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

Chen Gaoshan finally settled on two female puppies, both of whom were docile.

He first took a detour to Liu Chuncao's house, delivered one of the puppies to her to watch over the house, and then carried the other puppy in his arms back to his own yard.

The two little girls, Da Mao and Er Mao, were playing wildly on the ground in the yard when they spotted the fluffy puppy in his arms.

The two little ones crawled really fast, and pounced on me, their little hands flailing about, scratching and clawing without any restraint.

The puppy cried out in pain as it was being scratched.

Only our local Northeastern dogs are tough, resilient, and can withstand a lot of rough treatment. If it were a brand-name dog, it would have been dead long ago after being handled like this by two little girls.

He patted the two boys' hands twice. "You can't treat dogs like this, give them a slap on the hand."

Don't think they're too young to know anything. They still care about her. Da Mao and Er Mao immediately withdrew their hands, but they didn't cry, which is good.

Chen Gaoshan picked up the puppy and held it protectively in his arms before turning around and putting it into the doghouse of Dahuang and Erhuang.

The two big dogs, Dahuang and Erhuang, came over and rubbed against the puppy, keeping it company. With two big dogs protecting it, the puppy immediately stopped howling and lay still in the nest.

Seeing this, Xiaxia and Hongying, who were watching the children, quickly reached out and hugged Da Mao and Er Mao to keep them in check.

The large wooden basin in the courtyard was filled with warm well water, which was just the right temperature from the sun. It was perfect for washing the faces and wiping the bodies of the two little girls who had been playing wildly and were covered in dust.

After settling the children and the dog, Chen Gaoshan turned around, lifted the curtain, and went into the sunflower room in the west wing.

As soon as I entered the house, I saw my little daughter nestled in Sunflower's arms, nursing. Her little mouth was sucking hard, and her little hands were holding on. She was eating with great enthusiasm. She's such a little expert, having mastered the art of nursing so early.

She truly is his youngest daughter.

"Look at my little girl, she's eating with such energy, who would guess she was premature?"

In broad daylight, Sunflower was being stared at by him while breastfeeding. She was easily embarrassed and her face turned bright red.

When Chen Gaoshan reached out to take the child and was about to pat the baby to burp him, she quickly gathered her clothes together, buttoned them up, and dared not look up at anyone again.

Unfortunately, things didn't go smoothly. The little one ate too fast and too much milk, and when his head tilted to the side, a mouthful of milk came out of his mouth and landed all over Chen Gaoshan's back.

Sunflower immediately grabbed a towel and came over to wipe the milk off his back.

Chen Gaoshan didn't mind at all and was all smiles.

"It's alright, it's alright, this is your milk, why would I complain? It's perfect for a milk bath to nourish my skin."

Sunflower only caught the first half of the sentence. Her cheeks flushed even more, and she shyly withdrew her hand, lowering her head and not daring to say anything.

Chen Gaoshan placed the well-fed and drowsy Sanmao on the soft mattress laid out on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the little guy fell fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He didn't let his mother let Da Mao and Er Mao sleep with flat heads, and he certainly wouldn't let San Mao sleep with her. A flat back of the head looks too ugly, so he let her sleep back and forth, so that a round head would look better.

He then sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Is there enough breast milk for my baby? I can't let my daughter go hungry."

Sunflower looked up. "There's enough to eat, and more than we can eat. Daddy just finished eating and went into the mountains with Uncle Chunlei to hunt wild boar."

Upon hearing this, Chen Gaoshan realized that it was reserved for him, which was great.

His father, Chen Laonian, really can't stay idle.

After working on the farm all morning, my back must have been aching. I barely managed to eat a couple of bites of lunch before heading into the mountains to explore the wilderness.

If a grandson is born into the family in the future, the old man will have to work himself to the bone.

I chatted briefly with Sunflower and then ate the leftovers from my daughter.

Nothing else, Chen Gaoshan turned and left the room.

I walked into my own little vegetable garden and casually picked a persimmon.

When you break it open, you see the sandy red flesh, which is exactly the kind of persimmon he loves.

This is life in a rural village in Northeast China—simple, ordinary, and uneventful.

He had only rested for a short while when he heard Xiao Kouzi's shouts from outside, telling him to go down to the river to catch fish.

The two of them went out one after the other, each carrying a long, woven fish basket with a lid.

Little Kouzi followed him around excitedly, coming over to chat.

"Brother Shanzi, you really don't know, ever since Shuanghong found out that you're going to marry her the day after tomorrow, she's been so happy she can't stop smiling."

"She hasn't been going out much lately, and she's not been making a ruckus. She's been staying home every day, just hoping you'll come pick her up the day after tomorrow."

