1940s: I supported my wife and sister-in-law by hunting.

A family with many daughters is blessed.

"Father, Mother, this is wonderful! Today is a day of four happy events!"

"By the way, this is the girl I rescued on the road, Liu Hongying. She's all alone and has no one to care for her. From now on, she'll be part of the Chen family and live with us."

Chen Liu's body went limp from crying, but after she recovered, she became very thoughtful.

She wiped away her tears and quickly turned to call her daughters-in-law to come inside.

What I miss most is Sunflower, who just finished her postpartum confinement.

This girl was already premature and weak, and now she's in postpartum confinement. It's windy outside, and if she stands there in the wind and cries a lot, she'll end up with postpartum headaches and eye problems, which will be lifelong health issues that will cause her suffering until she's old.

"Stop crying, stop crying, everyone hurry inside."

After calling out to her family, Chen Liushi turned to look at Liu Hongying, who was standing there.

"Mother knows, they're all good children. Since she's the girl we rescued and took in on the mountain road, she's family."

"Go inside quickly. Once you're home, you'll feel at ease. From now on, no difficulty will matter."

Liu Hongying obediently lowered her head and replied.

······

The whole family went inside, and the villagers dispersed.

After comforting his mother, Chen Gaoshan then took care of each of his family members.

Xinghua and Lianhua were heavily pregnant and their bodies were heavy, so he didn't dare to tire them out. He quickly made them sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) and held them so they could cry their hearts out.

He comforted Sunflower, who had just finished her postpartum confinement, and then patted Shuanghong on the shoulder.

After appeasing the women in his household, he wished he had three heads and six arms so he could hug and kiss each of them.

Finally, he managed to free up some time to pick up his two daughters from the kang (a heated brick bed).

It's only been four months since I last saw them, and there are two chubby little girls, wearing little jackets, crawling back and forth on the kang (a heated brick bed).

I hugged and kissed them one by one.

Finally, it was his youngest daughter's turn. Staring at the tiny baby, his heart clenched.

Blame him.

If it weren't for him, Sunflower wouldn't have been so frightened and would have given birth to the child much earlier.

A perfectly healthy baby was born prematurely.

"It's all Dad's fault, Dad is the one who's bad."

"If your father hadn't gone out and caused the family so much worry, you wouldn't have had to come into this world so early to suffer like this."

Sunflower sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), holding her little girl in her arms, carefully cradling her. The child was premature and weak.

"Shanzi, it's not your fault, it's all fate."

"My mother said she's tough and can pull through, she'll be fine. It's just that she wasn't given a proper name when she was born, she was always called Sanmao."

After being away for four months, Sunflower's Mandarin has become more and more fluent. At first, she would stumble over and utter single words, but now she speaks fluently and smoothly. She has truly taken root in the village after living there for so long.

He looked down at the little girl sleeping soundly in his arms.

"Following the names of the two older sisters, the eldest is Qingping, the second is Qingan, so the third one will be called Qingqing, Chen Qingqing."

He secretly thought to himself, even though he was a premature baby, he couldn't name him Chen Qingzao (meaning "early morning").

Qingqing sounds so nice.

Old Chen, squatting on the ground smoking a pipe, puffed on it listlessly, looking completely indifferent.

In the eyes of old farmers, a name is just a mark; it doesn't matter what you're called.

His real name is Chen Damei, which sounds a bit... well, you know, but whatever name his parents gave him, he'll stick with it for life, he has no choice.

There's an old saying: "Dumplings for going out, noodles for returning home," wishing for a safe and smooth journey.

Xiaxia and Shuanghong were busy in the kitchen.

The sound of rolling and cutting dough filled the air as they worked, their faces covered in sweat, their hands never idle.

Before long, the two of them came into the house, each carrying a large bowl of steaming hot hand-pulled noodles.

"Second brother, eat quickly while it's hot. This young lady, you should eat with us too."

Chen Gaoshan didn't even bother to eat himself; he first pushed the bowl of noodles in front of him to Liu Hongying, who was sitting next to him.

"Eat up. From now on, this is your home. Stay here and don't feel uncomfortable."

After saying that, he went all out and started causing trouble.

Having been out there for so long, enduring wind and rain, eating dry rations and drinking cold water, I haven't had much hot and delicious food.

I wouldn't trade this bowl of homemade noodles for anything else; I have to eat my fill.

