Soul: At the beginning, the father died, and the eldest and second brothers wanted to separate the f

Xie Jiaojiao took Xie Zhiyi and followed Sun Ruhua to the river. She originally wanted to help with washing clothes, but Sun Ruhua wouldn't let her, saying that she had just recovered from her illness and she didn't want to get sick again if she touched the cold water.

Xie Jiaojiao couldn't persuade her, so she had to take Xie Zhiyi to play nearby and take a look at the village.

There were many women washing clothes by the river. In that era, there was no such thing as laundry powder or laundry liquid. They all used soapberry powder that they dried at home.

As soon as Sun Ruhua arrived at the riverbank, she saw Wang Po. Wang Po was also very enthusiastic. She immediately made room for her and asked her to sit next to her with a smile.

Xie Jiaojiao and Xie Zhiyi greeted Mrs. Wang.

Sun Ruhua told Xie Jiaojiao to be careful and also looked forward to Xie Zhiyi.

Xie Jiaojiao nodded, letting her rest assured.

There is a large reed marsh by the river.

Xie Zhiyi took Xie Jiaojiao and led her towards the reed marsh.

"Sister, let's go to the reed marsh and try our luck."

Xie Jiaojiao didn't quite understand what he was saying at first, but when she arrived at the reed marsh, she realized that there were wild ducks that could fly in the reed marsh, and these wild ducks would lay eggs in the reed marsh.

Xie Zhiyi wanted to try his luck and see if he could pick up wild duck eggs. After all, he was just a child at heart. Perhaps because there had been no money or food at home during this period, he was hungry.

It's okay in spring and summer because the wild ducks lay a lot of eggs, and from time to time there would be some people coming to the reed marsh to pick up wild duck eggs. But winter is about to come and the weather is cold, so the chickens and ducks don't lay eggs anymore, so you can only take your chances.

The reed marsh was very large and the reeds were very tall. Xie Jiaojiao was afraid of getting lost, so she grabbed Xie Zhiyi and asked him not to let go of her hand.

The two men walked around in the reed marsh, but saw nothing except a few wild ducks that flew away when they saw them.

Xie Zhiyi had a disappointed look on his face and sighed, "It seems that it is too cold. The wild ducks have stopped laying eggs. I thought only our chickens stopped laying eggs."

Xie Jiaojiao touched his head and said with a smile: "Is Zhiyi greedy?"

Xie Zhiyi shook his head: "No, I just felt that Mom had lost a lot of weight recently, so I wanted to pick up two duck eggs to nourish Mom's body."

After listening to what he said, Xie Jiaojiao felt that she had really been judging others by her own standards. She thought that the boy was hungry, but she never expected that the boy was thinking about his mother!

After they left the reed marsh, Xie Zhiyi said to Xie Jiaojiao, "Sister, can you make a springboard?"

"What do you want that for?"

Xie Zhiyi pointed at the sparrows in the sky and said, "I want to shoot sparrows."

Xie Jiaojiao knew what he meant. When Xie Zhen was alive, he would take Xie Zhiyi to play sparrow hunting at this time. If they were lucky, they could catch one or two sparrows a day and provide a meal for the family. If they were unlucky, they might not catch any for several days.

Xie Jiaojiao's eyes turned: "I can't make a springboard, but I can catch sparrows. Let's go!"

Xie Zhiyi didn't believe it, so he pulled Xie Jiaojiao and said, "Sister, we can't catch these sparrows, we can only shoot them down."

Xie Jiaojiao didn't want to explain, she just asked: "Just tell me, do you want to eat?"

Xie Zhiyi nodded seriously.

"That's it, let's go back home first."

When the two of them arrived at the river, Sun Ruhua had not finished washing her clothes yet. After saying hello to Sun Ruhua, the two of them ran home.

Jiaojiao said to Xie Zhiyi: "Find the dustpan in the backyard."

"What do you use that for?"

"If you want to eat sparrows, go ahead!"

Xie Zhiyi left, and Xie Jiaojiao went to Sun Ruhua's house to find a roll of thread, and then went to the granary at home to grab a bag of grain.

The two of them came in like a gust of wind, picked up their things, and ran out like a gust of wind again.

Zhou Cuihong looked at them in a hurry and asked Xie Zhili: "What are they doing with the dustpan?"

Xie Zhili was weaving backpacks and other things in the yard. This was the meager income for their second branch. When there was a big market, they would take the things to the town to sell and bring back some copper coins.

"Who cares what they are doing? I see Xie Jiaojiao is still acting like a fool. She is already 20 years old, but she doesn't act like a woman at all. She is still hanging out with a kid like Xie Zhiyi."

