In my 40s, the trading system took me flying

"Why does your grandfather like girls so much?"

The kids who played together couldn't understand why everyone liked boys, but when it came to the Xu family, girls became popular.

Xu Xiaoba rolled his eyes at the boy who was talking, and instantly felt that the boy had bad intentions and just wanted to sow discord!

"What's wrong? We're happy to do it!"

Xu Twelve also shouted: "Yes, we are happy, Xiaoya is our family's little ancestor!"

Who wouldn’t want to share all kinds of delicious snacks with him every day?

They are just kids, at an age where they can't hide their feelings. No one wants to give in to anyone else, and they'll fight if they disagree.

Children in the mountains are tough and strong, and fighting is commonplace. As long as no one is killed, adults rarely get involved.

When Xu Xiaoba and his brothers returned home with bruised faces and noses, Xu Xiaoya had already been placed on the kang by Old Man Xu. There were four bowls on the kang table in front of her, filled with dried fruits, dried meat, snacks, and peach cakes!

Xu Twelve's eyes lit up and he reached out to take it, but Old Man Xu slapped his hand away.

"Wash yourself clean before getting on the bed!"

These two guys are so dirty that they look like mud monkeys, and they still dare to get on the kang?

Old man Xu was so angry that he was about to take action.

Xu Twelve's eyes were filled with tears: "Sister, it's all right!"

The little guy wasn't convinced. "Our sister can do it, but he can't?" He just had a fight with someone because his sister was favored.

As a result, Old Man Xu reminded him angrily: "How can you compare with Xiaoya? You are a brat, a stinky brat, and Xiaoya is the little ancestor!"

Xu Twelve: ...

I have no guilt about being biased!

Xu Shier was so angry that he wanted to explode, but his grandfather's authority in the family prevented him from going crazy.

Although Xu Xiaoya felt at ease eating alone, she still felt a little sympathy for her cousins. She grabbed a piece of dried fruit and stuffed it into Xu Shier's mouth.

"Twelfth brother, wash your hands before eating!"

The soft and cute little cousin's feeding instantly comforted Xu Twelve.

The little guy immediately ran to the washbasin and asked Xu Xiaoba to help him pour water.

I am small and not strong enough, so I can only ask my brothers for help.

Xu Xiaoya fed several cousins who appeared one by one, and fell into deep thought as she watched the bowls being emptied in an instant.

Old Man Xu was very happy. He smoothed Xu Xiaoya's hair and said, "Are you still generous?"

"They are all brothers, they have to give!"

This soft affirmation made Old Man Xu sigh.

It is obvious that Xu Xiaoya is the most favored child in the family, but she has not become a particularly selfish child. It is probably because of this reason that everyone in the family is willing to pamper her, not just because she can make things appear.

The dried fruits on the table were the snack gift packs that Xu Xiaoya had exchanged for to appease Old Man Xu. She exchanged them for a pebble she picked up from the river, so she didn't feel too bad about it.

There are plenty of pebbles by the river, but the snack gift packs are something that the children in the village will never come across.

The main reason was that Xu Xiaoya was greedy.

"How about I give you the portion you left?"

Old Man Xu wanted to go find the portion that had been left behind, and thought Xu Xiaoya would agree, but she shook her head: "That was left for grandma, uncle, second uncle, third uncle, aunt, second aunt, third aunt, mom, and dad. Xiaoya doesn't want to eat it!"

She counted on her fingers and repeated the name to each person, for fear that she would miss something and make her loving family members sad because they couldn't eat.

Old man Xu let out a long sigh. Xu Xiaoya's peculiarity kept him awake from time to time.

It’s not that he is greedy and wants to squeeze Xu Xiaoya dry, but he is worried that because of Xu Xiaoya’s personal emotions, the whole family will become alienated. What will happen in the future?

No elderly person likes to see their children split up, and even less does they want suspicion to arise among their children.

Xu Xiaoya's behavior gave him peace of mind, at least ensuring that everyone was taken care of equally.

"Okay, okay, our little girl is such a generous child!"

Old Man Xu lectured his grandchildren, "Did you hear me, you little brats? Xiaoya has never treated you as outsiders. If you can't treat Xiaoya as the most important person in the future, I won't let you rest in peace even after I die. I'll take you all to the underworld!"

Xu Xiaowu tutted his words: "Master, we are not three-year-old children. Why do you like to scare people for no reason?"

The key is that the scare factor is not enough and it is not scary at all.

Old Man Xu snorted coldly: "I'm reminding you to be nice to Xiaoya. Without Xiaoya, our family life will definitely not be so good. At least you won't be able to eat good food!"

All the grandchildren of the Xu family believe this.

Xu Xiaoya leaned on Old Man Xu's legs, crossed her legs, and looked very proud.

But that's not it.

These brothers will be her strongest support in the future. If they cannot be obedient and are easily won over by the heroine in the future, won’t she be so angry that she vomits blood?

But she was not a stingy person, so she took out some fried soybeans from her pocket.

Xu Twelve immediately took off his outer clothes and crawled to Xu Xiaoya's side: "Sister, grandma has made you some delicious food again!"

Fried soybeans are very fragrant and especially suitable for children to use to grind their teeth. They are crisp and fragrant, and most importantly, they are fun.

The other brothers also gathered around and each took a handful of money. Xu Xiaoya's pockets didn't look big, but they could hold a lot of things.

After coaxing her brothers, Xu Xiaoya yawned. She was tired.

