Chapter 29: The Whole Family Eats Together

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

After drying the diapers under the roof, he returned to the house and saw Erniang unpacking old clothes. Only then did he remember that he had forgotten to buy cotton.

“Sigh, I’m still not attentive enough. After Erniang goes through confinement, we’ll take the children to town. We’ll bring along some dried food and take a walk there. Then we’ll buy everything that we need at home.”

Erniang smiled and said, “It’s fine. There’s no hurry. Anyway, the weather is gradually getting warmer. It’s not too late to buy it when winter comes this year.”

Jiang Hu nodded. “Alright, by the way, Dawa and Erni, in future, feed the worms caught in the vegetable garden to the chicks first. The chicks will grow faster after eating them.”

The two little fellows naturally agreed again and even wanted to go out to look for the worms immediately, but they were stopped by Jiang Hu. They would wait until the others leave.

After watching Erniang sew clothes for a while, Jiang Hu began to tease Xiaomi and Bruiser.

Bruiser had been sleeping a lot. Now that he had woken up, he yelled after his sister.

Jiang Hu had no idea what the two children were talking about, but this did not stop him from giggling.

Daddy is really silly, but he’s also very smart.

Xiaomi was talking to her father. When Bruiser heard his sister’s voice, he waved and leaned towards her.

Jiang Hu hurriedly moved the siblings closer and hugged them in his arms, one on the left and one on the right, feeling very content.

After playing for a while, Jiang Hu put Xiaomi and Bruiser down. “Erniang, I’ll go and cook first.”

Erniang was clearly not as calm as Jiang Hu. When she heard about cooking, she could not help but glance at the grass pile beside her.

There was not only meat there, but also food and snacks!

However, seeing that Hu had no intention of taking the food, Erniang did not say anything and only nodded to show that she understood.

The people outside continued to dig for worms. The wasteland that had been splashed with water was flipped over and over.

Seeing Jiang Hu go to the kitchen, someone raised his voice. “Brother Jiang, you’re cooking so early.”

Jiang Hu left early today and came back early. It was not noon yet.

“Yes, I ate early in the morning. Erniang is hungry. We will take lunch early. I was about to go to the fields to take a look too.”

Jiang Hu went into the kitchen to get a kitchen knife and a wooden basin and scooped out a few fish from the stone vat under the roof.

Someone couldn’t help but say, “Brother Jiang, didn’t you sell pheasants and hares for a lot of money today? Why don’t you buy some meat? How can this fish be compared to meat?”

Perhaps it was because of Liu Yang’s influence, after he shouted for Brother Jiang in the morning, many people who were about his age or younger called him Brother Jiang.

In fact, Liu Yang was also a few months older than Jiang Hu.

However, Jiang Hu did not feel that anything was wrong. He just dealt with the fish without looking up.

“I can’t spend money recklessly. My family has four children, big and small. We have to prepare four portions of food and necessities. With our family’s situation, we have to prepare cotton clothes for the winter this year, right?”

That person nodded emotionally. “That’s true. There’s a huge difference between raising four children and one, but Liu Yang will definitely buy some meat back. That guy is greedier than his son.”

Jiang Hu smiled. “He only has one son. When settling down, they brought a lot of clothes with them, unlike us, who don’t even have a mattress. There’s no comparison.”

When he was dealing with the fish, Jiang Hu chatted a little more. When he was done, he went home to cook. It was still fish soup, but it was simmered and was thicker. Then he cooked some wild vegetable porridge.

When he finished cooking, he asked Dawa to bring the food to the room. The worm diggers had left, one after another.

“Dawa, Erni, go to the fields with Daddy in the afternoon. You have to pull out the weeds in the crop fields, or the crops won’t grow well.”

Jiang Hu first scooped a bowl of fish soup for Erniang. Most of it was fish meat. Then he distributed some fish meat and fish soup to Dawa and Erni.

The fish meat had already been boiled and mixed into the soup. There were large pieces of fish for Dawa and Erni. There were almost no fish bones. If they were careful when they ate, they would not have to worry too much.

These fish were small to begin with, and they had been cooked for so long. Jiang Hu could chew and swallow the fish bones and heads without wasting them at all.

After drinking half a bowl of fish soup and eating half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge, his stomach was full. Although he would get hungry soon, it was still much better than before when he did not even know what a full stomach was.

“Daddy, let Erni stay at home and look after Mommy. If we all leave, Mom will go out to work.”

Dawa glanced at Erniang and pouted as he complained to Jiang Hu.

Erni was nodding vigorously. Xiaomi blew a bubble and gave her big brother a thumbs up. Bruiser knew nothing, and Erniang looked exasperated.

“I’m going to make clothes for you all in the afternoon. Your younger siblings can go out in a few days. I have to make clothes quickly and won’t go out.”

Jiang Hu hurriedly asked what was going on. When he came back earlier, he heard Dawa say something, but he did not pay attention at that time.

Before Erniang could explain, Dawa hurriedly told him that his mother wanted to go to the fields to weed in the morning.

When Jiang Hu heard this, he praised them. “Dawa and Erni did the right thing. Mommy needs to rest well now.”

Then he looked at Erniang. “Erniang, I know you want to help, but the most important thing for you now is to recuperate.”

Jiang Hu looked at Erniang’s face carefully. She did look much better than when she had just given birth, but she still looked a little weak.

“You had a huge reaction when you were pregnant. We didn’t eat or rest well along the way. If you don’t rest well during confinement now, you might become sick. Then how can we watch the children grow up?”

Jiang Hu made it sound a little serious, but that was the truth. Many women in the countryside who did not go through confinement died early when they reached a certain age.

Erniang was a little frightened by Hu’s serious expression and nodded repeatedly. “I understand, Hu. Look, haven’t I been resting recently? I’ll take good care of myself.”

Jiang Hu softened his expression. “Don’t worry about the matters in the field. It’s just weeding. It won’t tire me out. Besides, I’ll go into the mountains in a few days. Our family won’t lack food.”

Jiang Hu did not say the last sentence clearly, but Erniang clearly understood. The children did not know how much money the family had, but she knew very well.

However, after being reminded by Hu, Erniang nodded seriously. “I understand. I’ll have peace of mind and rest at home. Don’t worry and take Dawa and Erni to the fields. I’ll wait for all of you at home.”

“Dawa will come with me. Erni will be at home with you so that you have someone to talk to.”

Jiang Hu decided that since Erni was still young and wouldn’t be able to do much work in the fields, she might as well stay at home.

Then he reminded Erni, “By the way, Erni, if you see worms, catch them and feed them to the chicks tonight.”

Erni patted her small chest and agreed proudly. “Yes, yes, Daddy. Erni will feed the chicks and hare!”

Jiang Hu couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, Daddy will leave the task of feeding the chicks and hare to Erni. When the chicks grow up, I’ll give Erni the first egg they lay, okay?”

Erni shook her head. “No, give it to Sanni and Bruiser. Mom said that as the chicks grow up, they will also grow up and be able to eat eggs.”

Jiang Hu said, “Then I’ll cook eggs. Erni and the younger siblings will eat together. By the way, there’s Dawa, so why don’t all of you eat together?”

“There’s also Dad and Mom!” Dawa quickly answered. “The entire family will eat together!”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Jiang Hu agreed with a smile. “When the time comes, the entire family will eat together. But for now, Dawa and Erni, eat your meal quickly. After your meal, we will go to the fields to work.”

“Okay!”

The siblings spoke in unison and drank the fish soup happily. Erniang kept telling them to slow down and be careful of the fish bones.