He chuckled after saying that.

"Brother, let's stick to our own way. From now on, I'll call you Brother Shanzi, and you'll have to call me Brother-in-law. Hehe, this hierarchy makes sense, right?"

Chen Gaoshan looked at Xiao Kouzi's smug and boastful appearance, but didn't say anything to him.

That's absolutely true. Shuanghong's marriage is a done deal. This guy is definitely going to be happy to have such a capable brother-in-law.

"Now that your sister's marriage is settled, it's time for you, as her brother, to start thinking about your own marriage. I think Huilan from the village is a good girl, she's just a bit big and strong, but she's very capable!"

He manages everything inside and outside the home, farming, feeding pigs, and cleaning – what's missing?

Xiao Kouzi's face immediately fell, and his lips shrunk so much they could hold an oil bottle.

"Brother, come on, Huilan is a good person, that's true, but if the two of us stand together, it's like a mouse playing with a cow. I'm the little mouse, and she's the strong cow."

"With my small frame, if I really marry her, I'll have no say in anything at home. I want to live a few more years of carefree life, please spare me!"

Chen Gaoshan glared at him.

"Let me tell you, kid, don't do that thing you did with that old hag who messed things up last time. You don't give her a straight answer, you're just taking advantage of her, making Huilan do your laundry and help you with chores every day, and you're never giving her a clear answer."

"If you keep stringing people along and playing them for a fool, you'll ruin all the good girls sooner or later, and you'll never be able to marry a reliable woman."

"Brother Shanzi, what are you thinking? Do you think I'm that kind of wicked person? Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll talk things out with Huilan in a couple of days."

"Just keep track of the numbers, don't do anything that's obvious or backtracking, or don't say I look down on you."

As they talked, they arrived at the bend of the small river outside the village in the blink of an eye.

In the sweltering summer, the boys in the village practically spent every day in this river, as if they grew up in the water.

They splashed around in the water, getting sunburned and their backs were peeling, but they still refused to go home.

The adults repeatedly forbade them from wading into the deep water, and the older children kept an eye on the younger ones, but these half-grown kids were incredibly bold. Occasionally, they would choke on a few mouthfuls of water or swallow a bellyful of river water, but they would hide it and never dare to tell their parents.

If my family finds out I'm secretly going swimming in deep water, I'll definitely get a good beating when I get home, and I won't even have anyone to cry to.

The more you cry, the more you get chopped.

Chen Gaoshan, annoyed by the crowd and noise below, pulled Xiao Kouzi upstream for a while longer.

The water upstream is clear and there are few people.

The two men took off their coats and trousers, leaving only their shorts, and carried long fish baskets around their waists. They went into the river and bent down to catch fish and crayfish.

Crayfish only recognize running water and clear water; you can't find them in stinky ditches or muddy water at all. They can only be found in these clear, bottomless streams.

Most of the time, the fish don't have a reverse gear. You need to anticipate their movements, slowly approach the fish when you can see the rocks on the riverbank, and then suddenly strike when the fish swims over. That makes them easy to catch.

Moreover, there's a trick to catching fish: you have to pinch the gills, where the fish can't exert any force and is less likely to slip and escape, making it easier to catch them.

In no time, the two of them had made quite a bit of progress.

There were more than twenty white-scaled and willow-root fish. These two types of fish look alike, one with fine scales and the other smooth with no scales.

They also dug out a lot of wrasse and trevally from under the rocks.

"Little Button, another one's coming this way."

Chen Gaoshan turned his head and glanced at it, his eyelids twitching.

Little Button, with his big butt sticking out, was intently catching fish in the cracks between the rocks, completely oblivious to everything else.

A long water worm was swimming close to him, skimming the surface of the water.

Water worms look scary, but they're not poisonous. However, a bite from one of them can really hurt.

Chen Gaoshan grabbed a tree branch from the bank, darted over, and swung the branch at the water worm.

The water worm was so badly slapped that it fainted on the spot.

He reached out and grabbed the worm by the tail, swung it twice in the air, and casually tossed it into the water, where it drifted away and disappeared from sight.

The small button looks like it has worms growing on it.

"Hey, bro, why did you throw it away? I ate these water worms a few times when I was a kid, and they were so delicious when stewed."

"You really have a loose palate, you'll eat anything. Look at your uncle's big belly, it's all from eating all that random stuff!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Kouzi...

"Oh, really? I wouldn't dare eat that."

Actually, Chen Gaoshan wasn't trying to scare him on purpose. Water worms have the most parasites on their bodies, so it's best to avoid eating them if possible; there's no need to suffer that pain.

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