For breakfast, Bonnie cooked noodles. Liu Jiu looked around and asked, "Mom, are the dishes Grandma made yesterday gone?"
Bonnie laughed in exasperation. This wasn't an open complaint about her cooking being bad; it was a subtle way of saying it.
That's all for today.
"Well, fine then."
Liu Jiu's expression was so helpless that Bonnie wanted to poke her finger at it.
Bai Song smiled and watched the excitement. Bai Yang, not understanding what was going on, looked at the doorway again and lowered her head.
After breakfast, Bonnie turned over the soil in the yard again, spreading a layer of wood ash and chicken manure that she had prepared yesterday evenly—this was fertilizer.
Crops are like flowers, and they all depend on manure!
"Mommy? Mommy... Waaah..."
Hearing Bai Yang's cries, Bao Ni looked up and saw Zhao Yuan standing at the door.
"When did you get back? Bai Chaoyang was discharged from the hospital?"
Bonnie quickly opened the door and let Zhao Yuan in.
"I just got home, and Bai Chaoyang is back too. The doctor said he can rest at home. Thank you for your hard work, Bonnie!"
"Why are you being so polite with me? What's our relationship?"
"Yes, you're welcome, not at all. Liu Jiu, this is some treats your aunt bought for you."
"Mom, can we take it?"
Liu Jiu put her hands behind her back and looked up at her mother.
"Take it."
"Thank you, Auntie!"
Liu Jiu took the cloth bag, and Zhao Yuan was once again amazed by Liu Jiu's strength. She had a hard time carrying it, but Liu Jiu carried it away easily.
"Brother Pine Tree, Sister Poplar Tree, come and eat something delicious!"
Liu Jiu put his things away and then called his two friends over.
"I'm not eating, I'm going home."
Bai Yang only has eyes for his mother now, and all he wants is to go home.
"Bonnie, I'll take them home first, and then come back to pick up the things later."
Zhao Yuan touched the top of her daughter's head. This was the first time she had been separated from her child for so long, and she missed her child too.
"Okay, I'll pack it up and bring it to you in a bit."
Bonnie could see it too; it was a mutual longing!
After Zhao Yuan and her two children left, Liu Jiu opened the cloth bag and took out a peach shortbread. "Mom, have a piece. After you finish eating it, you won't miss Dad anymore."
Bonnie felt a pang of sadness. Silly girl, she remembered what she said in jest.
"Okay, thank you Liu Jiu. Mom won't miss Dad anymore after she's finished eating. Let's wait for Dad to come home."
"Hmm, when Dad comes back, I'll spank him. Why doesn't he know to come home?"
Bonnie laughed until tears streamed down her face. Liu Jiu now loves to imitate adults' speech. This is what she said to Liu Jiu: "All you do is play, why don't you know how to come home? Do you need a spanking?"
After eating a piece of peach shortbread, Bonnie finished spreading the manure, fed the chicks the earthworms she had just dug out, washed her hands, and tidied up the things around the two trees.
They hadn't been going beachcombing for the past few days, so there wasn't any fresh fish at home. They grabbed a large dried fish and some dried shrimp, and Bonnie and Liu Jiu headed towards Zhao Yuan's house.
"You're back and already working? Don't you want to rest?"
Zhao Yuan was washing clothes in the yard, looking very capable, and there was no trace of the naivety she showed when they first met.
"I wasn't tired at the hospital, but my clothes felt a bit dull after washing them there, so I quickly washed them again when I got back."
"Bonnie's here. Thank you for everything these past few days."
Bai Chaoyang came out on crutches; he had injured his left leg, and the crutches helped him move around.
"Can you really do this?"
"It's okay, the doctor said it's fine."
Zhao Yuan moved a chair for Bai Chaoyang to sit down.
Liu Jiu went to play with Bai Song, and Bai Yang stayed close to her mother, never leaving her side.
"This child is so afraid of me leaving him that he won't leave his side for a moment, afraid that I'll leave again."
Bai Yang heard his mother's words, looked up, then looked down and tugged at Zhao Yuan's pants.
"It will be fine in a few days. She cried a lot in the first two days, and I didn't know what to do. My Liu Jiu has never cried much."
Bao Ni is taking care of Liu Jiu, and she is completely grateful to the Goddess Mazu for her blessing. Liu Jiu is an easy child and rarely cries.
Zhao Yuan knows her daughter is a bit spoiled and picky about food. She doesn't know how Bao Ni has managed these past few days; she feels sorry for her.
"How have you been eating these past few days?"
"Oh? That? Thank you, Little Pine Tree. He's really good now; he can even add seasonings. We've been relying on him these past few days."
"White Pine? So this is you! No one could have come up with this idea!"
Zhao Yuan gave Bao Ni a thumbs up; this was truly a case of being forced into a corner.
Seeing that Bai Chaoyang was alright, Bao Ni didn't stay long and took Liu Jiu home.
"Six-Nine, what do you want to eat for lunch?"
"Can we eat at Grandma's house?"
Liu Jiu stared at her mother with her big eyes wide open, babbling incoherently.
"Okay, I'm craving mackerel dumplings. Let's go see if we have any meat. Your dad's not home, so we can save our meat coupons."
The mother and daughter locked the door, got on their bicycles, and left the residential compound.
Luckily, the grocery store still had half a pound of meat left. That's better than nothing.
There are no more mackerel left, so we'll go fishing at the beach later.
Bonnie bought two more pounds of high-gluten flour. When making dumplings, you should add more wheat flour, otherwise it's a waste of such good filling.
Bonnie hung the things she bought on the handlebars, and Liu Jiu sat on the front bar. The mother and daughter rode the bicycle, jingling all the way to Bonnie's parents' house.
"What brings you two here? Where are the Bai family's two children?"
Bao Ni's mother noticed that Bao Ni was the only one taking care of Liu Jiu, and she didn't see the two children from the Bai family, which puzzled her.
"Bai Chaoyang has been discharged from the hospital, and Zhao Yuan has taken the child back. Liu Jiu wants to eat her grandma's cooking, so I bought some meat and flour. Let's have mackerel dumplings for lunch."
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