Because Liu went up the mountain to dig for medicinal herbs, Lin Chaobei had been fetching water for two days in a row to avoid suspicion. He was actually quite unhappy about this, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Today, although he started off full of energy, carrying his load on a shoulder pole, the queue was so boring that once his initial excitement wore off, he became listless again.
As he carried the water home, he thought that he must talk to his older brother later. They had clearly agreed that each of them would take a day's worth of water, and he couldn't go back on his word.
Unexpectedly, as he got closer to home, he began to smell an increasingly strong, unfamiliar fragrance. The fragrance was so overpowering that it kept wafting into his nostrils.
Standing at his own front door, his face was filled with disbelief.
The fragrance was actually coming from his house?
It couldn't be his mother...
Just as Lin Chaobei was about to throw down the water he was carrying and rush home, his eyes were already brimming with tears. But then, his mother was squatting in the yard washing his eldest niece's hands and face.
No, he thought his mother was dying, which is why he spent all the money to cook her one last good meal so she could have a good meal before she passes away...
That scared him to death!
Lin Chaobei gritted his teeth and persevered, forcing his legs to give way as he poured the water into the water vat. Then he placed the bucket and carrying pole against the wall before finally letting out a long breath and plopping down on the ground.
"What's wrong with Fourth Brother?"
Liu was already worried about her mother-in-law being alone with Xiaoman, so she would come out to check on them from time to time. She was surprised to find that her daughter was alright, but she saw that Lin Chaobei had fallen to the ground. She quickly ran out to help him up.
"Sister-in-law, I'm fine! I'll just sit here and rest for a bit."
Would he dare to tell the truth? If he did, not to mention what would happen to his mother, his older brother would beat him half to death first.
"oh oh."
Liu withdrew her hand, wiped herself a few times, and then went back to the main room to continue cooking.
Tomorrow we'll start clearing the land, which will require a lot of hard work. During this time, we'll eat as well as we can, and if there's no oil or fat, we'll eat our fill.
Therefore, the sweet potato rice that Yue Jiuyue made, which was much thicker than the one Liu Shi made, was still not enough. It wouldn't do without salt, so she was preparing to cook a wild vegetable soup.
Just as Lin Chaobei sat down on the ground with a thud, Yue Jiuyue looked up at him and then continued washing Xiaoman's hands and face.
To be precise, it was rubbing Xiaoman to remove dirt, and in a way that could turn a little black child into a little yellow child, the kind of yellow that looks like it's been through malnutrition.
“Mom, children don’t know that cleanliness is easy to get dirty. If you wash her clean, she’ll get dirty again in a little while. It’s just like splashing water.”
Liu was also distressed by the water, which was fetched from the mountains by her husband or her two younger brothers. They were reluctant to drink it themselves, let alone use it to wash the children's faces; it was a complete waste of water.
Yue Jiuyue wasn't the original owner of this body, so naturally she wouldn't share Liu's thoughts. She simply uttered eight words:
"Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes from the mouth."
Liu: ...
Isn't that how every child goes through this?
Unfortunately, her mother-in-law is a troublemaker, and unfortunately, it's her mother-in-law who's the one causing all the trouble, leaving her with nowhere to voice her grievances!
Yue Jiuyue poured a basin of dirty water into the small patch of cabbage at the foot of the courtyard wall and went back into the house without looking back.
"Mommy, hug me."
Xiaoman sensed her mother's unhappiness, tugged at Liu's clothes, and raised her hands for a hug.
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