Chapter 48 Red Bean Ice, Rainbow
After a moment of silence, Shi Ying was the first to raise her hand again, "I want to wash the dishes!"
The other little figures also raised their hands, "Can I wash the dishes?"
Even He Meng, who usually disdains housework, raised her hand, "I want to do it too!"
What's going on? Everyone seems unusually enthusiastic about washing dishes today?
Ning Jia was a little confused, but she was happy to "outsource" the troublesome task of washing dishes, while she prepared to clean the stove.
"Sister Ningjia," Guoguo climbed onto the kitchen counter at some point, "Can I help?"
Ning Jia hesitated for a moment, unwilling to discourage her child's enthusiasm for doing chores, so she took out a toolbox for little people from the cabinet, found a small rag for her, and asked:
"Guoguo, why did you decide to come and help today?"
"Because I ate too much."
Guoguo, looking somewhat distressed, clutched the already soaked rag, her small body pressed against the large stove, wiping the water stains back and forth like she was mopping the floor.
"Sister Ningjia, your cooking is so delicious, I've even gained weight from eating it."
"Oh, I see," Ning Jia suddenly realized, but then Guo Guo added:
"The chieftain said that if you eat a lot, you have to move around a lot, otherwise you'll have trouble pooping again like last time!"
Cough cough cough, Ning Jia almost choked on her breath.
However, Canglan's warning was indeed very effective. After all, whether it is a "giant" or a small person, being able to defecate smoothly is a very important thing.
“Don’t worry,” she thought for a moment, “If you’re really constipated, I’ll buy you some more dragon fruit. It shouldn’t be a big problem.”
...
Although Ning Jia said that, when she woke up from her afternoon nap, she still saw a shocking scene by the window:
At 2 PM, the hottest time of the day, tiny figures, each about the height of a finger, were hopping and jumping around in the yard under the blazing sun.
Some were climbing the two persimmon trees, some were leaping between the branches like monkeys, some were climbing the vines on the courtyard wall, some were jumping around on the wicker chairs, and some were running around like headless flies...
It's a complete chaotic dance of demons!
Ning Jia froze instantly: What's going on? What's happening? Why does everyone seem to have gone crazy after I woke up?
She hesitated for a moment, then opened the door and stepped into the yard through the suffocating heat, saying to the little ones:
"What are you doing? It's so hot, don't get heatstroke."
"Stop shouting, it's no use."
Bai Su, hiding under the eaves, said listlessly, her round peach-shaped face sunken and flattened from the heat.
She waved a quarter of a bright green ivy leaf, fanning herself as she spoke:
"At noon today, everyone in the tribe ate too much, and some even got constipated. The chief said it was because they had been staying in the house for too long and needed to come out and get some sun and exercise, otherwise they wouldn't be able to digest their food."
"...In order to have afternoon tea, everyone stopped sleeping and came out to exercise."
Good grief, Ning Jia was speechless, and at the same time, she had a strong sense of déjà vu:
Isn't this exactly what she did as a corporate slave? Eating too much, working all day in a room where she couldn't get any sunlight, and having an irregular schedule, it's easy to get constipated... She definitely should get some exercise.
But the weather is really hot right now!
It's only June and the temperature is already over 30 degrees Celsius, let alone at this time of day. If we keep exercising, we'll die from the heat!
Ning Jia couldn't stand it any longer. "Where is Chief Canglan? Why isn't she trying to persuade them?"
Bai Su rolled her eyes. "Look who's swimming in the water tank!"
Ning Jia took a closer look and was speechless:
Canglan and Zelan were swimming back and forth in the water vat. However, with the sun so strong, the water in the vat was already scalding hot; this wasn't swimming, it was more like soaking in a hot spring on a hot summer day…
Seeing the little ones' faces flushed and covered in sweat, Ning Jia was really worried. She simply dragged the water pipe from the yard over, held it high in the air, and gave it a good shake—
Splash! Splash!
Transparent water droplets fell gently in the bright sunlight, and the little figures that had been tirelessly moving finally stopped—
"Wow, is it raining?" "It's so refreshing!" "It's raining! It's raining!"... Everyone cheered.
"Hey, isn't the sun still in the sky? Why is it raining? Is it a sun shower?"
Canglan climbed out of the water tank along the vines, looked up, and realized that this sudden "sun shower" was Ning Jia's doing. She touched her chin knowingly, explaining that he had come to artificially cool them down to prevent them from getting heatstroke.
“We should probably head back now,” Canglan said to Zelan, who was still soaking in the water. “Otherwise, someone will worry.”
Zelan chuckled softly, already having a rough idea of what had happened.
