"Husband, why don't I hear Yan Yan and Hao Hao? Where did the children go?" Shen Xue, busy making dumplings, asked Chen Yang after a long time without hearing the children. Since the two children were back by her side, Shen Xue's mindset had changed greatly; she had become optimistic and driven, even calling Chen Yang "Husband."
The old man, Chen Yang, crossed his legs, reading history and political textbooks as if they were leisure reading, learning when he had nothing else to do. "They were just watching the chicks in the yard. What, they're gone?" Chen Yang closed the book, which was placed on a desk specially made by the carpenter, and got up to leave the room.
"No need to look for them. See if Er Ni is around. She probably took the children to steal sweet potatoes."
"Yan Yan and Hao Hao's eyes lit up when they heard about roasted sweet potatoes. Er Ni, that girl, she's so old, yet she's still like a mischievous monkey, not a bit like a girl." Liu Chunmei, holding a rolling pin, peeked in from the kitchen door and said leisurely.
"That's probably it. I'll go to the fields to look." Chen Yang couldn't help but chuckle. Stealing sweet potatoes was something kids might do, but Shen Rong was in high school and still took the two little ones to steal and roast sweet potatoes. That girl was so unconventional.
"If they really get caught, will she be ashamed?" Shen Futang tapped his pipe. He only smoked when the babies weren't around. With Nanny and Chen Hao present, he wouldn't smoke at all. The tobacco was too pungent, and he wouldn't dare to offend his two darling grandchildren. As for his own daughter, he, as her father, was helpless. A daughter grows up and doesn't listen to her father. What kind of girl goes to the fields to steal sweet potatoes at her age?
"You old fool, who told you to be lazy? I told you to plant some sweet potatoes in our own plot of land, but you didn't listen. If your daughter gets caught, will you have any face?" Liu Chunmei glared at Shen Futang, her words sharp. Women were like that. Although she herself didn't like her daughter being too wild, when her husband spoke, she would become protective like a tigress, always nagging.
"I just wanted to plant some vegetables. It's only two fen of land..." Shen Futang wanted to say more, but seeing his wife's increasingly cold face, he wisely took a couple of puffs of his pipe. Men were indeed difficult creatures.
Chen Yang watched his father-in-law being so submissive and found it amusing. These old folks, at their age, still bickered when they had nothing else to do, which was quite endearing. To live a lifetime and still have someone to bicker with in old age was also a form of happiness.
"What are you daydreaming about? Go find the children. The sun is so harsh. They'll be tanned like coal if they stay out too long. Will your heart ache then?" Shen Xue glanced at Chen Yang, who was watching the show, and glared at him.
Chen Yang exchanged a look with his father-in-law, and both sighed. No matter how loving they were, husbands were still bound to be nagged by their wives. The old man had no choice but to pick up two straw hats and head to the fields. It was almost mealtime. Why was this silly sister-in-law roasting sweet potatoes outside instead of eating the delicious food at home? Were sweet potatoes more fragrant than meat?
"Second Uncle, it's this late, and you're not going home for dinner?" Arriving at the fields, Chen Yang saw Second Uncle dozing under a tree. This man, by seniority, was a paternal uncle of his father-in-law, ranking second. Thus, Chen Yang and Shen Xue called him Second Uncle. If Shen Rong took the children to steal sweet potatoes, she wouldn't escape his watchful eyes. The village had assigned him to watch the fields. The sweet potatoes were almost ready for harvest. In a few more days, after some rain, when the soil softened, it would be time to dig them up.
"I'm not working. I just ate lunch. I'll go back for dinner tonight." The old man was almost seventy, considered quite old in this era. The production team took care of him, assigning him the job of watching the fields and giving him eight work points a day. The old man was happy to guard this plot of sweet potatoes. These were all grains. Even if he just guarded them and couldn't eat them, he felt at ease. The older generation was like that; guarding the grains brought them peace of mind.
"Please don't go hungry, respected elder. It's not worth it if your body is weakened. Mengzi catches a lot of fish; it won't cost you much to eat." "Please strive to live to be a hundred years old. Life will be better in the future; you'll have enough to eat and plenty of meat to get tired of." Chen Yang looked at the old man. Many elders in this era still maintained their old habits. When they were born, the Qing officials did not treat ordinary people as humans. The little grain they planted in the fields wasn't enough to fill their stomachs even with two meals a day. Although things were better now, the old man still maintained the habit of eating two meals a day, preferring to eat less and save for the children.
"Yang kid, you're not tricking this old man, are you?" "Is there really a time when common people will have enough to eat and plenty of meat? This meat, if you give it to me every meal, every day, until I die, I won't get tired of it." Second Uncle looked at Chen Yang. Being able to eat his fill was a golden age for him. As for eating meat until he was tired of it, even after living for over seventy years, he couldn't even imagine it.
"Second Uncle, let's make a bet. You try your best to live to a hundred years old, and then we'll see if we can get tired of eating meat." "If you can still eat meat every day without getting tired then, I'll pay for all the meat you eat." Chen Yang's words carried a hint of confidence. With the reform and opening up, and the widespread promotion of Grandpa Yuan's hybrid rice, the era of ordinary people having enough to eat was fast approaching for China. In another thirty years, when the old man reached his centenary, this country would surely shock him. Chen Yang vaguely remembered that before he was reborn in his previous life, when he returned to Shenjiaba Village, this old man was a famous centenarian in the village. He would tell everyone he met that he had encountered a good era. When he was born, his grandparents had starved to death. Later, his parents also died due to famine, and he was sold to a landlord as a child laborer. For so many years, no matter how hard he worked when he was young, he still lived a life of hunger. He never expected that in his old age, when he couldn't do anything, he would have food every day, and every household would have enough to eat.
"Then this old man will wait for your meat. I'll live another thirty years and infuriate that old King Yama." Second Uncle fanned his tattered palm-leaf fan. Everyone being able to eat their fill was a fantasy, let alone getting tired of eating meat. The old man didn't believe such good days would come. After looking around, Chen Yang asked the old man if he had seen the children, only to find that the old man had not seen his sister-in-law and the two little ones at all. He was baffled. Could it be that his mother-in-law and wife were both wrong, and Er Ni hadn't taken the children to steal sweet potatoes? Chen Yang didn't know that the old man, at his advanced age, had dozed off while fanning himself under the tree. Having not found anyone after searching, Chen Yang could only return home helplessly. To his surprise, as soon as he entered the house, he saw three people, one adult and two children, standing obediently in the corner. His mother-in-law glared at the three people, whose faces were as dirty as cats, and their clothes were as if they had rolled in the mud, making her furious. The two little ones, knowing they had made a mistake, lowered their heads obediently. As for his sister-in-law, she had a defiant look, as if to say, "What can you do about it?" Was this little girl going through a rebellious phase? However, his sister-in-law was seventeen already. This rebellious phase was a bit late.