Chapter 17 Child Bride VIP Announcement
For the children, crab meat is still meat, and they ate it with great relish.
Even when Miya told him to stop, Da Wa was still licking his fingers, seemingly wanting more.
Because the small stone crabs are considered "cold" in traditional Chinese medicine, she didn't dare let the children eat too many. She stopped grilling them after each child ate three.
"Alright, alright, let's go home."
Dog Egg licked his lips, his eyes filled with reluctance to part with the delicious little stone crab, his dog eyes fixed on Honey Sprout.
"Sister Miya, can I really not eat anymore? My stomach says it's already just the bottom of the bowl."
He was worried that Miya wouldn't believe him, so he deliberately patted his stomach loudly.
"Small stone crabs are cold in nature; eating too many will cause stomach aches. Do you want to drink bitter medicine?"
Mia's words sounded like the whispers of a demon to the children, who shook their heads so much that they could only see afterimages. Some were so frightened that they ran away while screaming.
"I don't want to take medicine, I don't want to take medicine."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Da Wa was surprised that Tie Tou had this weakness, and he squatted down and laughed.
Dog Egg joined in, laughing so hard he almost fell flat on his backside.
Without the lure of food, the children began to seek other forms of fun.
Before long, only Miya, Da Ni and her two siblings, and Gou Dan remained in the same spot.
Dog Egg glanced at the few remaining small stone crabs in the puddle, pulled his index finger out of his mouth, and said with saliva in his mouth:
"Sister Miya, can I take some stone crabs back for my mother and younger brother to eat?"
"Sure, take them back and cook them for your mom. You can just brush some oil in a pan and pan-fry the small stone crabs until cooked, or make soup with them; they taste good both ways."
I've occasionally seen people in the village do this, and it has a rich, savory flavor, so I imagine it must taste pretty good.
Upon hearing this, Gou Dan excitedly took off running, saying, "I'll go home right now and get a bowl to put it in."
"I'm going home to get my bowl too!" the eldest child followed closely behind.
To Miya's surprise, Da Wa also brought her a bowl, and a warm feeling flowed through her heart.
"Thank you, Big Brother."
The three families divided the remaining small stone crabs by the stream, planning to take them home and cook them into something delicious.
The first to run home was the excited Gou Dan. He slammed the gate twice in a short period of time, which angered his mother, Wu Xiulan, so much that she picked up the firewood next to her and aggressively approached the smiling, oblivious Gou Dan.
At this moment, Gou Dan was still excitedly describing the deliciousness of the roasted stone crab to his younger brother, Chou Dan.
"Stinky Egg, it's such a shame you didn't go. The roasted stone crabs were so fragrant and crispy, you could even eat the shells. Everyone sat around the fire together..."
Before he could finish speaking, a sharp pain spread from his ear to his entire body.
Dog Egg instinctively screamed, wanting to demand who dared to lay a hand on him.
Turning my head, I saw that it could be anyone but my own mother.
Wu Xiulan sneered and scolded, "Well, you! Not only did you go to play in the stream, but you also played with fire? Don't you know you wet the bed while playing with fire? When you wet the bed, I'll hang your wet mattress in the yard so everyone in the family compound can see it clearly."
"No, no, no!"
As Gou Dan explained, he kept twisting his body around his ear to lessen the pain.
"Mom, I didn't play in the water or with fire. We went to the stream to catch small stone crabs and roast them to eat. Look, I even brought some home to eat together, as a token of my respect for you."
He held the bowl in both hands, his face beaming with a fawning smile that was almost as if he were squeezing out a flower.
Seeing this, Wu Xiulan let go of her hand and carefully examined the small stone crab in her son's hand, her brows furrowing more and more.
"Is this thing edible?"
"Of course!" Gou Dan's voice was sharp and loud. "Many of us just ate it. It's fragrant, crispy, and tastes like meat."
"Yo...meat...meat..." Upon hearing the word "meat," Stinky Egg's saliva immediately dripped down the corner of his mouth.
Wu Xiulan simply lifted her youngest son's shirt, casually wiped her mouth clean.
Then, bringing her head close to the bowl, she only smelled a faint fishy odor. Doubting her son's exaggerated description, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath:
How can you cook this?