After Zhelan climbed out of the large water vat, another gasp rippled through the courtyard:
"So beautiful!" "Wow, Ning Jia is amazing!" "Ah, I want to make a wish!" "Me too!"
It turned out that after Ning Jia held up the water hose and sprinkled water in the yard for a while, a rainbow suddenly appeared in the sky!
Although the rainbow was pale and short because of the small splashes, it was still a rainbow nonetheless.
The little people didn't understand the underlying principles; they simply thought Ning Jia had used some kind of magical spell, and for a moment they all showed expressions of admiration.
Seeing this, Canglan shook her head helplessly. It seemed that the matter of letting her people learn about the giants should be put on the agenda as soon as possible.
The little people, completely unaware of what was happening, were gathered together, gazing intently at the fleeting little rainbow, until it slowly disappeared, at which point they snapped out of their daze.
"Oh dear, I forgot to make a wish," Xingxing said, somewhat annoyed.
"It's okay, there will be more in the future."
Ning Jia smiled slightly and tapped her little head with her finger. "Go back and rest for a while. I'll make afternoon tea for everyone later."
"Yay! Yay!" "Afternoon tea (＾－＾)V" "Afternoon tea, afternoon tea~"
The little children immediately forgot about the rainbow and rushed to the windowsill.
"Everyone, come this way, this way."
Ning Jia quickly opened the door, and the little people rushed in like little cannonballs. Once everyone was there, she quickly closed the door to prevent the cool air from escaping.
Upon entering the room, everyone, including Ning Jia, let out a comfortable sigh. Ah, so refreshing!
It's so much more comfortable in an air-conditioned room.
The sweaty little ones rolled the beads of sweat off their bodies on the tissues by the door, and one by one, they jumped into the large basin that Ning Jia had prepared and took a simple warm bath.
As Ning Jia distributed small bars of soap, each the size of a grain of rice, she instructed, "You can't eat these. If you swallow any of the soap, spit it out immediately."
This soap is what Ning Jia usually uses and has left over.
She never buys shower gel or hand soap; a bar of soap is enough for her.
The new large bar of soap was initially used for bathing and washing towels. As it was used, it turned into a flat bar of soap, which was then used for washing hands. When the soap flakes turned into soap crumbs, these soap crumbs were collected, put into a foaming net, and continued to be used for bathing.
After the little people came to visit from time to time, Ning Jia would knead the soap lumps into small balls to make miniature soaps for the little people. At this time, the little people would hold these tiny soaps and happily rub them into bubbles in a basin.
"It smells so good!" "I've had a good bath!" "Hehe, I smell so good!" "Hehe, I smell so good too!" "Smell me!" "It smells so nice and comforting..."
Ever since Ning Jia suggested that the little people occasionally use soap to take a bath, they quickly fell in love with the refreshing and fragrant feeling.
But amidst the harmony, an angry voice soon broke out:
"He Meng! Stop playing with the bubbles and come out now that you're done washing!"
There were only a limited number of bathtubs at home, and the little ones were all lining up to take a bath. He Meng, who equated bathing with playing with bubbles, wouldn't come out unless urged. Anyone would be furious if someone who was already clean was humming a song and playing with bubbles while they themselves were still sticky and sweaty.
"Okay, okay."
He Meng, who almost became the target of everyone's criticism, reluctantly handed the small bar of soap to the next person, then jumped out of the bathtub, rolled around on the dry towel next to her a few times, and then got up as if nothing had happened and went to the coffee table to drink yogurt.
The little ones, freshly washed and clean, sat on the coffee table, sipping cool yogurt and enjoying the breeze. Their rosy cheeks, flushed from the sun, slowly lost their color, and their complexions quickly returned to normal.
Ning Jia, on the other hand, hadn't been in the yard for long and her face was burning from the sun, so she quickly found some aloe vera gel and applied it.
Seeing that no one showed signs of heatstroke, Ning Jia felt relieved and instructed:
"Everyone, please drink less yogurt, we're going to have afternoon tea soon."
"Oh~"
The little people responded lazily, but their eyes suddenly focused on Ning Jia.
Ning Jia turned and went to the kitchen, bringing over a small machine that the people had never seen before, and then brought over a large bowl of transparent ice.
"What? This afternoon tea is ice cubes?!" He Meng muttered in dissatisfaction.
The other little people also looked at the ice with disappointment.
This ice cube is just ice, like the ice that forms in the river in winter. It tastes cold, has little flavor, and is very solid. You have to bite into it hard, making a crunchy sound. It's hard on your teeth and doesn't taste good.
Ning Jia patted He Meng's little head, "How could that be? Of course it's not as simple as eating ice cubes."
She pointed to the machine on the coffee table, "This is called an ice shaver. We'll put the ice cubes into this machine later."
