Chapter 11: If you don't do your homework, go work in the fields
Liu Xihua was playing with Jiang Xiaoxiao in the bedroom when she heard Jiang Daguo's voice outside: "I've bought some meat and are back to make dumplings!" She quickly coaxed her little daughter to sleep and tiptoed into the kitchen.

"Mom, let me help you." Liu Xihua said proactively.

With dumplings to eat, Aunt Jiang was in a particularly good mood today. She usually always found fault with her daughter-in-law, but today she didn't look at her coldly. Instead, she handed over a basin and said, "You've come just in time. Bring some flour and knead it. Let's make dumpling skins."

"Okay, Mom." Liu Xihua responded, took the basin and started to work.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked together in the kitchen, one was responsible for kneading and rolling the dough, while the other was busy washing, cutting vegetables, and chopping meat.

After a while, a large plate of fragrant dumpling fillings was ready. Then, they started to wrap dumplings together with skill and dexterity.

At this time, Jiang Meilan also came back from school. As soon as she walked to the door, she smelled the aroma of dumplings wafting from the kitchen. Before she even put down her schoolbag, Jiang Meilan couldn't wait to rush into the kitchen and asked excitedly, "It smells so good! Are we going to eat dumplings?"

As she spoke, Jiang Meilan had already reached out to lift the lid of the pot.

Unexpectedly, the dumplings in the pot had just been cooked and were floating on the water. The boiling steam suddenly gushed out and directly smoked her hands.

Jiang Meilan was so frightened that she quickly pulled her hand back and threw the pot lid to the ground.

Liu Xihua picked up the pot lid, wiped it, and put it on the pot. She suppressed her smile and said, "Don't be impatient! As the saying goes, 'you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry'. The dumplings have just been put into the pot. You have to wait a little longer. Meilan, go wash your hands first, and then put the dishes in place."

Jiang Meilan blew gently on her burned hands and ran happily to set the table.

Not long after, Uncle Jiang and Jiang Meihua also returned home.

When they heard that we were going to eat dumplings today, everyone seemed particularly excited.

Especially Jiang Meihua, who is usually taciturn, but today she talked enthusiastically about the big buffalo in the team.

It turned out that the big buffalo had an extremely violent temper. This morning, the team leader sent two strong laborers to take it to plow the land, but the buffalo suddenly got angry and stood there stubbornly, and could not be moved no matter how hard they tried.

One of them tried to whip it with a whip to make it more obedient, but the cow not only did not appreciate it, but instead it widened its eyes, lowered its head, and directly attacked the person who whipped it with its sharp horns.

This frightened the two grown men, and they ran away in panic.

It made everyone working in the fields laugh.

In the end, it was Jiang Meihua who successfully calmed down the angry buffalo. She held the buffalo's reins tightly and successfully completed the plowing task.

The team leader praised her.

After this incident, everyone in the team looked at Jiang Meihua with admiration.

Although Jiang Meihua was slow in weeding and her efficiency in harvesting grain was not high, she had a skill that no one else had - she could successfully tame the extremely ferocious oxen!

After Jiang Xiaoxiao heard Jiang Meilan's account of what happened at work, she couldn't help but admire her sincerely.

[Second aunt is so amazing, come on, second aunt!] Jiang Meihua listened curiously. Was her little niece praising her? Was she really that amazing?

Jiang Daguo nodded towards Jiang Meihua and encouraged her, "Meihua, good job. Keep up the good work."

Not only that, Grandpa Jiang and other family members also praised Jiang Meihua.

Even Aunt Jiang, who always spoke harshly to Jiang Meihua and called her a waste, changed her attitude at this moment, saying, "Being able to take good care of the cows is also a skill."

Jiang Meihua smiled more, "I know, Mom."
-
Saturday came in the blink of an eye.

The school only has half a day off on Saturday and a full day off on Sunday. Of course, the teachers have assigned a lot of homework.

After school at noon, Jiang Meilan returned home, threw her schoolbag aside, and began to sigh, "I can't live like this. There are so many homework assignments. Why do I have to go to school to live?"

Everyone else went home and was busy with their own things.

Jiang Meihua and Liu Xihua were helping Aunt Jiang with cooking, while Jiang Daguo and Uncle Jiang were weaving straw sandals. The family was poor, so the shoes they wore when working in the fields were either straw sandals or cloth shoes made of old cloth strips.

Seeing that Jiang Meilan did nothing to help and just sighed on the chair, Jiang Daguo said with a sullen face, "You are still sighing while you are in school? Do you want to switch jobs with me? You go to work in the fields, and I will go to school for you?"

Jiang Meilan said angrily, "Brother, do you know how much homework our teacher assigned? For Chinese, we have to copy two texts, write 20 words for each of the 10 new words, and write an essay. For math, we have 30 calculations! And we have to write 100 calligraphy words! Isn't this more tiring than working? You can work in the fields for a while and then go play for a while, but I can't play for even half a minute."

Jiang Daguo had four siblings, but only his youngest sister went to school. He and his two older sisters only attended literacy classes. There was no homework in the literacy classes. All they had to do was learn to read and write and do arithmetic.

He didn't know whether Jiang Meilan's homework was too much or normal, and he was speechless for a moment and couldn't respond to Jiang Meilan's questions.

In the room, Jiang Xiaoxiao listened to Jiang Meilan talking about homework and sighed secretly, "Is this too much?"
One and a half days off!
Jiang Meilan always complains about too much homework, but in fact it is just an excuse for her to avoid doing homework. Even on weekends when she only needs to complete an essay, she will still shout about the heavy workload.

[My aunt wants to work in the fields. Dad takes her there to experience it this afternoon so she can know whether it is more comfortable to go to school or to work in the fields.]

When Jiang Daguo heard his daughter's voice, he suddenly realized, yes, his younger sister had never been to the fields and thought that farming was a happy and enjoyable thing.

Then let my younger sister go to the fields and see whether it is more joyful to study or to farm.

They did what they said. After lunch, Jiang Daguo threw a straw hat to Jiang Meilan and handed her a shovel. "Don't do your homework this afternoon. Go dig ditches in the fields with me. I can get four work points in the afternoon. See how much you can do."

As long as she doesn't do homework, she can do anything. Jiang Meilan happily tied the straw hat on her head and said, "Besides digging ditches, what else can I do?"

"There is also carrying soil. There are six of us, three of us dig and three of us carry. If you don't want to dig ditches, you can carry soil. Carrying soil gets you more work points. You can earn five work points by working for an afternoon," said Jiang Daguo.

Jiang Meilan immediately threw away the shovel, found a load to carry, and said, "I'll carry the soil. I want to earn more work points."

(End of this chapter)