Today, Su Xiangwan finally received her 50 yuan salary for the month from Song Qingshan, along with 5 yuan for labor insurance and a food coupon.

She quickly went to the Hongxing commune and bought a toothbrush for each of the two children, as well as a bar of soap for washing their faces.

With the food coupons, she bought a pound of butter cookies and placed them in a milk powder can to save as reserve food for the three children.

Lu Dan was very excited.

He picked up the toothbrush, pretended to squeeze some toothpaste, and squatted next to his father to brush his teeth. He felt, “If you have it, I have it too. We’re both men.”

Song Qingshan deliberately called out, “Song Donghai?”

Lu Dan immediately responded, “Hmm,” then turned around and started brushing his teeth again.

What a nice name.

The last batch of radishes and cabbages was planted today, just before the frost would set in.

Su Xiangwan put Zhi Zhi on her back and hurried off to work.

She had already submitted her request to run for village secretary, which had been sent by Zhao Guodong. With the National Day holiday approaching, the village was about to elect a new village secretary.

Therefore, before the election, pushing herself and enduring some hardship was necessary.

Recently, in order to be elected, she made sure to do good deeds wherever she saw them. She worked hard every day without slacking off.

Whenever the women in the village had any household matters, she was quick to get involved, hoping to be remembered by everyone.

About three days later, Song Qingshan brought in a big wolfdog and tied it up in the yard.

The people of Songjia Village didn’t have the habit of raising dogs.

It wasn’t that they didn’t like them, but raising them required food, and these years of hunger meant that even if there were a stray dog, villagers would end up eating it.

This place, aside from people, didn’t even have flying birds.

“Here, this is Gou Dan. Let it smell you; you are its master. It will recognize you as its owner from now on,” Song Qingshan said.

The wolfdog looked fierce, but when Gou Dan touched its head, it immediately started wagging its tail.

“It has a name. You can call it Shanzi,” Song Qingshan said while rubbing the dog’s collar. “We can’t let it out, though. If it bites someone, it’s really fierce.”

“Shanzi? It shares the same name as my Uncle Shanzi?” Gou Dan touched its ear, finding it amusing.

Lu Dan, with much more experience, brought Zhi Zhi over. “She’s your master too. Remember, as long as she’s around, you can’t bark loudly, or she’ll cry.”

At that moment, Zhi Zhi was nibbling on a bun her mom had given her.

Like most children, she liked soft, fluffy things, so she reached out and handed it over.

Su Xiangwan looked at her chubby little hand, actually feeling a bit scared. She was worried the dog might bite her.

Unexpectedly, Shanzi gently licked the bun out of Zhi Zhi’s hand, then nuzzled into her chest, wagging its tail.

“This dog is so well-behaved. Won’t it go mad and bite someone? Song Qingshan, do you know about rabies? Has this dog been quarantined?” Su Xiangwan was still a little scared of dogs because this one looked a bit too fierce.

Song Qingshan replied, “It’s a police dog. Its previous owner was a police officer, but it’s been assigned here to the reservoir. We’ll take care of it for a while. When I’m not around, it’ll guard the house and protect us from thieves.”

“To prevent theft or to prevent people? Song Qingshan, you’re really something,” Su Xiangwan crossed her arms and said.

Clearly, he was worried that Zhao Guodong would find a way to break in during his absence, so he brought a dog to guard the house, making it sound so noble.

Since it was a police dog, it was surely well-trained and unlikely to have rabies.

Su Xiangwan shook Shanzi’s paw, said hello, and the dog immediately turned in a circle, wagging its tail.

“How did you know about rabies?” Song Qingshan keenly noticed a few unfamiliar words in Su Xiangwan’s vocabulary.

Su Xiangwan, hoping to irritate Song Qingshan, responded, “A cultured cadre taught me.”

Song Qingshan started the tractor, suddenly remembering that he wasn’t using it today.

He had to suppress his anger and carefully reminded Big Mountain before leaving.

From now on, Su Xiangwan had to stretch that 50 yuan to feed six mouths every month.

The wool had been spun into thread, washed, and was now hanging under the eaves.

After planting the last batch of cabbage and radishes, she would plant the family’s reserved land.

Su Xiangwan didn’t have her own reserved land, so she ran to help Xiong Danma plant vegetables.

Right now, they were planting things like red onions and chives, which were perennial vegetables.

If they planted them now, watered them before winter, and then sealed them in the frost, these vegetables would not only be ready early next spring, but they would also yield double the amount compared to those grown by the commune.

In between the onion rows, Su Xiangwan taught Xiong Danma to interplant many medicinal herbs, such as Dangshen, Huangqi, and Chaihu.

These herbs would grow slowly during the winter, and once the soil thawed in spring, they could be harvested and sold at high prices.

For the small piece of reserved land, Su Xiangwan spent three yuan, but it was well worth it.

This land would become a demonstration site for all the villagers, and she couldn’t afford to be careless.

With the Xiong Danma’s son working alongside her, Su Xiangwan still had to explain why they were planting this way and the benefits of intercropping.

Suddenly, they heard the barking of a dog from not far away, right near the labor camp.

Before Su Xiangwan could run, Lu Dan had already dashed out: “Mom, mom, it’s definitely a thief at our house!”

“Sheep wool, our sheep wool,” Gou Dan was also barking: “I haven’t worn a sweater in two winters; someone must have stolen my wool.”

Su Xiangwan grabbed the hoe and rushed toward the house. Just in time, she saw Old Lady Song at the door, pulling on the dog.

In her arms, the old lady was holding the wool that Su Xiangwan had painstakingly bought, processed, and spun into yarn.

