Rebirth in Famine: She Thrives by Lucky Space-Chapter 817: Meritorious Contributors

Qu Xiaoli felt heartbroken seeing her second son sitting by the stove, tending the fire.

"Chaoyang, the meal will be ready soon. Keep your spirits up, you’ll be able to eat shortly."

"Mom, I’m fine. I can smell the meat and I’m craving it. No way I’m going to sleep now."

Qu Xiaoli sped up her actions. After letting her son have a taste, she saw that the stewed meat was tender. She then added chunks of potatoes and carrots, continuing to stew until both were soft, before it was ready to eat.

Qu Xiaoli cracked two eggs, added some garlic sprouts, and soon prepared fried eggs for both her second son and nephew.

She also fried some peanuts. Anyway, she prepared all the good stuff they had at home.

An hour later, it was already eight o’clock, and the whole family finally sat on the kang to eat.

Qu Xiaoli was not eating much herself, instead giving food to her son and nephew.

The other children didn’t envy them; they just ate their own food, understanding that their second brother was truly exhausted.

"Aunt, the meals at our place taste better. You wouldn’t believe how bad the cooking is in other villages. They have good grains, enough to fill us up, but the cooking skills are terrible.

I only find Aunt’s food delicious. And they don’t give us meat to eat, let alone eggs and peanuts."

"Brother Hongjun, you really know how to make my mom happy."

"Nonsense, how am I making Aunt happy? I’m telling the truth. Ask the second brother if you don’t believe it. It’s really awful. I even thought about just asking for the grains and cooking myself.

But the work pace is too harsh, no time at all. Once we got off the tractor, all we wanted was sleep."

Actually, Li Yungui had already told the children how hard it was for them outside, but hearing Hongjun’s words still made the children realize the difficulty they faced.

Qu Xiaoli truly felt heartache, watching her son and nephew finish eating and urged them to sleep right away.

Chaoyang and Hongjun had already developed a habit; once they lay down, they could fall asleep immediately.

So both of them obediently returned to their room, slipped into the warm covers, and fell asleep within two minutes, their breathing steady.

"Dear, Chaoyang and Hongjun are really exhausted."

"Yes, at the last meeting it was decided that in less than two months, they would count double shifts for each of them."

"Sigh. Double shifts aren’t new, and the children are still growing."

"Next year we’ll cultivate a few more and let them take turns."

"Right? In the future, Chaoyang will follow Master Wei and won’t have much time with the tractor."

"I know."

"Dear, Liu Dazhi is quite straightforward, letting the two bring the money back. Otherwise, you’d have to make another trip."

"Exactly, it saved me the trouble. Liu Dazhi is genuinely not having an easy time, with the village folks not united and always holding back."

Qu Xiaoli is well aware of the situation in other villages. That’s why she’s willing to befriend the villagers.

Although everyone in the village is of different types, at least there are no genuinely malicious people.

The children just sat on the side, continuing to eat. It was a rare treat to have such delicious food, so they ate more.

So Qu Xiaoli let them wait a bit before going to sleep. The family chatted together.

Cheng Lin envied his second brother a lot, "Dad, can I join Master Wei and the others?"

"Wait until you grow up. There will surely be opportunities in the future." Li Yungui comforted his youngest son. It’s often said that the youngest son and eldest grandson are the favorites of the elders, and Li Yungui was no exception, though he didn’t show it too obviously. Still, he cherished his youngest son in his heart.

"Dad, I really want to go. I heard that Jianbin and the others are going too. I’m older than them, why can’t I go?"

"Because there’s no one to take you. Your second brother is going to learn from Master Wei, so you just stay home and learn from Teacher Jiang.

Teacher Jiang and Master Wei are a couple. If you perform well with Teacher Jiang, Master Wei will know.

Son, do you know why it’s only your second brother and Xiang Dong from our village who got noticed by Master Wei?"

"Isn’t it because you and my fourth uncle are village officials?"

Li Yungui looked at the children on the kang and shook his head, "They’re not interested in me being the village head, or any village official. It’s because your second brother and Xiang Dong both impressed Teacher Jiang."

The children were all silent now. "You all thought it was because of me and your fourth uncle, but actually, that’s not it. If you do manage to catch Master Wei’s attention, then you will definitely have a good future." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Yes, it’s not long until school starts again. You all must work hard. Your dad and I are just hoping you’ll be able to have a future with stable jobs." Qu Xiaoli sighed as well.

"Uncle, Aunt, I want to learn second-year knowledge from Teacher Jiang," Li Xue said.

"Xue’er, I don’t think Teacher Jiang will have time, but you can self-study. If you have questions, go ask Teacher Jiang. If you do well, I think Teacher Jiang will make arrangements."

"Uncle, I’ve already looked through the second-year books. There are many things I don’t understand. I want to wait until I’m not too busy and then go find Teacher Jiang."

"Good, it’s nice that our Xue’er is sensible. Changling, what about you? You and Cheng Lin can’t always go out to play. You also need to study well." Li Yungui advised his younger son and nephew.

Li Yunqiang’s home was also very cozy, with six family members sitting together on the kang. Xiang Dong had also taken a hot water bath, and was too tired to lift his head, but the aroma of meat kept him from going to sleep.

Liu Cuilan gave meat to her son, telling him to eat more.

"Mom, you eat too, I’ll help myself."

The fried smoked meat was the most popular, thin slices with the fat fried out, oily scallions, looking appetizing.

Li Yunqiang saw his eldest son was really exhausted. After he finished eating, he quickly sent him to bed.

Clearing the table was left to the three younger ones.

"The two of you, don’t disturb your big brother’s rest. He’s too tired."

That night, after being intimate, Liu Cuilan sighed, "My oldest cousin was probably worried that those people wouldn’t want to pay, so he had Xiang Dong and the others bring the money back."

"Don’t worry about it. It’s not something you can control."

"I know, but I was really afraid they wouldn’t pay up."

"They wouldn’t dare.

Alright, let’s get to sleep. Tomorrow, don’t wake Xiang Dong, let him sleep. He can wake up on his own time.

Prepare some fine grains for him, he’s leaving the day after tomorrow. He’ll be gone for a month or two again."

"Following his master, he won’t be mistreated."

"Yes, I hope Xiang Dong performs well, and Xiao Wei will keep him on."

"Would they really not want Xiang Dong?"

"If he doesn’t perform well, even if he follows Xiao Wei, they won’t teach him, and what future would he have? Xiang Dong doesn’t talk as much as Chaoyang."