When it came to this, Zhou Cuihong sat down next to Xie Zhili and asked, "Did you tell your elder brother about what we talked about last night?"

Xie Zhili looked at the closed door of the main room and nodded.

"So he didn't react at all?"

Xie Zhili nodded and whispered, "He didn't say anything and went back to his room. He hasn't come out yet."

There was some disbelief on Zhou Cuihong's face. If the family were to split up, wouldn't the first branch be more active than the second branch?

Xie Jiaojiao took Xie Zhiyi out and walked towards the fields. They met Niu Er on the way. Niu Er heard that they were going to catch sparrows and thought it was interesting. He immediately said he wanted to go with them.

Xie Jiaojiao did not refuse. In Xie Jiaojiao's memory, this was the only playmate in the village who got along well with Xie Zhiyi.

When they got to the field, Xie Zhiyi asked, "Sister, what should we do now?"

Xie Jiaojiao looked around and found a secluded place: "Let's go there."

Xie Jiaojiao broke off a piece of dry branch from the roadside, tied a rope to it, and then used the branch to prop up one side of the winnowing basket. She then sprinkled some grains under the winnowing basket, then pulled the other end of the rope and took the two people to hide in a place where they could not be seen.

Xie Zhiyi asked, "Sister, can this really catch sparrows?" Why didn't he believe it?

Niu Er didn't believe it either. In fact, you should ask if Xie Jiaojiao could catch him?

It's not that she's unsure, she just saw it written that way in novels and on TV.

"Shh, don't talk, let's all be quiet. If the bird hears someone talking nearby, it won't be fooled."

Xie Zhiyi immediately covered his mouth.

Xie Jiaojiao looked at him and thought he was both cute and funny.

The three of them kept guarding like this, and in the end, Niu Er lost his patience and was about to leave when he saw a flock of sparrows flying down from the sky.

Xie Zhiyi stared at the sparrow with wide eyes, muttering to himself: Go in, go in, go in quickly.

Finally, there were several sparrows under the dustpan. Xie Zhiyi wanted to pull the rope, but Xie Jiaojiao looked at him and said, "Shh."

Seeing several more chickens going under the winnowing basket, Xie Zhiyi and Niu Er were getting anxious, but Xie Jiaojiao hadn't pulled the rope yet.

When most of the birds were in, Xie Jiaojiao pulled the rope immediately, and several of them flew away, but there were still some under the winnowing basket.

Xie Zhiyi was so happy that he stood up and immediately ran towards the winnowing basket.

Niu Er was stunned for a moment and actually caught the sparrow.

The two followed Xie Zhiyi.

At this time, Sun Ruhua, who had just finished washing clothes by the river, stood by the field and called out to them, "Zhiyi, Jiaojiao, go back."

Xie Zhiyi shouted: "Mom, I caught a lot of sparrows!"

When Sun Ruhua heard this, she didn't believe it at first. But after she and Wang Po put down the basin and listened to the chirping of sparrows in the winnowing basket, she believed it. Xie Jiaojiao really caught sparrows, and it sounded like there were quite a few of them.

Xie Jiaojiao ran to the side, pulled out some dead grass, and used it to surround the dustpan to prevent any birds from flying away when she was trying to catch them.

Several people helped to tie up all the sparrows with ropes. There were quite a few sparrows, about 10 in total. Xie Jiaojiao tied three of them for Niu Er.

Mrs. Wang waved her hands hastily, saying she didn't want any, but Xie Jiaojiao still gave it to them: "Everyone who sees it gets a share."

Carrying the remaining few sparrows, he followed Sun Ruhua home.

Xie Qian and Xie Kun were so happy to see the sparrows.

Sun Ruhua said: "They were all caught by your aunt!"

Xie Kun said directly: "Auntie, you are great."

Xie Jiaojiao looked at him and sneered in her heart, but didn't say much on her face. Xie Kun's personality was a combination of his father and his mother, he said one thing and meant another.

Chen Hongju also ran out. She had heard that the sparrows could be cooked into soup, but when she heard that it was Xie Jiaojiao who caught them, her expression immediately changed: "Tsk, what's the big deal about catching a few sparrows?"

But when she was picking up sparrows, she seemed quite active.

After the sparrow was stewed, Xie Jiaojiao couldn't eat a single bite. She couldn't eat it at all because of the smell.

But everyone else at the table was enjoying their meal.

After lunch, Xie Jiaojiao felt a little tired and went back to her room to rest.