Chapter 11 Feeding Snacks
"Niuniu, you are so lucky. I haven't found duck eggs in the reed marsh for a long time!" Gu Daya said with emotion.
Seeing that all her companions were very happy, Niu Niu also started laughing. As an adopted child, her biggest fear was being hated by the family's original children.
"Grandma! Grandma! Look what we brought back!"
As soon as the children entered the Gu family's yard, they shouted happily.
Old Mrs. Gu was cleaning the chicken coop and was not very happy to hear the voice: "Just don't cause me any trouble. I don't expect you to bring back anything good!"
But when she really saw the duck eggs in their hands, Mrs. Gu's eyes narrowed with smiles, and she said, "I think it's not in vain that I love you so much. You picked up some good stuff and brought it back!"
The two sons of the eldest wife, who had just returned from having fun outside, felt guilty when they heard this. They ate whatever good things they got outside secretly and never thought about their family.
Old Mrs. Gu put away the wild duck eggs and said, "I'll keep them for you guys first. You can eat them in a few days!"
How could they not understand what Old Lady Gu meant? She wanted to save the food for when there were guests or during the busy farming season.
Gu Daya couldn't help but complain when she heard this: "Grandma is so stingy. If we had known this, we would have eaten outside and not brought any food back!"
When Old Mrs. Gu heard this, she was furious. Who was she saving money for? It was for this family!
Gu Mingda said, "Mom, let's fry a plate of this tonight. My eldest brother and third brother have been working very hard recently, so they need to eat something good to replenish their bodies. I don't know how long these duck eggs have been left in the wild. It would be bad if they go bad."
Old Mrs. Gu always listened to Gu Mingda. Seeing him insisting, she could only say reluctantly, "What a bunch of greedy ghosts!"
Gu Mingda asked several children: "Who found the wild duck eggs?"
Gu Daya pointed at Niu Niu.
Old Mrs. Gu was the first to laugh and said, "The Zhang family said that our Niuniu was a jinx, but she is obviously a lucky star! It's been a long time since we found wild duck eggs in the reed marsh. I thought all the wild ducks had run away!"
After handing over the duck eggs, the children rushed to the backyard with their arms full of reeds.
"Grandpa! Grandpa! Teach us how to weave baskets!"
They placed the reeds in front of Old Man Gu.
Father Gu accurately ignored the others and looked straight at Niu Niu: "Nan Niu..."
Gu Daya had long been accustomed to her grandfather's confusion, and corrected him: "Grandpa, this is Niuniu, not Nannan!"
But Father Gu still habitually called out: "Nannan..."
Gu Daya was speechless.
Niuniu took two steps forward and said softly, "Grandpa, I'm Niuniu, my full name is Gu Xi."
After hearing this, Father Gu stopped calling out the name he had called out before. He stared at Niuniu for a long time before saying helplessly, "Niuniu, just let her be. It's fine as long as you come back. Don't leave me."
Hearing the old man's lonely tone, the children present, although still young, suddenly felt an urge to cry.
Father Gu picked up the dry reeds again and said, "Niuniu asked me to weave a basket..."
He took it and started to weave it. Gu Yan gave some instructions and watched him weave it into the way they wanted.
As they watched, several children also learned, but it seemed that Old Man Gu's movements were too fast and they basically didn't remember anything.
"Grandpa, slow down!" Niu Niu said in a low voice.
Gu Daya said, "Niuniu, grandpa ignores people when he is working. It's no use talking to him."
But the strange thing is that as Niu Niu shouted, Old Man Gu's movements actually slowed down.
By the time two frames that met the requirements were made, several children had actually learned how to do it.
The others ran forward with the things, but Old Man Gu held Niu Niu back. He searched his body for a long time and finally took out a handful of wild chestnuts.
"Niuniu, eat. Niuniu is not in good health. She needs to eat more good food." Old Man Gu said vaguely.
The elders secretly gave snacks to the children. This was a treatment only given to the most favored children in the family. Niu Niu had never thought that she, a person who was not related by blood, could receive such favoritism from her grandfather.
"Go and play quickly. Be careful when playing with Xiaocao and the others. Don't hit your head again!" Father Gu warned.
Niu Niu was completely confused. She had no idea who Xiaocao was, and went into the kitchen with this question.
"Grandma, who is Xiaocao? Grandpa told me to be careful when playing with her, so as not to bump my head..." Niu Niu asked in a low voice.
When Mrs. Gu heard this, she froze for a moment and then said, "That's your aunt's playmate. You don't have to worry about it."
Niu Niu nodded, not quite understanding.
Before she could leave, Old Lady Gu grabbed her again and stuffed a boiled duck egg into Niu Niu's pocket.
"The milk is for you to drink. Don't tell anyone else, okay?" Old Mrs. Gu warned.
After receiving special care from two elders in succession, Niu Niu's little face was blank for a moment.
Looking at the little girl's adorable appearance, Old Lady Gu pinched her skinny cheek and said, "You found the wild duck egg. This is a reward for you. Poor girl, why are you so thin? I have to find a way to make you fatter!"
She was just saying this. After all, the family was in the current situation. If she really wanted to feed the little girl with plenty of fish and meat to nourish her body, the first and third wives would probably make a big fuss.
Niu Niu took a bag of food and went into the second room. Zhang Yuniang was still sewing clothes.
Niu Niu silently brought the food to her mother.
"Where did all these come from?" Zhang Yuniang asked with some amusement.
"My grandparents gave it to me secretly, and I gave it to mom." Niu Niu smiled sweetly as she said this.
Zhang Yunniang thought of those naughty boys in her family and secretly thought that her daughter was very considerate.
"Mom doesn't want to eat, you eat it yourself." As a mother, she would not snatch food from her daughter.
Niuniu added: "Then mom will share some with my brothers. My brothers are boys, they need to eat better..."
Zhang Yunniang put down her needlework and asked, "Who taught you this?"
Niuniu whispered, "Grandma Zhang taught me this. She said that when you have something good, you can't just think about yourself, you have to think about your younger brother at home."
Zhang Yunniang cursed her stepmother in her heart for teaching the child bad things, and warned her, "The Gu family doesn't have these rules. You should forget everything you learned in the Zhang family, okay?"
Niuniu nodded, but with a look of trepidation on her face, she asked, "Did I do something wrong?"
The little girl had just arrived in this family, and Zhang Yunniang knew that she was still upset, so she hugged her and said, "You haven't done anything wrong. Even if you did, you don't have to be so scared. Dad and Mom are your relatives, and we won't blame you."
Niu Niu snuggled into Zhang Yunniang's arms, smelling the scent of soapberry powder on her adoptive mother's body, and felt extremely at ease.
Suddenly, Chen Chunhua's voice came from outside the house: "Dad, why did you bring these dying chickens back? The chicken coop at home can't keep them all!"
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