How I Managed to Eat Three Dishes [The 1970S]

[Complete] Beloved Little Kid // Island Farming Beibei was about to turn three when she suddenly spotted grains of wheat in a mouse hole, duck eggs in the reeds, bird eggs in nests, and big fish and little shrimp in the river... Having gone a whole year without meat, Beibei gazed at the wild chickens, rabbits, and goats running around the mountain behind the house, her eyes sparkling. In the morning, she led her older brothers up the mountain to catch chickens and rabbits. In the evening, she went down to the river to catch fish, shrimp, and snails. Roast chicken, roast rabbit, roast fish: she ate until grease ran down her chin! Sometimes there were sweet, chewy roasted sweet potatoes and fried peanuts, too! What a wonderful life! They had money for her two brothers' tuition, paid off the family's debts, and no one came knocking to collect anymore. Life just kept getting better. One day, her father, a martyr who had supposedly died on the island, came back alive! He hugged Beibei and kissed her. Beibei was so happy she felt like she was dreaming. Then Dad married a new wife and brought back two unfamiliar older brothers! On the first day, her stepmother took Beibei to the supply cooperative, bought her a little flower-print dress and leather shoes, slaughtered the old hen she'd brought along, made chicken and mushroom stew, and served Beibei two big chicken wings. On the second day, her stepmother carried Beibei on her back up the mountain to hunt and pick fruit, made spicy rabbit meat that had the neighbor's children drooling, and simmered a bowl of sweet wild-pear syrup for Beibei to drink. On the third day... By the tenth day, Beibei was happily holding her stepmother's hand while she showered her with kisses and cuddles and lifted her up high. Her brothers: Why did our little sister surrender first? And that wasn't all. The two newcomers also went out of their way to curry favor with their little sister. One coaxed her into drawing, singing, and telling stories, while the other shamelessly clung to her to play games. Her brothers: Our standing is in danger! When Dad took them to the island, Beibei was like a dolphin in the sea, as happy as could be. With the sea breeze in her hair, a flower pinned up, and a floral dress on, she rode a dolphin and became the coolest kid on the island. [Complete little-kid novel: The 1980s Honey Baby's Cheat-Code Life. Upcoming little-kid novel: The Three-and-a-Half-Year-Old Lucky Pearl from the 1980s] Breaking news: The Su family's luck has turned! The dead date tree at their gate, dead for two years, sprouted again, and smoke rose from their ancestors' graves. The Su family's second son's wife was thirty-seven and already had five boys when she became pregnant again. On the day she gave birth, magpies circled overhead and swallows came to build a nest. Their little daughter was born holding a pearl in her mouth, and they named her Fuzhu. Before Fuzhu was born, life was hard for the Su family. They ate watery porridge, wore patched old clothes, and their many children were all scrawny from hunger. After Fuzhu was born, geese fell from the sky, crucian carp leaped onto the bank, rabbits ran into tree stumps, and wild chickens crashed into rocks. Most absurdly, a wild goat ran into the Su family's gate in the middle of the night and knocked itself out. Soon after, farmland was distributed to households, grain yields increased, and every year brought a bumper harvest. The Su family had enough to eat, new clothes to wear, and a business to run. The children could afford to go to school, too. Everyone in the Su family: Our little lucky pearl dropped from the sky. Spoil her rotten! On Fuzhu's first birthday, the pearl that had been with her since birth suddenly stirred. It called itself the Study System and coaxed her to study hard and improve every day. Do well and you'll get a reward; do poorly and you'll be punished! Fuzhu's mouth hurt from reciting poems, and her hand hurt from practicing characters. She clung to her brothers' legs and wailed: Reciting poems is so hard, writing is so tiring. Brothers, help me! A bunch of illiterate brothers: They couldn't help her! Fuzhu looked at her illiterate brothers. Her brothers were so dumb! She had no choice but to put on a long face and study. The five brothers secretly studied so they could become the best brothers in their precious little sister's eyes! Later, the Su siblings left their mountain village and became leading figures in their respective fields, raising the country's level in each of those fields by leaps and bounds. The six siblings were invited for an interview. Asked how they had become so capable, the five brothers said in unison: "It all started with my genius little sister." As for Fuzhu: "It's all because my brothers are illiterate." Theme: Warm and pleasant days, with meals three times a day and comfort through every season