1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

Last night was indeed a bit too much. Everyone says that one's own wife is unwilling to cooperate with one's husband; it has to be someone else's wife who is willing to cooperate with you.

This girl is nothing but a paper tiger in the face of absolute power. If you feed her well every day and make her belly full, see if she'll be happy.

If they don't cooperate, then they'll have to do the work of three people.

It's true what they say, women who haven't had children recover quickly. Even after staying up all night for a meeting, they still have energy and can get out of bed to fetch water.

She also fed the crying Sanmao, Simao, and Wumao to their mother and patted them to burp before going to bed.

Chen Gaoshan has been really busy lately. He plans to rest at home for a couple of days before making any decisions. Going anywhere in the dead of winter is pointless.

cold.

It's better to stay at home. He calculated that they can't have any more babies. If they keep having babies, even the healthiest woman won't be able to hold on.

Shuanghong is still young, and he doesn't plan to let her have a baby now, so he has to think of some solutions himself. As he was thinking, he became drowsy.

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The only breeding rooster in Old Chen's family is incredibly punctual.

As soon as it was light, the rooster in the yard stretched its neck and crowed loudly.

Chen Liushi was never destined to sleep in late in her life.

From a young age, when she was a young girl in her parents' home, she would get up before dawn to work. For over twenty years after marrying into the Chen family, she did the same every year without fail.

My biological clock, built up over thirty years ago, is practically unchangeable; my eyes snap open at the appointed time.

She put on a thick cotton-padded coat and went to the outer room.

He squatted down by the stove and reached into the fire pit to add two pieces of firewood.

After the firewood was added, she shivered from the cold and quickly crawled back into her warm bed.

Old Chen, who was next to him, also woke up.

"Just take another nap. It's not even fully light yet. Why get up so early and make a fuss?"

Chen Liu turned over, facing the head of the household.

"Let me tell you something. Have you noticed? Our Shanzi is really something else. He's got all his daughters-in-law under his thumb. If he tells them to sleep on one kang (heated brick bed), they'll obediently sleep on the other one. How come they're so compliant?"

As she spoke, she began to worry, her brows furrowing.

"I'm really scared! It's true our son is young and energetic, but he can't handle this kind of constant activity!"

"I'm really scared. Our Shanzi has been drained dry by the women so early on. His legs are spinning and his back is weak. He won't be able to do any work. What will we do then?"

You said you weren't like this when you were young. I thought you'd just be like that after you turned 28, but the thing is, you're the only one here!

"You think our Shanzi is some kind of reincarnation of the village's breeding donkey? He's got so much energy!"

Upon hearing this, Old Chen immediately became displeased, turned over and lay face down on his pillow, his old face drooping.

"Why are you, as an elder, meddling in the affairs of the younger generation? What, are you indirectly implying that I'm no longer useful, giving me a warning, or hinting at something?"

After saying that, he reached out and took out the tobacco pipe from beside his pillow, squeezed out some tobacco and stuffed it into the pipe.

Knowing that her husband was a little angry, Chen Liu was very perceptive. Before he could do anything, she quickly picked up a match from the kang table, marked his name, and went over to light his cigarette.

He shook it and threw it on the ground.

"Look at you, I'm just giving you an example, and you're already inviting criticism. I'm just worried about our only son. As a mother, how can I wish him bad luck? You, as the father, can talk to your son about this. Find a time to talk to Shanzi about it."

"It's not that I, as his mother, am cursing him, but he's been doing this every day. It's not like we don't have men in our village who die young, but Shanzi is our only son. Husband, you need to take this seriously!"

Old Chen took a couple of puffs of his pipe, squinting his old eyes.

Not to mention Shan Zimeng, back when he was young and hanging out with his brothers in town, he was a real tough guy.

Despite being up and about several times throughout the night, he still went to work in the fields and went hunting in the mountains the next day, full of energy and not tired at all.

But a hero doesn't dwell on past glories, and one can't deny getting old.

