Today was a rest day, so Meng Qiushi took the children up the mountain.
Along the way, they ran into many other villagers heading up the mountain as well, all hoping to gather things from the wild.
Their village was backed by mountains, so life here was somewhat better than in other villages. The mountains were rich in resources.
There were mushrooms, wild vegetables, medicinal herbs, wild fruits…
And if one got lucky, they might even catch a wild rabbit or pheasant to improve the family meals.
A great many people were climbing the mountain—elderly folk, adults, and children alike.
Groups of children chased one another around, their bright laughter echoing through the forest.
Today happened to be Saturday, and the students were off from school, so there were especially many children around.
About one kilometer from the village stood Hongxing Primary School, where children from the nearby villages all attended classes.
If they wanted to continue to middle school, however, they had to go to the county town.
Still, most rural children stopped studying after sixth grade. Many parents believed education was a waste of money; knowing a few characters was enough.
From the eldest branch, Meng Wen patiently held his younger sister Meng Hong’s hand.
Meng Wen was ten years old and in third grade, while Meng Hong was seven and in first grade.
Although they were biological siblings, their personalities were completely different. Meng Wen was gentle-tempered but rather scheming, while Meng Hong had an explosive temper and absolutely no subtlety whatsoever.
The second branch’s Meng Sang and Meng Liu followed behind Wang Yun.
Meng Sang was nine and Meng Liu eight. The sisters both attended second grade together.
Meng Sang walked with her head lowered, carefully scanning the ground around her, unwilling to miss anything worth gathering.
Meng Liu lazily trailed behind, staring blankly ahead absentmindedly.
Suddenly, cheerful laughter nearby caught Meng Liu’s attention. Turning her head, she saw Third Uncle carrying Meng Qing on his shoulders while charging forward.
Meng Liu stared fixedly at the scene before turning away in jealousy.
They were both girls, yet her own father wouldn’t even spare her a smile, while Third Uncle treasured Meng Qing like a precious jewel in the palm of his hand.
Wang Yun turned around and reminded her daughters, “You two better not run around, understand?”
Meng Qiushou silently picked mushrooms nearby, completely indifferent to his daughters.
“Got it, Mom. I’ll keep an eye on Little Sister,” Meng Sang nodded obediently.
Sitting on her father’s shoulders, Meng Qing giggled happily and waved toward her older brother Meng Wei.
“Big Brother, it’s your turn now!”
Meng Qiushi swiftly lowered Meng Qing, slid his large hands under Meng Wei’s armpits, and hoisted him onto his shoulders instead.
Patting Meng Wei’s bottom, he grinned. “Hold on tight!”
Meng Qiushi himself had never experienced parental love growing up.
So after becoming a father, he did everything in his power to make his children feel loved.
He would let them grow up seated on his broad, sturdy shoulders.
He would let them stand upon his shoulders to see a wider world.
Suddenly, Meng Wei’s gaze froze.
Lowering his head, he whispered into Meng Qiushi’s ear, “Dad, there’s a nest of pheasant eggs in the grass over west there.”
Without changing expression, Meng Qiushi casually drifted toward the western bushes while Meng Qing obediently followed along.
The moment Meng Qing spotted the wild pheasant eggs, the clever little girl immediately plopped herself down right on top of them.
“Dad, I’m tired. I want to rest a little before walking again.”
Meng Qiushi immediately agreed, “Alright, alright, let’s rest for a bit.”
Hearing the commotion, Wang Cuilian glanced back and complained to Meng Dazhuang, “He treats a little girl like some precious treasure.”
Meng Dazhuang shot Wang Cuilian a sidelong glance but said nothing before turning away again.
Once everyone else had walked ahead, Meng Qiushi quickly scooped the pheasant eggs out of the grass and stuffed them into his pocket.
There were eight eggs in total.
He rubbed Meng Wei’s head and pinched Meng Qing’s nose lightly.
“We’re having roasted eggs today.”
Stuffing the eggs into his trouser pocket, Meng Qiushi led Meng Wei and Meng Qing toward the secret base.
Inside the cave, Meng Qiushi wrapped the pheasant eggs in mud and buried them in the fire to roast.
Meng Wei and Meng Qing sat obediently on a large rock nearby.
Once the eggs were cooked and cooled, Meng Qiushi placed two eggs into each child’s hands. He ate one himself and saved the remaining three to bring back for his wife.
Meanwhile, Xu Chunhua was still doing her postpartum confinement in the room. Whenever she felt sleepy, she slept; whenever she got hungry, she secretly ate the peach pastries and snacks she had hidden away.
In just one week, her once-pointed chin had become pleasantly rounded.
Noise sounded outside as Meng Qiushi returned with the two children.
“Wife, guess what I found?”
Like a child proudly presenting treasure, Meng Qiushi pulled three pheasant eggs from his pocket and held them out before Xu Chunhua, his face full of eager anticipation.
Light instantly sparkled in Xu Chunhua’s watery peach-blossom eyes.
“Eggs!”
Excitedly, she took the eggs and used her glossy fingernails to peel away the shells.
“Did you all already eat?” she asked while looking at the father and sons before her.
“We already ate. I’ll make you a bowl of milk powder—don’t choke on the eggs.”
Meng Qiushi dug out the hidden milk powder tin and scooped two spoonfuls into a bowl.
Seeing the eager little expressions on Meng Wei and Meng Qing’s faces, he laughed.
“Later, Dad will make malted milk for you two.”
At this time, malted milk was even rarer and more expensive than milk powder. But Xu Chunhua disliked drinking it, so all the precious malted milk Meng Qiushi had worked hard to buy ended up in Meng Wei and Meng Qing’s stomachs instead.
The two children happily cradled their bowls while drinking the fragrant malted milk.
Despite their young age, they were remarkably clever and had never once revealed to outsiders what the third branch ate or drank.
Because if Wang Cuilian ever found out, she would definitely snatch everything away.
And once she took it, they likely wouldn’t even get the tiniest taste again.
Meng Yu closed her eyes, her thick eyelashes casting shadows over her eyelids, a faint smile lingering at the corners of her lips.
The chickens and ducks inside her space were living quite well.
They had already laid many eggs inside the space.
Unfortunately, there was no actual feed in there, so for now the poultry could only peck at the soil to fill their stomachs.
What surprised Meng Yu was that not only had the chickens and ducks not grown thinner, they had actually become plumper.
She guessed that perhaps the soil within the space contained extremely rich nutrients.