In the afternoon, after finishing work, Li Baoying took Xiaohua to the supply and marketing cooperative to apply for chicks.
The village encouraged families to raise chickens. Previously, they hadn't raised any because there wasn't enough grain at home, but now, for Jintian's sake, they had to.
She planned to get up early every day to dig up wild vegetables and weeds to feed the chickens, and go out to cut grass after work in the evening. As long as the chickens were raised well, Jintian would be saved.
Soon, when she came back the next day, she received five adorable little chicks.
Xiaohua was overjoyed; now the family had a few more little companions to play with her.
"Mom, what do little chicks eat?"
Li Baoying chopped up the wild vegetables she had dug in the morning, mixed them with a little cornmeal crust, and placed them on a piece of waste paper for the chicks to peck at.
"Look, they eat this."
The chicks ate with great enthusiasm.
Zhang Jintian also squatted down to watch the chicks eat. He reached out to stroke one and asked, "Mom, why did you suddenly decide to raise chickens?"
Li Baoying thought for a moment and said, "Well, you're in the second year of middle school now. Next year is the third year, and then high school. Studying requires a lot of brainpower, and we don't have anything else special at home for you to eat, so raising a few chickens will give you some extra nutrition."
"Mom, studying requires brainpower for me too, I want to eat some too!"
Zhang Jinlin seemed to have forgotten yesterday's lesson and crowded over again.
Even though Mom loved the eldest brother the most, she usually doted on him as well.
"We'll talk about that when you get to middle school. Go back and do your homework!" Li Baoying said irritably.
"I finished it." Zhang Jinlin took a step back, feeling a bit scared.
"If you're done, go to bed, and get up early tomorrow to come dig wild vegetables and cut grass with me!"
"Mom, you... you don't love me anymore, sob... why?"
Zhang Jinlin felt deeply wronged and could no longer hold it back, crying until snot came out.
"Scram! If you cry again, you're sleeping outside tonight!" Li Baoying barked.
The temperature was still decent during the day, but at night it dropped to around ten-odd degrees, and sleeping outside was freezing.
Hearing this, Zhang Jinlin stopped crying. With tears streaming down his face, he went off to find Zhang Jiandan.
Zhang Jinhe glanced at the chicks and said, "Mom, Little Brother is still young and doesn't understand. I'll get up early tomorrow to dig wild vegetables and cut grass, so you can sleep in a bit."
"Mom, I'll go too. The chicks are my good friends, and I want to feed them myself."
Zhang Jintian started to speak as well, but Li Baoying stopped him.
She said, "You guys don't need to. I'll just get up early and dig up some extra wild vegetables and grass. You all should sleep in."
For the first time, Li Baoying looked at her second son without any selfish motives. In her past life, she had always thought of him as slow and foolish. Now looking back, the truly slow and foolish one was actually herself.
And then there was her daughter Xiaohua; she was so considerate, showing such warmth and care at such a young age.
Thinking back to when her second son had to drop out of school, his teacher had said he was very dedicated and smart, but for some reason his grades could never improve.
At the time, she hadn't thought much of it, assuming her son was naturally dull and the teacher was just making polite small talk to save her from embarrassment. But thinking about it now, since the eldest and youngest were both smart, it didn't make sense for the middle one to be dull.
Unless he had deliberately failed his exams on purpose.
With this thought, she looked at her second son with complex emotions in her eyes and asked, "Jinhe, do you still want to go to school? If you do, Mom will pinch pennies to let you continue your studies!"
Hearing this, Zhang Jinhe looked up at his mother in confusion, completely missing how the topic had suddenly shifted.
"Did you do poorly on your exams on purpose? Just to make things a little easier on the family?"
Li Baoying didn't dare meet her son's eyes. Saying these words made her heart ache and her nose sting.
Her son was so obedient—was she blind?
Hearing this, Zhang Jinhe was at a loss: "No... I didn't..."
With that, he lowered his head.
"All right, you're a good boy. Do you still want to go to school?"
"I don't want to."
"There's me and your dad to handle things at home—"
"I don't want to go. I just want Big Brother and Little Brother to be able to study properly. I just want to farm at home."
Li Baoying fell silent. Looking at the family's mud-brick house, the glossy, grease-stained table and benches, and the bed covered in straw, she understood that her second son simply didn't want to add any burden to the family.
In her past life, she truly must have been blind, ignoring such a wonderful son and instead favoring the glib youngest son and youngest daughter-in-law!
With that thought, she glared at the youngest son snuggling in his father's arms, sighed, and said, "It's getting late, go to sleep early."
The chicks were kept in a cardboard box inside the courtyard.
The house consisted of three small rooms: the middle room served as both living room and dining room, while the two side rooms served as bedrooms. The bedrooms had no doors, only a pair of cloth curtains hanging in the doorways.
Li Baoying and her husband slept in the east bedroom with Xiaohua, while the three brothers slept in the west bedroom. Fortunately, the bed in the room was large enough; although it was dilapidated and caked with grime, it was at least better than sleeping on the floor.
Li Baoying slept very soundly. Before dawn the next day, she got up, grabbed a sack, and went out to dig wild vegetables and cut grass. The five chicks were still small and didn't eat much, so she didn't need to gather an excessive amount. Plus, they grew green vegetables and napa cabbage in their private plot, meaning today's task could be easily completed.
She slipped out quietly, and as she stepped into the courtyard, she ran right into her eldest son, who was also holding a sack and looking at her with a bright smile.
"Mom, I'm coming with you!"
"Don't leave me behind. I know my health isn't good, which is all the more reason for me to go dig wild vegetables with you. That way my health will slowly get better, and you won't have to worry about me anymore."
Afraid she would refuse, Zhang Jintian rattled off a whole string of reasons in one breath.
Suddenly, Li Baoying felt that what her son said made complete sense. He needed exercise; just reading books all day wasn't enough, he also needed to go out more, breathe some fresh air—everyone in the nineties said so.
Once she reasoned it through, she stopped trying to chase him back inside the house, and the mother and son walked out of the courtyard one after the other.
That rare mother-son time had finally returned. As she dug wild vegetables, Li Baoying kept glancing at her son's profile.
If her eldest son managed to survive, he would probably grow up to be a phoenix among men. He would have a bright future and a happy, fulfilling family.
When the sky was fully bright, the mother and son had dug half a sack of wild vegetables and cut half a sack of grass.
When they returned home, the old man had already finished cooking. Seeing them back, he quickly ladled out the food and placed it on the table to cool.
Looking ashamed, Zhang Jinhe stepped forward to take the sacks from their hands and asked in a muffled voice, "Mom, Big Brother, why didn't you call me when you got up early? I have strength."
Zhang Jintian patted him on the shoulder and said, "I'm the oldest, it's only right that I do the work. You work hard enough normally, don't argue with me about this."
Li Baoying was in a good mood and also comforted her second son: "That's right, Jinhe, you're tired enough every day. Your big brother wanted to go, so let him. Don't blame yourself."
Zhang Jinlin was sitting on his small stool eating his meal. He hadn't seen anything and didn't want to say anything—as long as it wasn't about food, it had nothing to do with him.
"Jinlin, stop eating for a moment. Come over and chop up some wild vegetables and grass for the chicks."
Seeing her youngest son holding his bowl, Li Baoying immediately called out to him.
"Mom, I still have to go to school, I'll be late in a minute." Zhang Jinlin pouted discontentedly. Was his mom losing her mind? Why did she have to pick on him every single day!