Three Women in the Cage

When Yang Yu arrived at her mother's house, it was almost dark. When she walked into the yard, she saw Yang's mother collecting the rice that had been dried in the sun, and Huanhuan was helping to carry the bags.

Huanhuan was the first to notice Yang Yu coming in. While holding the bag, she happily called out to Yang Yu, "Mom!"

At this time, Yang Yu had already walked over to Huanhuan, touched her head happily, and said with emotion, "Hanhuan is helping grandma pick up the rice? You are so capable!"

"Well, I'm helping to peel the corn." Huanhuan said proudly, pointing to a pile of corn in the main room.

On the side is the shelled corn.

"Huanhuan has grown up and can work now. That's great!" Yang Yu praised her happily.

Yaya on their shoulders seemed to feel their joy as well. Her little mouth opened wide and made “oh oh oh” sounds. She was only two months away from being one year old and she was already starting to learn to speak.

"Look, Huanhuan, your sister wants to play with you. Take your sister to the inner room to play for a while, and I will help grandma clean up the leftovers, okay?" Yang Yu wanted her and her sister to cultivate a good relationship. After all, they had never been together properly since Yaya was born.

Huanhuan also wanted to play with her sister, so she happily followed her mother to the inner room. After Yang Yu put Yaya on the bed, she asked Huanhuan to play with her.

After arranging the two daughters, Yang Yu came to the yard again.

"Have you eaten? Why are you here so late?" Yang's mother asked puzzledly while packing her things.

"I just came from Susu's place and came to see Huanhuan." Yang Yu said casually.

"We went to see her a few days ago. How is she now? Is she feeling better? She was in a bad mood the last time we went and we didn't stay long. I guess her parents-in-law wanted a grandson and didn't treat her well. But fortunately, Chi Mu is taking care of her, so it's not too bad. Alas..." Mother Yang sighed. She didn't know how to help her little daughter resolve the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law issue. Fortunately, her husband stood by her, so she didn't have a hard time.

Looking at Yang Yu, her mother became even more worried. She thought about the many brothers in her husband's family, the complicated family conflicts, her husband not standing on her side, and she had to take care of everything at home and outside.

Now she has two daughters to take care of, and she has to do everything by herself. Compared with Yang Su, her life is more difficult, so Yang's mother loves her more.

"I talked to her and she figured it out. When I left, she was in a much better mood," Yang Yu comforted.

"That's good. Your dad and I are old, and we just hope that you are all well. Now,... seeing that you are not living well, your dad can't sleep every night..."

Although Father Yang did not show any concern for them on the surface, he was always concerned about them in his heart. He did not know how to help them with the family conflicts. When he knew that they were not doing well, he could not sleep all night.

Yang Yu knew that she and her sister had made her parents worry, but she didn't know how to reassure them, so she changed the subject.

"Mom, have you finished harvesting the crops?"

When Yang's mother heard her eldest daughter change the subject, she stopped worrying and just smiled and said, "It's still early. It's hard for your father and your eldest brother!"

"Or, I can stay for two days and help Dad and my elder brother harvest the crops?" Yang Yu thought so and said it.

Mother Yang knew her eldest daughter was filial, and she smiled lovingly, "Have you harvested your own crops? Do you still have some free time to help us?"

Yang Yu thought about the crops that she had not had time to harvest, frowned, and when she was about to speak, her mother interrupted her, "Take care of your own life first, don't worry about us. After all, we still have your father and elder brother here."

"It's the busy season for autumn harvest now, and we don't have time to help you. It's really inconvenient for you to take Yaya with you to harvest the crops. Why don't you leave Yaya with us and I will help take care of her. You can also work freely and finish the harvest early, and then come to pick her up?" Yang's mother said with some concern.

Yang Yu had originally thought that she could help her parents finish the harvest, and then ask her father and eldest brother to come over and help her. But after hearing what her mother had said, she felt embarrassed to ask again. Moreover, after thinking carefully, she realized that having her mother help take care of Yaya would indeed make her life much easier. With this in mind, Yang Yu agreed to her mother's proposal without further hesitation.

The next day, Yang Yu specifically told Huanhuan to take good care of her younger sister. Huanhuan, now almost three years old and increasingly sensible, earnestly promised to take good care of her younger sister.

Seeing Yang Yu holding Yaya tightly and refusing to let go, Yang's mother stepped forward and urged, "Give her to me. I will take good care of her. Don't worry!"

Yang Yu knew that this was not the time to be pretentious, so he took one last look at Yaya, kissed her on the forehead, and then reluctantly handed her over to Yang's mother.

She squatted down again and hugged Huanhuan who was looking at her expectantly. "Mom left her sister here with you. You must take good care of her," Yang Yu instructed the little Huanhuan.

Huanhuan hugged her mother's neck and refused to let go. She wanted to hug her mother longer. Her mother always came to see her after a long time, and left quickly every time. She was afraid that after a long time, she would forget the warmth of her mother's arms, so she wanted to hug her mother more now.

Fortunately, her younger sister stayed with her. She thought that she must take good care of her younger sister so that her mother would not have to work so hard in the future.

"Mom, I will..." Huanhuan said with a slight tearful voice.

Yang Yu looked at Yang's mother, who was standing at the gate of the courtyard, holding Huanhuan, who was crying with red eyes, in one hand and holding Yaya in the other. Her white hair was dancing in the wind, and her wrinkled eyes were without a trace of luster. She stood at the gate, looking at Yang Yu from afar.

Yang Yu turned around and didn't look back. After all, she was a burden to her elderly parents!

After returning home, Yang Yu quickly calmed down and cheered up. Now that her mother was helping to take care of her two children, she no longer had any worries.

Looking at the rice and corn drying in the yards of every household, it seems that everyone is busy with the autumn harvest.

There was no sign of Zhang Erfa in the house. He was probably called by his mother to go to the autumn harvest. He still couldn't figure out his place and always put Zhang's mother's affairs first, while completely ignoring his own family. He didn't even think about the fact that his family also had crops to harvest.

Yang Yu had become accustomed to it. Even though she knew Zhang Erfa was like this, she felt no wavering in her heart. She picked up the backpack indifferently, ready to cut the millet back into the pile and then carry it back to thresh it.

Because the tool for threshing grain is a square and heavy wooden saw, men here usually carry it to the fields, then thresh the grains on the wooden saw in the fields, and then carry the grains back to dry.

But Yang Yu couldn't carry the wooden saw, nor could she arrange for Zhang Erfa to help. She also didn't want to beg anyone for help, so she simply decided to cut the rice and thresh it at home.