Chapter 35 Passing the Buck to Daya

Mrs. Lai had already prepared the dry rice in the kitchen, along with stewed pork with pickled Chinese mustard, and dried radishes. At this time of the season, no green vegetables had been planted.

In the past, when Mrs. Li was still at home, she could grow some delicious greens, but since she left to work as a laborer, the kids at home weren't very good at gardening, and Mrs. Lai did not manage the vegetable patch.

Now, there was no time even to gather wild greens, so the only things available to cook at home were the salted vegetables and dried radishes previously pickled by Mrs. Li.

Ordinary folks who were lazy in cooking might not be very skillful, but they had one distinguishing feature—they had meat. Farmer families eating meals were not so particular; as long as it could fill the stomach, even if the culinary skills were inadequate, they could still eat their fill. Their mentality was simply to eat their fill!

Ye Shuzhi and Ye Shuzhen returned to their room to slack off, their backs aching and hands swollen with pain from the morning's exertion.

Their tender hands, ablaze with pain, were blistered and peeling, so they had no choice but to apply medicated oil.

Feeling itchy all over, they could only use a towel to wash their faces and pat down their bodies.

In October, working outside was hot, and the water in the tank was cold. Without heating up the water, one simply couldn't bathe.

Ye Shuzhen tidied up her disheveled hair from the morning's labor, feeling as if dust from the rice seedlings clung to her head and itched unbearably.

"Second Sister, look how capable Daya is despite her age. Shouldn't we let her take over the task of threshing rice?"

Ye Shuzhen saw how adept Daya was at work; she was even more competent than her aunt, who was a few years older.

It seemed right to hand over the chore of threshing rice to her.

"Sure, let's talk about it during the meal! I don't want to thresh rice either."

Ye Shuzhi was also tidying up her appearance at the moment, sharing her sister's sentiment. She'd rather cut and gather the rice in the paddies than stay at home to thresh rice, which was a rather tiring task even with a large stick.

"Time to eat..."

Mrs. Lai, seeing the old man and her son return, called everyone together for the meal.

Hongji's father set down the rice basket and didn't go to eat right away; he washed his hands and took a few puffs of his bamboo pipe first.

After setting down the rice, Hongji washed his hands, splashed his face with water, checked on the two little ones in the room, and then headed to the kitchen for his meal.

Daya heard grandma calling for dinner, left the bamboo sieve of rice she'd prepared out to dry in the sun, and went to wash her hands.

Mrs. Lai was quite diligent, serving the rice into bowls for everyone.

"Old woman, where did you go this morning?"

Hongji's father, having enjoyed his bamboo pipe smoke, finally entered the kitchen, sat down for the meal, and glared at his wife as he spoke.

"Old man, didn't our eldest daughter ask us to help out? I thought, since you guys weren't going to help, neither would I. The little ones need looking after, so I went to help her watch the little one."

Mrs. Lai didn't feel guilty at all; in her mind, the girls at home couldn't compare to the grandson who was a boy.

Had she ever held the other children?

Mrs. Lai couldn't remember, particularly not Wuwa, whom she certainly hadn't held.

Hongji quietly picked up his bowl and started eating. He was accustomed to his mother's favoritism and harbored a strong dislike for her. Out of filial piety, he remained silent, but that didn't mean he didn't have his thoughts.

Hongji's father glared at Mrs. Lai once more and then opted to say no more.

Daya, carrying the food for her sisters, chose to eat with them in the room.

Of course, Daya fed Wuwa first, since Siwa could already eat by himself. The other sisters were happy to have just a bowl of rice with a small amount of pickles. The pickles, cooked with meat, had their bits of meat already taken by the adults.

Ye Shiqi ate obediently, bite by bite; the dry rice made it difficult for her mouth, which lacked molars, to eat quickly.

Daya would feed her sister a mouthful of rice and then take a bite herself from her own bowl.

Voices of conversation began in the kitchen. Ye Shuzhen was the first to express her dissatisfaction about their mother going to work for her older sister and not coming home to dry the rice grains. However, she didn't outright say it.

"Dad, I don't want to dry the rice grains at home this afternoon. Wah, look what has become of my hands."

"If you're not drying the rice grains at home, who will? If you're not at home, where else would you be?" Hongji's father reproached his youngest daughter in a blaming tone.

"Dad, I'd rather swap with Daya. I want to go cut the rice grains; I don't want to thresh them at home." Ye Shuzhen ignored the disapproving glares from her father. Her anger didn't allow her to care about the family's disapproving looks.

Hongji stopped eating, his cheeks puffed with rice, and silently looked at Ye Shuzhen as she mentioned Daya.

"How old is Daya, and how old are you? It's only when you're a bit older that you'll have the strength to thresh the rice. Daya hasn't been idle for a moment while helping to cut the rice grains in the fields," said Hongji's father, his face red with either anger or heat.

"As if Daya is the only one who works hard. I haven't been idle all day either. Look at the bamboo sieves outside; Second Sister and I did that."

As for her father's glare, Ye Shuzhen, after working all morning with a sore back, hurting hands, and not a word of praise, thought to herself, who couldn't glare?

Ye Shuzhi hadn't spoken yet. Seeing that spouting off only got her rebuked, she quietly ate her own meal, knowing that her younger sister's tactics wouldn't work and that they could only plead with Mrs. Lai for help.

"Mom, look at my hands. Threshing the rice has injured them, and my big wedding day is approaching. I haven't finished my bridal trousseau yet."

Ye Shuzhi's words made Hongji's father, who intended to scold Ye Shuzhen, fall silent for a moment before sighing and saying:

"Old woman, don't go to your eldest daughter's place this afternoon. Stay at home to help out. We need to wrap up the farm work quickly, as well as prepare Er Niu's bridal trousseau."

Mrs. Lai was inclined to refuse, but the pleading looks from her daughters softened her heart, and she could only nod in agreement:

"Alright. This afternoon, all three of us will thresh together. Once we harvest the rice, our family will have something to eat."

Hongji heard what Mrs. Lai had said and started to eat again.

Hongji's father seemed to notice every detail and gave his wife a knowing look upon seeing his eldest son's demeanor.

Mrs. Lai glanced at her son whose expression suddenly turned gloomy. Imagining how she would look like her daughters with blistered and swollen hands from threshing the rice that afternoon, she felt deflated.

If only Mrs. Li were here, she thought. All these chores should be hers. Ah...

Mrs. Lai mentally wished she could offload all these chores onto Mrs. Li so she could enjoy the comforts of home. Yet, she couldn't bear to part with the two taels of silver. That sum could hire several workers in the countryside, but she also couldn't bear the thought of spending money to hire help.

Thinking of the money she would lose made Mrs. Lai prefer to endure the hardship herself.

Hongji and his father, in a rush to finish work, didn't nap after lunch and continued working after their meal.

Hongji told Daya to bring her sisters a little later, as the midday sun was too intense.

Daya didn't dare delay too long. After washing the bowls in the kitchen, she set off with Er Ya and Sanya, all three carrying baskets on their backs.