Old Man Xu noticed that Xu Xiaoya wanted to sleep, and considering that she would sleep every time after exchanging things, he asked his grandchildren to be quiet.

Xu Xiaoya fell asleep in Old Man Xu's arms.

The little girl smacked her lips even after falling asleep, and it seemed that she was eating delicious food in her dreams.

In a blink of an eye, it was Laba Festival again. Xu Xiaoya and Xu Twelve were lying on the kang eating roasted sweet potatoes when they heard someone outside shouting, "Old Xu, it's time to kill the New Year pig!"

As the twelfth lunar month begins, Huaishu Village begins slaughtering the New Year pig, with one household taking a turn each day. By the end of the year, almost all households have taken turns, and people can eat meat every day!

This tradition has continued for many years.

When Old Man Xu heard the noise, he came out from the inner room.

"Hasn't Dazhu already passed by?"

Old Xu, wearing a cotton-padded jacket, went out and saw his neighbor, Old Wang.

"Dazhu and the others have already tied him up, waiting for you to stab him!"

There are certain rules to killing pigs. If the knife is not used accurately, the pig will not die and its blood will be wasted.

Moreover, Old Xu has been slaughtering pigs for many years and has a lot of experience in how to use a knife. He can kill the pig with just one look and it will definitely kill it with one blow. The pig will lose the strength to struggle in an instant.

Even though the Xu family has four sons, none of them has learned this skill.

Old Man Xu responded and went into the house to ask Xu Xiaoya, "My dear grandson, do you want to watch the pig being slaughtered?"

Xu Xiaoya had already gotten up from the kang when she heard what Old Wang said. Now she was already off the kang, staring at Old Xu with sparkling eyes: "Look!"

Children in the mountains don’t have so many requirements. Although slaughtering pigs is bloody, there is no saying that children should be avoided, unless the children are weak.

Old man Xu held Xu Xiaoya in his arms and told her how to slaughter a pig.

Xu Xiaoya had never seen a pig being slaughtered before, so she was particularly interested. She thought the New Year pig being slaughtered was a large white pig weighing at least four or five hundred kilograms. After all, in her impression, domestic pigs all looked like that.

But when she arrived at the scene, she saw that the pig in Old Wang's house was not the domestic pig she had imagined, but a black pig.

It’s different from the Xu family’s. The Xu family’s pigs are white.

The key point is that he is not very big, probably only about 100 pounds.

"It's not very big!"

Old Man Xu asked Xu Xiaoya to watch from a distance, while he walked up to the New Year Pig with a sharpened knife and made a comment!

"It's good that it has grown this big, enough to eat!"

They are all hunters, living off the land, and domesticated animals are just a guarantee. They only eat pig grass, so how big can they grow?

The white knife went in and the red knife came out, and the blood fell into the wooden basin on the ground.

It’s hard for kids to get excited because it means they’ll be eating meat soon.

There are twenty families raising pigs this year, so the slaughter starts in the twelfth lunar month, and Old Wang's family is the first to do so.

Xu Xiaoya didn't like seeing the blood flowing out, so she went to find her grandmother after taking a look.

A few days ago, Grandma Xu brought her daughters-in-law to work with other families to make tofu. Now they are not making tofu, but frying dried fruits.

Put clean sand in a large pot and heat it to boiling point. Throw the dried fruits that need to be fried into it and use the temperature of the sand to dry out the moisture in the dried fruits.

As time goes by, the oil in the dried fruits is roasted and the fragrance comes out.

When Xu Xiaoya came over, she was frying pine nuts.

These are the things that are most abundant in the mountains.

"Xiao Ya, you came at the perfect time. It's freshly cooked. Come and have some!"

When Old Mrs. Xu saw the wrinkles on Xu Xiaoya's face, she told everyone else very clearly that her most precious granddaughter had arrived.

Xu Xiaoya hugged Old Lady Xu's legs: "Milk is the best!"

A soft and gentle word coaxed Old Lady Xu so much that her teeth popped out. She started to peel the pine nuts for Xu Xiaoya. Pine nuts were very fat, and the fried pine nuts just out of the pan were particularly fragrant. The fat came out after chewing them twice.

This is one of the favorite snacks of children in the mountains.

Old Wang's daughter-in-law was helping to light the fire. Seeing Xu Xiaoya, she was full of envy: "Auntie, what does your little girl look like? She's so chubby, just like a doll from a New Year's picture. Why is she so popular?"

Xu Xiaoya called people obediently and smiled brightly. She didn't look like a child that could be raised in the mountains.

The children in Old Wang's family are darker than each other. When they stand next to Xu Xiaoya, the contrast makes Old Wang's daughter-in-law feel particularly depressed.

It turns out that all the good children belong to other people's families.

Old Mrs. Xu didn't care about what her neighbors thought. She stuffed a bag of pine nuts into Xu Xiaoya's pocket and told her to go out and play with her brothers. After the pine nuts were fried, she would start stewing the pig-killing dish. She had no time to take care of Xu Xiaoya.

There are many children at the gate of the yard. The boys are lying together playing spinning tops, and the girls are gathering together to play grass fighting, cockfighting, skipping rope, and kicking shuttlecock!

In short, no one was idle. Xu Xiaoya was too young, so she was arranged to stand as the one doing rope skipping, which was a bit pitiful.

Just as Xu Xiaoya was about to have an outburst, they heard a tinkling sound in the distance. All the children stopped what they were doing and looked towards the place where the sound came from, their eyes shining.