"I know! I know! Sister Miya taught me."
Dog Egg jumped around excitedly, deeply admiring Honeybee's foresight.
Seeing that both her sons wanted to eat it, Wu Xiulan reluctantly decided to cook the small stone crab in her hand into dinner, following Gou Dan's description.
Anyway, it will only use a little bit of grease for cleaning the pot, and we still have that much grease at home.
Da Ni and the others didn't have so many concerns. They planned to make the small stone crabs into soup and add some fresh wild vegetables, which would make a very delicious soup.
Miya also made small stone crabs at home. She took more than she needed and decided to try both methods.
Remembering the mess everyone made while eating crabs by the stream, she first removed all the shells and dirty-looking parts of the small stone crabs before preparing them.
Then take out the large iron pot from home, brush a layer of oil on the surface, and the flames flying up and down the edge of the pot make the inside of the pot shine brightly.
Miya seized the opportunity and neatly arranged the small stone crabs in the pot.
Over the next period of time, the iron pot was rotated from time to time to ensure that each small stone crab was heated evenly.
Before long, the small stone crabs in the pot shed their original skins and put on bright red new coats, and the aroma of freshness in the air became increasingly rich.
With quick hands and eyes, Miya scooped the cooked stone crabs into a bowl. When only eight remained, she added boiling water and ginger.
In an instant, a light white broth appeared in the pot, with a layer of yellow oil glistening on the surface.
She couldn't help but take a deep breath, as if she were soaking in a soup full of delicious flavor, her whole body radiating a signal that she longed to take a sip.
At this moment, Miya couldn't help but think: Third Brother would probably like it too.
Thinking of the amount of food Ren Qingsong had shown at noon, Miya took out the grains at home and prepared to make a pot of flatbread for dinner.
It saves time and allows the flatbread to absorb the flavor of the stone crab soup, which will surely make it delicious.
Soon, it was time for dinner.
With the emergence of family housing, more and more people are heading home after get off work, and Ren Qingsong is one of them.
Zhou Qiang patted Ren Qingsong on the shoulder and said, seemingly with some feeling:
"Qingsong, let me tell you, having family around makes all the difference; you walk much more steadily. Your sister looks capable, and there are quite a few single officers in the army. You can help your sister choose."
"Of course, you also need to take care of your own personal life. You'll understand some things once you have a wife and children."
"Commander, I understand."
"Don't just say you know, take action!" Zhou Qiang patted Ren Qingsong's shoulder forcefully, urging him on.
"Yes, Commander!"
Ren Qingsong saluted, and Zhou Qiang immediately lost his temper, shook his head helplessly, and walked home.
Ren Qingsong continued climbing, his mind filled with thoughts of what the regimental commander had just said.
On the other side, Zhou Qiang was getting closer and closer to home, and the aroma of fresh food was becoming stronger and stronger.
Yang Weiguo, the deputy commander of the Third Regiment, shared the same feeling; he even thought he smelled meat.
Realizing he was thinking about meat, Yang Weiguo shook his head in disbelief.
Previously, the military supply and marketing cooperative had specially prepared some meat to celebrate the third batch of families moving into the family compound, and their family also bought some.
But we only cooked a little bit, just to mix it into the vegetables to taste the meat. Today isn't a holiday, so how could we possibly eat meat at home?
Yang Weiguo held his breath, abandoned his impossible fantasies, and strode into the courtyard, shouting loudly as he did so:
According to usual practice, he should have been greeted by the excited surprise of his two children, so why is he nowhere to be seen today?
With a sense of doubt, Yang Weiguo walked up the stairs. Before he even entered the room, a rich, savory aroma instantly filled his nostrils.
That was a very familiar taste of home. Could it be that your family cooked seafood?
Yang Weiguo deftly tossed down what he was holding and said thoughtfully:
"No wonder you two rascals didn't come out to greet me today. It turns out your mom cooked the seafood she had stored at home. Today I'll also have a taste of home."
After saying that, he rolled up his sleeves and approached Gou Dan with a strange smile on his face.
Dog Egg quickly dragged his younger brother back, puffed out his chest, and said smugly:
"There are some small stone crabs in the pot that I caught, Dad. You can have some."
