The little one’s lips were dry and peeling, her small face thin and wrinkled, a heart-wrenching sight. But when she drank the rice water, her little mouth slurped and smacked loudly.
“Little sister, don’t rush. Mom has already gone to the small shop to buy you milk powder. Soon, you and your little brother will have milk powder to drink.”
There were no baby bottles in the house, so Leng Xuan could only feed them one spoonful at a time.
Before long, the two little ones had drunk more than half a bowl of rice water.
Splat… squelch…
A faint, sour stench wafted over. Leng Xuan’s eyes widened as she stared at the wrinkled little baby.
Did he just poop?
Her little brother started crying right after he finished, his already flushed face turning the color of pig’s liver. He let out a series of soft yet emotionally charged wails.
“How could you poop right after eating? And you have the nerve to cry? How can you be so wasteful? Don’t you know how precious food is? Couldn’t you have held it in for a while?”
Though Leng Xuan grumbled, her movements were gentle and careful, afraid that the slightest bit of force would harm this tiny life.
Lifting the baby’s swaddling clothes, she saw a runny, yellowish-brown puddle beneath his bottom!
Pinching her nose, she cleaned the little guy and changed his diaper. Just as she finished with him, she heard the same sound coming from her little sister’s swaddle.
Her little sister also started crying after she finished.
Leng Xuan: “…”
I’m so tired. Just let the world end!
She carried the basin of soiled diapers and climbed back onto the kang bed to clean up her little sister.
Once the two little ones felt fresh and clean underneath, they both stopped crying and lay there obediently, even waving their little arms in the air to play. It was inexplicably a little cute.
Resigned to her fate, Leng Xuan tucked the two babies in, left the room, and saw Father Leng carrying two large buckets of water into the house.
“Dad, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
Father Leng chuckled foolishly. “Fetching water. They’re distributing water at the end of the street. I’m going again!”
With that, he poured the water from the two buckets into the water vat, shouldered the empty pole, and went out again.
Leng Xuan pushed the door open to look. Second Brother was in the courtyard swinging an axe. He had already chopped the pile of branches they dragged back last night into firewood of uniform length, tied them into small bundles, and stacked them neatly at the base of the wall.
The whole family was working hard to survive; she naturally had no reason to be lazy. Holding her breath, she began to wash the diapers.
After washing them, she gave the large kang bed a thorough wipe-down and then spread the diapers out on it one by one. The heat would bake them dry in no time.
Not long after, Mother Leng returned, gliding back on her small cart. The cloth bag in her arms was bulging, and her face was full of joy. It was clear she had managed to trade for milk powder.
Ten kilograms of grain had sold for exactly 1,000 yuan, which she used to buy two cans of milk powder.
When they had sold the milk powder, it was 450 yuan a can. Now, buying it back cost 500 yuan a can, but Mother Leng felt it was well worth it.
After all, the money from selling the milk powder had saved the lives of the father and daughter.
Breakfast today was exceptionally thick. The flour paste porridge even had burdock leaves and a hint of salt. Leng Xuan took a sip and felt it was the most delicious thing in the world, slurping down the entire large bowl.
After drinking it, her whole body felt warm.
Leng Xuan sidled up to Mother Leng. “Mom, is there white sugar at the small shop?”
Mother Leng nodded. “Of course. What, craving sugar?”
Leng Xuan chuckled. She knew her mother doted on her children. If she asked for some grain to trade for sugar, she would surely agree.
This way, she wouldn’t have to explain that she wanted to use the sugar as bait to kill mutated insects, which would only worry her for no reason.
Mother Leng very carefully weighed out 50 grams of wheat grains, put them in a small cloth bag, and handed them to Leng Xuan.
“This much grain can be traded for 10 grams of sugar. At lunchtime, mix it into the porridge for you, your father, and your brother to drink.”
Leng Xuan agreed, accepting the small amount of grain with cherish.
It was not yet light, but it was time to go out scavenging. Today, her father was going out with them too.
On the way, Leng Xuan subtly began to test Father Leng’s intelligence level. The Wasteland was fraught with danger, and she had to fully understand each family member’s condition to accurately manage the risks.
“Dad, I want to kill more mutated insects. Do you know where there are any?”
Father Leng chuckled. “I know. There’s an ant nest by the big river, full of mutated ants. There’s also a cockroach nest on the east mountain with lots of mutated cockroaches. I’ll take you there.”
Leng Xuan: “…”
She gave up. Her dad’s intelligence was probably even lower than Second Brother’s. After all, any normal person would ask in response, “Why do you want to kill mutated insects?”
Mutated insects were inedible and highly aggressive. Getting bitten was no joke. She had learned from her mother last night that many mutated insects carried trace amounts of toxins. A bite would cause a large welt.
Some people would even break out in rashes all over their body, and those with weaker constitutions would just drop dead.
Yet her dad didn’t even ask why she wanted to kill them and even offered to take her to find them!
It was truly a miracle that a family like this could survive in the Wasteland until now!
But this also saved her the trouble of explaining.
After confirming with her dad several times that there really was a mutated ant nest by the river, Leng Xuan begged Father Leng to take her to Old Granny Chen’s grocery store.
Since there was an ant nest, she had to prepare some props.
She took out the precious 50 grams of wheat grains and traded them with Granny Chen for some sugar.
As Granny Chen weighed the sugar for them, she muttered, “You lot are really something else. At a time like this, you’re still thinking about buying sugar to eat. Ai, what a waste. Wouldn’t it be better to use this grain to make porridge?
“One liang of grain, with some wild vegetables, can feed the whole family for a meal. Yue’e just spoils her children!”
Ever since entering the shop, Leng Xuan hadn’t said anything more than “trading for sugar.”
Although Old Granny Chen grumbled, her hands didn’t stop moving. Leng Xuan saw the small scale she was using to weigh the sugar display “10 grams.”
In the Wasteland, grain was precious, and seasonings like sugar and salt were even more so.
Faced with three “fools,” Old Granny Chen didn’t shortchange them, which showed that her character was trustworthy.
In the future, if she got her hands on anything good, she could bring it here to sell.
After leaving the small shop, Leng Yi couldn’t help but dart to his sister’s side, calling out again and again, “Good big sister, good big sister, I want to eat sugar, I want to eat sugar!”
Leng Xuan: “…”
“You’re already old enough to be thinking about a girl, yet you still want to eat sugar? Aren’t you ashamed?”
Leng Yi: “Liu Erya doesn’t know. Liu Erya isn’t here.”
Leng Xuan: “Liu Erya is right up ahead.”
As they looked up, walking toward them were indeed Liu Erya and her father, Liu Zhuzi.
What a coincidence.
From a distance, the two had heard Leng Yi shouting Liu Erya’s name, and they couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger. What family wouldn’t be angry if their unmarried daughter was being pined after by a fool who shouted it all over the street?
Liu Zhuzi strode over angrily. Leng Xuan couldn’t help but curse inwardly. Was she going to have to get into a fight first thing in the morning?
She really had a big mouth. Why did she have to mention the girl?
Father Leng seemed completely unaware that things were amiss and greeted him cheerfully, “Hehehe, Brother Zhuzi, good morning!”
Liu Zhuzi stopped in front of them and pointed at Father Leng. “Leng Lao Er, control your second fool. If he dares to spout nonsense again, see if I don’t break his legs.”
After saying that, he shot a vicious glare at Leng Yi.
Leng Yi wasn’t afraid of others, but he knew Liu Zhuzi was Liu Erya’s father, so he was terrified of him. Now, being scolded, he didn’t dare make a sound, hiding behind his sister like a coward.