When Ye Qingyun returned home, the four children were still sleeping soundly, completely unaware that their mother had gone out during the night.
In the dark, Ye Qingyun washed away the fishy smell clinging to her body with half a basin of water. She washed her shirt and hung it out in the yard to dry, changed into a clean set of clothes, then quietly lay down on the bedding spread across the floor.
“Mom…?”
A sleepy murmur came from above her.
“Mm,” Ye Qingyun answered softly.
Half asleep, Fu Min assumed her mother had simply gotten up to use the bathroom. She rolled over, kicked away the twins’ feet that were draped over her, and fell back into a deep sleep.
That was a close call.
Ye Qingyun smiled helplessly, gently nudged her youngest son—who was sprawled out in the shape of a starfish—a little farther to the side, and closed her eyes.
She slept well through the night.
Centuries of habit had trained Ye Qingyun’s body to wake promptly at five-thirty in the morning.
Carefully lifting her youngest son, who had somehow crawled onto her chest while sleeping, she got up feeling refreshed and started preparing breakfast.
Go to bed early, wake up early.
Yawning, Fu Min shook the twins awake and urged them to get dressed by themselves. Then she hopped off the bed and pulled the thumb out of Fu Xiangdong’s mouth.
The little boy’s eyes flew open immediately.
Fu Min waited expectantly for him to throw his usual morning tantrum.
To her complete surprise, Fu Xiangdong blinked his big eyes, broke into a wide grin, and happily called out,
“Mom…”
After a brief pause, he realized his mistake and corrected himself.
“Big Sister.”
Fu Min refused to admit that her heart softened for just a moment. She poked his chubby baby cheeks with one finger.
“Dummy.”
Thinking his big sister was playing with him, Fu Xiangdong laughed even harder.
“Mom!”
The twins rushed over together, climbing onto Ye Qingyun’s back. Still half asleep, they rubbed their little faces against her shoulders.
The two warm, soft little bundles nearly melted her heart.
So this is what it feels like to be a mother…
Adding another armful of firewood to the stove, Ye Qingyun quickly lifted the girls off her back and led them to the washstand. She carefully combed their apple-cut hairstyles into neat shape, squeezed toothpaste onto their toothbrushes, placed cups into their hands, then called out,
“Fu Min, come wash your face and brush your teeth!”
Hearing her mother’s voice, Fu Min finally let her little brother’s squishy cheeks go and happily skipped over.
She brushed her own waist-length hair, tied it into a low ponytail with a hair tie, smoothed the loose strands framing her face, admired herself in the mirror for a moment, and only then started brushing her teeth and washing up.
Ye Qingyun thought the wispy bangs hanging over her eldest daughter’s forehead looked rather messy and tried to redo her hairstyle.
She was met with fierce resistance.
Clutching the comb protectively, Fu Min ran circles around the yard.
“No slicked-back forehead!”
Ye Qingyun gave up.
Everyone had their own sense of beauty.
Fu Xiangdong was still too young to take care of himself. Seeing him wobbling just trying to hold his cup, Ye Qingyun steadied it for him and patiently taught him how to brush his teeth.
Back in the city, when he lived with his grandmother, brushing his teeth had been his least favorite thing.
His grandmother doted on him, so after swishing water around his mouth twice, she’d usually let him off.
Children were remarkably good at reading the room.
The moment Fu Xiangdong saw his mother’s stern expression, he obediently brushed every single tooth—top, bottom, left, and right—twice over.
As he brushed, he counted to himself.
“One-two-one… One-two-one…”
Fu Min patted the twins and whispered,
“Look! Little Brother has to chant slogans while brushing his teeth.”
The moment Ye Qingyun glanced their way, Fu Min hurriedly dragged the twins back inside.
Out of their mother’s sight, she secretly stuck out her tongue.
Xinyu and Xinyang covered their mouths, giggling.
They both knew who their eldest sister feared most now.
Their mother.
Looking at the troublesome bunch, the tiny bit of happiness Ye Qingyun had just felt about becoming a mother disappeared instantly.
Still…
As long as they weren’t fighting, it was good enough.
“Breakfast!”
After helping the youngest finish washing up, the sweet potatoes steaming on the stove were ready.
Ye Qingyun took them out.
Two for herself.
One each for the children.
Then everyone got half a cup of malted milk.
Breakfast remained wonderfully extravagant.
Ye Qingyun firmly believed that growing children needed proper nutrition.
Otherwise, if their foundation wasn’t strong, they’d constantly fall sick.