The whole room, filled with men, women, and children, remained silent, just watching him eat in quiet contemplation, their eyes filled with wonder.

Xinghua, being sensible, quickly brought over a bowl of chilled white wine to sit beside him, afraid that he would choke if he ate too dry food.

Lianhua casually peeled two cloves of garlic for him and placed them on the side of the bowl. Eating noodles with garlic is the real way to enjoy them.

Chen Guilan, the old woman, sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes fixed on her son, feeling affection and heartache no matter how she looked at him.

For the past few months, she has been extremely anxious, unable to eat during the day and unable to sleep at night.

Every night, I would hide under the covers and cry secretly, afraid to make a sound.

She knew that the head of the household was feeling even worse than she was, but she was putting on a brave face.

The death of her eldest son nearly killed her, and there was no news of her second son. If it weren't for her many daughters-in-law and granddaughters, she would have hanged herself from the beam of the storeroom.

She dared not cry in front of her daughter-in-law, fearing that if she cried, her daughter-in-law's breast milk would be depleted, and little Qingqing would be left to fend for herself.

God has opened his eyes.

The son returned fully recovered, with all his arms and legs intact.

Chen Guilan watched her son, who was slurping down noodles, looking thinner and darker, his face tanned dark. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly asked him what was wrong.

"Son, is that enough to eat? If not, I'll give you another bowl. Look at you, you've suffered so much outside, you've become so thin you look unrecognizable."

Chen Gaoshan grinned, revealing a bright white smile, and handed over the empty bowl. "Mom, another bowl, I'm not full."

The two women next to them reacted quickly and snatched the bowl from the old woman's hands.

"Auntie, please sit down and rest. Keep Second Brother company and I'll go."

As she spoke, she picked up her bowl and ran to the kitchen to serve noodles.

With a son at home, there's nothing to worry about.

From the moment Chen Gaoshan stepped through the door, Old Man Chen's entire demeanor changed completely.

A few months ago, my son was not at home. He always had his head down, his brows furrowed, and he smoked pipe after pipe incessantly. His face was as black as soot from the bottom of a pot. He looked listless and several years older.

Now that his son is standing steadily in front of him, he instinctively straightens his back and can even manage a smile, looking full of energy.

Old Chen took two puffs of his pipe, exhaled smoke rings, and looked at his son.

"Shanzi, when you weren't home in the spring, your father called on your uncle and the villagers to lend a hand and get the new house in the backyard built for you."

"The house was built a long time ago, and we've been saving it for you. Let's welcome Shuanghong into the house tomorrow."

"In the half year you were away from home, especially last month when Qian Zhuizi and his gang came back to the village and caused trouble, we relied on this girl to lend a hand."

"But Shuanghong is such a stubborn girl. She's really determined and will stick to her principles. She'll stay here and wait for you, even if she becomes a widow, she won't leave. She's a good girl."

Chen Gaoshan picked up the large bowl, gulped down two mouthfuls of cool boiled water, and nodded.

"Father, I know what I'm doing. I'll definitely marry her. I'll rest for a couple of days and then bring Shuanghong into the family."

He sighed as he spoke.

"Let's skip the big celebration for now. As for Uncle Changfa's Iron Lock in the village, you said he hasn't come back yet. I think that kid is pretty clever. But we can't be too sure. You never know what might happen at the end of the year. Maybe that kid is lucky and is hiding somewhere safe and sound, and nothing might have happened to him."

Old Chen puffed on his pipe, the pipe stem tapping against the sole of his shoe.

"Okay, you decide. Later, Dad will find Wang Er's wife in the village and ask her to pick an auspicious day so we can get things done."

As he spoke, Chen Laonian suddenly began to ponder something else, and the more he thought about it, the more he muttered to himself.

"Isn't it strange? The silly Qiangzi in our village, his wife gave birth to a big, healthy son."

"What's wrong with our family? Things have been going well lately. You came back safely, and Qingqing has settled down too. I'm thinking, maybe our Chen family's luck is finally turning around."

"I wonder if our family has done something wrong, or if the location of the ancestral graves is not right. Should we pick a day and move the ancestral graves to a different place?"

No sooner had he said that than he slapped his thigh and glared at everyone.

"It's all overgrown with weeds. That's when I remembered. What a load of rubbish about a child meeting a bandit! That damn fortune teller in town cheated me. I have to get that 'big character' back."