This is twelve days after Qiaoyun gave birth; she should be resting!
"Mom, I'm all better now, so cooking won't be tiring!"
Qiaoyun stood up and looked at her mother-in-law timidly, then looked back at the young wife that Jiang Zhi had first seen when she came in.
Jiang Zhi looked at her, somewhat speechless.
After giving birth, Qiaoyun struggled to get out of bed and work once she learned it was a daughter.
They said that all the women in the village had to go back to work right after giving birth.
I've said it several times: I really like Xiao Caixia. I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, but a daughter is more considerate.
Xu Errui also helped take care of the child every day, but Qiaoyun became more and more silent.
Qiaoyun felt disappointed, but she couldn't express it.
Errui is an only child, and she hopes to give birth to a son so that she can repay the love and care of her mother-in-law and husband.
But she gave birth to a daughter. The more her mother-in-law praised her daughter for being well-behaved and told her to rest more, even killing the laying hen to make medicine for her to take care of her health, the more she felt indebted to her.
After twelve days of recuperation, her body is clean, but she can't lie still any longer and feels more at ease when she's working.
Jiang Zhi saw that Qiaoyun was holding onto the basin tightly and her eyes were full of pleading. Her heart softened. She could understand Qiaoyun's feelings. It was not that she blamed Qiaoyun for favoring boys over girls.
There is an undeniable natural difference in physical strength between men and women. This is determined by physiology and cannot be changed by anyone's words.
In farming families, in harsh environments, boys represent strength, as they are the ones who have the ability to protect their family's property and lives.
Although Xu Errui and Xiaoman are not very old, they are already capable of doing heavy physical labor and are the pillars of the family. Even though Jiang Zhi can also do work, she is still not as good as them.
If Xiaoman were a fifteen-year-old girl, she would have encountered this chaos of war.
She would be unable to carry her paralyzed elder brother up the mountain, unable to move the family's belongings, and even less able to escape the famine alone with her little niece; the family would truly be finished.
After they went up the mountain, although Jiang Zhi, being older, knew how to take the lead in arranging things, Xu Errui and Xiaoman were the ones who contributed the most.
Only in times of peace can women have human rights and the confidence to survive independently on their own.
With the country in chaos and turmoil, Qiaoyun naturally wanted to have a son to strengthen the family's ability to withstand risks.
Knowing that Qiaoyun was in a bad mood, and to prevent her from developing postpartum depression, Jiangzhi stopped forcing her to lie back down and overthink things. She suggested that some exercise would be good for her.
"Qiaoyun, you just gave birth. Even if you recover well, you still need to rest. Don't do anything involving cold water or heavy work. Let Errui help you!"
You and Errui are still young; you have plenty of time to have more children.
Jiang Zhi felt it was too cruel to tell a woman who hadn't even finished her postpartum period about having a second child, but not telling her wouldn't be in line with her current role as a mother-in-law.
When Yun saw that her mother-in-law had agreed to help her with the chores, as if she had received some kind of approval, her face brightened again: "Yes, Mother, I've got it. Mother, how do we eat these snails and fish?"
She was somewhat curious about these things.
Snails and small fish are the favorite foods of chickens and ducks.
Some people have also tried cooking and eating the snails, but found the snail meat to be sandy, tough, and difficult to chew.
The fish was too small, and its body was covered in bones.
Jiang Zhi laughed and said, "It definitely won't taste good if you don't spit out the sand beforehand. Watch how I do it today, and you'll know how in the future."
By this time, the snails had already expelled the mud and sand. Jiang Zhi boiled water and poured the snails into it to blanch them. Once all the snails opened and exposed the meat inside, he took them out and used a thin skewer to pick out the snail meat.
Pick out most of the meat from two large bowls of snails, wash them several times in salt water, and cut them into small pieces.
Add a small spoonful of precious cooking oil to the pot, sauté minced ginger and garlic until fragrant, then add the chopped snail meat and stir-fry over high heat until the moisture evaporates. Finally, add salt and stir well.
Next, pour pickled peppers and pickled ginger into the pot, add two spoonfuls of water, stir well, and simmer briefly.
