Chapter 144
Before winter arrived, Mu Jin made several thick quilts, with pure white cotton silk inside and light pink fine cotton cloth on the covers.
Wearing a cotton undergarment, I slept in a warm and soft comfort.
In this freezing weather, I already don't want to get out of bed, and now I'm even more reluctant to leave my bed, not wanting to expose even a single finger.
The little papaya sleeping beside her had a rosy face. Mu Jin turned to the side and gently touched his smooth little face, her eyes full of tenderness.
Zhou Yaoyao now lives in a room by herself, and unless Mu Jin calls her, she stays in bed and doesn't leave the room.
Zhou Lin gently got up and pulled out the clothes that were warming between the two quilts.
The clothes sandwiched in the middle are warm and cozy, and they don't feel cold at all when worn.
The room was still dark. Mu Jin said in a hoarse voice, "It's still early. Let's sleep a little longer."
Perhaps afraid of waking the little papaya, Zhou Lin kept his voice low.
"You go to sleep. The butcher who buys pigs will probably be here soon when it gets light."
Mu Jin suddenly remembered that of the seven pigs left in the pen, a butcher from the neighboring village was coming to buy three of them today.
Of the remaining three pigs, Mu Lingyun and Zhou Ling had already decided on them, keeping one for themselves to use as the pig for the year.
As he spoke, Zhou Lin finished dressing and bent down to tuck the corner of the blanket that he had lifted as he got up.
"Go downstairs first and start the fire in the stove. I'll be down in a bit."
Zhou Lin tied his hair up and put on the cotton hat that Mu Jin had made for him. "No rush, you can rest for another half an hour."
After Zhou Lin left the house, Mu Jin also woke up a lot. She held Xiao Mugua's warm little hand, lay down with him for a while, then got up, dressed, and went downstairs.
Inside the kitchen, Zhou Lin and Mu Jin were busy at work. As the sun gradually rose, smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household in Mujia Village.
Nowadays, the family has a lot of land, and the harvest is just enough to feed the whole family. Even if we eat white rice every day, we can still have some grain left over after a year.
The family's finances are more than enough to make ends meet with the meager sums from selling grain, so Mujin has never considered selling grain in recent years.
"Young Lin, are you home?"
Zhou Lin was drinking rice porridge when he heard this and said, "Butcher Gu, I'm here."
As he spoke, he gulped down the porridge in the bowl in a few mouthfuls, and then scooped the remaining salted duck egg white into his mouth with two chopsticks.
"Butcher Gu is here early today."
Zhou Lin opened the courtyard gate and invited the person inside.
Butcher Gu was even larger than Zhou Lin; both were burly men.
Hearing this, he grinned and said, "The meat stall has been doing well these past few days. I was thinking of getting it over there sooner so we can open for business sooner."
"The pig has been reserved for you. It was weighed yesterday. We'll weigh it again in a bit, and I'll go get someone to help you lift it into the truck."
Butcher Gu waved his hand, "We're so familiar with each other, you wouldn't cheat me, there's no need to weigh it."
The reason he trusted Zhou Lin so much was because he had been a butcher for so many years and could tell the weight of a pig at a glance.
Moreover, he had known Zhou Lin for three to five years and knew his personality very well; he trusted him completely.
Zhou Lin smiled and hurried to the pepper garden to call Lin Huzi over.
Hibiscus was feeding Little Papaya in the kitchen. She had boiled an egg and mashed it into the rice porridge, which Little Papaya loved to drink.
Zhou Yaoyao held the small wooden bowl that Zhou Lin had made especially for him and peeked out from the kitchen doorway.
"Peach, be a good girl and eat your breakfast quickly. The porridge is cold, or you'll get a stomachache."
Zhou Yaoyao, holding her small wooden bowl, obediently sat back down at the dining table.
"Daddy, are we going to sell the pigs at home?"
Mu Jin paused in feeding the little papaya, somewhat worried that Zhou Yaoyao might develop a bond with the pig and start crying and refusing to let Butcher Gu take the pig away.
Back then, when Zhou Yaoyao was a little over three years old, Bai Qiqiu gave him a little white rabbit that Mu Zhaoye had caught alive in the mountains.
Zhou Yaoyao was very fond of it, and every morning when she got up, she would go to the rabbit cage to see the little white rabbit.
Unfortunately, the rabbit was too timid. Once, when it was released, it was chased by Xuan Ying for a while and was scared to death.
Mu Jin still remembers how Zhou Yaoyao cried her eyes out while holding the little white rabbit, and her eyes were swollen for two days, which broke his and Zhou Lin's hearts.
From that time on, our family never ate rabbit again.
As Mu Jin was trying to figure out how to talk to him, she heard Zhou Yaoyao say in a clear voice, "Little Daddy, after you sell the pig and get some money, take me to the market in town and buy me a hairband, okay?"
Mu Jin was taken aback. "A hairband?"
Zhou Yaoyao puffed out her cheeks and nodded her little head emphatically.
"Yesterday, Shitou and Suo'er showed off the headbands that their second uncle bought for them, which made me furious."
Mu Jin chuckled helplessly, "Are they showing off to you?"
He was somewhat skeptical. He had met Little Stone and Little Lock a few times, and they both seemed like shy young men.
Over the years, aside from holidays, he had little contact with Zhou Mingmu and his wife, but he didn't stop the children of similar age from playing together.
"Yeah, all the kids I hang out with complimented their headbands, but I don't have any."
Wen Zhaoran couldn't bear to see Xiao Taozi upset, so he immediately said, "Your uncle has the most hairbands here. Come back to the room with your uncle later, and take whichever one you like."
Zhou Yaoyao's eyes lit up immediately, "Uncle is the best!"
