Chapter 17

Finally get to eat rice again

Translated by Maggie Edited by Simple

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and said, “we have nothing that can’t be discussed between us siblings? Look at you acting nervous! Tell me!”

Lian Ze’s eyes darkened while whispering, “when father and mother were still here, they said, wait until next spring; then we will let Che’er go to the village school to study ……”

Seeing that Lian Fang Zhou had frozen for a second, Lian Ze hurriedly said, “we repaired the beams, and we have money food! Sister, I can eat less! Let Che’er go study, is that OK?”

“What OK!” Lian Fang Zhou put some strength in her finger and poked his forehead. “You just reminded me, Che’er is still small so it is a good time to study; I will let him go! You just needed to say it. Why are you acting like this? And never say something like eating less!”

“Are you taking your sister as an outsider? Is Che’er not my family too? Am I not looking out for his best interest as well?”

Lian Fang Zhou slightly sneered and her heart really felt a little bit disappointed and sad. With her doing so much for this house, doing her best to support the family, in the end, is she just a wishful thinker?

They don’t even think of her as family!

“Sister, Sister!” Lian Ze saw that she was really angry and could not help but feel guilty. “I’m sorry, Sister, I was wrong, I was really wrong! I, I do not know how – it’s my bad! Sister, do not be angry, alright? I will never again …… ”

Lian Ze was anxious as well as ashamed and was incoherently explaining as he tried to apologize. But he found that he couldn’t even explain it clearly!

He did not know what was wrong with himself to subconsciously say that! It was if that in front of his sister, she was no longer his sister?

He really was an idiot! Damn! How could he have thought such a thing? If Sister is not Sister, then could it be she was a stranger?

Would strangers be so good to them? Would they bother with their lives like she does?

Even if Sister is not the same as before, isn’t it just that she is changing herself for them!

“Alright,” Lian Fang Zhou sighed softly and said, “you have to remember, I am your sister; we will always be a family! Understand?”

Lian Fang Zhou secretly thought in her heart, no wonder he felt something was not right. These days with her changing so much from how the original Lian Fang Zhou was, the change may be too big. He found it difficult to accept and his instinctive reaction was inevitable.

“Yes!” Lian Ze ashamed nodded repeatedly; vowing: “I remember, I will always remember! I will never doubt my sister, never again! No matter how much Sister changes, you will still be our sister. You always will be!”

“Then all is well!” Lian Fang Zhou happily laughed in a light-hearted tone. “Alright, let’s go, go downstairs! Tonight we’ll have a good meal with white rice. I will make you fried eggs to eat!”

“Mm.” Lian Ze smiled with embarrassment, this time he didn’t say he would eat less.

During dinner time, Lian Fang Zhou sure enough cooked a pot of real white rice and chopped a bundle of leeks. She beat three eggs and fried them together making fragrant leek eggs.

While frying them together they made a 'splash” as Lian Fang Zhou poured the mixture of leeks and eggs into the pot. Suddenly, the pot was boiling and made a “zzzz” noise; the rich aroma reached the nose and made the room full of delicious smells.

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che smelled the aroma and could not help but continuously gulp. Their eyes kept staring at the pot, taking really deep breaths through their noses; they were beaming with joy and laughingly yelled words like, “Smells delicious, ah! Really delicious!.” “It will definitely taste good!” And so on. The small kitchen erupted with laughter.

Flaming hot fire filled the room full of warmth. Watching the pair of younger siblings laughing happily, Lian Fang Zhou’s heart was filled warmth and it softened. She secretly decided: We must live a good life! Not seeking lots of wealth and luxuries, but to not need to ever worry about food and clothing.

This time at dinner, the four siblings all ate very happily. Fried leek and eggs, a bowl of fried sweet potato cubes, a bowl of stew winter melon that Aunt Zhang’s family gave them, and also a bowl of leek soup.

A few simple dishes, but it warmed the stomach and the heart.

The next day, Lian Fang Zhou intended to make the vegetable garden fence firm. And prepared it to be sprinkled with rapeseed.

