Gao Shujing ladled out a bowl of rice, added some fish soup to it, stirred it a few times, and prepared to feed it to Duoxi.
After Duoxi turned one year old, they stopped preparing porridge for him at every meal. Sometimes they would feed him rice soaked in soup. The little guy had a good appetite, and with Gao Shujing's excellent cooking skills, he was happy even with rice soaked in soup.
Upon hearing Gao Guojing's question, Gao Shujing casually replied, "The children are at the age where they are growing, and they cannot lack nutrition."
Gao Guojing thought to himself, "Why don't you open your eyes wider and take a look? Is that stir-fried pork intestines and spicy chicken with lots of chili peppers something a child can eat? If you're going to lie, at least come up with something decent."
Before coming to Shangfen Brigade, he thought it was already good enough that he could eat a meat dish every day at home, and he often worried that they might have a miserable life in the countryside.
After arriving here, I realized that what others eat in one meal is equivalent to his weekly meat intake. It turns out I'm the clown.
They eat so well, no amount of money or tickets could cover their expenses.
Yu Rujia: "We don't need to worry about so much at home, Duofu. Remember not to tell outsiders what we ate, okay?"
Duofu was an obedient child. After receiving Yu Rujia's instructions, he nodded and said, "I won't say anything. I will watch my younger brother and make sure they don't talk about it."
Yu Rujia: "Our Duofu family is reliable."
Duofu grinned and obediently lowered his head to shovel food into his mouth.
Gao Shujing: "Guojing, come with me over there after you finish eating."
The word "over there" interrupted all of Gao Guojing's thoughts; he hadn't seen them for a year or two.
When the Xia family got into trouble, everyone in the family except him did their best to help them, including Yu Rujia, whom he had always looked down on.
All I can do is sit on the sidelines and listen to others talk about what they did.
Gao Shujing knew his younger brother best. Seeing his expression, he knew he was thinking about random things again: "Don't think about those things. They are doing better than you think."
Gao Guojing's gaze swept over the dishes on the table. Yes, his own brother ate better than the rest of them at home. He couldn't possibly eat meat and fish every day while his grandfather and the others ate coarse food.
After clearing away the dishes, Gao Guojing followed Gao Shujing to the cowshed and met Xia Yuanqiang and the others. Xia Yuanqiang was not as plump as before and looked a bit older, but he was in good spirits.
Under the dim light of a kerosene lamp, Xia Yuanqiang stared at Gao Guojing with wide eyes: "Guojing isn't fifteen years old, is he? Why is he here in the countryside?"
Gao Guojing: "Grandpa, I'm not going to the countryside. I'm just taking advantage of the winter vacation to visit around here. I'll go back after the New Year."
Xia Yuanqiang: "Are you in high school now?"
Gao Guojing: "I will be in the second year of junior high school and will enter the first year of senior high school in the second half of the year."
Xia Taiping: "Now that the college entrance exam is over, what path do you plan to take?"
Gao Guojing: "I am in very good physical condition and plan to join the army."
Xia Taiping: "Joining the army is good, but given our family's situation, I don't know if it will be a burden to you?"
Gao Guojing: "I still have two and a half years before I graduate from high school. By then, our family's troubles should be over. If not, I'll come to Shangfen Brigade to work in the countryside."
Xia Tai'an: "If you can't join the army, you can still find a job over there. Your brother and Rujia are both here, so there's no need for you to come over."
Han Meifeng glared at him, then thought of everything she had seen on the back mountain. Gao Shujing had taken good care of Rujia, so Han Meifeng ultimately did not insist that Gao Guojing go to the countryside after graduating from high school.
Xia Yuanqiang: "Your second uncle is right. As you can see, everything here is good. Your fourth brother even brings some meat over often. Our lives are better than many people in the brigade. You don't need to worry. Just do what you need to do."
Knowing that Xia Yuanqiang and the others were doing well, Gao Guojing put aside his worries and focused on playing with the children and helping with housework.
After Yu Rujia saw off a patient, Gao Guojing came in with a bar of green, semi-transparent soap: "Sister Rujia, is this the soap you were talking about?"
Yu Rujia: "Yes."
Kao Kuo-Ching: "Is this really soap? Can it be used to wash clothes?"
Yu Rujia glanced at the transparent green soap in his hand and asked, puzzled, "Why can't it be used to wash clothes?"
Gao Guojing: "I've never seen this kind of transparent green soap before, and it smells so good. You haven't been scammed, have you?"
Yu Rujia: "This is a soap I made myself. I've been using it for a long time. It's great for washing clothes, bathing, and washing my face. It has strong cleaning power, and its whitening, anti-itch, antibacterial, acne-removing, mite-removing, and mosquito-repelling effects are even better."
"It took me a lot of effort to make this, and I'm reluctant to give it to others if they want to use it."
This soap was made using an ancient method, with the addition of mugwort, honey, and some traditional Chinese medicine. It's an absolute miracle product, much better than modern whitening and stain-removing products.
This soap is edible, so there's no need to worry about children accidentally ingesting it.
Except for Duofu, the first time the kids saw soap, their reaction was to pick it up and put it in their mouths.
After talking to them, Duoshou was a little better, but Duolu and Duoxi were different. They would always sneakily put the soap in their mouths when no one was around, and their family's soap often went missing.
After several attempts to stop them and punishing them by making them eat plain porridge a few times, the two little ones finally learned their lesson and stopped secretly eating the soap.
Gao Guojing looked at the confident Yu Rujia with suspicion. Even if a small bar of soap is nice in color and smells good, it shouldn't have such a good effect.
Yu Rujia gave an example: "Your brother's pale face has become more and more hydrated thanks to my soap. Look at his complexion, isn't it better than when he was at home?"
The young, handsome Shu Jing, who had just entered, stopped in his tracks and looked coldly at Gao Guojing, who was scrutinizing his face, warning him not to speak carelessly.
He was already good-looking, with skin smoother than a woman's, and he didn't care about his skin at home.
After arriving here, Yu Rujia started using her special mugwort and honey soap to wash everything. After spending a lot of time with her, he also developed this habit.
Since using this soap, his face has become whiter and smoother than when he was at home. People often stare at him on the street, which makes him feel very strange.
Yu Rujia even called him a gigolo to his face, which made Gao Shujing feel even more awkward.
Gao Guojing was startled by his gaze and immediately turned his eyes away, but he was shocked by what he had just seen. His brother was indeed much better looking than he was at home.
I thought he hadn't grown up much at home, but he grew faster here, which is why he changed a bit. I never imagined it was because he used this soap.
The fourteen-year-old boy, whose face was always covered in acne, touched his chin and thought, "Should I use this soap more often?"
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