Zhao Xing'er blushed slightly and hesitated for a while before stammering, "Isn't Da Ya mentally challenged? I was thinking, I wanted you to take a look at her."
Jiang Yimian paused, her gaze falling on Daya, before saying after a long while, "Daya's condition is congenital, and I can't cure it. Aunt and Uncle Dayong are still young. If you're worried about Daya being alone, you can have another child."
She had examined Daya early on and found that the child had suffered brain damage while still in the womb, which was incurable.
In modern times, doctors would advise pregnant women to abort if there are problems with the infants. But in ancient times, the specific situation of an infant was only known after birth. Daya's case was not an isolated one.
Fortunately, Daya's parents and grandfather were all very kind. They never looked down on Daya, loved her dearly, and never thought of marrying her off early.
Zhao Xing'er felt a little disappointed upon hearing this. Although she knew that Daya probably couldn't be cured, she was still a little sad to hear Jiang Yimian say it herself.
But she was already used to it. Suppressing the slight disappointment in her heart, she lowered her voice and explained with a blush, "I wasn't talking about Daya, I was talking about myself..."
Before she could finish speaking, a strong voice came from behind her, "Xing'er, Yi Mian, do you have enough seeds? I brought some more from home."
Liu Dayong ran over from not far away carrying a cloth bag, followed by Gou Sheng, who had somehow run back from somewhere.
"Sister Yimian, I dug up quite a few of those wild onions, wild garlic, and wild ginger you mentioned. Are you planning to plant them all in the vegetable garden?"
Gou Sheng wiped the sweat from his brow and asked curiously.
If Sister Yimian hadn't said those things were seasonings, he would have thought they were just weeds.
In his mind, the only seasonings he could think of were salt and chili peppers.
The chili peppers were brought to the village by a passing doctor who said they could be used for seasoning, and that's when the villagers started eating them. Gradually, a few households began to grow them.
Jiang Yimian nodded, took the basket from Gou Sheng's back, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the roots inside were well protected.
It's strange, she can find so many vegetable seeds in the grocery store, but the only other seasonings are salt, and chili peppers are unique to Xinghua Village.
She has a strong palate and feels that food is not delicious without these seasonings, which is why she had the idea of digging up wild onions and other seasonings to grow herself.
The dogwood she dug up last time had long since disappeared, but fortunately, Gou Sheng's family had chili seeds, so she gave up on using chili peppers as a substitute.
Putting down her basket, Jiang Yimian looked at the people around her and remembered what Zhao Xing'er hadn't finished saying. She quickly asked, "What did Aunt Xing'er want to say just now?"
Gou Sheng and Liu Dayong also looked at her.
Zhao Xing'er blushed under his gaze and was a little embarrassed to speak. She quickly waved her hand and said, "No, it's nothing. Let's hurry up and sow the seeds."
As he spoke, he went to get the seeds and helped Jiang Yimian sow them.
Seeing this, the others quickly got to work.
Some were tilling the soil, some were digging nests, and some were sowing seeds; no one had the mind to chat.
The day passed quickly. What was once a patch of weeds had been turned over, seeds were sown, and wild onions, garlic, and ginger were planted. In the center of the green expanse, a large patch of brownish soil was revealed, interspersed with occasional patches of green, which was a sight to behold and lifted one's spirits.
Wang Fengqin looked at the newly renovated plot of land in front of her house with some surprise.
Yi Mian initially said she wanted to build a small vegetable garden, so she started making clothes in the house. But after a day, the small vegetable garden turned into a large plot of land.
How many vegetables would that take to grow!
*
That evening, Wang Fengqin had invited everyone to her house for dinner, but unexpectedly, Old Liu returned from outside carrying a plump rabbit and happily invited everyone to his house for dinner.
Several children were surprised to see the rabbit in his hand and gathered around it.
"Grandpa Liu, this rabbit is so big! How much meat can we eat?" Little Nuan'er's eyes lit up.
Daya and Xiaoye were also full of surprise.
Several families have been eating a lot of rabbit meat lately, but this is the first time they've seen such a fat rabbit; one is as good as two.
Old Liu looked smug and snorted before saying, "Your great-grandfather is naturally powerful. He always brings out a big, fat rabbit. Unlike the small, burnt rabbit that Dayong picked up a few days ago, mine is much bigger. My great-grandfather just doesn't make a move easily, but he's actually very powerful."
The truth is, he picked up the rabbit. For some reason, it crashed into a tree and passed out, so he just picked it up.
He never went hunting in the mountains when he was young, and now that he's old, it's even less likely. How could he possibly catch those slippery rabbits?
The children weren't that naive; they believed whatever Old Liu said, and their eyes immediately lit up as they looked at him.
The sight of it put Old Liu in a great mood, and even the fatigue from chasing birds all day disappeared.
Liu Dayong, however, didn't give him any face and said irritably, "You can catch a rabbit? This rabbit doesn't look normal. Maybe it's pregnant."
He didn't believe his old man could catch a rabbit. With his old arms and legs, it was more likely the rabbit would catch him than catch him.
Feeling slighted by his son, Old Liu was immediately displeased, but he also began to have some doubts. The rabbit was indeed too fat, and it really might be pregnant.
"Yimian, come and see if this rabbit is pregnant."
If I'm really pregnant, I won't be able to eat tonight.
Jiang Yimian responded and stepped forward to examine him carefully. She was somewhat surprised, "She's not pregnant."
She initially thought Rabbit was pregnant because she hadn't looked closely, but now that she's not pregnant, Rabbit has just gained some weight, which surprised her.
Liu Dayong was also incredulous. His father had actually caught up with the rabbit?
Old Liu was extremely pleased with himself, stroking his beard as he said, "Gousheng, go kill the rabbit. We'll have braised rabbit for dinner tonight."
Gou Sheng quickly agreed, took the rabbit, and went to the stream to kill it.
Several children surrounded Old Liu, asking him all sorts of questions.
Jiang Yimian found it amusing and went straight to the kitchen to help the women wash vegetables.
Soon, a table full of dishes was ready. A large bowl of braised rabbit meat was placed in the center, with stir-fried dried bamboo shoots with meat, stir-fried lamb's quarters with eggs, stir-fried bracken, cold mixed houttuynia cordata, and Guanyin tofu on the side.
It makes your mouth water.
This was the first time the three families had sat down to eat together.
I didn't have the mind to do that before, but I was busy farming when I moved to the small depression, and I only recently had some free time.
Everyone felt that life was really good now, comparable to, or even better than, their previous life in the village.
Old Liu took a sip of the porridge in his bowl before saying, "It's a pity there's no wine. It's rare for everyone to eat together, and the dishes are plentiful."
He rarely drinks, but today he was rather happy and felt that there should be some wine for this occasion.
Jiang Yimian paused for a moment. She had wine in her spatial storage, but it wasn't really appropriate to take it out, so she remained silent.
Old Liu quickly forgot what he had just said and started teasing the children.
Everyone laughed, and Zhao Xing'er asked about Liu Xiaoyun and Chen Tiezhu's condition, "Xiaoyun, Tiezhu looks a bit better. How is he? Does his leg still hurt lately?"
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