After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

The next day, Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe began preparing the necessary items for their dessert shop—clay pots of varying sizes, wooden buckets, steamers, stoves, drawer-style cabinets for dried fruit, and covered wooden barrels for fermented rice. Chen Dashan measured the shop's dimensions, making each item even sturdier than those bought from stores. Afu and Zhao Qinghuan also came to help—Zhao Qinghuan prepared several drinks using herbs. The plum drink included dried plums, hawthorn, licorice, and dried tangerine peel, resulting in a sweet and sour flavor; the perilla drink featured fresh perilla leaves with ginger and brown sugar, giving it a refreshing aroma. Zhao Qinghuan brewed two pots and poured them into bowls for everyone to try. Zhang Yuming took a sip of the plum drink and said it was good, perfect for cooling down and quenching thirst in the summer. Chen's father took a sip and nodded.

Zhang Qiuming watched her family bustling about in the kitchen—Chen Dashan was squatting on the ground measuring the stove's dimensions, Chen Xiaohe was handing her a wooden plank, Afu was adding firewood to the firebox, Zhao Qinghuan was chopping perilla leaves on the cutting board, Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing were washing red dates and lotus seeds, and Chen's mother was sitting by the stove preparing vegetables. Zhang Qiuming's eyes welled up with tears, and she lowered her head, pretending to organize the red beans in her hands. Zhang Yuming was squatting on the ground peeling lotus seeds, glanced up at her sister, and smiled.

----

The Chen family's life is vastly different now compared to a few years ago. The cooking duties have unknowingly fallen entirely on the shoulders of their three daughters-in-law. Zhao Qinghuan, Zhang Qiuming, and Zhang Yuming, the three sisters-in-law, manage the kitchen perfectly. Qinghuan excels at making noodles, pancakes, steamed buns, and rolled noodles—she can do the work of two people at once. Qiuming is steady and reliable, her stews and soups cooked to perfection. Yuming is quick and efficient, washing, chopping, and preparing vegetables with knife skills even better than Su Xiaoqing's. The three work together seamlessly, never arguing about who does more or less work. As for washing the dishes, it's the three brothers, Shitou, Aji, and Afu, who take on the responsibility—a stack of bowls and basins, the three of them squat by the well, chatting and laughing as they wash.

Mr. and Mrs. Chen's health was not what it used to be. Mr. Chen's back and legs were becoming increasingly weak; after returning from planting in the fields in the spring, he needed to lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) for a while to recover. Mrs. Chen's old knee problem also flared up frequently, becoming sore and achy on cloudy or rainy days. Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe saw this and were very worried. The two discussed it several times, wanting to take over the stall business in the county town from the elderly couple, so they wouldn't have to work so hard anymore. Chen Xiaohe spoke up during dinner one evening, saying, "Mom and Dad, you should rest well. We'll take care of the stall business."

Mother Chen put down her chopsticks, glanced at Chen Xiaohe, then at Chen Dashan. She had lost some weight, but was in good spirits. The wrinkles around her eyes were deeper, but her eyes were still bright. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried the efficiency of someone who had managed the household for many years. "You want your father and me to stay home and do nothing? We can't stand being idle. Even if you don't let us work in the fields, you have to let us help with something else. We're not too old to walk. The stall in the county town isn't tiring. We set it up in the morning and take it down in the evening, just sitting and waiting for customers in between. It's better than sitting idly at home."

Before Chen Dashan could say anything more, Su Xiaoyin tugged at him, put down her needlework, and took over the conversation. She said that their parents had worked hard all their lives, and letting them stay at home doing nothing every day would only make them sick. The stall in the county town wasn't too strenuous; they went in the morning and came back in the afternoon, and could even rest for a while at home at noon. Shi Tou taught at the county school, which was nearby, so he could go and help out at noon. Let them go.

Father Chen, holding his bowl of porridge, didn't speak, but a slight smile curved his lips. Chen Xiaohe was still worried. After a moment of silence, he added, "Mom and Dad, you must take it easy when you set up your stall in the county town. If you feel unwell, be sure to tell us. Don't push yourself. It's fine to open the stall later and close it earlier; don't be like you were when you were young, braving wind and rain without moving an inch. We'll take care of the work in the fields; you two don't need to worry about it."

Mr. Chen put down his bowl of porridge, wiped his mouth, and said in a low but firm voice, "Don't worry, your mother and I know what we're doing. We'd love to hold our great-grandchild, so we definitely need to take good care of ourselves. We'll head home from the stall early, avoiding the night and going out when it's windy and cold." Mrs. Chen chuckled beside him, saying, "Now you know how to take care of yourself. We told you not to push yourself so hard during the autumn harvest a few years ago." Mr. Chen smiled sheepishly and lowered his head to drink his porridge.

Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing discussed it for a while. Summer was approaching, and it was time to change the family's summer clothes. In recent years, with the busy spring planting and autumn harvest, and the addition of new family members, they hadn't had a chance to properly make clothes. The two sisters made a list of clothes to be made—two summer outfits for each of the three daughters-in-law, made of fine cotton cloth, in bright colors; one outfit each for Shitou, Aji, and Afu, made neatly; one outfit each for Mr. and Mrs. Chen, with Mrs. Chen's outfit made of good material and Mr. Chen's outfit made looser for easy dressing and removal; two outfits each for Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe, made of coarse linen for work, to be durable, with thickened cuffs and collars; and for Qingqing, who was pregnant, two loose-fitting maternity outfits, and several sets of clothes for the unborn child, both single and double-layered, as well as tiger-head shoes and a tiger-head hat. The two sisters calculated that they would need to buy several bolts of cloth and would be busy for several days.

The next morning, Su Xiaoyin and Su Xiaoqing drove their mule cart to the cloth shop in the county town. Seeing they were regular customers, the shopkeeper brought out the newly arrived fine cotton fabrics for them to choose from. Su Xiaoyin picked out three colors for her three daughters-in-law: pale yellow, lotus root pink, and light blue—simple and understated. For Chen's mother, she chose a bolt of dark blue silk and a bolt of moon-white fine cotton for the lining. For Shi Tou and the other two, she chose gray-blue and bluish-gray—durable and presentable. They bought two bolts of coarse linen, enough for Chen Dashan and Chen Xiaohe to wear for a year. Knowing they were sewing enthusiasts, the shopkeeper also gave them two bundles of scraps of cloth as a gift.

Back home, the two sisters busied themselves. Cutting, sewing, hemming, and buttoning—every stitch was meticulously done. The clothes for their three daughters-in-law were finished: a pale yellow one for Qinghuan, a lotus-root pink one for Qiuming, and a light blue one for Yuming. Su Xiaoqing even specially embroidered a circle of small, intertwined flowers on the collar and cuffs, extremely elegant yet understated. Chen's mother's silk jacket was made with a stand-up collar and frog buttons, making her look much more spirited. Chen's mother looked at herself in the bronze mirror again and again, saying, "Even an old woman like me is dressed so well," but her eyes curved into crescent moons. The children's clothes were exceptionally exquisite. Su Xiaoyin embroidered the Five Poisons pattern on her bibs, and the tiger-head shoes had their ears standing upright, the tiger whiskers meticulously twisted with silk thread. Su Xiaoqing smiled and said it was even more carefully made than the ones she made for Afu when he was little. Su Xiaoyin said it was different; it's the bond between grandparents and grandchildren.

It took seven or eight days of work to finally finish. The clothes were folded neatly and stacked on the kang (a heated brick bed), one pile for each person.