Once the broth in the pot has thickened, add a handful of wild scallions and it's ready to serve.
Qiaoyun stared intently; the fragrance was truly unique.
Jiang Zhi picked up a small piece of snail meat and put it to her mouth: "Try it! You can't eat snails right after giving birth, you can only have a bite."
Qiaoyun looked so greedy, as if she would burst into tears the next second if she didn't eat a bite.
To cheer her up, Jiang Zhi could only let her have a taste.
Qiaoyun took a bite; it was a little hot. She breathed on it and exclaimed, "Ouch, it's hot...it's hot! This tastes so fresh...delicious! Delicious!"
Jiang Zhi also tried a piece; it was pleasantly sour and spicy, and the meat was tender and juicy—truly delicious.
Xu Errui, who was stacking firewood nearby, came over when he smelled it. He immediately saw the steaming snail meat and said anxiously, "Mother, wife, you're eating something delicious, why didn't you call me!"
Jiang Zhi told Qiaoyun to go rest, and stuffed a small bowl of snail meat into Errui's hand: "Go make another trip to Xiaoman's house, and we'll have fish soup when we get back."
Upon hearing that there was fish soup, Xu Errui licked his lips and went off with a beaming smile.
The dozen or so fish we caught today were barely longer than a thumb; there wasn't even enough meat to fill a tooth gap, so we gave some to Qiaoyun for soup.
Jiang Zhi directly put a piece of chicken fat the size of a broad bean on the fish and fried it, then added water to make soup. When the fish soup turned white, she added a few tender vegetable leaves. The white soup and green leaves were very pleasing to the eye.
Unfortunately, no mushrooms were found, which left Jiang Zhi somewhat disappointed.
Xu Errui returned quickly, followed by Xiaoman who had just returned from the mountain.
Upon seeing Jiang Zhi, Xiaoman burst into tears.
His actions startled Jiang Zhi and the other two.
Xu Errui's eyes widened: "Xiaoman, are you stupid? Why are you crying?"
Jiang Zhi guessed it was because she had given Da Zhu the medicine.
She pulled Xiaoman aside and instructed Xu Errui to serve the rice: "Xiaoman, you'll eat here with your aunt today!"
Xiaoman wiped her face, did not refuse, but sat on the wooden stake outside the house, tears still falling.
Jiang Zhi sat down next to him: "Your older brother..."
Xiaoman sobbed, "Auntie, I know my brother can't be cured, but... but I'm heartbroken!"
He was fifteen years old, and the pressure he felt from his family was immense.
She dared not show any weakness in front of her older brother, nor could she let her grandparents see her incompetence. She also needed to make her little niece happy. Every day was busy and tiring, and she could no longer bear it.
Now, seeing his older brother taking medication, whether it's effective or not, he hopes there's some hope that it can lighten his burden.
Jiang Zhi felt heartbroken and even wanted to reach out and touch his head.
A fifteen-year-old has too many things on his mind. He's different from Xiaoman and Xu Dazhu. If I can't give him hope, he'll really break down.
“Xiaoman, although your older brother can’t stand up, he can sit up in the future and do some things... Hmm, if he recovers well, he might get better!” Jiang Zhi finally lied.
Xiaoman's eyes lit up: "Really?"
"real!"
Xiaoman stayed on the cliff to have dinner with Jiang Zhi and Xu Errui.
After eating snails and drinking fish soup, a smile returned to the boy's tanned face: "Auntie, there are still snails and crabs on the mountain. I know where they are. I'll go and catch them sometime!"
If I work a little harder, I can add more food to the family's meals.
"By the way, Auntie, I saw some refugees moving into the village today!"
"Refugees living in the village?" Jiang Zhi put down her chopsticks, somewhat surprised.
During this time, there were soldiers coming and going on the official road. Xiaoman and Xu Errui did not relax their surveillance. They only knew that the soldiers were not interested in the village that had been burned to the ground. So why would there be refugees moving in?
There was no food in the village, and the fields outside the village were abandoned. Jiang Zhi was worried that these refugees would not leave and would come up the mountain to look for food. She wondered if they would run into them.
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