She and Lian Ze brought Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che up to the mountains. Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che helped pick up the branches of the forest, and the two of them used a machete to cut wild wattle trees and found some vines. Then they went back to reinforce the gardens enclosure wall so that even a newly born chick couldn’t even think about entering again.

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che were very hard working. Especially Lian Fang Qing, like a lively rabbit running around in the woods. She was giggling as she chattered and laughed, causing Lian Fang Zhou from time to time to loudly yell “don’t go too far!” And then Lian Che in a childish tone with a very childish air would reply, “Sister, no need to worry, I’m watching her!” While Lian Fang Qing would protest with dissatisfaction……

For a time, the woods weren’t noisy.

Lian Fang Qing and Lian Che would pick up the finger size branches and make a pile. They were neatly stacked so that the elder brother and sister could easily tie a cane and carry them home.

There’s a lot of foliage in the woods, and soon they gathered two big piles. But they still continued to gather more.

Lian Fang Zhou took pity on their young ages and originally she wanted to say stop but was afraid they would both have nothing do and will run around. What if an accident happened, obviously that wouldn’t be good. So, it would be better to continue letting them work.

If the fence doesn’t use up all these twigs and branches, it can also be kept for the fire when they need to keep it burning.

“Waa! Sister, Sister! There are mushrooms here, there are mushrooms!” Lian Fang Qing suddenly exclaimed with excitement like she had found a new world, “Sister, Second Brother, Third Brother, quickly come and see ah!”

“Don’t carelessly move!” Lian Ze without waiting to go over first yelled over in a loud voice. His voice carried panic, “don’t mess with the mushrooms and be careful of poison!”

“I won’t!” Lian Fang Qing pouted her mouth, somewhat unhappy and replied back. But she still obediently took back her hand that was about to pick it. She raised her face, a pair of black sparkling eyes helplessly looked at Lian Fang Zhou, “Sister, these mushrooms, they can be eaten right?”

Lian Fang Zhou looked at the grass and saw dozens of mushrooms; some were big and some were about the size of an egg. The small ones were the size of coins or smaller; they were oval and had pale brown skin. Nearby, some had burst open and the inside looked as if was wrapping a bag of ash. The ground at the side also had some mushrooms stuck to it.

Lian Fang Zhou smiled and said, “this kind of mushroom is called ash-bag, it is edible. Our Qing’er is very capable.”

“Oh! Tonight we will have mushrooms! Tonight we will have mushrooms!” Lian Fang Qing started to clap her little hands and Immediately called Lian Che to crouch down and pick them.

“The inside is gray ….. How can it be edible?” Lian Ze was still concerned as he said, “Sister, it is better to be careful! What if something happened? Last year in Xia Jiang village, there was a family being gluttonous and mistakenly ate poisonous mushrooms as food and died. Also, in our village, it was because of wild mushrooms that some people vomited and had a fever …… ”

When Lian Fang Qing heard this, the hand which was about to pick them up paused; but very quickly continued picking. She pouted and said, “Sister said it is edible, so then it is edible! Second Brother is always trying to scare people!”

Lian Fang Zhou smiled as she said, “Ah Ze, don’t worry, this mushroom is indeed edible. If I was not sure, I would not say it was! Qing’er, your second brother isn’t scaring you. In this world, there’s no less than a thousand kind of mushrooms. The edible, tasty, and not bad one are only in the dozens! So if in the future you see them, you cannot reckless gather or pick them. More importantly, do not recklessly eat them and you must ask sister, understood?”

Lian Fang Qing has already thought of her as her backbone and head of the family. So what she said is always right. Immediately she spoke out, “understood, Sister. I will listen to Sister! Sister, we will continue to find some more mushrooms, is that alright?”

Lian Fang Zhou could see that she was still a child, in the end, she nodded and said, “then you and Che’er will search in this area! But be careful, and don’t go stepping on the ants’ nests! Also, these grass leaves are sharp and some places also have long thorns. you have to be careful!”

“Understood Sister!” Lian Fang Qing happily agreed, calling Lian Che to go with her.