In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

The next day, Li Xiuping got up and made breakfast. After eating, she and Wang Xingning took their two children out to buy groceries.

I was lucky enough to buy ribbonfish while queuing at the market.

Wang Xingmin went to work in the fields of the compound. Every family had to send someone to do it, and today it was their turn.

This vegetable garden is great. Every family has spare hands, and the vegetables they grow can save everyone a lot of money on groceries, so everyone takes the vegetable garden very seriously.

Wang Xingguo didn't get up until noon. Lunch was just ready, so he washed up and everyone started eating.

While eating lunch, he asked, "Honey, is there anything we're missing? I'll go for a walk this afternoon and see if I can get some back."

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiuping replied, "Honey, if you can get some eggs and chicken, please do so. My sister-in-law is about to give birth, and we haven't gotten much food for her postpartum care yet. My brother is really worried about this."

Wang Xingguo replied with a smile, "Okay, I'll take care of it. I can still get the eggs and chickens back."

Wang Xingning then spoke up, "Second brother, we still have eight rabbits. If they have more babies, there will be even more. Now every household in the compound is raising eight or ten rabbits, making rabbits worthless."

That is a problem. Wang Xingguo replied, "Then you guys work hard to eat the rabbits. It doesn't matter whether you raise them or not. How about this, I'll get some crushed corn and wheat bran, and we can raise a few chickens. From now on, you and Lao Si can take care of raising the chickens and collecting eggs."

Wang Xingmin said happily, "That's great! Second brother, I will raise the chickens well. I will go to the fields every day to turn over the soil and catch earthworms and grasshoppers to feed the chickens."

People are very enthusiastic about raising chickens because eggs are really hard to come by, and their egg quotas haven't been used up for months.

There was nothing they could do; no matter how early they lined up, there was always someone who had arrived before them. Often, the eggs would be sold out before it was their turn.

Li Xiuping has now weaned Wang Jianhua, and she wants to have a daughter with Wang Xingguo. Having both a son and a daughter would make a perfect family, which would be truly blessed.

Weaning Wang Jianhua was relatively easy, as he was already able to eat other foods, as long as they weren't too hard.

In the afternoon, Wang Xingguo went out for a walk and first brought back ten chickens, one rooster and nine hens, and also brought back more than five pounds of eggs.

He went out for a walk again and then came back leading two rams.

They asked the aunties and sisters-in-law in the clan to help them, and that's how they started making mutton soup.

We asked our relatives and friends to take a small bowl home, just enough for everyone to have a taste, because with so many people, it was impossible to take a lot of offal and mutton.

Wang Xingguo personally delivered mutton soup to Grandma Li and cut extra mutton for them.

I didn't keep much at home, just about two pounds of meat and one pound of offal, but I made a big bowl of milky white mutton soup.

By following their lead in handling these two sheep, Wang Xingguo and his companions learned how to make this milky white mutton soup.

The clansmen always felt particularly at ease as long as Wang Xingguo was around, because as long as he was there, he could find a way to solve any difficult situation they encountered.

That's how prestige is sometimes built. When Wang Xingguo speaks, the villagers and the people in the compound will do as he says, even the older generation listens to him.

Father-in-law and Father Shen, as well as Uncle Yongchang, Uncle Yongli, and Director Zhao came over for drinks.

However, there wasn't much alcohol tonight, so everyone drank slowly and chatted about recent events.

As Wang Xingguo listened to everyone talking about the trust store, he felt that Grandpa Li was actually quite reliable at times.

The funniest part is that all the old scores have fallen on the shoulders of those three directors.

He wasn't executed; it's said he was sent to a labor camp.

Wang Xingguo asked, "By the way, how is the clan doing? I can't go back to see them now, so I don't know how the clansmen are doing. Uncle Yongchang, have you gone back yet?"

Wang Yongchang nodded and said, "I went back this month. Don't worry, the situation in the clan is very good now. Uncle Twenty-One mobilized everyone, and potatoes and sweet potatoes were planted in every nook and cranny. We definitely won't go hungry this year. Moreover, because you encouraged everyone to raise more chickens and ducks back then, our brigade has made a lot of money selling breeding chickens and ducks. Everyone should be able to get a good share of the profits this year."

Wang Yongli also said to Wang Xingguo, "We're all family here, so I'm not afraid to say it. Uncle Twenty-One is really shrewd. During the summer harvest, he got the people who came to supervise drunk, and we hid a lot of summer grain."

Director Zhao asked, puzzled, "This shouldn't be possible to hide, right? Don't they just set up a scale to measure the yield and then calculate how much grain to hand over?"

Wang Yongchang explained, "Old Zhao, you don't understand. We get people drunk so they can focus on harvesting winter wheat. Then we store everything in the cellar. Anyway, I know how many acres I have, so the total amount is fixed. If they insist on us handing over a large amount of grain, our Wang family has many official badges. They'll carry those badges and surround us, and even military leaders will come to our aid."

Director Zhao then remembered that the Wang family had sacrificed many lives in the War of Resistance Against Japan. Such villages were indeed not afraid of the commune, and the military leaders would certainly stand up for them.

He remarked with a sigh, "If I had known your Wang family had such powerful connections, I wouldn't have had to worry about that brat Xingguo all the time!"

Wang Xingguo said cheerfully, "Grandpa, don't say that. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to resell things, and naturally I wouldn't have had to go to the Gaobeidian Production Brigade to reunite with my clansmen because I couldn't get chicken and duck eggs from the nearby villages."

Wang Yongchang happily said, "Our Xingguo branch of the family initially maintained correspondence, but then it suddenly stopped. We couldn't find any of our relatives in the city, and contact was lost. We always thought our uncle had died in some accident. Fortunately, we were able to re-establish contact. My Wang family's splendid son even helped our relatives through a difficult time. It's truly a blessing from our ancestors!"

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone chatted for a while before going back to wash up.

Wang Xingguo took a shower and came out to see his sister carrying the dozing Wang Jianhua back to her room. He felt very gratified.

What a sensible little sister!

After taking a shower, Li Xiuping started washing clothes with her sister-in-law at the door. Shen Qingqing said to Li Xiuping with a smile, "I wonder if this little one is a boy or a girl. Your older brother and Xingguo are the same, always saying they want a girl. I wonder if their wish will come true."

Li Xiuping nodded and said, "I also want a daughter. Although I used to want more sons, Xingguo always wants a daughter. He always says how wonderful it would be to have a little cotton-padded jacket."

Shen Qingqing laughed and said, "What do those grown men know? Which family doesn't pamper boys more? My dad said one grandson isn't enough, it would be best to have two, so he can carry one on his back and hold one in each arm."

"Haha, sister-in-law, your dad is just like mine. He also says he can only hold one child with one hand, so he has to keep both of his hands full..."