Mu Jin chuckled and said, "Zhao Ran, don't spoil him like that. What's the point of a little kid using such a nice hairband?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yaoyao pouted, clearly unhappy.
Seeing this, Wen Zhaoran quickly said, "A few hair ribbons are not worth much money. Eat your peaches quickly, and your uncle will take you upstairs after you finish."
Zhou Yaoyao glanced at Mu Jin, and seeing that he didn't say anything, her little face immediately lit up again.
Just like his father, he finished the remaining rice porridge in his bowl in a few bites and happily followed Wen Zhaoran upstairs.
Mu Jin shook his head helplessly. By the time he finished washing the dishes and cleaning up, the three pigs in the house had already been taken away.
Zhou Lin walked over with six taels and five mace of silver and handed the money bag to Mu Jin.
Mu Jin took it and said with a smile, "Your young master was just saying that he wanted to buy a hairband with the money he got from selling pigs."
"What kind of furniture do you want? I'll deliver it to town tomorrow and bring it back for him."
"Wait until he comes down, then ask him yourself. Tell him it's like Little Lock and Little Stone."
As Mu Jin spoke, she went back upstairs in the wooden house and put the silver away.
Zhou Lin held Little Papaya in his arms. "Daddy has to go to work now. Papaya, how about coming upstairs to keep Daddy company?"
Little Papaya was very attached to Zhou Lin. Upon hearing this, the chubby boy wrapped his arms around his father's neck and said softly, "Daddy, Little Papaya will stay with you."
Zhou Lin smiled and patted his little head. "The house is too dirty. Papaya, help Daddy stay inside and keep him company. At noon, Daddy will take you to the river to go ice skating, okay?"
Little Papaya pouted, but still obediently nodded her little head and said in a childish voice, "Okay."
Zhou Lin carried him upstairs and then went off to attend to her own business.
Hibiscus helped Little Papaya take off her shoes and put them on the bed.
Little Papaya sat obediently, reaching out her little hands to grab the little tiger and rabbit that Wang Li had made for her, and started playing with them by herself.
Hibiscus sat down to the side with her eyebrows curved, picked up the sewing basket beside her, and began to do needlework.
Just after two needles were inserted, Zhou Yaoyao's cheerful footsteps could be heard.
"Little father, look!"
Mu Jin put down her needlework and turned to see her older brother, who had a head full of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple hair, grinning at her with his little mouth wide open.
Wen Zhaoran tied Zhou Yaoyao's hair into two buns on the left and right sides of her head, each tied with seven colorful brocade ribbons in auspicious cloud patterns, like two rainbows, fluttering around her ears.
Mu Jin sighed, "Do you think it looks good?"
Zhou Yaoyao nodded emphatically, her hair ribbons on both sides fluttering wildly, creating a dazzling spectacle.
"Little Father, I need to go out and see Stone, Suo'er, and Xiu'er."
Before Mu Jin could stop him, Zhou Yaoyao, with her nimble and petite figure, dashed out the door in a flash.
"Papaya, you stay here and play. Don't get out of bed. Your dad will be back in a little while."
The little papaya opened its round, dark eyes and nodded obediently.
Mu Jin sighed softly, "If you're going to raise a child, you should raise one like Little Papaya, who is well-behaved, obedient, and sensible."
For example, Zhou Yaoyao was more mischievous and naughty than her younger brother since childhood. Sometimes Mu Jin really wanted to beat her up but couldn't bring herself to do it.
"Zhaoran, did you give all your hairbands to Taozi?"
Mu Jin walked to the door of Wen Zhaoran's room and saw him tidying up the sandalwood box that he used to store hairbands.
"Huh? No, look, there's still quite a bit left."
As Wen Zhaoran spoke, she handed the box in her hand to Mu Jin to take a look.
"Brother, is there anything you like? Take whatever you want, I'll buy it later."
Looking at the box full of hairbands in front of her, some plain and some brightly colored, she was overwhelmed with choices. No wonder Zhou Yaoyao was able to match the colors so neatly.
He rubbed his forehead and said, "Zhaoran, do you really need that much?"
Even if one had three heads and six arms, it would still take until one was forty or fifty years old to use all of them.
Wen Zhaoran laughed and said, "When I come across a shop selling hairbands, if I see one I like, I buy one or two. Before I knew it, I had accumulated so many."
Mulan handed the box back to him, saying, "The peaches you gave him are enough for him to live on until he gets married."
"Brother, why don't you pick out two or three?"
Mu Jin waved her hand, "I won't be picky anymore. You keep this safe. What do you want to eat for lunch? We haven't had dumplings in a long time. How about we make dumplings today?"
Wen Zhaoran took the box. "Okay, it will be filled with mutton."
Mu Jin smiled and nodded. There was still a leg of lamb left from the sheep we bought last time, so we'll buy the whole thing today.
The cold weather couldn't stop Bai Qiqiu from coming over for a chat.
Now that the dye shop is being tended by servants, he has free time to run to Mu Jin's place.
Mu Zining went out to play with Zhou Yaoyao. Little Grape and Little Papaya were put on their cribs and could play for most of the day.
Mu Jin moved the crib to the kitchen and put the two children on it.
Bai Qiqiu, Wen Zhaoran, and I sat around the dining table and started making dumplings.
"Let's call Brother Zhaoye over later, and we'll have lunch together today."
Bai Qiqiu nodded, "No need to call him, he'll come by himself when he sees I'm not back by noon."
Over the years, this has become a tacit understanding between Bai Qiqiu and Mu Zhaoye.
Little Grape and Little Papaya got tired of playing and fell asleep together under their thick little blankets. They looked so sweet and soft, so adorable.
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