Xu Nianhua and his two siblings all looked expectantly at Xu Qinghe and Ji Ying. After exchanging glances, the couple decided to support their children.
Since they had decided to rent Grandma Cai’s house, Xu Qinghe became even more dedicated to the bean sprout bucket business.
Because of the Yue Family’s affairs, Xu Qinghe had missed two days of work; during these days, they had added quite a bit of firewood to the woodpile at home.
The bean sprout bucket Xu Nianhua had requested wasn’t complicated to make; within two days, Xu Qinghe had completed it.
Xu Nianhua specifically taught her older and younger brothers how to grow bean sprouts.
Xu Nianji and Xu Nian’an learned with exceptional diligence, especially Xu Nianji. In the future, once Xu Nian’an and Xu Nianhua went to school, the task of growing and selling bean sprouts would fall to him.
He had to do well in growing bean sprouts. Having left the brick factory, he felt somewhat lost, as he knew how to do nothing else.
Yet, now his younger sister had given him an opportunity. Xu Nianji wanted to give it his all; he wanted to earn money, more money, to improve their family’s living conditions, and also, Zhou He...
The shy expression of Zhou He surfaced in Xu Nianji’s mind; he took a deep breath and, following what he had learned, besides the bean sprouts Xu Nianhua grew, he also decided to try growing a bowl of his own to see.
"Older brother, you don’t need to worry so much, actually, growing bean sprouts is really simple," Xu Nianhua reassured him as she noticed his as-if-preparing-for-battle demeanor, "Besides, in the beginning, I’ll be there to watch and make sure we don’t waste any soybeans."
"Once the soybean sprouts are ready, we can try growing mung bean sprouts too. Selling both types of sprouts should certainly earn us a bit more money."
"Little sister, you really have a great mind. How did you learn to grow bean sprouts?" Xu Nianji praised her, looking at his sister with pride, always thinking she was exceptionally smart.
"Uh..." Xu Nianhua hesitated.
On the side, Xu Nian’an said, "I remember Grandma knew how to do it; little sister always loved following Grandma."
The thought of Grandma instantly brightened Xu Nianhua’s eyes; the kind and gentle old lady had always favored her, hiding good things for her to eat ever since she was small.
"Missing Grandma, are you? Sometime we should go visit her," Xu Nianji noted Xu Nianhua’s expression and knew she was thinking of Grandma.
"Yeah, and we’ll buy some meat to take along."
Xu Nianhua thought about how Grandma’s living conditions were not very good, so she said, "After we start making money from selling bean sprouts, life will get better."
"I want to build a new house, to let those people see that even without the Xu Family, our lives can keep getting better."
The three Xu siblings began to imagine a wonderful future.
The next day, they went to confirm the rental deal with Grandma Cai, and they even specifically signed a contract.
Knowing they wanted to rent, Grandma Cai was extremely pleased as her mouth could barely close into a smile; after all, it was the house she had lived in her whole life. Even though she was leaving, she hoped that the renters would take good care of the home.
Xu Nianhua and his siblings were all clean and tidy people. Grandma Cai felt especially reassured renting the house to them.
"Then I’ll send a telegram to my son today, to have them come and fetch me when they’re free," Grandma Cai said smilingly; her son had always been asking her to come stay with them, but she was reluctant to leave this place. It was only after falling ill last time that she finally agreed as her son insisted on moving her out.
Now, Grandma Cai felt that living alone with her grandson here might be a bit too hard for her, and if something happened, there would be no one to take care of them, so she agreed.