Not long after finishing the meal, before she even had time to clean up the dishes, the sound of Third Baby crying came from the room.
Li Tingyun immediately felt her scalp go numb.
Third Baby’s cries were incredibly loud, almost enough to rupture her eardrums.
Forgetting all about the dishes on the table, Li Tingyun hurried back into the room.
Inside, Third Baby was crying miserably, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Her heart softened instantly. She quickly picked him up and gently soothed him.
Only after he finally calmed down did she place him back on the bed.
Looking at his little body still hiccuping from crying, she suddenly found it a little funny.
Third Baby was probably the cutest of the three children.
Still nursing, his cheeks were plump and soft, with none of the bony thinness of his older siblings. He looked like a perfectly chubby white baby.
Unable to resist, Li Tingyun pinched his soft little cheeks.
Third Baby immediately became unhappy.
His tiny brows furrowed, his lips puckered, and it looked like he was about to cry again.
Li Tingyun hurried to comfort him and didn’t dare delay any longer.
She quickly changed his diaper and then held him to breastfeed again.
After nearly half an hour of feeding, Li Tingyun’s waist and arms had gone numb with soreness before Third Baby finally let go, satisfied.
With a blank expression, she adjusted her clothes and sighed emotionally over how difficult raising children really was.
Then she took out a small stroller she had bought from a baby store before transmigrating and placed Third Baby inside.
Worried about harming his spine, she had specifically chosen a reclining stroller.
Pretty little toys hung from the handlebar, and Third Baby was delighted by them. His tiny feet kicked excitedly, occasionally hitting the toys and triggering cheerful nursery songs.
Li Tingyun jumped in shock and immediately looked outside.
Fortunately, her house sat on the outskirts of the village. Even the nearest neighbors lived quite far away.
Otherwise, if someone heard the nursery music, she truly wouldn’t know how to explain it.
Eldest and Second Baby had already gone out to play with other children.
Li Tingyun pushed Third Baby beneath the shade of a tree and let him entertain himself while she rolled up her sleeves and got to work.
First, she thoroughly cleaned the house inside and out, changing all the blankets and pillows.
Actually, the bedding the original owner used wasn’t bad by this era’s standards.
Compared to most people of this time, it was already considered very good.
But compared to the bedding stockpiled in her space, it was far inferior.
At that moment, Li Tingyun felt grateful that she had always assumed she might transmigrate into the 1960s or 70s someday, so most of the fabrics and supplies she had hoarded weren’t overly modern or flashy.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared take them out.
She packed away all the old blankets and stored them neatly in the wardrobe.
Looking at the dry straw originally used as a mattress base, Li Tingyun felt another wave of disgust.
She stuffed all the straw into the stove to burn it, then laid down a proper mattress from her space, spread a cool bamboo mat over it, and finally replaced everything with her own bedding.
Now the bed finally looked comfortable enough for a good night’s sleep.
Smelling a faint musty odor in the room, Li Tingyun frowned and took out a peach-scented solid air freshener from her space, placing it on top of the wardrobe.
Then she headed into the kitchen.
Out of the entire house, the kitchen was by far the hardest place to clean.
The greasy grime on the floor formed a thick layer, making her shoes stick with every step.
Fortunately, she had stocked up on floor cleaner.
Mixed together with dish soap, the floor was cleaned spotless in no time.
Afterward, she filled the rice jar with rice and stocked up all the seasonings—oil, salt, sugar, and more.
She also filled the egg container with eggs.
The eggs from her space were much larger than the eggs from this era, almost a whole size bigger.
Suddenly thinking of something, Li Tingyun hurried into her space.
She went to the livestock area and, as expected, saw eggs and duck eggs scattered everywhere. Some had even been crushed by chickens, golden yolk spilling across the ground.
Li Tingyun quickly used her mind to gather all the eggs into storage.
Seeing that Third Baby was still happily playing, Li Tingyun noticed she was sticky with sweat after cleaning the house. Her damp clothes clung uncomfortably to her skin.
Taking the opportunity, she enjoyed a comfortable bath inside her space.
After coming back out, she boiled some water using the spiritual spring water, poured it into a sippy cup with a duckbill spout, and fed a little to Third Baby.
She didn’t actually know whether babies this age should use that kind of cup.
She only knew the packaging said it was suitable for babies five to eight months old.
Third Baby adapted quickly.
Before long, he was gripping the handles himself and gulping down the water happily.
Worried he might drink too much and upset his stomach, Li Tingyun only let him drink a few mouthfuls before taking the cup away.
The tiny Third Baby immediately began babbling angrily in protest, as though complaining about the unfair treatment.
Li Tingyun laughed softly.
Holding him in her arms, she kissed his tender cheek and carried him outside.
It was around three in the afternoon now, and the villagers had already gone back to work in the fields.
Eventually, Li Tingyun found Eldest and Second Baby near the foot of a hill, both carrying baskets on their backs while seriously gathering pig grass.
The two children worked earnestly, their tiny faces flushed red beneath the blazing sun.
Li Tingyun immediately felt guilty.
Earlier, while breastfeeding, she had assumed the two children had gone out to play with friends.
She hadn’t realized they had gone to gather pig grass again.
Then again, with Eldest Baby’s personality, she would never casually go out to play.
“Eldest Baby! Second Baby!” Li Tingyun called from afar.
When the children heard her voice, she waved toward them.
“Come back now!”
Eldest Baby stood up blankly.
Beside her, a boy nicknamed Shit-Egg sneered mischievously.
“Your mom’s calling you back to beat you again, huh?”
Eldest Baby visibly shrank.
In the past, whenever her mother called her back like this, she would definitely end up getting whipped.
Being beaten hurt so much.
She suddenly didn’t want to go back.
Hearing this, Second Baby immediately argued back.
“You’re lying, Shit-Egg! My mom doesn’t hit people anymore! She even cooked delicious food for me and my sister today. She’s super nice now. She won’t hit us!”
Eldest Baby also remembered the gentle mother from lunchtime and immediately retorted,
“My mom isn’t like that! She treats me and my brother really well now!”
“I don’t believe it,” Shit-Egg laughed smugly. “I bet you’ll be crying from a beating within five minutes after going back.”
Hearing this, Eldest Baby glared fiercely at him.
Then she glanced toward Li Tingyun standing in the distance and slowly packed up her things.
Carrying her basket, she and Second Baby headed toward Li Tingyun.
Second Baby, however, had already forgotten the past.
The original owner had beaten him plenty of times too, but after Li Tingyun treated him slightly better, he no longer remembered any of it.
All he remembered was the delicious lunch and the mother who wasn’t fierce anymore.
Smiling brightly, he carried his basket and ran toward Li Tingyun.
Once both children reached her, Li Tingyun led them home while saying,
“From now on, you don’t need to gather pig grass anymore.”