Chapter 14 An Unpalatable Dinner
Lin Luoxi, unperturbed by the cold water, had already made up her mind to go up the mountain to take a look tomorrow no matter what.
Watching Lin Wenqian constantly stirring the rice husks in the pot, Lin Luoxi lost all appetite.
Dinner was not only bland, but also completely devoid of oil; it consisted of boiled rice bran in water. Once the water in the pot had reduced, it was ready to be served.
Looking into the kitchen, there wasn't even a common pickled vegetable in the farmhouses. How could Lin Luoxi swallow such a choking amount of bran? A troubled expression appeared on her face.
"Dinner's ready." Lin Wenqian seemed oblivious to the difficulty in Lin Luoxi's eyes. He cooked the rice husks until they were soft and then began to serve them into bowls.
There are six people in the family. Besides Lin Wentao, who is lying unconscious in bed, there are five others.
Lin Wenqian distributed the cooked rice bran in the pot one by one, but it was still not enough to go around.
Looking at the few remaining grains of chaff in the pot, Lin Wenqian scraped some for himself and filled everyone's bowls to the brim.
"Big brother, I have a small appetite. I'll eat your bowl, and you can eat mine." Just as she was thinking of a reason not to eat the sluggish dinner, Lin Luoxi saw the meager amount of chaff in Lin Wenqian's bowl, barely enough to fill a tooth gap, and snatched it away, quickly exchanging it with Lin Wenqian.
"Hey, Second Sister, you've been frightened today, you should eat more." Lin Wenqian saw Lin Luoxi exchange her bowl full of chaff with his and hurriedly tried to take back his own bowl.
He never imagined that Lin Luoxi, who used to enjoy her food so much, would start to dislike it after the soul fusion and that's why she swapped the smaller bowl with him.
"Big brother, now that our parents have collapsed, you are the eldest son of our family, and you can't let them starve. So, it's okay for me to eat less," Lin Luoxi said, actually trying to persuade Lin Wenqian with such a nice-sounding excuse while actually choking on chaff.
"This, this..." Lin Wenqian, who was growing, certainly wanted to eat his fill, but as the older brother, he naturally had to make sure his younger sister was full.
So, upon hearing what Lin Luoxi said, he was both moved and wanted to eat more, but he was also worried that Lin Luoxi would go hungry.
"Sister, you eat mine. I'm small and can't eat much." Seeing her older brother and sister offering their bowls back and forth over food, Lin Luoning very considerately handed her own bowl to Lin Luoxi.
Lin Luoxi looked at the bowl full of chaff in front of her, and the veins on her temples twitched.
Good heavens, she really didn't want to eat, so she deliberately made Lin Wenqian eat more.
Seeing Lin Luoxi's insistence, Lin Wenqian stopped arguing and first brought Lin Dayou and his wife's dinner into their room before turning back to eat his own.
But seeing Lin Luoning looking at her with her big, clear eyes, she could only put on a loving older sister's smile and say weakly, "Little sister, I don't have a good appetite today. You eat first, and tomorrow, when my appetite is better, I'll eat yours, okay?"
"Okay!" When Lin Luoning heard that Lin Luoxi didn't have a good appetite today, she immediately took her bowl back obediently, sat on the small stool, and quietly ate the bran.
Lin Luoxi felt a pang of heartache watching the tiny Lin Luoning stretch her neck as she ate the bran, trying to swallow the hard-to-swallow bran.
Fortunately, this child is well-behaved and sensible. If it were someone else's child, they would probably have thrown a tantrum long ago if they had to eat such unpalatable food.
"Little sister, I'll definitely find something delicious to eat for you tomorrow," Lin Luoxi said tenderly, stroking Lin Luoning's dry, yellowish fur.
"Really, Second Sister, I want to eat meat. If there's no meat, eggs will do too." Hearing Lin Luoxi say she wanted something delicious, she immediately said she wanted meat and eggs.
Hearing Lin Luoning's words, Lin Luoxi felt even more sorry for Lin Luoning and asked curiously, "Little sister, there are so many delicious things in the world, why do you only think about eating meat and eggs?"
This requirement is so easy to fulfill!
“I was at my grandma’s house before, and I saw her and her family eating meat. As soon as they saw us, they immediately kicked us out.”
"When my uncle's daughter, Lin Luoxia, saw us being kicked out, she specially brought a piece of meat and ate it slowly in front of us..."
Although Lin Luoning was young, she spoke clearly and fluently, and her eyes were full of longing for meat.
At the same time, she also remembered when Lin Luoxia ate that piece of pork, her mouth watering, because her family hadn't eaten meat in a long time.
"Luo Ning, are you full? If you're full, go back to sleep." Just from Lin Luo Ning's words, Lin Luo Xi could imagine how Lin Luo Xia from the eldest son's family had boasted back then.
Knowing that it's pointless to talk to the kids now, I might as well wait until tomorrow, when it's light, and give them a surprise.
"Okay, sister, I'm full." After saying that, she took the empty bowl to the sink and started washing the dishes.
How could Lin Luoxi let such a small and cute little sister wash the dishes? She snatched the bowl from Lin Luoning and washed it together.
Fortunately, dinner wasn't oily, so washing up wasn't too much trouble.
After washing the dishes, she first brought hot water into their room to help Lin Luoning wash herself clean. When she helped her onto the bed, she took the dirty water out to change it with clean water and washed herself as well.
Seeing that he had returned to normal, Lin Wenqian took over the work of taking care of his sister, which was originally his responsibility, and smiled happily to himself.
Looking up at the sky and gazing at the full moon, I sighed. It seemed even the heavens knew that my sister had returned, and the family was reunited.
Lin Luoxi, who was about to go to sleep, suddenly remembered that there was something she hadn't done yet.
"Little sister, you go to sleep first. I'm going to check on my third brother. I'll be back in a bit."
Lin Luoning, who had been thoroughly washed clean by Lin Luoxi, adored her doting older sister. Hearing Lin Luoxi's words, she shook her head: "Sister, I want to go too."
"No, children need to sleep well to grow tall. If they go to bed too late, they won't grow tall." Lin Luoxi wasn't impatient; instead, she patiently comforted Lin Luoning, who was about to get up.
"Okay, sister, you have to come back soon." Lin Luoning, who had been pushed back onto the bed, murmured a few words as her eyelids began to grow heavy, and then fell asleep.
Lin Luoxi looked at Lin Luoning, who was fast asleep with a smile on her lips, and a helpless smile appeared on her own.
Only after confirming that Lin Luoning was truly asleep did he tiptoe out.
The moment Lin Luoxi closed the door, Lin Luoning, who had been keeping her eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked at the closed door.
"In this life, it's my turn to protect my sister and my family."
She muttered softly, remembering what Lin Luoxi had said about children needing enough sleep to grow taller, and obediently closed her eyes, falling asleep again.
It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
"Father, Mother, I've come to see my third brother." Lin Luoxi had promised to heal Lin Wentao, and since Lin Wentao's injury was still recent, the treatment wouldn't be too troublesome.
"Da Ya, you're here." Because of Lin Wentao and Lin Luoxi's situation, Lin Dayu and his wife couldn't sleep at all.
Now that they saw Lin Luoxi come in, they all sat up and greeted her.
"Father, Mother, you don't need to get up. I can manage on my own." Having too many people around would only make things more chaotic.
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