The raised index finger almost made Yang Weiguo laugh. "You little rascal, you only give your dad this little bit of food? Don't you know any manners?"
"Who told me I was the one who grabbed the stuff?" Gou Dan proudly raised his chin.
Yang Weiguo wanted to continue teasing the child, but Wu Xiulan appeared with some cleaned wild vegetables to help her son prove his point.
“It really was your son who caught it in the stream. It tastes a bit like meat. We’re having this at home today.”
"oh?"
Yang Weiguo immediately used a spatula to scoop up a small stone crab about the size of his thumb and stuffed it directly into his mouth. The fresh and sweet taste made him unable to resist sucking harder.
He swallowed the whole thing, shell and all, and exclaimed, giving a thumbs up, "Delicious!"
Upon hearing this, Gou Dan burst into laughter.
In stark contrast to his family was the Zhang family, who lived in the house below.
Ever since Gou Dan's and Da Ni's families started making stone crab soup, a faint meaty aroma has lingered at the foot of the hill in the family compound.
Zhang Tianbao couldn't resist the smell of meat. He threw a tantrum at home, yelling until his voice was hoarse, but he still couldn't stop wanting to eat meat.
Old Mrs. Zhang couldn't bear to see her only son so pitiful, so she immediately pressured her son as he entered the door.
"Tianbao wants to eat meat, why don't you hurry up and get some from the cafeteria?"
Zhang Chengzhu reluctantly withdrew his foot and turned to walk towards the cafeteria.
I thought to myself: Many of my comrades say that after their families came, their lives were much more comfortable than when they were alone. Why is it different for his family?
*
Before entering the house, Ren Qingsong had been pondering what the regimental commander had told him, but as soon as he smelled the aroma coming from the house, his mind was filled with nothing else.
"Miya, what delicious food did you make today?"
Upon hearing the sound, Miya couldn't help but smile and gently peeled the dough off the pancake stuck to the pan.
"I went to the stream to wash clothes today and found a lot of small stone crabs. I caught some to eat and changed my diet."
Ren Qingsong paused for a moment, then continued walking forward. He was completely invisible unless one looked closely.
He walked to the table and looked at the small stone crabs and wild vegetables tumbling in the pot, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart.
A strong sense of dereliction of duty was about to overwhelm Ren Qingsong. If he hadn't been so inconsiderate of Miya, why would she have picked up such things to eat just because she wanted meat?
But on the surface, he seemed no different from usual.
"It smells nice."
"Third brother, eat more."
Miya placed the freshly taken flatbread from the plate into Ren Qingsong's bowl, her face beaming with joy at being praised.
However, she always kept her head down and was not seen by Ren Qingsong.
The two of them ate all the flatbread they had made, along with a pot of stone crab and wild vegetable soup and fried stone crab.
When Miya put down her chopsticks, she still felt a little incredulous. She had only been in this world for a few days, and under Ren Qingsong's half-threat and half-temptation, she had completely forgotten her old habit of saving food.
She touched her noticeably protruding belly, and her mind went completely blank.
Ren Qingsong was unaware of Miya's thoughts; he habitually washed the used dishes and chopsticks.
By the time Miya came to her senses, the room had already been cleaned spotlessly by Ren Qingsong.
It was late at night, and the light was dim. Miya didn't have much to do for the time being, so she went back to her room and lay down on her bed early, silently repeating to herself:
I must get up early tomorrow morning like a good wife, so that my third brother won't go out without having the breakfast I made.
On the other side, Ren Qingsong was already thinking about how to explain their relationship to Miya.
His previous claim of getting married at 18 was just an excuse; in his heart, Miya has always been his younger sister.
But now that his younger sister is approaching marriageable age, he shouldn't hold her back.
The next day, it was pitch black. Miya opened her sleepy eyes and struggled to crawl out of her warm, soft bed.
She flipped the switch, and bright light instantly illuminated the entire room.
The sudden light startled her, causing her to instinctively close her eyes tightly. She only slowly opened them after her eyes had adjusted.
Miya carefully limited the beam of her flashlight to a small area at her feet, worried about waking Ren Qingsong from his sleep.
The first stop after leaving home was the warehouse, and she decided to cook a bowl of red date and corn porridge for her third brother this morning to nourish his blood and body.
