Ye Shu didn't want to do farm work either, and Shuzhi also opposed, saying, "Dad, I'm not going either, I'm about to get married, remember? Working in the fields will make me tan, and as a future shop owner's wife, I won't need to be out in the sun."
"Old man, do you think I'm still able to do farm work at my age? It's hard enough for me to cook meals, let those who freeload do the work!"
Mrs. Lai twisted her plump body to join the opposition. With Mrs. Li having been around for these past years, when had she ever gone to work in the fields? Staying at home was much more comfortable.
"Rebelling, one and all! If the crops in the field aren't harvested, can you really stay calmly at home? What do you think you are? Ladies of a rich family or a landlord's wife?"
Hongji's father scolded his two daughters and his wife. As a man, he had to work every day as a carpenter to earn money. It was a way to dote on his wife and children, but it didn't mean he could just ignore the most important thing—the crops.
Every farmer knows that crops are the most important. It's difficult enough to get a harvest, but to then miss the harvesting season means leaving it for the rats and birds, doesn't it?
He glanced again at the meager meal of porridge on the table and let out a series of curses fueled by bitter frustration.
"Isn't it enough that you have your sons to work the fields? Those idiots could follow along as well. We, the three women, can take care of drying the rice."
Mrs. Lai had a little scheme in mind—once the rice from the fields was brought back, wouldn't her daughters and the kids eventually have time to come back home to dry the rice?
"Dad, mom is right. We'll take care of the household chores, and you and big brother can take Daya and the others. Take the youngest child too, to stop her crying at home."
Ye Shuzhen wasn't afraid of her father's scolding at all. As long as her mother said something, it didn't matter what her father said.
"I agree with mother and younger sister. At this dining table, the majority must prevail over the minority," Ye Shuzhi, in that moment, aligned herself with her mother.
"Are you allowing yourselves to be dictated by others? Even infants of a few months are being sent out, yet you have the heart to let them go work in the fields so young? Such a good mother, such loving younger sisters!"
Hongji, fraught with the accumulation of frustrating issues, glared angrily at his mother and younger sister.
"Hongji is right. This can't go on. We can't be eating gruel when we're busy with farm work. We need to buy some rice from the town, old woman, and you need to make sure we add some meat to our meals during this busy time."
Hongji's father felt he didn't know whether it was age or the lack of eating meat that was causing the problem, or perhaps it was due to not having dry rice to eat, which sometimes left him without enough energy for work.
Mrs. Lai used to be a miser and was unwilling to spend money, but since the money went into their own pockets, they just gritted their teeth and bore it.
But he also wanted to eat some meat to have the strength to work. Glancing once more at Hongji, he realized his son hadn't produced any grandchildren yet. They couldn't afford to wreck their health; they had to keep up their strength and possibly have another big, healthy grandson.
"Oh, I'll go to the market tomorrow," Mrs. Lai said, feeling the pain of the expense. Buying rice, oil, and meat—how much money would that cost?
"Mom, when you go to the market, buy me some thread too, I have some things to embroider," Ye Shuzhi thought of embroidering wallets.
"Embroider what? During the farming busy season, everyone has to work," Hongji's father was still angry.
"Dad, it's just going to be lying around if she buys it. Shuzhi has to get married by the end of the year; she must hurry to finish embroidering her dowry and wedding dress."
"Yeah, dad, I don't even have enough time for my dowry, let alone time for busy farming," Ye Shuzhi took the opportunity to add her point.
"Then only one person can stay at home to do household chores, the others have to go do farm work," Hongji's father compromised a little.
"Fine, I'll do the household chores at home, and mother and the younger sisters can go do the farm work," Ye Shuzhi, who had previously found the kitchen dirty and was reluctant to enter, now took on this task to avoid going outside and working in the sun.
"I'll do the household chores, and Second Sister and mom can do the farm work," Ye Shuzhen noticed Second Sister's cunning. She was a maiden too and did not want to tan herself ugly.
"You ungrateful ones! At my age, I still have to do farm work? I'll take care of the household work," Mrs. Lai angrily glared at her two daughters. To avoid doing the outdoor farm work, the three women began arguing among themselves.
Hongji finished the food in his bowl with agitation and left without a word, returning to his room to see that the children had already eaten their lunch. Hesitant and fearful, they looked outside, not daring to bring their bowls into the kitchen lest they incur more scolding.
Hongji looked at his daughters, noting that only Wuwa was somewhat plump and fair. The fact that even diluted rice soup could nourish the child so well seemed a stroke of good fortune.
The other kids all had hair of a dull yellow and skinny little faces; even Siwa, who always stuck close to Wuwa, was thin and frail.
Seeing his children, Hongji felt a pang in his heart. He picked up Wuwa, who sat beside Daya on the bed, and thought how wonderful it would have been if this child had been a boy.
Picking up his little girl, he realized that despite her fair and chubby appearance, she didn't weigh much.
"Girls, take a nap. In a couple of days, the busy farming season will start, and we won't be able to sleep," he said.
Daya, sensible as ever, nodded in agreement but knew that the washing up would inevitably be left for her.
If she didn't wash the dishes now, leaving them until later would only lead to a scolding from grandma.
When Daya brought the bowls into the kitchen, she found, as expected, that nobody had cleared the table, and there was not a soul to be seen in the kitchen.
In silence, Daya tidied up the bowls and washed them quietly. After she had cleaned them, she returned to the room to find her father and sisters asleep so she crept in quietly.
Ye Shiqi heard the faint footsteps and opened her eyes to whisper softly to her eldest sister, saying something that only she could understand.
"Safe, safe," she said.
"Wuwa, go to sleep," Daya took care of her sister, choosing to lie down next to Wuwa.
Daya had just fallen into a weary sleep when she was rudely awakened by her grandmother's scolding voice. "Daya, you're being lazy again. It's this late and you're still not out working?"
The sound of "thud, thud" startled Daya and her two slightly older sisters, who woke up groggy and confused.
They hurried out the door, donning their tattered hats and taking their small baskets to work in the fields.
The commotion awoke Hongji too. He sighed internally, sat up in bed, and saw Siwa and Wuwa looking at him.
"Siwa, take good care of your sister," he instructed.
"Understood, Dad," Siwa obediently nodded.
However, before leaving, Hongji took Ye Shiqi to urinate, not wanting Siwa to have to carry the little girl while he was around.
With the heart of an adult, Ye Shiqi could only continually remind herself that she must act like a child.
By evening, the three children had not returned from the fields, and nobody had started cooking in the kitchen. Just then, someone entered the house.
It was Ye Shuying, the eldest daughter of the Ye family, who had married into the same village and hadn't visited her parents' home for several months.
Mrs. Li had given birth not too long ago and had yet to make an appearance in such a long time; it was curious that she chose this moment to show up. The father and son, busy with carpentry, wondered why.
"Dad, brother, Shuying has come," she called out.
Hearing her voice, the father and son simply nodded. Meanwhile, Mrs. Lai, peering out from a room in the house, saw her eldest daughter and emerged, "Shuying, what brings you here? Is something the matter?"