The atmosphere of happiness completely vanished the moment they stepped into the Meng family courtyard. With Wang Cuilian’s long, gloomy face hanging there, no one could possibly stay happy.
Wang Cuilian was picking vegetables in the yard. The moment she saw Meng Qiushi and the others walk in, she immediately stood up and strode toward him.
Her gaze landed on the basket on his back—it was completely empty.
Then she looked the group up and down. Their pockets were flat too; clearly they weren’t hiding anything.
Still…
Her eyes landed on the little leather shoes on Xu Chunhua’s feet and the schoolbags on Meng Wei and Meng Qing’s backs. Her plain brows knitted tightly together.
Xu Chunhua happily wiggled the tips of her shoes. “My dad bought these shoes and the schoolbags. Mom, if you’re jealous, go ask your dad to buy you some too.”
Wang Cuilian rolled her eyes and couldn’t be bothered arguing with Xu Chunhua.
If she dared snatch the things the Xu family bought for Xu Chunhua, Xu Chunhua would definitely run back crying to complain to her parents. And when Wang Cuilian thought about Xu Qiang’s fists as big as sandbags, she felt a little intimidated.
She held out her hand toward Meng Qiushi. “Where’s the money from selling the herbs?”
Meng Qiushi placed the scattered coins into her palm. “Sold for a total of ninety cents.”
“Only this little?” Wang Cuilian looked displeased and gathered the coins into her hand to count them again.
Meng Qiushi replied sarcastically, “You should be secretly celebrating you even got ninety cents.”
The mountains were rich with resources, and medicinal herbs grew everywhere. The villagers recognized wild vegetables, but knew nothing about herbs.
This basket of herbs was only something Meng Qiushi used to fool Wang Cuilian with. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have an excuse to go into the county.
Wang Cuilian raised her arm, clearly about to slap him, but Meng Qiushi quickly dodged aside.
Glaring at him, she jabbed a finger toward him. “Quit speaking to me in that sarcastic tone.”
Stuffing the money into her pocket, Wang Cuilian turned to Xu Chunhua and ordered, “Tomorrow is Zhuzhu’s first birthday banquet. Stop hiding in your room loafing around all day. Come help your second sister-in-law.”
“Got it, got it,” Xu Chunhua answered reluctantly, though a sly gleam flashed in her eyes.
To her, helping out basically meant sneaking bites of good food.
Back in their room, Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua placed the children they were carrying onto the bed.
Meng Wei and Meng Qing followed them, kicking off their shoes and climbing onto the bed too. They were both tired and excited, occasionally glancing toward the new schoolbags sitting on the table.
Xu Chunhua climbed onto the bed and leaned against the pillow, reaching out to cover Meng Qing’s eyes with her hand.
“My big girl, if you’re tired then sleep for a bit.”
Meng Qing pulled her mother’s hand away. Her bright watery eyes sparkled. “Mom, I’m not sleepy.”
Xu Chunhua covered her eyes again and coaxed gently, “Be good. You are sleepy.”
Beside them, the perceptive Meng Wei obediently closed his eyes. “Mom, I’m a little sleepy. I want to sleep.”
“Then sleep, sleep. You’re growing right now, so you should sleep more.” Xu Chunhua smiled like her scheme had succeeded.
Meng Yu rolled over once and was immediately scooped into Meng Qiushi’s arms. She pressed her little hands against his chest, looking so soft and adorable that anyone would want to fiercely kiss her.
And Meng Qiushi indeed did exactly that.
Once Meng Wei and Meng Qing were truly asleep, Xu Chunhua and Meng Qiushi exchanged a glance and surrounded Meng Yu between them.
“Little Yu’er, can you bring Daddy and Mommy into your space?” Meng Qiushi tugged lightly at Meng Yu’s chubby little hand.
Meng Yu nodded, revealing tiny white baby teeth when she smiled.
The three disappeared from the bed.
Inside the space, Xu Chunhua began organizing today’s spoils.
She placed the red-envelope money they had received into a small wooden box inside a large chest.
The basket nearby was packed full of food, enough for them to secretly snack on at night.
Meng Qiushi took out a bag of seeds and began diligently planting.
Meanwhile, Xu Chunhua carried Meng Yu over to the stream, admiring the golden koi swimming within it.
“These golden koi are so beautiful,” she said. “Their color shines even brighter than gold.”
Meng Qiushi and Xu Chunhua both suspected the koi were unusual, so they didn’t dare touch the fish in the stream.
Meng Yu thought that once she grew older and could speak clearly, she would tell her parents about the golden koi’s special abilities.
This time, Meng Qiushi had bought many kinds of seeds from the black market: vegetable seeds, fruit seeds, and grain seeds.
Whether the fruit trees could actually grow fruit was uncertain, but trying wouldn’t hurt.
In this era, fruit was expensive. If they could truly grow some, their family would gain another source of income.
No matter how much grain the family harvested from the fields, it didn’t belong to them. It had to be handed over to the commune first, and only whatever remained in the granary would later be distributed according to work points.
With such a large family—and especially with a mother like Wang Cuilian, who sent anything good straight to Chen Rou—their third branch barely ate five jin of refined grain in an entire year.
But everything grown inside the space belonged entirely to them.
Xu Chunhua secretly looked forward to seeing a bountiful harvest filling the space one day.
After planting the seeds, Meng Qiushi selected six duck eggs and boiled them in a small pot. Only then did he ask Meng Yu to bring them back out of the space.
By now, Meng Yu had already taken a nap inside the space. Once outside, she leaned sleepily against Xu Chunhua’s chest, her chubby cheeks squished together adorably.
Outside, the sky had already turned dark.
Meng Qiushi pulled back the curtain hanging around the bed. Meng Wei and Meng Qing were still asleep.
Smiling, he gently placed the steaming hot duck eggs beside their pillows.
After pulling the curtain closed again, Meng Qiushi kissed Xu Chunhua.
“Chunhua, thank you for giving me a complete family and such adorable children.”
Xu Chunhua held his hand tightly. Her beautiful peach blossom eyes shimmered brightly.
“Then treat me even better and better and better.”
“Okay.” Meng Qiushi wrapped an arm around her shoulders, then lightly scraped a finger across Meng Yu’s little nose as she tilted her face up to watch them.
“And we should thank our little Yu’er too. She gave our little family another source of confidence.”
Receiving praise, Meng Yu smiled sweetly.
Not only that—the space would also help their family safely survive the coming famine years.
Tonight’s dinner finally had a bit of oil in it for once.
Wang Cuilian had rendered some of the fatty pork into a bowl of lard, while the leftover cracklings were stir-fried together with vegetables.
The large table was packed with people, while the children sat at a smaller table nearby.
Meng Qiushi picked up two chopstickfuls of stir-fried vegetables with pork cracklings for Meng Wei and Meng Qing. By the time he tried reaching for more, the plate was already empty.
The only exception at the table was Chen Rou.
In front of her sat an extra bowl of steamed egg custard, along with a bowl of stir-fried vegetables loaded with far more pork cracklings than greens.
Meeting Xu Chunhua’s gaze, Chen Rou smiled lightly.
Jealous? Envious?
If Xu Chunhua were willing to feed Zhuzhu, Chen Rou wouldn’t mind sharing the egg custard and meat dishes with her.
Unfortunately, Xu Chunhua was too ungrateful. She had weaned her child so early that little Zhuzhu could only eat rice paste now.
Xu Chunhua withdrew her gaze.
As if she cared.
There was so much meat inside her daughter’s space that they could never finish eating it all.