Kids…”

The little ones playing in the courtyard looked at her, especially when they saw the apples in her hand, their eyes lit up.

“You’ve worked hard today. Each of you can have an apple. Yi bao, as the eldest brother, you can distribute them.”

“Okay.” Yi bao stepped forward and took the apple from his mother’s arms. Holding the apples, uncertain about who to give them to first due to their different sizes, he suddenly had an idea.

“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets the biggest apple. The winner gets the biggest one, okay?”

“Okay, big brother,” Erbao was an unconditional supporter of his older brother.

“Okay, eldest brother,” Lin Haicai had never had an apple before; he licked his lips, unable to take his eyes off them.

So, the three kids and a doll began their serious game of rock-paper-scissors. Or rather, among the three kids, Lin Haicai won.

Eventually, Lin Haicai and Sanbao had to play rock-paper-scissors.

Then, Lin Haicai’s ordeal began: “Sanbao, rock-paper-scissors…” Lin Haicai showed rock.

“Paper…” Sanbao said “paper” with his mouth, making everyone think he won.

But when he extended his hand, it was also a rock, just like Lin Haicai’s.

“Paper paper paper…” He felt one word wasn’t enough and repeated it three more times.

Yibao sighed, “Forget it, I’ll take Sanbao’s place. Haicai, let’s… rock-paper-scissors…” Yibao showed paper.

“Rock-paper-scissors…” Lin Haicai showed scissors. “I win.”

Yibao handed him the largest one, “Here, Haicai.”

“Ah.” Lin Haicai held the biggest apple and sniffed it vigorously, “It smells so good.”

He really wanted to take a big bite.

With three apples left, Yibao suggested, “Er bao, let’s hide two and eat one first.” Since the three brothers always shared everything, there was no need to compete for size.

“Okay, bro. I’ll go get Sanbao’s spoon,” Erbao ran into the kitchen and quickly returned with Sanbao’s wooden spoon.

Yibao took a bite first, then used the spoon to feed Sanbao some apple pulp before taking another bite himself.

The three brothers shared and enjoyed the apples together.

Lin Haicai looked at his apple. He couldn’t bear to finish it all at once, so he decided to eat half now and save the rest for tomorrow.

In the kitchen, Ning Shu was cooking.

So, the four of them sat neatly again.

“Haicai, you should come over for breakfast tomorrow too,” Ning Shu thought. Having him come over for breakfast and then going to pick wild vegetables afterward wasn’t exploitation of the kids; it was because the food Haicai ate at the old house wasn’t as nutritious as here.

Since that’s the case, she might as well have him come over and be self-sufficient.

“Okay,” Lin Haicai, being young and not understanding politeness, happily agreed, swinging his little legs around.

Ning Shu was pleased too. Her requirements weren’t high; if Lin Haicai, a little kid, picked one jin of vegetables a day, he could be self-sufficient.

After sorting all the vegetables, Ning Shu weighed them in an empty room. They had 5 jin of shepherd’s purse and 3 jin of Malabar spinach.

This was the result of the four of them working for two hours in the afternoon. Since no products were shelved today, the shepherd’s purse couldn’t last long, but the chestnuts could wait.

However, 5 jin of shepherd’s purse wasn’t much; it wouldn’t fetch a lot.

After shelving the vegetables, Ning Shu checked today’s five group-buying products and found that the others were sold out, but there were still four packages of tofu.

She didn’t hesitate to buy them directly, planning to ask Zhang Min if she wanted them in a few days. If Zhang Min didn’t want them, she would find Li Fei.

However, the balance of 129 yuan became 85 yuan.

Enough browsing. Time to have some dumplings for comfort.

Ning Shu walked out of the empty room. “Kids, are you hungry? It’s time to eat. Haicai, go tell them at the old house.”

“I’m hungry, I’ve been hungry for a while. What are we having for dinner?” Erbao immediately asked.

Lin Haicai had just taken a bite of his apple, but when he heard Auntie San’s words, he immediately stopped biting.

However, he couldn’t resist licking the apple again with his tongue. “Okay, Auntie San,” he then ran back home.

“Mom, are we having dinner this early? Everyone hasn’t finished working yet,” Yibao hesitantly asked.

“Are you hungry though?” Ning Shu asked in return.

Indeed, they were hungry, so Yibao nodded.

“Children shouldn’t let themselves go hungry. Being hungry can make you sick, so if you’re hungry at home, you should tell me,” Ning Shu said.

It’s not good for the body to stay hungry all the time.

“Mom, what if we eat dinner and then get hungry again?” Erbao asked.

“Then tell me when you get hungry again,” Ning Shu smiled.

She wasn’t going to tell him. If she did, this clever Erbao would definitely pretend to be hungry just to eat.

“Okay,” Erbao’s eyes flickered. He decided to tell Mom when he got hungry again after dinner. Hehe…

“Auntie San…” Lin Haicai came back quickly, carrying a small basket!