Upon hearing this, Ma Quan paused slightly, but this time he did not reject it outright as he had before.
He agreed, walked into the kitchen, and immediately frowned when he saw the cooked noodles. He glared at Chen Zishan and said irritably, "Hmph! You spendthrift man, we don't need to be so extravagant. Why are you eating white noodles?"
"You've helped me and Aning so much, why can't we eat plain flour?"
Shen Zishan looked at the person in front of him with a sincere expression, his eyes full of gratitude. His voice was slightly excited, as if he wanted to express all the thanks in his heart.
"Alright, stop talking, let's eat." Ma Quan waved his hand with a smile, indicating that Shen Zishan didn't need to be so polite.
Afterward, the father and his two sons sat around the table and began to eat the delicious white flour meal. They ate with great relish, occasionally letting out satisfied exclamations.
Before long, the three of them had eaten and drunk their fill and were about to get up and leave.
Shen Zishan stood up and went into the room. After a moment, he came out carrying a bulging package.
"This is for you, please take it back." Shen Zishan gently placed the package on the table and pushed it in front of Ma Quanmin.
Ma Quan looked at the package curiously and asked, "What's this?" As he spoke, he reached out to open the package.
"Dad, please don't open it. We'll have to put it back later."
Shen Zishan quickly stopped Ma Quan's hand and explained, "These are some flawed fabrics that a friend of mine sold. They were very cheap, so I bought a lot. You can take them home and have your mother make a new set of clothes for you and your two brothers-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Ma Quan quickly shook his head and declined, saying, "We don't want it. You should keep it for yourself and give it to the children."
Shen Zishan smiled slightly and said patiently, "I have saved them. I have already saved all the fabric that the children can wear when they are seven or eight years old. I have also saved a lot for Aning and me."
"These are really prepared especially for you, please accept them."
Seeing Shen Zishan's sincerity, Ma Quan was deeply moved and finally nodded in agreement: "Alright, then I'll accept it. Thank you, Zishan."
After packing their things, Ma Quan and his two brothers got up to say goodbye. "That's all for now, we're leaving. You don't need to see us off. I'll come to visit my two nephews again when I have time."
After saying that, he and his two brothers turned on their flashlights and strode towards their home in the night.
After closing the door, Shen Zishan said, "Wife, let's go back and rest!"
"Yes, Brother Shan, we have plenty of food now, and we no longer have to worry about the children going hungry. After we harvest the vegetables in the backyard, we should plant more sweet potatoes; they're very filling."
Ma Aning's voice sounded exceptionally clear and loud in the pitch-black environment.
From the darkness came Shen Zishan's doting reply: "Okay, whatever you say, whatever my wife says."
A soft laugh came from the darkness.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Shen Xiaoxiao slowly woke up.
After taking care of her personal needs, she ate until her belly was round and full. Then, Ma Aning carried the well-fed and energetic Shen Xiaoxiao to the cellar.
"My dear girl, quickly put all this food into your space. But remember to leave a whole bag here just in case."
"No, one bag is too much. How about we just keep half a bag of brown rice flour? That should be enough for emergencies."
While giving careful instructions, Ma Aning gently patted Chen Xiaoxiao's back.
Shen Xiaoxiao blinked her big eyes, and when she saw the mountain of grain in front of her, her eyes lit up instantly, sparkling with surprise and excitement, and she was so excited that she cried out.
"Wow! There's so much grain! Grandpa and my uncles are amazing! Hehehe, watch me, I'll collect it, I'll collect it, I'll collect it with all my might, I'll definitely collect it all!"
Ma Aning could only watch helplessly as her daughter acted silly.
Today, both children were dressed very festively. Shen Zishan had asked a friend to exchange two sets of clothes made of red cloth, with a white and a black puppy embroidered on them, which looked very lifelike.
When Shen Xiaoxiao saw the festive colors on her clothes, she felt as if she had returned to her infancy and especially liked them.
She made "ah ah ah" sounds out of her mouth, while her mind screamed, "When I grow up, I want to learn embroidery too, and I want to embroider beautiful things too."
Ma Aning affectionately pinched her nose, "As long as you want to learn, Mom will teach you everything she knows."
Shen Xiaochuan was speechless about his younger sister. In the past month, his sister wanted to learn and want everything she saw. Even though they were both reborn, she acted like a little baby.
As the days went by, the drought worsened, many places faced food shortages, and some even saw people starve to death.
When the village chief returned, he repeatedly warned that anyone with surplus grain at home must hide it well and not lend it to anyone, otherwise even if they starved to death, no one would care if they begged at his doorstep.
"Brother Shan, do you think we should consider letting our daughter eat a little less? Look at everyone around us, they're all so thin and listless from hunger."
Especially that Shen family's daughter, Shen Manman, who was born only two days after our daughter, but look at that little girl, she's so hungry she's practically just a head!"
Ma Aning said with a worried expression, her eyes filled with anxiety and concern.
Shen Zishan didn't take it to heart. He held his four-month-old baby daughter tightly in his arms, lowered his head and affectionately kissed the little one's rosy cheeks, and then responded nonchalantly.
"So what? I'm the one raising my daughter, she hasn't eaten a single grain of rice from anyone else's house! Besides, I just love how chubby and cute my daughter is!"
“Everyone is staying home to hibernate now. The Lunar New Year is just over half a month away. In this cold weather, as long as we try our best to keep the two kids from going out, it will be fine.” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but kiss his daughter again.
At this moment, Shen Xiaoxiao, who had been kissed twice, seemed a little unhappy. A look of disgust instantly appeared on her round little face. Then she raised her little hand and slapped Shen Zishan's cheek with a crisp and loud "smack".
"Hey! You brat, you actually dare to look down on your old man and even hit me! I'll teach you a lesson today!"
Shen Zishan pretended to be angry and started shouting, but his movements were extremely gentle.
He deliberately brought his face close, rubbing it against Shen Xiaoxiao's small face repeatedly, while making all sorts of funny noises.
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