Even if you put ice cubes in the machine, what comes out in the end is still ice cubes, right? What's so delicious about that?
Seeing that the little people didn't take it seriously, Ning Jia didn't say anything more and directly demonstrated.
She placed a crystal-clear ice cube into the ice shaver, closed the lid, and turned the handle, shaking it vigorously. One, two, three circles, and the fine ice fragments quickly fell into the container below, which the little people watching watched intently.
"alright."
Ning Jia stopped turning the handle and took out the shaved white ice. "The shaved ice is ready. Who wants to try it first?"
"Me, me!" "Let me eat!"
The little people couldn't help but lick their lips. This snow-like food looked so good, it must taste delicious too.
Seeing that none of her people had ever tasted this novelty, Canglan, just to be on the safe side, asked Hemeng to try it first.
He Meng's eyes lit up, and she pushed her small plate over. Seeing that Ning Jia had piled up a small mountain of shaved ice in the plate, she couldn't help but swallow.
Seeing that He Meng was already itching to use the small iron spoon, Ning Jia quickly stopped her, "Wait a minute, there's still something important to add."
She turned and went to the kitchen to get the cooked red bean paste and milk, poured them evenly onto the mini iceberg, and then gestured for it to proceed.
Homemade red bean ice, please try it!
The transparent iceberg instantly transformed into a red bean paste and milk iceberg, significantly enhancing its appearance. The sweet aroma of red beans and the creamy fragrance of milk wafted out, making it look incredibly tempting.
He Meng said with a look of disgust, "It's definitely not going to taste good," but her little hand had already reached out very honestly and carefully scooped up a piece from the side with a small spoon, as if afraid of breaking the iceberg.
"Um……"
He Meng put a spoonful of red bean ice into her mouth, smacked her lips, and remained silent for a long time.
"How does it taste?" "Is it good?" "What does it taste like?" Everyone chattered excitedly.
He Meng's shaved ice was gone, and she was still smacking her lips without saying a word, making everyone very anxious.
"He Meng, tell me quickly, is this red bean shaved ice delicious or not?"
"Ahem," Canglan cleared her throat, "He Meng, how are you feeling? Is anything bothering you?"
He Meng shook her head, then used her small iron spoon to scoop up another spoonful of shaved ice mixed with red bean paste and milk, quickly putting it into her mouth. This time, she couldn't resist and squinted her eyes, saying, "Ah, delicious."
What? Everyone glared at He Meng. They knew it! How could Ning Jia's food be bad?
"Chieftain, may we eat now?"
As everyone watched He Meng enjoy the red bean ice spoonful after spoonful, their mouths watered and they were all eager to try it.
Cang Lan touched her chin and nodded, but then she was stunned: the little ones had already lined up according to age with their plates, waiting for Ning Jia to continue making shaved ice.
"Don't worry, it will all come."
Ning Jia, the shaved ice vendor, continued to turn the shaved ice machine with great skill. The transparent ice blocks gradually turned into fine shaved ice, which was then poured into the children's small dishes. The carefully prepared red bean paste and milk were also gradually reduced to almost nothing.
Wow—there are so many, they're as high as mountains!
Guoguo and Xingxing, standing at the front of the line, looked at the towering pile of red bean ice on their plates and couldn't help but exclaim with joy.
The two slowly pushed the small plate to the other end of the coffee table, and began to eat together, their heads close together. The icy red bean ice melted in their mouths, leaving only a sweet and fragrant taste. It was so delicious! The two little ones squinted their eyes in unison.
The other adult children weren't much more reserved either; seeing that their little plates were piled high with red bean ice, like a mountain, they all smiled contentedly.
"Ning Jia is so amazing!" "Ning Jia, Ning Jia, I want lots of ice too!" "Ning Jia is awesome!" "Thank you, Ning Jia!"
The little guys' long-awaited, free praise was back! Countless joyful compliments floated into Ning Jia's ears, while her hands kept cranking the controller, cranking and cranking and cranking, cranking for power, cranking for superhuman arms (not really).
When each of the little figures had a red bean ice mountain in front of them, and they were happily eating the red bean ice with their little iron spoons and squinting eyes, Ning Jia looked at the scene with satisfaction, a slight smile appearing on her face... but then her lips twitched, and the smile that hadn't yet unfolded froze on her face.
Ugh, her arms are so sore and hurt so much!!
That afternoon, the most tired person wasn't the little ones exercising under the scorching sun, but Ning Jia, who was constantly shaking shaved ice.
In the end, only Ning Jia didn't get to eat the delicious red bean ice because her arms were so sore that she couldn't lift them up at all.
She rubbed her aching arms, filled with regret, and secretly vowed:
She won't touch that ice shaver for the next few days!
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