Eighties Sweetheart Wife-Chapter 26 - The Unexpected Joy of a Windfall_1

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: The Unexpected Joy of a Windfall_1

Chapter 26 -26: The Unexpected Joy of a Windfall_1

Song He went back and told Lian Xiang about waking up early the next day, and the two of them hurried to bed.

Lian Xiang fell asleep quickly.

Song He tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He was considering his mother’s words; now he was a substitute teacher at a private educational institution, and of the lowest tier at that — no salary, just some grain at the end of the year and a three-yuan subsidy each month.

To stand out, he would have to become an official teacher.

Once an official teacher, he could then climb to being the leader of the teaching research group, then to the director of the teaching department, and maybe even the principal…

Song He felt desperate.

It was like insurmountable mountains one after another.

As Song He thought about it, he fell asleep.

Song Liang, on the other hand, wanted to fulfill his daughter Little Nuan’s wish to become the child of a wealthy family.

But it felt like a distant dream.

His family had no savings.

His wife didn’t have a penny on her, and Old Mrs.

Song seemed to have over twenty yuan — supposedly the fund for her and her husband’s coffin.

Who would dare to touch that?

The main issue was that he did not know how to do business.

Well, never mind that for now, he’d figure it out after gathering shepherd’s purse.

He thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep but ended up sleeping very soundly.

At the first light of dawn, the Song family all got up.

Song Yunuan had said last night that she wanted to go with them.

Thinking of leaving just Little Nuan and Asheng at home, he felt uneasy.

After all, these were extraordinary times.

They might as well all go.

Song Yunuan thought now it was much better.

Going to bed early and waking up early.

Sleep was just that, sleep, without the need to play with a cellphone before falling asleep.

Even getting up at four in the morning, she felt spirited.

Without cooking, they put on their clothes and set off directly.

Midway, they met Song He and his family of four who were waiting.

In the countryside, children as young as six or seven could cut pig grass and herd big geese.

So, carrying baskets and carrying buckets, they followed Old Man Song to the riverbeds to the west of the village.

Indeed, there were large patches of shepherd’s purse, some just sprouting, others looking lush.

The morning air was really good.

Song Yunuan had never experienced the joy of foraging wild vegetables, but the sudden delight of easy pickings was overwhelming.

This vast unclaimed patch — whoever harvested it would own it.

What was there to hesitate about?

Hurry and dig, this was something you could exchange for money.

And you had to be quick about it, too, so people in the village wouldn’t find out.

So everyone dug quickly, their hands moving as fast as if they were working the fields; for them, foraging wild vegetables was like child’s play compared to farming.

This patch was soon finished, and everything they had brought was filled.

Old Man Song washed his hands, “Let’s hurry back; it’ll be difficult to explain to everyone once more people show up.”

Song Yunuan noticed even Little Asheng was very capable, filling up the little basket he had carried.

He was digging with a wooden chip his grandfather had made for him.

Song Ting hummed “Embroidered Gold Plaque” to herself.

Little Nuan said that for the interview, they could pick any song, sing something they were good at, but Little Nuan suggested singing “Embroidered Gold Plaque.”

She listened to Little Nuan.

Song Ting watched Little Nuan, leading Asheng, feeling a warmth around her eyes; in the future Little Nuan foresaw, she and Little Nuan seemed to be each other’s only support.

She really felt like crying!

Song Ting shook her head forcefully, not thinking about the future; Little Nuan was no ordinary girl.

With her around, none of this would happen.

Besides, her Little Nuan was amazing.

She even dared to sign her up for the cultural performance group.

Also, could she really be chosen?

Song Ting still felt uneasy at heart.

Fortunately, they didn’t encounter anyone from the village on the way home.

At the entrance to the village, Song He thought his wife would take it back to wash and calculate their shares separately.

After all, they had separated households.

Lian Xiang disagreed and discussed with Old Mrs.

Song if they could all work together, and when the time came, they’d just share some of the money.

Old Mrs.