What she didn't know was that the moment she pushed open the door, Ren Qingsong had already rolled out of bed.
He glanced at the moon's position outside the window and immediately estimated the time, which was half an hour earlier than his workout time.
Ren Qingsong quickly changed his clothes and opened the door, just as he bumped into Miya coming out of the warehouse.
Miya looked at the person standing opposite her, and pressed her body against the wall in fright. She subconsciously raised the bowl in her hand, "Third Brother, I took it to make breakfast, not to steal it."
"Making breakfast so early? You're young, you need to sleep more so you can grow taller."
Ren Qingsong's words sounded like a disdain for her short stature to Miya, so she slowly tiptoed to increase her height.
"I'm not sleepy, I can't make you miss breakfast."
"It won't take long. I'll just find some rice to cook, and we can eat when we get back from our workout. You're young, so you don't need to get up early. I'll make breakfast for you from now on."
Ren Qingsong continued to express his thoughts, but Miya shook her head in disagreement.
"Third brother, you go exercise, I'll make breakfast."
Miya's resolute little face was very tense, and Ren Qingsong was speechless for a moment before turning around and walking outside.
He decided to take advantage of his exercise time to walk around his home and check for any potential dangers in the mountains and forests.
After circling around, he didn't see any danger, but instead caught quite a few pheasants and rabbits.
In the military, whoever catches one of these gadgets keeps it.
Ren Qingsong returned home with a bountiful harvest, and Miya had already prepared the red date and corn porridge, the sweet aroma of red dates filling the entire house.
"Third Brother, you're back!"
The moment Ren Qingsong looked up, he felt that Miya was like a young wife waiting for her husband to come home.
He shook his head rapidly to dispel the thought.
He casually placed the pheasant and rabbit he was holding on the first floor, hurried upstairs, and exclaimed, "They smell delicious!"
The praise was sweeter to Miya than red dates. She first served Ren Qingsong a full bowl, and then served herself.
Ren Qingsong keenly noticed that there were hardly any red dates in Miya's bowl; all the good stuff was in his bowl.
This subconscious habit made him frown and quickly transfer the red dates from the bowl to the honey sprout bowl.
"You should eat some honey sprouts too. Red dates are good for replenishing blood and are good for girls."
For some reason, when Miya heard this, she subconsciously used words she had heard from her "mother-in-law" before to refute it.
"Girls can't do much housework, so the good things should be saved for the men in the family. Only when the men are good will the family be good."
The moment she blurted it out, Miya's features suddenly scrunched up. A strange feeling surged through her body, as if she were tightly wrapped in an invisible membrane, making it difficult to breathe.
When Ren Qingsong heard the familiar words, his heart skipped a beat.
At this moment, he knew he couldn't delay any longer. If he continued living in this ambiguous state, Miya would only sink deeper and deeper.
Although he didn't know who in the village had poisoned Miya like this, he knew he had no inappropriate thoughts about his sister.
Furthermore, the existence of child brides and similar practices constitutes a form of feudal exploitation of women.
“Miya, listen to what your third brother has to say.”
Ren Qingsong's tone suddenly became serious, and Miya also snapped out of her shortness of breath and stared blankly at the person opposite her.
“Miya, I know that you may not be able to accept this for a while because you have been poisoned by bad ideas for a long time, but I still decided to make it clear to you.”
“With the advent of the new era, child brides are a feudal remnant that has been abolished and eliminated. They are a form of oppression for you, and you need to break free from them.”
Miya's mind simply couldn't hold that much information; upon hearing these words, she had only one thought in her mind.
"Third Brother, are you abandoning me?"
No, it's not.
Upon hearing this, Miya's lips curled up slightly, mistakenly believing that she could still rely on her status as a child bride.
But Ren Qingsong's next words caused the walls she had built up over the years to crumble, revealing the tender shoots of a towering tree hidden behind them.
“Our Ren family will always be your support. This support is because you will always be our Ren family’s daughter, my sister, and you don’t need to rely on the feudal remnants of a ‘child bride’.”
"Miya, do you understand?"
A note from the author:
This novel will be available for purchase tomorrow, Saturday, with three chapters released. I hope everyone will support it! [Pity][Pity][Pity]
Starting today, updates will resume at 6 AM.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
