, did it delay the important business?

Yang Wuni found two thick wooden sticks and stuffed them into their hands.

He stuffed the flatbread he had left for Zhang Changyao into Yang Dianjun's shirt pocket.

With tears streaming down her face and choking back sobs, she bid them her final farewell.

Yang Dianjun and Du Qiu also cried, looking at Yang Wuni without knowing what to say.

Du Qiu took out five yuan from his pocket, stuffed it into Yang Wuni's hand, and ran away.

"Wu Ni, I don't have any money. I gave it all to Dad. I'll give it to you when I have money."

You must live well; I'll come see you again after the New Year.

Yang Dianjun touched his shirt pocket and then realized that he had no money.

He gave Yang Wuni a few more words of advice before turning and leaving.

Du Qiu is two years younger than Yang Dianjun and has followed Yang Dianjun and Yang Wuni since she was a child.

We followed them to raid bird nests, catch live fish, and roast and eat worms.

If Yang Wuni hadn't been pregnant, he would have married her; that's what his mother said.

Yang Wuni cried for a while, then started to busy herself with her work.

Once the beans are cooked, let them cool, mash them, and shape them into small balls.

The drained millet and corn stubble are ground into flour on a millstone.

When I got back, I put it in a red clay basin that was heavier than myself, added water, and kneaded it.

After finishing these chores, it's time to prepare dinner.

There were no more flatbreads, so they could only make a porridge using the cornmeal that Zhang Kaiju had saved from the morning.

There were originally large flatbreads, but Zhang Kaiju left less cornmeal.

Yang Wuni was worried that there wouldn't be enough to eat, so she added two extra ladles of water.

The result was half a pot of cornmeal porridge that had turned into a thin, watery soup.

"Wu Ni, here you go. I earned three yuan and fifty cents today. Keep this fifty cents and don't let Dad see it."

Zhang Changyao, who had just entered the house, noticed that Zhang Kaiju was not inside.

He took out fifty cents from his pocket and gave it to Yang Wuni.

Yang Wuni looked around in fright, and only when she saw that Zhang Kaiju had not returned did she dare to put it in her pocket.

"Young man, how much money did you make today?" Zhang Kaiju asked Zhang Changyao as he put down his manure basket and washed his hands.

"Dad, I went far today, visiting an extra village."

Here's three yuan. I'll give you two yuan, and I'll keep one yuan for tomorrow to buy ink and paper.

Zhang Kaiju took the two yuan and put it in his close-fitting cloth bag.

Just as he was about to sit cross-legged on the kang (heated brick bed), his face fell when he saw the thin paste in the mud basin.

"Changyao's wife, why didn't you heat up the flatbread you left this morning?"

"Changyao is your man, he's been running around all day, and this is what you give him to drink?"

Zhang Kaiju used a rice spoon to scoop up a thin, watery paste and showed it to Yang Wuni.

"Father, my brother from my mother's side and Brother Du Qiu have come to see me. I'm afraid they won't be able to walk back home."

They ate all the flatbread that had been reserved for Zhang Changyao.

I added two extra ladles of water to the cornmeal; that should be enough to fill me up.

Yang Wuni lowered her head and rubbed the hem of her coat; she knew she had gotten into trouble.

"Dad, I'm not hungry. Thin soup is easier to digest tonight."

Zhang Changyao stepped forward and filled each bowl with the thin paste.

He picked up the bowl himself and slurped down half of it in one go.

"Yang Wuni, you're a woman who just doesn't know how to manage a household."

Even if your brother is starving, just give him one to each of you!

They ate all five big flatbreads. Do they think our family is a bunch of scoundrels?

Changyao earns money for you to spend, but does your brother on your mother's side earn money for you to spend?

In the future, we should do fewer things like this where it's hard to distinguish between inside and outside.

You don't know the cost of living until you're in charge of the household. You can't keep spending so extravagantly.

Looks like the remaining dry rations will have to be locked up in the barn tomorrow too.

While drinking his thin porridge, Zhang Kaiju was teasing Yang Wuni.

"Dad, this is the money my brother from my maternal family left me for some flatbread."

Yang Wuni took the fifty cents that Zhang Changyao had given her from her pocket.

Take it out and place it on the table in front of Zhang Kaiju.

"Wu Ni, you..."

"Zhang Changyao, don't worry about me. My brother from my mother's side should pay for the flatbread he ate."

Just as Zhang Changyao was about to stop her, Yang Wuni pushed him away.

"Five big pancakes for fifty cents, okay, not much of a loss."

Zhang Kaiju put down his rice bowl without looking at Yang Wuni's face.

He picked up the 50 cents and put it in his pocket.

Yang Wuni didn't eat dinner and lay in bed crying.

Zhang Changyao nudged Yang Wuni, trying to stop her from crying out loud.

Zhang Kaiju didn't care about any of that. He put on his felt hat, crossed his arms, and went to find Wang the powder maker to repair the beam of the manure basket he had given him.

"Zhang Changyao, does your father treat me like an outsider?"

My brother from my mother's side came over to eat a few flatbreads, why do I have to pay for them?

I saw your sister-in-law's brother came, and your father even went to the convenience store to buy him some wine.

When Yang Wuni saw Zhang Kaiju leave through the gate, she sat up and complained to Zhang Changyao.

"Wu Ni, my sister-in-law's brother is a respectable man, unlike your brother."

Dad told me he was going to buy some wine; that's considered money my sister-in-law borrowed from us, and she'll pay us back when she has the money.

Zhang Changyao patted Yang Wuni's cheeks, trying to cheer her up.

"Then where did the pork you bought a few days ago go?"

"Could it be that your sister-in-law's brother came again and you gave him some to eat?" Yang Wuni remembered the missing pork.

"Wu Ni, why do you always bring up old grievances?"

My dad told me about this too; he said my sister-in-law's family ran out of oil.

The child is still young, and my sister-in-law doesn't eat oily or fatty foods, so she doesn't have enough breast milk to nurse the baby.

Zhang Changyao explained each point to Yang Wuni one by one, and every one of them was reasonable.

"Zhang Changyao, according to you, your sister-in-law's family has to take anything they need from our family?"

Your dad is your older brother and sister-in-law's cash cow, and we are your dad's cash cow, right?

Since your father is so protective of them, why doesn't he go and live with them?

They lie on the same kang (heated brick bed) as us, but their hearts are with someone else.

With a father like that in our family, we can forget about ever having a good life.

Yang Wuni was so angry that her voice grew louder and louder with each word.

Startled, Zhang Changyao went up and covered her mouth, stopping her from saying anything more.

"Wu Ni, keep your voice down and listen to me. If Dad hears this when he gets back, he might get angry. Don't provoke him."

If he has a seizure and gets hurt, we'll have to pay for his medical treatment.

My dad isn't used to me having a wife yet.

Once we have children in the future, he won't be able to keep thinking about his older brother's children all the time.

"Who knows, maybe they'll be able to move my brother's stuff to our house by then?"

Zhang Changyao pounced on Yang Wuni like a hungry tiger, pinning her down.

The two of them rolled around together, laughing and joking, and forgot about the unpleasantness from earlier.

Just as the two were about to take the next step.

"Cough, cough!" Zhang Kaiju coughed as he pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard.

"Wu Ni, look how much your anger is delaying important matters."

If it had started right after Dad passed away, it would have been finished by now.

Zhang Changyao crawled into his bed and pretended to be angry, quietly scolding Yang Wuni.

"It's all your fault, you had to keep kissing me, kissing me, kissing me, you were so slow and hesitant."

"Reading too much makes you stupid; you don't know what's important and what's urgent."