Chapter 676: Better Condition
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After lunch, some took their baskets and went to the mountain to pick mung beans while Su Binglan taught Lin Qin and Jiang Nainai how to make dumplings at home.
Lin Qin was thrilled. Moreover, Su Binglan brought meat and many other dishes. The young lady knew about her grandmother’s struggles and brought many things over.
Fortunately, she had brought extra because they decided to stay for a few more days.
That evening, Shen Qiuhua and the others returned with their baskets. The ones on their backs and hands were full of mung beans.
Su Binglan told everyone to help clean the beans and then soaked them. After a while, the soaked beans became plump. She said, “Soak the plump ones well and fish them out after about six hours.
“Grandpa, Grandma, you must fish out the floating ones and throw them away. After soaking them, we’ll prepare a leaky basket like this and put a wet cloth underneath.
“Then, put these soaked beans on top, but spread them. Cover the beans with a wet cloth, then place them in a backlit place to wait for them to germinate. You should splash them with water every two to three hours, and they will grow by tomorrow morning. ”
Shen Gangs eyes lit up as he looked at the mung beans. He was excited and could not wait to see the beans sprout. “They’ll grow by tomorrow morning?”
Su Binglan nodded. “Yes, they’ll grow into bean sprouts, and then you can eat them as vegetables. Bean sprouts are nutritious when stir-fried.”
“That’s great,” Shen Gang said happily.
Shen Qiuchuan added, “Father, Mother, why don’t you call Qiuchuan and Madam
Ma back? Don’t let them work so hard. It’s best if they come home.”
She knew how it felt when her three sons left the village for work. When they returned, she urged them to stay home. Then, they would have warm and comfortable beds to sleep on.
Lin Qin sighed, “We didn’t have much choice then. We should call them back now that Binglan has taught us these things. Still, it’s a little late now. How about you go to town tomorrow to bring your parents home, Zhishan?”
Shen Zhishan became choked up. As a son, he felt guilty that his parents had to work hard for him. Although he tried his best to chop and sell more firewood, his heart grew heavy whenever he thought about his parents.
No matter how terrible Madam Ma’s att.i.tude could be, she was still his mother.
Shen Zhishan was not foolish and would not mindlessly follow his mother’s demands. Still, he hoped his parents could have a better life at home. Moreover, he knew his parents did not want him to work outside the village because they were concerned about Jiang Nainai’s pregnancy.
“Okay, Grandma. I’ll go tomorrow morning.” Shen Zhishan was thrilled. He planned to wake up before dawn the following day to bring his parents home. However, he knew it might be a challenge to do that.
After all, they stubbornly wanted to earn money for him and his wife to use.
Furthermore, they still had to get medicine for Lin Qin.
Now that the older woman’s health had improved and the family had a better way to earn money, Shen Zhishan could use those excuses to urge his parents to come home.
After preparing the mung beans, the family ate various dumplings for dinner.
Since Shen Qiuhua and the others had eaten dumplings many times, their expressions were normal. Even so, they enjoyed the food.
Meanwhile, it was Shen Gang, Lin Qin, Shen Zhishan, and Jiang Nainai’s first time eating dumplings. They were amazed by the flavor and could not stop praising the food.
Lin Qin and Shen Gang never stopped smiling since their G.o.ddaughter came. Shen Zhishan was happy that his grandparents were delighted these past two days.
He felt energized when he went to the mountain to pick green beans today. It felt different from chopping firewood. He was always pa.s.sive when chopping wood because he was uninterested in it.
However, he felt enthusiastic when picking mung beans with Shen QIuhua and the others. He felt that time had pa.s.sed too quickly. Before he knew it, the sky was already getting dark.
Plenty of mung beans were at the mountain, and he wanted to pick them all to plant at the house. Shen Zhishan’s thoughts were straightforward, only wanting to work hard to give his family the life they deserved.
He did not know how to do it in the past because he felt farming and chopping wood was a waste of time. Now that his cousin had pointed him in the right direction, he wanted to work harder.
Shen Zhishan believed he could earn money to improve his family’s living conditions.
Meanwhile, Shen Mohen tasted the mung bean dumplings and said, “Cousin Binglan, these are the green bean dumplings?”
He had eaten dumplings but never ones with a green bean filling. This time, he felt the dumplings were fresher and more delicious.
Su Binglan smiled and explained, “l wanted to make mung bean cakes, but green bean dumplings were a good choice. Everyone, try the green bean dumplings.”
Shen Gang and Lin Qin were full of praise as they ate. They never knew how delicious green beans could be. However, they did not know they could use the beans like this even if they discovered it.
Thanks to Su Binglan, they now knew how to use such things.
In the afternoon, Lin Qin and Jiang Nainai learned to make dumplings together. They considered making them more often because of how delicious they were.
Lin Qin and the others slept well after eating and drinking their fill. They were excited and could not stop thinking about the money they could earn.
The following morning, Shen Zhishan skipped breakfast and went to town to look for his parents. His father had gone out with the head of a wealthy family and had yet to return, so he went to see his mother first.
Shen Zhishan’s eyes reddened when he saw how tired his mother looked.
“Mother, you can come home now. Pack up and come home with me, okay?
Grandma told me to come and get you.”
Although Madam Ma wanted to go home, she knew the situation at home was not the best. There was a drought last year, and the family had a poor harvest. The family barely had anything to eat then.
When Lin Qin became sick, and Jiang Nainai got pregnant, Madam Ma went to work in town to earn money for them. She could not bear to go home empty-handed.
She was no longer a child and had to plan for her children’s and grandchildren’s future. After experiencing hardships in town, Madam Ma finally realized how well her mother-in-law had treated her.
Madam Ma knew she was wrong for treating her in-laws so poorly. She said, “Zhishan, you don’t have to worry about me. Go home and take good care of
Nainai and your grandparents..”