The world is broken, the cubs mend it

After the Chinese New Year, the last hen in the house laid an egg, and Yuanyuan sat in the yard feeding the cows with fresh grass.

The old ox stood radiantly and docilely in the yard. There was no other ox more obedient than it in the whole village. Occasionally, it would rub its furry head against the palm of the child's hand.

There was a crowing sound coming from the chicken coop on the back eaves. This was a signal that the hen was laying eggs. The little guy immediately put down the grass in his hand and went to collect the eggs.

Yuanyuan stood beside the chicken coop and watched the hens come out before she poked her head in to look for eggs, with half of her body almost inside.

The white egg felt warm in her hand. She put it in her pocket and ran happily to the vegetable garden to show her father.

A new round of sowing is about to begin in spring. Chen Jiahe is sowing seeds to plant vegetable seedlings. Eggplants and peppers, which require seedling raising and then transplanting, are more troublesome.

Most of the wild peach blossoms on the mountain have bloomed, adding a bit of color to the fields and forests that are still dry and yellow.

"Dad, what is this?"

Yuanyuan ran over and saw him holding a paper bag in his hand. She stood on tiptoe to see what was inside.

“These are green bean seeds.”

Chen Jiahe handed her the paper package, inside which lay the reddish-brown bean seeds quietly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Dad, the chicken that didn't lay eggs has laid eggs. I'll bring it over to you to see."

Yuanyuan took the bean seeds and squatted down naturally. The color of the three chicks at home changed as they grew up, and she could already distinguish them clearly.

The moment he squatted down, the eggs in his small pocket were squeezed and made cracking sounds.

"Where are the eggs?"

Upon hearing the good news, Chen Jiahe straightened his back and looked at her. After raising the corn for so long, it finally laid eggs. At least all the corn was not eaten in vain.

"..."

Yuanyuan slowly put down the bean seeds in his hand, and the sticky egg liquid had already seeped out of his pocket.

Her eggs were broken (???^???)

Under Chen Jiahe's expectant gaze, the child took out a pile of broken egg shells and a hand covered with yellow egg liquid and showed it to him.

"This... is the egg you mentioned..."

An egg can be used to make a bowl of egg drop soup, or to hatch a chick, but the old father's heart was broken along with the egg.

“There are more than just eggs…”

Yuanyuan pursed her lips nervously. She didn't know that if she squatted down, the egg would break by itself.

"What else?"

Chen Jiahe looked her up and down, but couldn't see anything else.

"And dirty coats and trousers."

Yuanyuan grabbed the corner of his pants with his clean hands. The sticky egg liquid stuck to his legs through his autumn trousers, making him feel very uncomfortable.

"..."

Chen Jiahe's silence was deafening, so he had to put down his hoe and take her back to change clothes.

He seriously suspected that the child came here on purpose to cause trouble.

"Dad, are you angry?"

Yuanyuan was held in his father's hands, with his little body suspended in the air.

"No…"

Chen Jiahe was not angry but depressed, and could only silently miss his own child in his heart.

What's the big deal about beating him up?

The broken eggs cannot be brought back, and he still has to coax the child.

"Then why don't you hug me?"

In the past, my father always held me in his arms, not lifted me up in the air like this.

"Because I don't want to do an extra load of laundry..."

Chen Jiahe took a deep breath and quickened his pace to walk back. Even though the water from the well was still icy and cold, washing clothes was a hassle.

When he got home and saw an old yellow cow standing in the yard eating grass, he took the broken eggshell from the child's hand and stuffed it into the cow's mouth.

Anything that can be saved is better than nothing, and feeding it to the cows can also be considered as psychological comfort.

"Dad, I didn't mean it."

Yuanyuan sat in the bathtub and took the initiative to rub the egg liquid off her legs.

"I know. I asked you to write from one to ten. Did you write it?"

Chen Jiahe knew that this was an accident. It was inevitable that children would do stupid things.

He had read more than half of the dictionary. Although he could not remember all the words, he could already read some sentences.

He can also teach his child pinyin himself, and is currently teaching her to write some simple words.

Wang Mazi didn't expect him to learn so quickly, and he even gave him his book to read.

But he put it down after reading a few pages. The book was full of family affairs and love stories, which was boring to read.

"I wrote one, two, three, seven, ten."

Yuanyuan only wrote a few words that were easy to write, and even though they were easy to write, she didn't write very smoothly.

"Can you write your own name?"

Chen Jiahe did not force her to write down everything. Asking her to write was just to cultivate her interest in learning. Forcing her to do it would be counterproductive.

"Dad, I want to change my name to Yi Yi."

Yuanyuan felt that the three words "Chen Yuanyuan" were too difficult to write. She had a hard time writing them, and her writing was crooked and she always made mistakes.

"You want to call me Chen Yiyi?"

Chen Jiahe frowned unconsciously. The name cannot be changed casually, and the village chief said that the two words "Yuanyuan" have good meanings.

"No, I want to call one one one."

Yuanyuan thinks this is the best name in the world and she can write it with her eyes closed.

blah-

The towel in Chen Jiahe's hand fell into the water and his whole face fell.

This is changing one's name, it's simply going against the will of Heaven!

"No, the name cannot be changed."

"Dad, I usually call you Yuanyuan, but when I write my name, I call it Yiyi. Is that okay?"

Yuanyuan still likes her name very much, she just wants to change it when writing it.

"Of course not. Just write well. Once you learn how to write, it won't be difficult. People must be able to write their own names."

Chen Jiahe ruthlessly rejected the child's request, he thought Yuanyuan was a perfect name.

Although he didn't know who gave her the name, he felt that person put a lot of thought into it.

"You can't change your name Yuanyuan. You should practice your calligraphy well."

007 was lying on the ground bored, and was almost weaving a spider web out of idleness.

This name is very meaningful to both the host and the target of the strategy.

"..."

Yuanyuan didn't want to change her name, she just wanted Yuanyuan to become as simple as Yiyi.

After taking a bath, Chen Jiahe changed the child into clean clothes and warmed water in the pot to wash the child's clothes.

"Next time, put the eggs away after you collect them, and don't keep them in your pocket."

The days are numbered until the hen starts sitting on roost. He has to keep the eggs to hatch chicks, and he cannot eat any of the eggs left over from then on.

"I know!"

Yuanyuan nodded, took the small ladle and went out to scoop water for the old ox.

The child was always restless, so Chen Jiahe found a small gourd and made a small water scoop for her to play with.

But if the children feed the cows like this, the cows will probably have to drink until the afternoon before they are full.

After the old ox had eaten its fill, it lay in the yard with its eyes closed and ruminating. Yuanyuan squatted beside it and gently touched the ox's head.

"Dad, Niu Niu's eyes are so big. When will my eyes grow that big?"

Yuanyuan likes the old ox’s big eyes the most. They are so watery and look beautiful no matter how you look at them.

"Your eyes are already big. They don't need to be as big as a cow's."

Chen Jiahe was washing clothes while responding to her child's wild ideas.

A cow’s eyes are indeed pretty, but such big eyes on a human face might be a bit scary.