Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 146.1

There weren’t many people for breakfast that morning—just Song Youde and his wife, the late sleeper Zhang Yanping, and Seventh Granduncle’s family.

Altogether, there were nine people.

After confirming the number of people, Seventh Granduncle estimated the amount of food based on yesterday’s portions. Without a word, he and Seventh Grandaunt began washing rice and lighting the fire to prepare breakfast.

For farmers, having a thin gruel in the morning wouldn’t provide enough strength for the day’s work.

Song Tan happened to get up and saw the scene, breaking into a smile:

“Seventh Granduncle, why are you bringing Seventh Grandaunt into the kitchen too? Isn’t it like I hired two people for the price of one? Such a great deal for me.”

Seventh Granduncle snorted proudly and replied, “With that meager salary you’re offering, it’s just a gesture, isn’t it? Besides, it’s good for your Seventh Grandaunt to stay active. Once people stop moving, they start to deteriorate.”

He had a point.

In the village, if the elderly stopped working—whether due to being unable or simply unwilling to work—their health declined rapidly.

Still, what did he mean by “meager salary”?

Song Tan thought to herself: Uncle Zhang up on the mountain only earns two thousand yuan a month!

But she didn’t argue. Instead, she said to Song Sancheng, “Dad, you’ve been working hard these past few days. Let’s take a break today. I’ll go to Grandpa’s house later to fetch the pig feed. You and Mom can stay home and weigh the bamboo shoots.”

In the past, Song Sancheng would have said, “How could my daughter handle such a task?”

But now, he smiled broadly. “Ah, my daughter is so filial! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to handle the bamboo shoots properly for you!”

At her grandparents’ house, Song Youde had just returned from outside, with damp mud still clinging to his shoes. Looking up at the overcast sky, he confidently said, “It’s definitely going to rain today. Tan Tan, are you still going to sell vegetables?”

“Yes!” Song Tan was even more certain. “The rain won’t be heavy today. Besides, I’ve already notified everyone in the group.”

“Alright.” In the village, no one was too concerned about a bit of rain. “Just remember to wear a hat.”

Grandma expertly scooped a bucket full of pig feed and, through the mixture, seemed to see her fat piglets…

“Tan Tan, these piglets have been raised for over half a month now, and they’ve grown quickly. Once the weather warms up, we won’t need to cook pig feed anymore, right?”

Mixing some wheat bran and rice husk with water, along with a few other things, would still feed the pigs well enough.

“Yes,” Song Tan nodded.

“Grandma, you should have reminded me sooner. I forgot and made you work hard for so long.”

“What hard work?” Wang Lifen beamed, “Having something to do every day makes life fulfilling!”

“And besides, it doesn’t hurt for the piglets to eat cooked feed a bit longer while they’re still small.”

Song Youde, scraping the mud off his rubber shoes with a bamboo strip, chimed in cheerfully, “Tan Tan, did you check the fields yet? The seedlings we just transplanted yesterday look much more vigorous today. I’m sure this year will be a good harvest!”

Song Tan thought to herself, how could they not be flourishing?