Chapter 282: Not Afraid of Hardships
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Chai knew his wife could not work in the tofu factory, but he would not despise his wife because of it. After all, He Shi did not despise him because he stuttered.
He thought if he could accept more work in the future, he would work enough for two people, making his wife feel more relaxed. Therefore, Lin Chai decided not to bring this matter up at home.
When he returned home, Miss He collected dried corn cobs in the yard. The dried corn cobs were light, and she needed them to prepare dinner. She had calculated the time for her husband to return so that he could have dinner as soon as he reached home.
Lin Chai returned and naturally took the basket from Miss He’s hands. Then he handed the five coins he had earned to her. “This is the money I’ve earned today.”
After returning from the fields these few days, Lin Chai would carefully take the money he earned and give it to his wife. Whenever Miss He received the money, she would always smile. “It must’ve been a hard day, huh?”
Lin Chai shook his head. “N -No, it wasn’t h-hard.”
After collecting his payment, he no longer felt tired since he wanted to improve his family’s conditions.
Miss He looked at her husband with heartache. ‘How could he not feel tired?’
She knew her husband did not want her to worry, so she feigned ignorance. “You should rest quickly. I’m going to cook, so dinner will be ready in a while. I didn’t expect you to get home so early today.”
Lin Chai said lowly, “W-We’ve completed the w-work on the fields, so I-I won’t have to go t-tomorrow.”
Even so, he wanted to do and earn more. Lin Chai dared not look at his wife’s expression because he feared she would feel depressed.
Miss He said smilingly, “That’s just right. You can rest at home now instead of tiring yourself out. Also, you’ve earned quite a lot for us, so let’s save up. Now we can also cut off a portion of meat and make dumplings during the New
Year.”
He had learned how to make dumplings from their neighbor, Miss Liu.
Many villagers had learned how to make dumplings from Shen Qiuhua.
Afterward, some villagers even taught their neighbors how to make them.
However, Lin Chai’s family was poor, so He Shi saved as much as possible.
She could not bear to use white flour to make dumplings when they harvested wheat during the summer. She also only used coarse flour to make wild vegetable dumplings once.
Lin Chai and his three sons said it was delicious, but even so, Miss He had to calculate the amount of coarse flour she used. They had enough to last a year but could not always make such foods.
Miss He wanted to wait until the New Year to make white flour dumplings. Lin
Chai looked at his wife’s smile and smiled back. “Y-Yes.’
He wanted to help his wife cook, but she urged him to return to his room and rest, “You should rest quickly. We’re relying on you, so it’s not good if you’re too tired.”
Their three sons were still young and could not help much. At that moment, the trio returned home. “Mother, look what we brought home!”
Their eldest son had a bundle of firewood tied behind his back, their second son used his clothes to carry something else, and their third son followed behind.
Miss He hurriedly went to her children and asked, “What did you get?”
“Mother, look.”
Miss He became excited when she saw the eggs her children had found. Her voice trembled, “Where did you find these?” She counted the eggs and realized her sons had brought home six of them.
“We found them at the mountain when Big Brother brought us to chop firewood. We found the eggs under a tree.”
Miss He happily stroked her sons’ heads, saying, “This is perfect, you guys!”
Her eldest son was only ten years old. He said, “We could incubate these eggs and raise the chicks. They can lay more eggs when they grow up, and we can sell them for money.”
He knew Su Fenchen collected chicken and duck eggs.
Lin Chai’s family only had one hen in the past. After the hen laid some eggs, Miss He saved some with great difficulty and tried selling them for money. However, they still had to set aside a few to incubate.
But Miss He only managed to hatch a rooster and a hen from those few eggs. She sold the rooster to Old Madam Su when it grew up and kept the hen to continue laying eggs.
Lin Chai’s family only had two hens that laid eggs, so they had difficulty selling them to earn money.
Nonetheless, Miss He took the six eggs her sons found and placed them in a small basket beside her. She said, “We’ll eat one of these eggs tonight. I’ll make wild vegetable soup with an egg for you guys. As for the remaining five, we’ll incubate them.”
After all, her sons had painstakingly found the eggs, so she had to make something delicious for them to eat. Still, Miss He could not use all of them at once. Although the family was poor, she did not want to mistreat her sons.
Miss He’s youngest son was five years old, and he was excited, saying, “Yay, we’re having egg soup tonight!”
Miss He laughed and said to her eldest son, “Quickly put down the firewood and wash your hands. We’ll have dinner in a while.”
Her eldest son replied, “I’ll help you light the fire, Mother.”
Children of low-income families typically took charge of the household at an extremely young age. Hence, Miss He’s three sons were very mature for their ages.
The eldest and second sons usually helped around the house. Although they could not do much, they always did their best to help.
After the autumn harvest, the farming work was over, so the boys wanted to cut and gather more firewood. Then they would have things to burn during the winter.
However, they did not expect to find eggs at the foot of the mountain. It was an unexpected harvest for Lin Chai’s family, and they were thrilled.
Later that night, the family ate coarse flour buns and drank wild vegetable and egg soup. They felt satisfied.
Li Dazhuang went home and quickly handed the money he earned to his grandmother since she was in charge of the family’s money.
Old Madam Li carefully wrapped the money in some cloth and put it away as she spoke, “You must feel exhausted these days.”
Li Dazhuang shook his head and said, “I’m not too tired. I feel at ease since I can earn money.” He was not afraid of hardships, but he was afraid of having nothing to do.
Old Madam Li patted his shoulder. “I heard the Su family will build a big tofu factory soon. Did they say anything about it?”
“They did.”
Old Madam Li said, “They might also need to hire people for that, and you’ve been performing well recently. I know they’ve noticed, so they might even hire you to work at the factory.”
Indeed, she was old but could see everything.
Li Dazhuang shook his head and said, “Su Fengmao said they will only hire women to work in the factory, not men.”
Old Madam Li was stunned and said with some regret, “I see, but Su Fengmao is a good man. Doing this makes it more convenient for many villagers.” “It’s indeed a good thing for many people,” Li Dazhuang said.
Old Madam Su responded, “I will feel at ease if you can work for the Su family. It’s just that your sister is still young. Otherwise, she can work in the tofu factory.”
When Li Erying heard these words, she said, “I’m not afraid of hardships, Grandma. I have the strength to work in the factory.”
She knew her family’s conditions and that her grandmother’s health was worsening. Old Madam Li trembled while walking but was still managing the family.
Li Erying’s heart ached when she saw this. She wished she could earn money for her family just like her brother did.
Old Madam Li said, “You’re still young, so they might not hire you.”
Then she looked at Li Dazhuang and said, “Didn’t you used to play with Su San when you were a kid? See if he needs any help, then you can follow him and work for free for a while..