Song looked Song Liang’s second daughter-in-law up and down.

Was this another sun rising from the west?

“You’re not afraid of being taken advantage of?”

“Mom, we’re family, there’s no question of being taken advantage of.

I’ll listen to you.

However you arrange things is fine by me.”

Old Mrs.

Song raised an eyebrow, “Not even a penny for you, is that still okay?”

Lian Xiang clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and said, “Even if it’s not given, it’s okay.”

Then, holding on to Old Mrs.

Song, she affectionately said, “Mom, I know you’re joking with me, how could you not give me anything?

Even if you don’t, I can still buy Xiao Gang and Xiao Ru a piece of candy to eat.”

Old Mrs.

Song hmmphed.

But she didn’t say anything else.

The main reason was that her second daughter-in-law truly was capable.

Also, the Song family needed to be united now, to streamline their efforts and avoid internal friction.

So, a swarm of them went to Song Liang’s house.

In a hidden spot where no one could see them, they started to pick and clean the vegetables, and Song Yunuan also joined in the hustle.

Old Mrs.

Song looked at her eldest granddaughter’s pale hands with a bit of heartache, sighing—no wonder life was tough for the Song family, no wonder Siqi left without looking back.

Old Mrs.

Song sent Song Yunuan to the kitchen to cook with Song Ting.

Many hands make light work.

Even Asheng sat on a stool, picking herbal leaves.

Soon enough, they had cleaned the shepherd’s purse and packed it into bamboo baskets to drain the water.

But they couldn’t let it dry out too much, as it would look wilted and less fresh.

They estimated it to be about five hundred pounds.

This was the result of the Song family’s eleven people’s labor since early morning.

Song Yunuan saw several people’s hands were red and even chapped.

But none of them minded.

It seemed they were used to rough work on a daily basis.

For breakfast, they made shepherd’s purse and egg soup with the veggies they had picked yesterday; it was a bit wilted, so they decided to make soup with it.

Song Ting was also good at cooking; supposedly, she could cook by the age of ten.

Last night, she prepared corn flour, which they used to make corn pancakes this morning.

Song Ting took a handful of the corn flour and slapped it onto the iron skillet with precision.

She made a whole circle of pancakes.

Song Yunuan thought it was amazing.

“Auntie, you’re so skilled.”

Song Ting hummed a tune and laughed as she cooked.

“By the way, auntie, you don’t have to go to the fields.

Stay at home and practice another song as a backup.”

Song Ting’s eyes sparkled, “What should I sing?”

Song Yunuan thought for a moment, “My Motherland, let’s go with this one.”

“Okay, I’m most familiar with that one.

Before the loudspeaker at the large team’s office broke down, it played almost daily.”

Song Yunuan pondered whether to get the large team’s office loudspeaker fixed.

The two songs her aunt was singing indeed were the ones she knew best.

From a professional standpoint, there might be various flaws.

But it’s the imperfections that leave room for improvement.

The wild vegetables were packed up on one side, and on the other side, the meals were ready to be taken out of the pots.

Asheng pressed against Song Yunuan’s back showing his sister his freshly washed hands.

Song Yunuan only let him go to eat after making sure there was no mud under his fingernails.

Song Yunuan then checked on Xiao Gang and Xiao Ru, who were happily showing their hands with giggles.

Old Mrs.

Song looked at the children with a smile in her eyes.

Even if the adults faced unforeseen troubles, she hoped that all these kids would stick together like real siblings.

Ah, she had to stop thinking that way.

It couldn’t be that they would all disappear.

After finishing the meal, Old Mrs.

Song went next door.

She, with a worried face, pulled Aunt Sun aside to discuss matters.

“Big Sister Li, these past few days I’ve been so worried, ah, why is my luck so bad, my oldest son…

never mind him, you’re worldly, and I want to discuss something with you, to get your advice on whether it’s feasible?”

The worried look on Old Mrs.

Song’s face stirred Aunt Sun’s sympathy.