The gate of the labor camp was locked, and Su Xiangwan didn’t have the key. Her small house had a lock, but the wool was drying in the yard. Fortunately, there was a dog today, or the old lady would have stolen the wool.

“Su Xiangwan, where did this vicious dog come from? Take it away immediately!” The old lady shouted loudly.

This was after Old Song had cried for several days since his return.

The old lady had no place to vent her anger, so she remembered the wool that Su Xiangwan had taken from her and came to take it back.

Who would have thought they had such a large wolf dog!

Old lady Song had been bitten, and she was furious!

Su Xiangwan had originally thought that if it were Old Song, she would just drop the hoe. But since it was the old lady, she decided to let it go.

Thank goodness it was just a police dog; if it had been a vicious dog, the old lady would have been torn to shreds today.

Su Xiangwan took the yarn back from Old Lady Song’s hands. Looking at the big bruises on the old lady’s feet where the dog had bitten her, she deliberately said, “Your son raised a dog that keeps watch for thieves at my house. Who would have known it would bite you?”

Surprised? Surprised, right?

Song Qingshan should see this tonight. He’ll see that his old mother tried to steal from others and got bitten by the dog!

Holding the wool, Su Xiangwan tugged on her fierce dog and entered the yard.

The dog at Song Qingshan’s house bit the old lady, and she didn’t manage to get the yarn.

Instead, her feet were left with several blue dog bite marks.

She limped back to the old house, constantly wiping away her tears.

Of course, she was also upset in her heart.

“You deserved it. If you think the division of the family is unfair, say it to someone’s face. Ask if Xiangwan is willing to give it to you. If she agrees, then take it. That’s fine. But you went and stole the yarn, and the dog bit you. If this gets out, people will laugh at you!” Old Man Song couldn’t find any cotton to help the old lady clean her wound.

He tore a bit from the quilt, boiled it in hot water, and carefully helped her wipe her injury.

The old lady had her reasons: “Back then, Xiangwan stole the yarn from me, so why can’t I steal it back?”

Old Man Song said, “Enough, enough. I’ve seen through Laosan. He’s just a useless person. Look at that, such a good job at the reservoir, and he worked for seven days. He’s been sleeping for three days since he came back and still lost 500 yuan to Old Dage. If you’re free, help Xiangwan take care of the children and look after Old Dage’s house. That could be a way to make up for the 500 yuan Old Laosan lost to Old Dage. But you went and stole things. What are you making me look like?”

Well, when it came to Laosan, he was the old lady’s heartache.

She never expected that her youngest son, who was so smooth-talking, would turn out to be such a coward.

It seemed that Laosan had truly been spoiled by her.

The sound of heavy footsteps approached. It was clearly Song Qingshan.

The old lady and Old Man Song quickly closed their mouths.

Song Qingshan also came home at night and learned that the old lady had been bitten by the dog.

He went in and first checked her wounds.

After all, it was a dog.

Although police dogs were not supposed to have rabies by rule, he still needed to check and see if it had drawn blood.

The old lady’s feet were covered in blue bruises.

Song Qingshan felt heartbroken and poured out some alcohol, carefully wiping her wounds with cotton.

After a while, the bruising started to fade.

As for Song Laosan, although he was a coward outside, he was quite bold at home.

After sleeping a long nap, he woke up and heard that the old lady had been bitten by the big brother’s dog.

He immediately got up and rushed over. “Dage, this must be Big Sao’s fault. Look at Mom’s feet. Ah, you must compensate Mom with some nutrition money.”

As expected, the kettle was being touched when it shouldn’t have been.

Old Man Song squinted, and the old lady was startled. “What’s this nutrition money? Laosan, tell your big brother to go back quickly. Mom’s fine, really.”

She didn’t want this matter to be spread around, especially since it was related to stealing things and being bitten by the dog.

“Mom, what if that dog is rabid and bites you? You could get rabies. This is serious. Dage must compensate,” Laosan insisted.

Song Qingshan was packing away the alcohol, cotton, and tape when he suddenly looked up and said, “Laosan, didn’t we write a contract that you would take care of our parents?”

Song Laosan looked at his big brother with a half-smile, wearing an old military jacket, a white shirt, two thick eyebrows, and his fists clenched.

His eyes were cold, and he felt inexplicably afraid.

The three brothers were close in age, with Laosan being only three years younger than the other two.

When they were little, the old lady always favored Laosan the most since he was the youngest.

Of course, once Laosan was born, Laoda and Laoer became like the “vegetable root”—all meals were cooked in one pot, Laosan would have the thick part of the porridge, while the older brothers would have the thin part.

If there were any rare food, the older brothers would just watch; Laosan was the one who got to eat it all.

Because of this, Laosan had often been beaten by his two older brothers behind the scenes when he was young.

However, when the old lady was around, Laoda and Laoer dared not touch him.

This gave Laosan a bad habit—he was domineering in front of the old lady but incredibly cowardly outside.

Of course, the old lady was his shield, and she was also his treasured sword.

Laosan was afraid that his brothers would take her away.

He spoke firmly, “Of course, Dad and Mom are supported by me for life. No one can take them away.”

“You support Mom, so you have to take care of her. She’s this old now, with three sons and three daughters. One of the daughters is the head of the county Women’s Federation. In this village, she should be highly respected and a role model for all the women. But she went and stole from her daughter-in-law.

If people find out, not only would Second Brother have to fired, but Big Sister might also lose her job as Women’s Federation head and be transferred to the match factory to make matchboxes. Our entire Song family would be laughed at by everyone,” Song Qingshan said.