Little Aunt Zhao always fumed whenever she mentioned her in-laws.
"All my daughters-in-law have married in, and their children aren’t so young anymore. Previously, when our team’s grain harvest decreased, and after dividing the grain, I had Elder Zhao send a few dozen kilograms of grain over to Xiao Yueyue’s place. I never expected that doing good would backfire; my in-laws wanted Xiao Yueyue to come back for more grain, and that’s when the quarrel started."
"A big tree has many branches, and it’s good to split the household earlier. Once Xiao He gets married, just divide the property among the brothers."
Little Aunt Zhao had considered this as well.
Now, her eldest daughter-in-law was becoming increasingly unreasonable. Once Xiao He was married, she planned to split the household without delay.
"Mom, Aunt from Elder Zhao’s side, sorry for making you worry."
Now, only a few female comrades were left in the main house.
Zhao Yueyue’s two children were taken out to play by their little Uncle Zhao Tianhe.
"If you are going to split the household, better do it sooner than later. With Laosan and the others here, if you wait until they return to the Capital City, whether you can actually divide this household is a big question." Mrs. Zhao spoke with decisive clarity.
Little Aunt Zhao thought of her nephew and his wife, and how her younger son planned to continue following his nephew to work and earn money in the Capital City.
By that time, only the eldest son and the two nephews would be left at home.
Whether Yueyue’s family could split the household then was still an issue.
Meanwhile, Zhao Laosan was cycling towards the town with Yun Xiaoxiao.
En route, quite a few aunties and older ladies saw this scene.
"Where is Zhao Laosan taking Educated Youth Yun?"
"It can’t be to her parents’ home; I think they must be headed to town."
"Just yesterday, my grandson brought back quite a bit of food, claiming it was from Educated Youth Yun—cookies, White Rabbit milk candy..."
"Yesterday, Educated Youth Yun gave away a lot of food. Do you think Zhao Laosan has made some money again?"
"Da Li and his wife, as well as the siblings Xiao He, all went to the Capital City, and I saw them all wearing new clothes when they came back."
"Do you think it’s that easy to make money in the Capital City?"
"How would I know? I’ve never been to the Capital City."
"Do you even know what the Capital is like?"
"I heard from my grandson that the Capital City is very big. Da Bao and the others even went to see the flag raising, visited the zoo, went ice skating, and slept on a kang bed."
"Da Bao is just how many years old? Is he in the first grade already?"
"Xiao Bao has already started school, I heard something about a ’red class’..."
"So the whole family is going to school?"
"It really seems like the whole family is attending school."
Yun Xiaoxiao and Zhao Tianlei had already set off towards the town on their bicycle.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, after last year’s rice harvest, the straw was picked up by the community members, and some water was stored in the fields, followed by plowing and irrigating the fields.
It had been a long time since they saw so much green outdoors.
In the Capital City for the past half year, as soon as it snowed, the trees were all bare, without much greenery to be seen.
Even if there were green leaves, they were often piled with snow.
"Wife, I’ll cycle a bit more slowly."
Whether cycling faster or slower, it was all the same to her.
"Isn’t that Er Dan? What’s he carrying on his back?"
Zhao Tianlei of course saw as well, "That kid is headed to town to sell grain."
"Why doesn’t he take a bullock cart to town?"
Carrying grain on his back for over an hour’s walk would certainly be tiring.
Yun Xiaoxiao remembered giving Er Dan a sizeable red envelope just yesterday.
He was reluctant to spend even a penny of it.
At such a young age, he was already learning to be frugal.
Supporting oneself isn’t that easy.
Moreover, boys of his age are growing and eat a lot of food.
There’s a saying, "Teenage boys can eat their parents out of house and home."