The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

Mai Sui went over to check on the situation, and seeing that she couldn't help, she picked up the snow shovel and continued working.

Seeing that Lu Qingqing was going to help, he snatched the snow shovel from her hand and sped up his work.

Since the last family split up, Maisui has come over every day to shovel snow.

Sometimes, when it snows heavily, I'll come back again in the evening.

Lu Qingqing and the others tried to stop her, but they couldn't overcome the girl's stubbornness.

She said things like she would feel guilty if she didn't do some work.

There was nothing they could do but let her clean.

However, I would send her something every day or two.

Often, the wheat ears refused to be harvested, so they delivered them to her house.

The slightly worn jacket that the little girl is wearing is a modified version of Lu Qingqing's old cotton-padded jacket that was too small for her.

Although the fabric looks a bit faded, the cotton inside is all new and very thick.

When Mai Sui had cleared most of the snow from the yard, Old Man Zhuang finally opened the door and came out.

After working for quite a while, the old man's face was flushed from the heat.

After coming out, he saw that the work in the yard was almost done, so he smiled and invited people into his house.

Lu Qingqing and Sun Yue were both curious and asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn't say.

Seeing that the old man was keeping them in suspense, the group cooperated and followed him into the house.

Old Zhuang walked to the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), turned around and saw that everyone had come in, so he lifted the cloth covering the bundle.

Inside was a large piece of rice cake, cut into pieces!

To be precise, it's sweet potato rice cake!

This was the first time Lu Qingqing had ever seen such a thing since arriving in this era.

When she was a child, vendors would come to the village on bicycles to sell their wares.

Back then, her grandmother would buy her a few pieces.

When I was a child, I always thought this was incredibly delicious.

Seeing that everyone was staring, Old Man Zhuang washed his hands in the basin before he started dividing the food.

"Wheat Ear, you're the youngest, so this biggest piece is for you!"

Looking at the large rice cake in his hand, Mai Sui could already smell the aroma and unconsciously swallowed.

However, she was still somewhat reserved and gently shook her head in refusal.

Seeing that she didn't come forward to take it, Old Man Zhuang simply took a clean small bowl, put it in, and handed it to her.

Turning his head, he took out a larger piece from his bundle and beckoned Lu Qingqing to come forward.

"Qing'er, you're the second youngest, this is for you!"

Lu Qingqing stepped forward, took the sweet potato rice cake, and took a bite.

This rice cake has both the sweetness of sweet potato and the aroma of fried rice.

When mixed together, it is not as cloyingly sweet as modern rice cakes made with added sugar and saccharin.

In short, it's delicious!

Old Zhuang was pleased to see her eating so heartily and continued to share with Sun Yue and Qin Lang.

After everyone had finished distributing the bundle, there was still a little over half left in the bag.

He took a smaller piece of rice cake and slowly began to nibble on it.

He had seen Aunt Wu from a hutong in Beijing make this in his earlier years.

Later, the Wu family's fortunes declined year by year, and they no longer had the spare money to make this kind of thing.

With nothing much to do these past few days, he looked at the bag of sweet potatoes Qingqing had brought over and decided to make some snacks.

Seeing the children enjoying their meal, I instantly felt that my aching back was all worth it.

The five of them took small stools, squatted by the stove, and munched on rice cakes.

Actually, Qin Lang was the one who ate the fastest.

Even though he was clear-headed, his previous hobbies remained unchanged.

There's really no way to resist this kind of fragrant and crispy dessert.

After finishing one piece, I consciously went and got a second one.

He ate three large pieces in one go, gulping them down.

Lu Qingqing stopped him because she was worried that he was eating too much candy.

Otherwise, the rice cakes that Old Man Zhuang spent several hours making would probably all be eaten by him.

In stark contrast, the wheat ears were being carefully eaten, one bite at a time.

The little girl hadn't eaten anything particularly delicious in previous years.

Now that she has suddenly gotten some delicious food, she wants to take it back to her mother so she can try it too.

After chatting for a while and catching their breath, the group decided to begin their fitness and martial arts practice for the day.

Seeing this, Mai Sui picked up her small bowl and said goodbye to the group.

After leaving the gate, she looked at the rice cake that was mostly left in the bowl and jumped for joy.

As soon as I got home, I shouted excitedly.

"Mom, come quick! Grandpa Zhuang gave me something delicious!"

Maisui's mother put down her needlework, got off the kang (a heated brick bed), and went out the door.

Upon seeing the bowl of rice cake, he exclaimed in surprise:

"What kind of food is this? Mother has never seen it before."

Mai Sui pulled her mother back to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then recounted the entire production process that Old Man Zhuang had explained earlier.

As she spoke, she didn't forget to break off a piece and stuff it into her mother's mouth.

As Mai Sui Niang ate the sweet rice cake, she looked at her daughter's rosy cheeks from working, and her expression softened even more.

The mother and daughter each ate a small piece, and then Mai Sui found a clean handkerchief and wrapped the rice cake up.

This is such a good thing, it can't be eaten in one day.

From then on, she and her mother ate a little bit every day.

This way, I can eat delicious food every day and, just like Grandpa Zhuang said, grow taller.

She only realized her younger brother wasn't in the house when she was about to hide the rice cake.

"Mother, have you seen Baoshu? Where did he go?"

Maisui shook her head.

"He ran out not long after you left."

I was worried he'd catch a cold if he went outside, so I tried to call out to him, but he didn't stop and just ran off.

Upon hearing this, Mai Sui's smiling face turned serious.

He can go wherever he wants!

If he doesn't finish the work assigned to him today, he won't be allowed to eat.

"Mother, you're not allowed to side with him this time!"

Looking at her daughter's stern face, Mai Sui's mother smiled and agreed.

Baoshu, although she gave birth to him, was spoiled by his father and never listened to her!

Ever since Sun Laolai was kicked out, he's started to be afraid of wheat ears.

That's fine. As long as the child has someone they're afraid of and doesn't do anything immoral, that's enough.

Little did they know, Baoshu was with Sun Laolai at that moment.

Old Lai Sun, holding Bao Shu's hand, stood in the courtyard of the merchants' shop on the main street, bowing and scraping as he said:

“Master Wang, this is my son. He lives with my wife now.”

I swear to God, our neighbor to the west is really rich, and he bought a lot of things after he came.

I heard they bought a lot of coal.

That thing is much warmer than firewood when it burns!

As for the Wu family behind them, they used to run a general store.

Household items and money are indispensable!

Upon hearing this, the merchant leader, Master Wang, asked again, unwilling to give up.

"Old Sun, do you really not know where that family from the grain shop went?"

Since Sun Laolai came here, he has been asked this question countless times.

This time, he continued to put on that pitiful look and replied.

"Gentlemen, I really don't know where that Qian family has gone!"

You know, I promise I told you as soon as I arrived!

After all, we're not related, we don't even share the same surname!

When Master Wang heard him say this, he guessed that the man probably really didn't know.

Then, he looked at the group of brothers sitting next to him.

"Brothers, what do you think about this?"

A burly man to the left of Master Wang rubbed his hands together and cursed:

"Brother, you're just too cautious!"

When we first arrived, we should have just robbed that grain shop.

Didn't this kid also say that the young manager of the grain shop helped his neighbor to the west buy coal?

I imagine his family must have stockpiled quite a bit too.

The man next to him, upon hearing this, also retorted angrily:

"That's right, damn it, it's freezing cold here!"

We only have enough firewood to burn for about a month.

Judging from the weather, it won't be warm for several months!

And that grain is definitely not enough for us brothers to get through the winter.

"If I'd known, I should have just robbed it then and there!"