So far, her strategy seemed to be working perfectly.
The four little ones sitting before her ate with enormous appetites. Since coming to the countryside, none of them had gotten sick even once, and they all looked livelier than they had in the city.
After breakfast, the work bell rang.
The four children watched their mother leave with reluctant eyes.
The moment she disappeared…
They looked at one another.
Freedom!
Ye Qingyun, diligently gathering pig grass, had no idea that the moment the tiger left the mountain, the monkeys declared themselves kings.
She hurried to finish cutting enough pig grass for the morning before rushing home to prepare lunch.
The four children had already exhausted themselves playing.
Clever little Fu Min even ordered her three subordinates to put everything back where it belonged.
At first glance, the house still looked reasonably tidy.
Ye Qingyun couldn’t be bothered investigating further.
Fortunately, the basket she had hidden on top of the cupboard hadn’t been discovered by the four little troublemakers.
Fu Xiangdong was squatting by the doorway, poking an ant nest with a little stick.
Suddenly…
Sniff, sniff.
Something smelled amazing!
Throwing the stick aside, he ran into the house, nose twitching all the way until he found the source of the delicious aroma.
Just as Ye Qingyun finished simmering the stone frog porridge and turned around with the pot…
She found herself facing four pairs of sparkling eyes.
“Mom,” Fu Min asked, “are we having meat today?”
The other three children also stared eagerly at the pot in her hands.
Ye Qingyun shook her head.
“No.”
She had barely set the pot down before four bowls were thrust in front of her.
Fu Min declared confidently,
“You’re lying, Mom. It’s definitely meat. I can smell it.”
The other three nodded vigorously.
Only meat smelled this good.
Ye Qingyun had once been a child herself.
She believed children could keep secrets.
But children also had a habit of unconsciously changing their own memories. Even when they thought they hadn’t told anyone, somehow the secret would still leak out.
So…
“This is sweet potato porridge.”
She filled each bowl to the brim.
Fu Xiangdong eagerly picked up his spoon and shoveled a mouthful into his mouth.
It was so hot that his eyebrows immediately scrunched together.
Even so, he couldn’t bear to spit it out.
Waaah… It’s so, so, so delicious!
“It’s meat!” Fu Xiangdong insisted while blowing cool air into his mouth.
Ye Qingyun reminded her three daughters to blow on theirs before eating instead of wolfing it down.
Calmly, she corrected him.
“No. It’s sweet potato.”
Xinyu looked doubtful.
“Meat-flavored sweet potatoes?”
Xinyang’s eyes lit up.
“Meat-flavored sweet potatoes!”
Fu Min rolled her eyes at her younger sister.
Dummy.
There was no such thing as meat-flavored sweet potatoes.
She quickly ate two more chunks of the “sweet potatoes.”
They were tender, juicy, and incredibly flavorful.
Even better than any pork she had ever eaten.
“Mom, this is definitely meat!”
Fu Min was one hundred percent certain.
Ye Qingyun finished her bowl of fragrant stone frog porridge in just a few bites, set down the empty bowl, and said,
“I never bought any meat from the supply cooperative.”
That was true.
Mom hadn’t bought meat from the supply cooperative in quite a while.
Fu Xiangdong simply buried his head in his bowl.
It was too delicious.
Fu Min exchanged glances with her two younger sisters.
Did meat-flavored sweet potatoes really exist?
Suppressing a smile, Ye Qingyun interrupted their thoughts.
“Who cares what it is? As long as it tastes good.”
The three girls thought about it.
She had a point.
As long as it was delicious!
The sisters immediately joined Fu Xiangdong, who was already happily stuffing his face.
Soon, the little house was filled with the sounds of four children eagerly eating “meat” and slurping porridge.
That lasted until…
Fu Min spit out a tiny, slender bone.
The little girl stared blankly at the bone in her hand, then looked at her smiling mother.
…Who said sweet potatoes couldn’t have bones?
Once all four children had eaten until their bellies were round with satisfaction, Ye Qingyun finally spoke.
“Tomorrow I’m going to the commune. Can you all stay home and wait for me to come back?”
“I’ll bring you something tasty when I return,” she added.
The four children nodded enthusiastically.
They almost wished their mother would leave for the commune right now.
Fu Min had noticed something.
Ever since coming to the countryside, their mother had become incredibly generous.
They got to drink malted milk every day.
And every other day…
They got to eat meat.
Well…
Meat-flavored sweet potatoes counted as meat too, didn’t they?