Late at night, after the children were all asleep, muffled whispers could still be heard from the room Mo Laoer and Second Aunt Mo shared. Second Aunt Mo asked Mo Laoer, "Tell me, your brother and sister-in-law, they don't work, they don't earn work points, and they're running off to the city every other day. What on earth are they up to? What's so alluring about the city? Now that Xiao Man isn't living with them or helping them work, if they don't get enough food rations at the end of the year, how are they going to feed six kids? And Mo Xiaoqiang and Mo Xiaoneng are growing boys; they eat like horses! Just make sure they don't come to us to borrow grain. You are not to agree, you hear?"
Mo Laoer clicked his tongue. "Do you think I'm that stupid? I have my own son and daughter to raise, don't I?"
"Do you know what your brother and sister-in-law are doing in the city?"
"I asked my brother, but he wouldn't tell me!"
