Now the two sisters eat rice porridge in the morning and before going to bed. At noon, if she has time, she will make minced meat porridge, white rice porridge, vegetable porridge, and pork liver porridge for them in turn. Most of the time, she makes white rice porridge and vegetable porridge. Xuemei only has two taels of meat coupons a month, and pork liver is difficult to buy if you go too late, so the porridge is cooked into a mushy paste for the two sisters to drink.
If I wasn't free at noon, I'd make some noodles for the two sisters, and sometimes some egg and scallion soup. At night, I usually gave them millet porridge, occasionally sweet potato porridge, and every other day, I'd steam two bowls of egg custard for the two sisters and Lin Jin and his brother.
During her confinement, Xuemei killed the two hens she and Han Chen had raised, then re-raised three chicks, all of which are now alive. The hens are already laying eggs, while the rooster will be killed before the Lunar New Year. Combined with the three hens raised by Liu's mother and her family, the family still has more than enough eggs to feed their children.
Feng Ru also plans to ask Liu's mother to catch two chicks for her in the spring of next year. After all, the three of them, mother and son, are registered under the same household. As long as they don't have more than three chickens, the people in Liujia Village won't say anything. Everyone knows that the three of them, mother and son, are renting Xuemei and Han Chen's house and have to pay for it every month.
At noon, after Xuemei fed the two sisters, she coaxed them to sleep. When the two sisters fell asleep, Lin Ren also fell asleep on the bamboo bed.
Then, Xuemei waited for Feng Ru to come back with the dishes and chopsticks, and then Xuemei rode her bicycle to work at the supply and marketing cooperative. Fortunately, the supply and marketing cooperative still had a two-hour break at noon during this period, otherwise she would definitely be too busy at home.
After Xuemei went to work, Feng Ru stayed with the three little ones to sleep. Around three o'clock in the afternoon, the three little ones woke up, and Feng Ru took them to the threshing ground to continue working.
Xuemei divided the apples in the cloth bag she bought today into three portions. She kept ten apples for herself and Han Chen, and gave fifteen apples to Liu's mother and father. Ruirui and Feifei wanted to eat them together, and she didn't give more to Liu's mother and mother. The couple were reluctant to eat them themselves, so they gave them to the children. There were still seven apples left for Feng Ru and her son and mother.
After Xuemei had divided the food, she left the food for her family of four in the room, and took the other two loads of apples to the table in the main room where Liu's parents were staying. Then she took the package off the back of the bicycle and put it on the floor in the main room, waiting for everyone to come back to unpack it.
This is from Zhiwen. Last month, Xuemei wrote him a letter and a package with thirty yuan in the envelope. She wanted Zhiwen to buy some milk bars and beef jerky. The milk bars are for An'an and Lele to chew on. Zhiwen is currently serving in the army in the pastoral area, where dairy products and beef and mutton jerky are plentiful.
Xuemei saw that Zhiwen's package was quite large, and it might contain more than just what Xuemei wanted. He must have also sent something for Liu's mother and father.
After Xuemei put the things away, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Tonight, she planned to steam two pots of potato casserole rice. She would use a large casserole and put bacon, spinach, carrots, and of course chopped chili peppers in it.
Then steam some sweet potatoes, make an egg, scallion and shrimp soup, and add some noodles to An An and Le Le.
Just as Xuemei put the noodles into the pot, Feng Ru came back with her four children, and then Liu's mother and others came back. After the family finished their meal and cleared the table, Xuemei gave Liu's mother and Feng Ru a bag of apples each.
Then, Xuemei pointed at the package on the ground and said, "Mom, my third cousin's package arrived today. Please open it. Judging from the size of this package, there must be something for you inside!"
When Liu's mother heard this, she said, "Wait a minute, I'll get a pair of scissors!"
Ruirui put the package on the table, and Liu's mother opened the package with scissors. There were two cloth bags inside, one big and one small, with a letter on them. Liu's mother opened the envelope and asked Feifei to read it to everyone.
Zhiwen greeted everyone in his letter, explaining that the small cloth bag contained beef jerky and milk bars for Xuemei, that the large cloth bag contained a brown fox fur gift for Xuemei's child, and that the other items were food for everyone. He also said he loved the things Liu's parents and Xuemei had sent him, and thanked everyone for their hard work.
Liu's mother handed the contents of the small cloth bag to Xuemei. Xuemei took out the milk sticks and beef jerky that Zhiwen had helped buy and gave each person present, except An An and Lele, a milk stick and a piece of beef jerky to try first. She planned to wait for Liu's mother to see what was in the remaining cloth bag before deciding to distribute the milk sticks and beef jerky to everyone.
As soon as the two sisters An'an and Lele took the milk sticks, they stuffed them into their mouths. They didn't open their mouths and screamed "Ahhhhhh", but patted the wooden cart with their hands.
Before distributing the items, Xuemei weighed the milk sticks and beef jerky in her hands. There were about four pounds of milk sticks and three pounds of beef jerky. Milk sticks were expensive, and the production there was low, costing four yuan per pound. But they were rich in nutrients, and Xuemei and Hanchen wanted to give the two sisters some nutritional supplements, to build a healthy foundation from a young age and help with their teeth.
Then, Mother Liu opened the remaining cloth bag and took out a fox fur. She touched the fur and handed it to Xuemei, saying, "Use this to make a small vest for An'an and Lele each in winter. It will definitely keep them warm!"
"Yes, the fur is very thick, and this fox skin is big enough to make two small vests. I really have to thank my third cousin!" After Xuemei finished speaking, Han Chen nodded.
Liu's mother then took out the things inside, which was a can of milk slices, a few pounds of beef jerky and some red dates. Liu's mother gave some of the milk slices to Xuemei and Fengru, and gave a pound of beef jerky to Fengru. Fengru refused to take it for free, so she gave five yuan to Liu's mother and bought half a pound of milk bars from Xuemei to supplement the nutrition of her two sons. Xuemei also left more than half a pound of milk bars for Liu's father and mother, but did not give any beef jerky. Liu's mother still had some, so she would talk to her when she ran out.
After dividing the things, Han Chen and Xuemei each carried a baby back to the house, while the others packed up and went to take a shower. Since there were so many people, they had to take a shower early.
After Xuemei returned to the house, she washed two apples, and she and Han Chen ate half each. Then she took a spoon and shaved apple puree for her two daughters to eat. It was the first time for the two sisters to eat apples, but they both liked it very much.
Xuemei and Hanchen were unable to feed the babies, and the two sisters kept calling out "Dad, Mom" anxiously, complaining that Xuemei and Hanchen were feeding them slowly.
After Xuemei and Han Chen finished feeding the two sisters apple puree, Liu's mother and Feng Ru came over, each holding a baby, and prepared to bathe the two sisters in the main room, while Xuemei and Han Chen went to the old house to wash up.
The two sisters each ate half an apple puree today. Before going to bed, Xuemei only made a small bowl of rice porridge for them, for fear that they would eat too much and feel bloated.
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