The weather was hot. Zhou Chunxia, Juxiang, and the other girls had sun-heated plenty of water in the yard during the day. At night, women wanting to wash up carried basins of water into their rooms, while most men went to bathe in the creek at the village edge.
Li Hongmei had always been at odds with Liu Aijun. Seeing Liu Aijun carrying a basin to bathe, though dog-tired herself, she dragged her two daughters along. The old lady had just bought two new bars of soap placed by the water vat. Not using them felt like a loss to her.
“He Miao, Duo Duo, this soap was just bought by your grandma. Smell how fragrant it is! You must grow up to be grateful people, remember your grandma’s kindness, behave well, and later she’ll share things with us. Don’t learn from those scheming types who covet the old lady’s belongings.”
He Miao and Duo Duo glanced at each other but didn’t dare speak.
Liu Aijun, walking toward the house, paused mid-step and turned to glare at Li Hongmei resentfully. That woman was everywhere, acting so righteous. She’d just received her share and was already pledging loyalty—as if she hadn’t pretended to be sick earlier to snatch things from the old lady first.
“Mom, hurry back to wash up. Dad and the others will probably be back soon.”
Grandma had brought back so many white flour shaobing from town. She thought the matter of her parents mentioning dividing the family had passed, but during dinner when things were distributed, their third branch received so little. Her sister-in-law Yang Aihua’s face was dark as thunder. At this moment, no matter what the other branches said, they couldn’t argue, or Grandma would surely discipline them.
“Hmph!”
Seeing Liu Aijun didn’t dare retort, Li Hongmei grew even bolder. He Miao felt somewhat afraid—she and Duo Duo still had to share a room with Fengzhi, Lihua, and Shufen at night. They couldn’t let their mother offend everyone completely.
“Mom, let’s go bathe quickly. I’m so sleepy.”
“Wretched girl, always causing trouble. I’ve worked all day and still have to serve you.”
Duo Duo frowned and glared fiercely at Li Hongmeu. No matter what it was, if it concerned her and her sister, their mother had to scold them before being satisfied. If it were their brother Defu, she’d be fawning over him eagerly. Hmph!
In the main house, Qian Maizi had distributed the items fairly between her two daughters-in-law, keeping everything balanced. But she still felt somewhat unsettled.
“You’ve already given everything away. Why are you sighing now?”
“Ah, I’m just worried about Caiping and Xue Jun. Our Taotao is already three months old, but her little body is still like a kitten’s. I’m really afraid she might not survive!”
“Shush! Don’t say such unlucky things! Quickly knock on wood!”
Wang Baoguo felt a chill at his wife’s words. He’d actually had the same thought but hadn’t dared breathe a word of it to anyone.
Their little granddaughter had a large head and small body, crying with a faint mosquito-like voice, her complexion somewhat bluish-black. He knew the child was starving. The family couldn’t afford rice cereal, and her mother had no breast milk. All she drank daily was flour paste. Such a tiny child sometimes vomited after eating. His son and daughter-in-law worried sleeplessly every day—he saw it all.
“But thankfully, we ate better tonight with the pig trotters. That helps with lactation. I gave the entire bowl I served to Caiping to drink.”
“Mmm. If necessary, I’ll go beg Mother to see if she can buy a can of malt extract for the child to drink.”
“Shut up, what are you thinking? If you dare tell Mother, she’ll definitely beat you to death. Malt extract is so expensive! Have you seen anyone in our village who can afford to buy it?”
Wang Baoguo didn’t respond. He knew it was expensive, but could it be more precious than his granddaughter’s life?
Mother didn’t like girls. If all else failed, he could have Meiling plead for it. She had given the Wang family two sons, so she ought to have some face. The more Wang Baoguo thought about it, the more worried he became. The more worried he was, the more he scratched his head. His already sparse hair had thinned even more after one night of anxious tugging.
In the second son’s room, Sun Guiying held her share of goods, her heart racing with excitement. An apple, two eggs, and a packet of brown sugar—all these were now her private stash.
“Mom, during dinner Grandma said that from now on, every child in the family can have an egg each day. I’m pregnant and need nutrition too. Could you talk to Grandma and ask her to boil one for me? I’m carrying a boy, after all.”
“What? Your grandmother just generously distributed so many things, and before you’ve even eaten them, you’re already thinking about having an egg every day? You’re so full of ideas, why don’t you just fly to the heavens?”
Zhang Xiulan’s voice was shrill as she stared at Sun Guiying as if she were insane. How dare she even think such a thing? Zhang Xiulan wouldn’t dare ask the old lady herself!
Sun Guiying wanted to say more, but Wang Xiangdong, standing beside her, quickly pulled her away. He hadn’t expected his wife to be so greedy. Even the old lady didn’t eat an egg every day, yet she had the nerve to suggest it. Wasn’t she afraid word would get back to Grandma, and they’d end up with nothing?
Had she not seen the third son’s family’s situation tonight?!
Wang Haifeng returned from washing up outside and comfortably lay down on the kang to rest. Seeing Li Hongmei sewing by the kerosene lamp, he sighed.
“Leave it for tomorrow. Save some kerosene.”
“I’m almost done. Mother gave us quite a bit of fabric. I’m making underpants for our Defu. I’ll take apart the old shoes, use the old soles with new edging, and the uppers with new scrap fabric—it’ll be a brand new pair of shoes!”
“Tch, don’t be too partial. Didn’t Mother say to make a vest for the girls? He Miao and Duo Duo are practically young women now.”
Li Hongmei snorted dismissively. “Why bother being so fussy over girls? Just go to sleep and mind your own business!”
Seeing that he couldn’t persuade her, Wang Haifeng made a disapproving sound and turned over to sleep. Soon, he was snoring loudly.
Su Qing spent some time in the Space pharmacy learning nursing skills from the NPC, then spent seven hundred gold coins to buy two cans of high-calcium infant formula and a glass baby bottle.
Happiness Town was originally a period-themed game, so the packaging of items inside matched that era. She wasn’t worried at all about raising suspicions when taking them out.
The courtyard was silent. After stepping outside, she glanced around cautiously, afraid that Wang Yongqiang might suddenly appear and pester her for nice things.
When she reached Wang Xuejun and Wu Caiping’s door, she raised her hand to knock but heard muffled sobbing from inside.
“Xue Jun, what should we do? Our Taotao won’t eat the flour paste, even though I added an egg to it. This is our first child. If Taotao doesn’t make it, I don’t want to live either.”
“Caiping, don’t panic. Let me try. Let me see the baby.”
Wu Caiping pulled Taotao tightly to her side, pleading in a desperate voice, “Xue Jun, I’m begging you. Can you… can you think of something? If this goes on, Taotao won’t survive!”
“What should I do? I… I don’t know what to do either! Still no milk? You drank three bowls of pig trotters soup during dinner, how come there’s no effect at all?”
This was Wang Xuejun’s first child – how could he not be worried? But the baby wouldn’t take other food, and his wife still hadn’t produced milk. Besides working hard at his job, what other options did he have? Overwhelmed with anxiety, he slumped to the ground and began tearing at his hair.
If Su Qing saw this, she’d definitely scold him, saying he was truly Wang Baoguo’s son – father and son looked exactly alike when worried. Fortunately, people in this era had thick hair, otherwise he’d surely have pulled it all out.