NOVPUBChapter 204 -204: Bai Yue’s Counterattack (Five Updates)
Chapter 204 -204: Bai Yue’s Counterattack (Five Updates)
Bai Xiao returned to her consultation room and suddenly realized how much of a woman’s weakness is due to her own children. Just like her eldest sister, who could endure that man’s domestic abuse simply because she wanted her three children to have a complete family. Perhaps after becoming a mother, a woman’s concerns are never about herself.
She wondered how her eldest sister was doing now?
Last month when she received her salary, she sent money to both her elder sisters and also wrote them letters to report her safety. n𝚘𝚟𝚙u𝚋.co𝚖
Yet up to this point, she hadn’t received a reply from either her eldest or her second sister. Instead, she had received a heartfelt letter from her elder brother.
The good news was that her elder brother had actually received orders from his superiors; he had been transferred to the same inland province where she lived. This was indeed a fortunate event. Her brother’s original place was right next to Yunnan, which was also the reason why he later went to the border checkpoint station. On the one hand, he was being disciplined, and on the other hand, each year a number of people were drafted to reinforce the border checkpoint station.
This time, with her brother transferred to her own particularly inland province, it meant reducing the uncertainties. Here, even if her brother caused some trouble, there would be no really dangerous incidents.
It seemed her brother could live a safe and smooth life for the rest of his days.
At this time, Bai Yue was living quite well in the village, as the weather was getting colder.
Once they entered the last lunar month, their five piglets would be ready for the market.
Except for one sow they were keeping for breeding, the remaining four pigs had already grown to about 200 kilos each. In another month or so, they should reach 240 to 260 kilograms, a thought which made her happy.
When the four pigs were sold.
It would mean several hundred yuan. Then she could buy a few more piglets to raise.
Bai Yue also felt that life had a real purpose; now her three sons were very understanding too.
Little Sansan was doing exceptionally well in school in the neighboring village; his teachers even said that with his grades, he was likely to get into a middle school in the county when he graduated from primary school the following year.
Bai Yue was proud, feeling that this son might truly be a star of literature. If he could go to college like his aunt and get a job assigned to him afterward, that meant eating from the state’s pot, which in her eyes was the real city life.
The eldest and the second child never had a moment’s rest at home, always fighting to do the work, whether it was raising pigs or feeding chickens. They didn’t want her to tire herself out.
For five pigs at home, just the grass they consumed was a significant amount. The two boys spent the summer cutting grass for the pigs. In the autumn, they specifically went to the fields after the harvest to gather wheat stalks, and during those days of autumn harvest, the two brothers lost over ten kilograms each.
But the wheat stalks they gathered amounted to four big sacks, each at least 300 kilograms. That was enough not just for pig feed, but even for people to eat. Of course, these two boys didn’t annoy anyone—wherever they went to pick in someone’s field, they always gave notice in advance.
Everyone knew it wasn’t easy for a woman raising three sons alone without any land. Besides, gleaning wheat stalks is something only those who cannot afford a meal would do. After the harvest, the leftover wheat stalks required bending over and squatting, picking each grain one by one—not an easy task.
No one minded the lost wheat stalks because bending over all day could almost break one’s back.
So people pitied the three brothers. The villagers had spread the word that they were free to glean, as long as the fields had been harvested.
However, the two brothers indeed didn’t slack off. They went down to the fields before dawn and didn’t return home until the sun came up high in the morning to eat. And they left early in the afternoon to pick until dark. The villagers saw their diligence and praised the two brothers, saying they were good hard workers. If the family had their own land, with two such willing brothers, the fields would surely be well cared for.
Bai Yue turned the gathered wheat into flour and kept the bran for pig feed. They made quite a lot of flour. Although it was a bit dark and coarse, it would be enough to feed the family throughout the winter. In another month or so, once the pigs were sold and they could buy food, that should tide them over until spring.
By that time, the second batch of pigs could be raised again.
So for Bai Yue, life was getting more and more comfortable.
Raising pigs was something she had become increasingly skilled at; for any major or minor illnesses, it was Wang Yan who helped her out. Every few days, Wang Yan would visit their pigsty to check on the pigs and offer guidance, which made her very grateful.
The chickens at home had started to lay eggs.
Other people’s chickens tended to lose a few from time to time right from the time they were chicks.
Their chickens were different; they were healthy and robust. Of the more than thirty chickens they had bought, not a single one had died or fallen ill. They grew happily, and the two brothers had put a lot of thought into caring for them—whether it was digging up wild vegetables or catching insects, they were always turning over soil in the fields for earthworms.
The brothers kept busy until the ground froze over.
Maybe it was because the brothers had put in so much effort, Bai Yue felt their chickens were stronger and had begun laying eggs early.
Originally, they had twenty-five hens, but now, they were getting more than twenty eggs every day.
Aside from following Bai Xiao’s advice to give each of the three brothers an egg a day—they were all growing and she couldn’t shortchange the children—the leftover eggs meant she had to go to market every three days. Too many eggs could spoil, after all. Once at the market, she could sell the eggs for money to buy household essentials like soy sauce, vinegar, and salt.
An egg sold for fifteen cents, and just from eggs alone, their household could bring in eighty to ninety yuan a month.
Bai Yue no longer felt anxious at all; that eighty or ninety yuan was more than enough to live on in the city, let alone the village.
She now truly rejoiced her decision to leave her former home with the children. Although the beginning was frightening and she felt cowardly—she had been afraid of not being able to provide for her children, of becoming a burden to her younger siblings—now, through raising pigs and chickens on her own, they were living well. Despite not owning any land, the money they earned was more than sufficient to buy food.
In time, they could sell the pigs twice a year.
Their household income for the year would be close to a thousand yuan.
Thinking of this, Bai Yue felt full of energy.
After saving for a year, she planned to rebuild their house.
The house certainly needed to be rebuilt; when her younger brother married, he couldn’t possibly continue living in such a dilapidated place.
If there was any residential land for sale in the village, she wanted to buy a plot. In the future, she would build a house for her son.
No matter what school Little Sansan attended in the future, she would be able to support him.
She could even save to provide for her sons to take wives. In the past, even if she had worked herself to death carrying rocks as Shitou did, she would have hardly dared to consider these things.