Men are like tofu dregs at forty. In their youth, they could pee three feet deep in the wind, full of bravado; but after forty, they can clearly feel that even a wisp of water on their shoes is no longer enough.

No matter how stubborn he was, his physical condition wouldn't allow him to keep up the act.

"Okay, I know what's important. I'll take some time to have a good talk with Shanzi tomorrow and tell him to calm down. This kind of thing really needs to be done slowly and steadily; you can't just do whatever you want, or you'll end up skinning yourself alive sooner or later."

After saying that, he couldn't resist adding a boastful remark.

"But you know what, Shanzi's energy really has the same flair I had when I was young."

When Chen Liu heard that he still dared to boast about his past glory, she was shocked.

Without saying a word, he slipped his hand into the warm blankets, precisely grabbed the soft flesh on Chen Laonian's thigh, and twisted it hard.

"Ouch, that hurts so much!"

Old Chen shuddered in pain.

"What are you doing, standing there dumbfounded? Talking is one thing, but why are you hitting me?"

"Chen Damei, what happened? When you were young, you were secretly hooking up with some hot girl behind my back. You've been keeping it from me for half your life. I was wondering where Shanzi learned all that troublemaking ability from. Turns out it's from you, you damn bastard."

Old Chen, who had lived most of his life, understood one thing best: trying to reason with his own wife was a complete waste of breath.

If you can't win an argument with words, you can't use your mouth; this is the experience he's accumulated over the years.

It works every time.

Old Chen tapped his pipe, threw off the quilt, and scurried into Chen Liu's bed.

After a series of thirteen moves, by the time the two had calmed down, it was already broad daylight outside, the sun was high in the sky, and the clock on the cabinet on the floor showed that it was already past eight o'clock in the morning.

Chen Liu's eyebrows relaxed, a comfortable smile appeared on her face, and her whole body felt light and refreshed.

He grabbed the cotton-padded jacket and trousers from the kang (heated brick bed) and put them on.

He turned around, bent down, and carefully tucked the blanket around the old man lying in bed.

He no longer had the anger he felt when he was pinching someone.

"You lie down and rest for a while, no need to get up and do anything. I'll go to the outer room to start a fire and cook. I'll make two extra poached eggs today, to nourish you, and also to save one for Shanzi."

Old Chen nodded and said, "Let's see if it works every time, it just hurts your kidneys a bit."

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It's freezing cold. That's how life is in winter. There's no work in the fields, and everyone stays home to hibernate.

The restless men would either carry axes into the mountains to chop firewood and store it, or try their luck catching a roe deer to improve their meals. If all else failed, they would go to the big river outside the village to break ice holes and catch some fish for their wives and children to enjoy.

Everyone lives the same way, nothing new or exciting.

Inside the house, the two puppies, Da Mao and Er Mao, were playing with the family's female dog, Da Hua. Da Hua was about seven months old and was smaller than the family's dogs, Da Huang and Er Huang.

This dog is very clingy, following its two young owners around every step of the way, circling around the two kids.

The two kids are just over a year old and no longer need diapers. They're wearing cotton overalls with open crotch, sewn by their aunt, but they walk rather clumsily.

Big Flower kept nuzzling around Er Mao's crotch, sniffing incessantly, and wagging its tail rapidly.

Inside the house, she was holding Si Mao's apricot blossoms.

"Lotus, did Er Mao fart too hard? He must be about to poop. Look how anxious Da Hua is, she's arching her back like that."

Lianhua covered Wumao with the blanket again and quickly got out of bed.

Holding a flaked chamber pot in her hand, she scooped up Er Mao, who was standing there dumbfounded, and skillfully spread the child's legs to help her poop.

The big flower next to it instantly perked up, squatted on the ground without moving, its eyes wide open, staring intently, its pupils almost glowing green.

Dogs in the village all have this habit; they crave the poop of newborn babies the most—it's soft and not dry. They squat beside them, waiting for it to be freshly made.

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