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Text Chapter 3 Making a Living in Difficulties

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    "We're back!" "Ah, it smells so good!" Yang Shaokuan immediately smelled the aroma of rice on the tip of his nose: "Sister, where's the rice? You can't even make sweet potatoes for us these days.  Why are you so generous today?" Yang Yuhua was ready for dinner and was putting the dishes on the table. While serving food to her younger brothers and sisters, she replied: "Brother Hu Zi came to see your eldest brother today and brought a bag of rice by the way.  . He specifically asked me to cook a sumptuous meal for you." "Brother Huzi is so loyal!" "Brother is really a good friend." The two brothers immediately flattered each other.  It lasted for several days, but the person involved was not present, so this flattery was done secretly.  There is only a bowl of pickled vegetables and scrambled eggs on the table. It looks bright and yellow, which is really good-looking and makes people appetite.  Although there was only one bowl of food, everyone had a large bowl of white rice in front of them.  For the brothers and sisters of the Yang family, this dinner was a rare sumptuous meal.  During dinner, Yang Yuxiang proposed that he would sleep with his eldest brother tonight.  "No!" Without thinking, Yang Yuhua simply refused: "Why are you so ignorant? My eldest brother is seriously ill in bed, why are you fussing over it? Don't you know that you are very dishonest when sleeping?" Yang Yuxiang was very serious.  He said matter-of-factly: "Why is it all nonsense? Brother, doesn't he always fall asleep and never wake up? I thought, maybe he could wake me up by shaking me!" In fact, Yang Yuxiang wetted the bed last night.  I got the bed quilt wet. Although my sister had washed it again, I still felt that there was still the smell of my own urine on it, so I didn't like the bedding at all.  What's more, in the winter, the weather was getting colder and the bedding was a little thin, so she often woke up from the cold at night.  She saw that the quilt her eldest brother was covering was quite thick, and she thought it should be warmer than her own bed, so she asked her sister to change beds.  Yang Yuhua still refused, and Yang Shaokuan loved his sister very much, so he helped: "Sister, what Xiangxiang said is not completely unreasonable. Since the eldest brother keeps sleeping like this, we have nothing to do. We might as well try all the tricks. This  Just call a dead horse a living horse doctor!" Yang Yuhua scolded: "Bah, a dog's mouth can't spit out ivory, it's so unlucky to treat a dead horse alive!" Even so, he agreed with Yang Shaokuan's words in his heart.  .  After dinner, he asked his younger brothers and sisters to wash up, and then Yang Yuhua packed them up and went to bed early.  She herself had no intention of going to bed so early. Instead, she lit a dim candle and started spinning with a hand-cranked spinning wheel.  She was busy during the day, not only taking care of Yang Shaowen, but also taking care of several younger brothers and sisters. After all, she spun more yarn at night.  Nowadays, there are five members of the family, and the gauze she spins can still bring a small income to the family.  As for the two younger brothers going to open up wasteland and farm the land, they are still too young to expect anything from that.  It's just that they are so enthusiastic, and as a sister, it's not easy for her to dampen their enthusiasm.  Usually, she spins in the outer room. Today, because Xiangxiang slept in her eldest brother's room, Yang Yuhua also moved the spinning wheel to Yang Shaowen's room.  After all, she still doesn't feel at ease about her little sister.  On the bed, Yang Yuxiang¡¯s hands and feet were not free at all, pushing and twisting against Yang Shaowen from time to time.  Of course, it was impossible for her to wake Yang Shaowen up like this.  "Xiangxiang, you can do anything else, just don't touch the quilt at night! If you freeze my brother, I will make you look good!" "I know, I know, sister, you are so verbose!" It's still early, little one  Xiangxiang is not sleepy yet.  She was like a little chatterbox, saying a few words to her sister for a while, shouting to Yang Shaowen for a while, "Wake up, wake up. Big brother, wake up quickly and play with Xiangxiang!", and sometimes said to herself.  Saying some childish words that she only understands.  For some reason, Yang Yuhua was a little envious of his younger sister.  She was always so carefree, that is, she was sad for a few days after her parents passed away and her eldest brother jumped into the river.  Usually, even when the family has no food and is hungry, I don¡¯t cry much.  Yang Yuhua himself cannot be as heartless and silly as his little sister.  The heavy pressure of life makes her breathless every day.  Although brothers Shao Ming and Shao Kuan usually look cheerful and optimistic, they must also be extremely anxious in their hearts.  In addition to helping her peel cotton seeds and process them into lint every day, the two of them also thought of going to the back mountains three or four miles away to open up wasteland.  Dad had always been interested in the studies of the two of them, but gradually he had no interest in taking care of them.  Fortunately, although the family had exhausted all their land savings, her mother still left her a hand-operated spinning wheel and a shuttle machine (the shuttle was operated with two hands, so the width was only about 1 foot, and the efficiency of narrow-width cloth and weaving was very high).  Low).  This allowed her to rely on spinning and weaving to barely maintain this dilapidated home, allowing her brothers and sisters to escape from poverty.??The fate of beggars.  ¡°It¡¯s just that this business is really hard work.  She worked hard every day spinning and weaving, and the meager income she earned was simply unable to support the family.  She carefully calculated her income.  First, she needs to spend 1 silver dollar to buy 12 pounds of cotton, and then process the cotton into 4 pounds of lint, spinning 64 taels of native yarn, and finally weaving it into 6 pieces of native cloth, about 84 square feet (width)  1 foot * length 14 feet * 6 pieces), the after-sales payment is 1.8 yuan, excluding the cost, the profit is 0.8 yuan.  According to the rice price in Wujin County at this time, 0.8 yuan of silver can buy 1.6 buckets of rice (one bucket of rice is about 30 kilograms).  Spinning and weaving is quite time consuming.  With the help of Shao Ming, Shao Kuan and even Xiangxiang, it took her almost 40 working days to spin 4 kilograms (64 taels) of native yarn in the spinning process alone.  It takes an average of 15 labor days to weave these 4 pounds of local yarn into 6 pieces of cloth.  ??In other words, the Yang Yuhua brothers and sisters received a salary of 0.8 yuan for their hard work in the past 55 working days.  It¡¯s about like earning 25 kilograms of rice per month.  After deducting daily expenses, it is quite difficult for Yang Yuhua's brothers and sisters to support themselves.  Of course, Yang Yuhua has not lost hope in life.  During these days when the family was in constant trouble, neighbors from the same village came to lend a helping hand from time to time.  They are five brothers and sisters, and they have only managed to survive until now.  ¡° Moreover, she thinks it¡¯s mainly because her skills are a bit unfamiliar.  She knew that when her mother was around she could spin much faster than she did.  And from what she knew, her mother was not the most skilled in the nearby villages and towns.  She believed that as long as she mastered her spinning and weaving skills, the whole family would no longer suffer from stomachaches.  If the family's life could go on, the eldest brother wouldn't be so anxious to jump into the river.  Yang Yuhua shook the spinning wheel again and again, while silently thinking about her own thoughts. Time passed unconsciously, and there was silence all around. Only the slight breathing of the two people sleeping on the bed could be heard.  A gentle evening breeze came in through the cracks in the room, causing the candles on the table to flutter softly.  Looking at the candles that were about to burn out, Yang Yuhua knew that it was late, so he packed up and prepared to rest.  At this time, Xiangxiang was hugging her elder brother so sweetly.  After all, Yang Yuhua still felt uneasy about this young girl who was not very honest in sleeping. Seeing that the quilt on the bed was big enough, Yang Yuhua blew out the candle, cut herself, and got into the bed.
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