Seeing Dazhuang's expression of utter helplessness towards Yuanyuan, Ye Wenxue laughed heartily:
"You eat first. I'll eat after I finish feeding Yuanyuan. There's no rush."
Dazhuang couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he had to take his younger sister and brother to eat first.
But he left nearly half a bowl of snake meat and a small portion of amaranth for Ye Wenxue.
After the meal, Ye Wenxue noticed that the water had boiled and urged the children to go to the cave next door to take a bath and change clothes.
Even when water is unavailable, she can still accept the fact that her babies and she herself are all dirty.
But given the right conditions, she couldn't stand it.
Besides, the whole family sleeps together at night, so anyone who isn't clean can clearly smell the sour odor.
Ye Wenxue has also gone several days without showering when she's on a mission; she's not a person with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder about cleanliness.
But it's still more comfortable to be clean and tidy.
Dazhuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang pushed each other, none of them willing to be the first to go, and in the end, they all suffered the consequences.
Shuangshuang was pushed out by the three little men, and couldn't help but roll her eyes.
She was thinking of taking a shower.
Having not showered for months and having traveled under the scorching sun for several days, I couldn't stand the sour smell on my body anymore.
But what do these heartless people mean by pushing her out like this?
Seeing the two of them rolling their eyes so hard they were practically rolling to the sky, Dazhuang nudged Sanyuan, urging him to speak.
Sanyuan was tongue-tied, stammering for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out one sentence:
"I...I'll go get you some hot water."
Both of them gave a disdainful 'humph': 'No need, I'll carry it myself!'
Seeing this, Ye Wenxue was somewhat puzzled:
"What's wrong with taking a bath? It's not like I'm asking you to be boiled in oil."
Is it really necessary to get so hung up on this?
Dazhuang blinked innocently and remained silent.
In reality, he and Sanyuan were worried that the small spring in the valley would be wasted, so they planned to just wipe it a few times after their mother, Shuangshuang, and Yuanyuan finished washing.
Siwang watched the two of them pushing each other and found it amusing, so he joined in.
Ye Wenxue saw through their thoughts, sighed helplessly, and said somewhat tactfully:
"Don't worry, there's plenty of water in the spring, enough for our family to use for more than ten years."
Dazhuang was skeptical.
He was very meticulous, and he knew who had filled the water bag with water along the way.
But several days have passed, and even if Mother is incredibly powerful, she can't conjure water out of thin air again.
Ye Wenxue changed her approach with a stern face:
"You haven't showered for so many days, you're all dirty and smelly. Aren't you afraid of getting bugs on yourselves? What if they get into Yuanyuan?"
Da Zhuang and his brothers, who considered themselves to be competent and qualified, were particularly concerned about Xiao Yuanyuan's affairs.
Upon hearing her words, the young faces of several children immediately became serious.
Da Zhuang's gaze swept over San Yuan, Si Wang, and even the goose twice, before he swore to Ye Wenxue:
"Mother, don't worry, I will personally watch them bathe and change clothes!"
Sanyuan, Siwang, and Da'e: "Huh?"
Weren't you just refusing to take a shower?
Having received Dazhuang's assurance, Ye Wenxue happily dragged the small wooden basin and carried Xiaoyuan to the brightly lit cave, illuminated by torches.
Shuangshuang prepared clean clothes for the two of them and started taking a bath with hot water mixed with cold water.
Since not much water had been heated, Ye Wenxue didn't wash her immediately. She tested the water temperature and first rubbed Xiao Yuanyuan's body.
Little Yuanyuan was born just in time for a drought, so she never had such a luxurious bath.
Her soft body remained stiff for a while. She tentatively stirred the water in the small wooden basin, and when she felt more and more comfortable, she giggled.
He even lost control of his strength and splashed Ye Wenxue's face with water.
Ye Wenxue pulled a dry cloth to wipe her face, and the smile on her face became more and more natural.
She rubbed the little hair on Xiaoyuan's head and mumbled:
"You little ingrate, you can't even stay still while taking a bath."
The words were a complaint, but the voice was extremely gentle.
Shuangshuang, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but laugh.
Fortunately, I didn't flee the famine with the people from Shanqing Village.
Otherwise, how could one live such a leisurely life if one were constantly living in fear and trembling?
Ye Wenxue splashed the dirty water away from the spring, and after taking a bath herself, she urged the children to take a bath again.
Dazhuang responded, carefully counted the heads, and told Sanyuan and Siwang to each take the clothes over, then carry a bucket of hot water and the goose into the cave.
The goose never imagined it would be lifted by the neck for a bath. It struggled to escape several times but failed, and its mournful cries echoed through the sky.
Sanyuan and Siwang were not spared either, Dazhuang pressed them down and rubbed their entire bodies thoroughly, even the soles of their blistered feet were not spared.
Ye Wenxue placed Yuanyuan on the thin blanket that had been laid out, watching her play with her little feet while she and Shuangshuang finished laying out the remaining dry grass.
The sounds of geese honking and children crying next door were like air raid sirens, going off incessantly.
Shuangshuang chuckled, "Mom, that call is really loud. You can tell from the sound that the goose's flesh must be firm."
Ye Wenxue glanced at her with a smile:
"We couldn't eat them, but they not only helped us find wild eggs, they also helped us find a suitable place to stay."
"If you want to eat meat, Mom will go look again tomorrow and see if there are any pheasants or rabbits."
Shuangshuang immediately shook her head, snuggled closer to Ye Wenxue, and rested her head on her shoulder:
"Mother, I was just joking, don't take it to heart."
Ye Wenxue patted her head, signaling her to quickly help spread out the remaining thin blankets so that they could go to sleep after Dazhuang and the others finished washing.
I must say, pulling weeds all day was quite tiring.
She could barely straighten her back.
Dazhuang washed his two younger brothers thoroughly, scrubbing off all the mud and grime from their bodies, and then watched them change into their last remaining clean clothes.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
