Only after the rice porridge in the pot was fully cooked did Old Lady Shen realize they had no bowls to hold the porridge.
At this moment, Shen Gui walked in from outside carrying a stalk of bamboo. Cutting the bamboo into sections with his firewood knife, he said with a smile, “Mother, seeing that we had nothing to hold the rice porridge, I went outside and chopped down a stalk of bamboo.”
“In a moment, we can use the bamboo tubes as bowls to drink the rice porridge!”
Old Lady Shen cast an appreciative look at her youngest son, then sharply reached out her hand and slapped third daughter-in-law Wang Juhua, who was trying to use a bamboo tube to scoop rice porridge out of the pot.
“What are you doing?!”
Wang Juhua chuckled awkwardly and answered, “Mother, I’m hungry…”
“You’re the only one who’s hungry? Who in this family isn’t hungry?” Old Lady Shen glared at her and said, “Move aside, I’ll divide the porridge!”
Hearing this, Wang Juhua immediately stepped out of the way.
Old Lady Shen walked over to the side of the iron pot, looked respectfully at the iron pot, and only then picked up a bamboo tube to scoop the rice porridge out from inside.
The rice porridge in each bamboo tube was about the same amount.
Only the very last bamboo tube had rice porridge that was particularly thick.
Old Lady Shen took that bamboo tube, handed it over to little Xihe, and said, “If it weren’t for Guibao, we wouldn’t even have rice porridge to drink right now!”
“Guibao asked the Pot Immortal for this bag of rice. That we get to drink it is all thanks to Guibao’s good fortune! So giving this bowl with the thickest porridge to Guibao, none of you have any objections, right?”
The Shen family members hurriedly shook their heads, expressing that they had no objections.
Wang Juhua, the only one who had an objection, did not dare to speak either.
Seeing that no one in the Shen family raised an objection, Old Lady Shen then satisfiedly handed the rice porridge to little Xihe.
Little Xihe, however, did not take it. Instead, she looked obediently and sensibly at Old Lady Shen and Old Man Shen, saying, “Grandma, you and Grandpa drink it. Guibao can just drink thin porridge!”
Hearing these words, Old Lady Shen was instantly moved even more. Holding the bamboo tube filled with rice porridge in one hand, she pulled little Xihe into her arms with the other, calling her her precious darling.
Old Man Shen also looked at little Xihe, a smile on his face as he said, “Guibao, Grandpa and Grandma are adults, so drinking thin porridge can fill our stomachs too.”
“But you are still little and still growing your body, so you can’t be left hungry!”
Hearing this, Wang Juhua could not help opening her mouth to say, “Father, Mother, Tianshu and the others are also young, and they’re also still growing their bodies…”
Old Lady Shen glared at Wang Juhua, yet her heart softened after all, and she scooped out some more of the thick rice porridge at the bottom of the pot into the bamboo tubes of her several grandsons.
Seeing that there were still some thick grains of rice remaining at the bottom of the pot, Wang Juhua was just about to quietly scoop them into her own bamboo tube when she was pulled away by Shen Fu.
Old Lady Shen only refrained from flying into a rage after seeing her third son pull her third daughter-in-law away.
The porridge left in the pot was intentionally saved because she was afraid her little granddaughter wouldn’t be full. If third brother’s wife dared to sneak a bite, just watch how she would teach her a lesson!
Every person in the Shen family held a bamboo tube that was less than half full of rice porridge, sipping it in small mouthfuls.
After finishing it all, although they were still not full, their stomachs were no longer empty like in the beginning.
Little Xihe was small, and her stomach was small too. Moreover, the rice porridge Old Lady Shen gave her was the thickest, so she was the only one who was full.
Seeing that after finishing the thin porridge in their bamboo tubes, the Shen family members were still so hungry that they could not help using their tongues to lick the remaining porridge inside the tubes…
Little Xihe could not help speaking up, “Grandma, why don’t you scoop out the rest of the rice porridge in the pot and divide it to eat! I’ll talk to Pot Spirit Brother again and see if Pot Spirit Brother can give us some more food…”
Hearing these words, Old Lady Shen felt helpless and distressed as she hugged little Xihe tightly, nodding her head, “Alright.”
If it weren’t for the fact that there was truly nothing edible to be found and the family was about to starve to death, she wouldn’t have let Guibao ask the pot spirit for food either.
Old Lady Shen looked at little Xihe and said, “Guibao, if the pot spirit… no, Pot Immortal wants you to exchange your lifespan with him for food, you must never agree!”
“However, you can tell the Pot Immortal that once we find a place to settle down, we can offer incense to it every day.”
Old Lady Shen was afraid that the pot spirit wouldn’t like them calling it a pot spirit, so after discussing it with Old Man Shen, she instructed everyone in the Shen family to refer to this big iron pot as the Pot Immortal from now on.
“Okay,” little Xihe nodded obediently and said, “Grandma, Guibao thinks the iron pot is a good pot. It won’t take Guibao’s lifespan.”
After saying this, under the worried gazes of the Shen family, little Xihe bowed to the iron pot several times and said in a small voice, “Pot Immortal Brother, can you give Guibao some more food?”
“Although Guibao is full, Guibao’s family is not full yet… Grandma said that once we find Grandpa’s younger sister, we will offer incense to you every day!”
After little Xihe finished speaking, the eyes of everyone in the Shen family stared at the iron pot without blinking once.