Good luck every time

"No food? How can there be no food? Every year, mother has food for medicine, so why is there no food this year?"

Li Zhuzi roared at Li Ruyi with his hoarse voice.

He thought that Li Ruyi had hidden the food.

Li Ruyi spread his hands.

"You also know that mother needs to take medicine. She just bought ten sets of medicine ten days ago, and now she still has seven sets left to take. At the beginning, I asked her to buy two fewer sets, but she refused to take even one or two!"

"Look at that guy, he's quite neat, he just threw the money away and buried it in the back hill. Why don't you hold on tighter?"

Li Zhuzi was only eight years old. When Sun scolded Li Ruyi, he followed suit and had no idea that the ending would be like this.

He was a little panicked.

Seeing him like this, Li Ruyi continued.

"Besides, didn't I tell you clearly when Mom died? There's nothing at home, and you're not deaf, and you're asking me now!"

"I asked you to eat a steamed bread, but you turned the table over. How come you don't live on wind when you are so injured? Why are you being so rude to me?"

When talking about Sun's death, Li Zhuzi recalled the way Sun suffocated.

Thinking of the dead Sun, he remembered how Li Ruyi wanted to strangle him to death last night.

He shuddered and held back the rest of his words.

When the eldest sister heard Li Ruyi's harsh words, she quickly patted her arm.

"Speak nicely, the pillar is still young."

Ever since he was almost strangled to death by Li Ruyi the night before, Li Zhuzi has become a much more obedient person.

However, Li Ruyi knew that this kind of honesty would not last long and would soon disappear as he endured hardships and was instigated by people with ulterior motives.

As for why Li Ruyi didn't educate him.

It’s not like Li Ruyi hadn’t tried it in his previous life, but even if Li Zhuzi had a broken leg it wouldn’t stop him from beating his wife and children.

He is just a beast in human skin, without heart or brains, and he looks down on women from beginning to end. Even if the woman is his sister, mother, daughter-in-law, or daughter, he does not show any mercy.

Of course he had to do it.

Otherwise, why should others support this useless person?

Apart from being a son, what other great achievements has he made that are worthy of praise?

So he had to suppress the girls and use class divisions to suppress these physically weaker people.

To put it bluntly, he is a complete selfish person who doesn't want to work hard and only wants to live by exploiting others.

Li Ruyi shook off her elder sister's hand. She had intentionally had this conversation tonight. She wanted to put pressure on Li Zhuzi.

Of course, it is not enough to just put pressure on him. We must also let Li Zhuzi live the life he deserves for a few days.

She really didn't want to stay with Li Zhuzi at all. What was the point of such chaos every day? It delayed her from making money!

Seeing her like this, the eldest sister patted her arm soothingly.

Li Ruyi pulled her hand away again.

"What's the point of saying nice things? Can they be eaten? Now there's no food at home, let's think about what to do!"

The eldest sister had no idea, and after racking her brains she could only come up with one solution.

"How about...how about we go and borrow some?"

Li Ruyi sneered.

"Who should I borrow from? Look around the village and see who has enough food. Also, look around among us and see who has the face to do it."

You can't owe the debt, otherwise you will have to pay back Li Zhuzi's share after the family is divided, which will be a huge loss.

The eldest sister was speechless and fell silent.

After the room was quiet for a long time, Li Ruyi was the first to come up with a solution.

"How about this! Let's split into two groups tomorrow. Big sister, you and the third brother go to weed the fields, and Zhuzi and I will go up the mountain to chop some firewood and carry it to the county to sell. A bundle of firewood is three copper coins. The two of us carry two bundles to the county and can sell them for six cents. Old corn is two cents a pound, so we can buy three pounds of it."

"If we save some, the rice porridge we cook can last four of us two days."

When the eldest sister heard this, she thought it was a good idea, but she immediately became worried.

"But this isn't a long-term solution, is it?"

Six cents a day is not a small amount of money. If it is really a good job, many people would be scrambling to do it.

