Pei Xuan went over and tugged at her mother's skirt, calling out in a childish voice, "Mother, look, my sister helped me dig up sweet potatoes."
When Yunniang heard her youngest daughter calling her, she quickly wiped away her tears. She was a mother after all, and she couldn't let her daughter laugh at her.
Looking at the sweet potatoes in Pei Xuan's hand and the few sweet potatoes at Pei Yao's feet, Yunniang patted the two children's heads with satisfaction.
Looking at Pei Yao, he said, "Child, you've really worked hard."
Chen Fang, watching this scene, couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.
She used to be very strong-willed when she was in Kyoto. Suppressing her emotions, she helped her son clear the withered grass in the yard.
I just heard this kid say that Yao told him to collect this grass and put it on his bed so it would be warm and soft to sleep on.
Just now, she and Yunniang had searched the room for a long time and found two quilts, which they planned to use for the child.
They were even thinking that the adults would sleep on a hard bed board. Yao is really smart.
Pei Yao had just transmigrated and wasn't familiar with them. Having been an orphan herself, she didn't have many emotional reactions to them or this family.
But deep down, a different kind of feeling seems to be sprouting.
I collected the sweet potatoes from the ground in an old wooden basin in the yard, drew water from the well, and washed them clean.
Then he picked up the chipped kitchen knife. There was a whetstone next to the well, and it seemed that the previous owner had also sharpened his knife there.
She polished the rust off the knife clean. Seeing how skillfully she worked, Yunniang felt sorry for Yao'er, thinking that she had suffered too much in the countryside all these years.
She was a woman from a large, secluded mansion, always attended to by servants and maids, and pampered by her husband. She knew nothing about housework, and now, watching her daughter busy at work, she felt somewhat lost, but didn't want to be idle.
Pei Yao looked up at the flustered Yun Niang and understood something.
She gave her an innocent smile and said, "Mother, go and take those earthenware pots out of the kitchen and wash them. We'll use them to cook sweet potatoes later."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Yunniang looked at the smile on her daughter's face and couldn't help but feel happy, her voice even rising a few notches.
Yao'er just smiled at her; she wondered if her husband would be jealous if he saw it.
Pei Yao looked at her adoptive mother's retreating figure as she happily ran towards the kitchen, a hint of doubt on her face.
Would you be happy to have her fetch a clay pot to wash it?
Do you enjoy working?
That's a good thing.
Pei Yao dug up ten fist-sized sweet potatoes in the yard, picked two small handfuls of sweet potato leaves, and also harvested a malnourished winter melon in the corner.
At least we have dinner sorted out for tonight.
Although I can go beachcombing with Uncle Niu Er tomorrow, I don't know what the beach is like here.
So I didn't dare cook them all. I only cut up five small sweet potatoes whose skins had been peeled off, washed some sweet potato leaves, chopped them up, and put them in a clay pot to cook together.
We'll save the rest for tomorrow.
After Pei Yao finished washing up, she entered the kitchen and saw Yun Niang holding a flint and steel and studying it for a long time without figuring it out.
Pei Yao took the flint and steel: "Mother, let me do it."
Although she wasn't used to using the flint, she eventually got it working after a few tries.
Yunniang handed the wild vegetable dumplings she had saved earlier to Pei Yao.
Pei Yao looked at the wild vegetable dumpling in her hand, so hard it could make a bulge if you hit someone with it, and her lips twitched. She then threw it into the earthenware pot to cook.
There was nothing else to eat, so we'll just have to make do with this.
When it was almost done cooking, the aroma of sweet potatoes wafted from the earthenware pot, whetting everyone's appetite.
Pei Yao carried the old table from the kitchen to the yard, then took out the earthenware pot with the cooked food, and invited everyone who was weeding in the yard to come and eat.
For the past few months, everyone has been eating wild vegetable dumplings almost every day, and even a hot bowl of wild vegetable porridge is a rare treat.
The steaming, sweet-smelling sweet potato porridge in front of me smells wonderful.
Chen Fang's eyes widened as she looked at the hot food; she hadn't had anything hot to eat in almost half a month.
The pampered young mistress, who had once lived a life of luxury, was now seeing such a simple pot of sweet potato porridge and smelling its sweet aroma, and her eyes welled up with tears: "Yao'er, you are so capable."
I thought we'd only be eating those hard, dry wild vegetable dumplings today, but you actually made a whole pot of hot sweet potato and vegetable soup.
"Wow, big sister, awesome!" Little Xuan'er hadn't had a hot meal in a long time, and she clapped her hands happily in her sweet little voice.
"Cousin, it smells so good." Pei Yichen was also attracted by the fragrance.
This is not an exaggeration on their part; they're making a fuss over something as ordinary as a sweet potato.
The journey to exile was so arduous that even a simple bowl of sweet potato porridge was reserved for officials.
They could only gnaw on hard, dry wild vegetable dumplings.
Yunniang was also surprised. She never expected that the only one in the family who could provide food for everyone was Yao'er.
Pei Yao felt a little embarrassed by the praise. She was used to being the only one being praised, but now she was surprised to see the whole family praising her for simply cooking a sweet potato.
It's inevitable that some strange emotions will arise in one's heart.
like……
It feels good to have family.
After finishing their meal, everyone got busy with their own tasks. Pei Yao and Pei Xuan found some dried mugwort in the open space outside the courtyard and picked some of it.
She had only ever heard the saying that Lingnan was full of insects and ants before, but she had just experienced it firsthand while washing vegetables, starting a fire to cook, and eating.
Burning mugwort can repel insects. In her previous life, when she lived in the countryside, she would burn some dried mugwort in the house during the summer when there were many mosquitoes. It not only calmed her nerves but also repelled mosquitoes, which was much more effective than those useless mosquito coils.
Yunniang was washing the leftover dishes and chopsticks by the well.
Chen Fang was making the bed with Pei Yichen. There were only two beds in the whole house that were so hard from being used for so long that they were almost as stiff as the bed boards.
Because Pei Yao was still injured, everyone gave her the only two quilts they had.
Pei Yao refused without thinking, but Chen Fang insisted.
"Yao girl, you're not fully recovered yet, so we'll take care of you first. We adults don't mind, and it doesn't matter that Chen'er is just a boy."
After saying that, he quickly made the bed for Pei Yao. There was a lot of dry grass under the quilt, so it was quite soft.
Little Xuan jumped on her older sister's bed, shouting, "So soft! Xuanxuan wants to sleep with her older sister tonight!"
Pei Yao knew that if she refused again, she would seem pretentious, so she let them have their way.
However, I felt a mix of emotions towards these so-called family members.
"Okay, then you'll sleep with me tonight." Pei Yao patted the head of the little dumpling in front of her, her tone softening.
The others simply laid a layer of dry grass on their beds, then covered it with some cloth, and slept there.
Pei Yao lit mugwort in each room before going to sleep.
Chen Fang and Yun Niang used to burn mugwort in the summer when they were at home, so it wasn't strange.
But what they didn't expect was that Pei Yao would actually find this thing in this unfamiliar place.
This girl really makes the elders feel ashamed; they know less than a young girl.
Pei Yao lay on the bed, with Pei Xuan nestled beside her, holding her arm. The summer nights in Lingnan were not cold, but the winter would be cold in a few months.
They only have these two tattered quilts, and they're afraid they won't be able to get through the winter. It seems they need to find a way to earn some money to buy some cotton and make a few more quilts.
But that's all for later; right now, solving our basic needs is the most important thing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com