Li Ruyi nodded, but her expression did not seem too relaxed.

"I only know a few families who need firewood. I was able to deliver it in the first few days, but it didn't take long before no one wanted it. Especially in the summer, every household doesn't use much firewood, so I can't buy it for long."

The eldest sister started to worry again.

"Let's do this for now! It's only about a month, we'll talk about it after it's over."

Li Zhuzi didn't say anything, but looked at the three of them.

He didn't say that he didn't want to work. He had never worked before and had no idea what it felt like, so he didn't have time to object.

By the time he remembered to say something, the family party had already ended.

He watched Li Ruyi nonchalantly carrying her small stool to go out to work. The eldest sister looked a little embarrassed and didn't know what she was thinking. The third child happily ran to the back garden to see what vegetables were left at home.

He was the only one left, feeling indescribably irritable.

The conversation ended like this, and I had a dreamless night.

The next morning, before dawn, Li Ruyi started pulling Li Zhuzi up.

Li Zhuzi was so annoyed that he kept whining and was unwilling to get up.

Li Ruyi pulled him off the kang by his hair.

He was angry and wanted to hit someone, but unfortunately no one around him had ever beaten Li Ruyi, so he was beaten again.

Li Zhuzi stood up dejectedly. Li Ruyi found a long coat and trousers for him and taught him how to tie his leggings.

There are many mosquitoes in the mountains, and chopping wood is not an easy job. There are also snakes, and it is still very dangerous if the leg bandages are not tied tightly.

Li Zhuzi wanted to cheat, saying, "You told me a few days ago that I could play around, why do I have to work today?!"

But before he could say anything, Li Ruyi slapped him twice.

It’s not that Li Ruyi can’t coax him. She can lie to him and say that they are going to the mountains to play, or she can say that boys should learn some skills to support their families, or that the family is in trouble now, and a sharp edge can overcome any obstacle!

But she said nothing.

Once she started beating people, she would become addicted. The more she beat them, the more she got used to it. The more she got used to it, the more comfortable she became. After a few times, she was too lazy to waste time reasoning with Li Zhuzi.

After realizing this, Li Ruyi secretly swore in her heart that if her elder sister wanted to get married in the future, she must choose a family that was not used to doing things physically. This kind of thing could only happen once or countless times.

The brother and sister ate something, took some water and steamed bread, and went into the mountains.

Chopping wood is not an easy job, and not all wood can be used for burning. The water content of trees in summer is very high, and if you take the wood home and burn it directly, it will smoke. If they want to sell the wood they have chopped today, they have to find broken dead trees or dead branches.

This is not only light, but also does not need to be dried in the sun before being sent to the county for sale.

Li Ruyi carried a hatchet and gave Li Zhuzi a long rope.

She didn't dare give the knife to Li Zhuzi, for fear that he would get angry and attack her.

The firewood outside the mountain had been almost chopped down by the village woodcutters, so the two men walked a distance into the mountain.

Li Ruyi also carried a backpack, and if he came across any lush and tender wild vegetables, he would dig some up.

Whenever he came across a dead branch of sufficient length, he would pick it up. If it was still attached to the tree, Li Ruyi would ask Li Zhuzi to use a rope to cut down the branch.

Just tie a stone to one end of the rope, shake it and throw the stone out with the rope. The rope will get wrapped around the branch, and you can pull the desired branch down with a strong pull.

Unfortunately, Li Zhuzi couldn't do such a simple thing. He had no control over what he pulled down. The most outrageous time was when he pulled down a snake wrapped around a branch.

Li Ruyi chopped the snake in half with a hatchet, but the severed snake head bit onto the bark of a tree before dying.

Li Zhuzi was frightened and refused to hit the tree branch again.

The two entered the mountain before dawn, and when they came out it was already past mid-afternoon.

Li Ruyi was not very strong, so he had to divide a bundle of firewood into two parts and carry them on his shoulders using sturdy branches.

Li Zhuzi was in vain, carrying a small bundle and feeling exhausted.