Professors naturally tend to favor their favorite students.
Without saying a word, the students took the last bus from the provincial capital to the town that day, without asking anyone to pick them up. They arrived last night, working from dawn till dusk!
They also carried their tools and went out with the villagers.
When Ke Meiyu arrived at the old courtyard, there was a large group of children aged two to four.
They sat in a row under the eaves, their eyes still heavy with sleep, heads hunched over, some next to others, some still dozing off.
Grandma Ke was holding two toddlers, both just over a year old, crying loudly.
"Bao'er, you're here just in time! Hurry up and get these kids running and jumping around. I've called them so many times, they just answer but don't get up. They'll catch a cold if they sleep in this cold weather!"
The old lady breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her savior.
Ke Meiyu nodded, then took out a bag of baby formula from her handbag with a pang of heartache. She then searched for all the thermos flasks in the house and filled them with freshly boiled water.
"Clang, clang, clang," Ke Meiyu tapped the jar with a spoon, waking up a group of little quails.
They were rubbing their eyes, bubbles were coming out of their noses, and their little faces were chapped and red, making them look like ugly ducklings, which she couldn't bear to look at.
The children in the family were well taken care of, and both the original owner and she generously applied glycerin to the children's faces and hands to moisturize them, prevent them from getting chapped, so although they were a little dark, they were clean.
Ke Meiyu put down the jar, clapped her hands and said, "Little lazy pigs, open your eyes! Come and line up with Aunt Yu. Let's wash our faces and hands and rub them with lotion first, then we'll eat little steamed buns and drink milk!"
Her words made the children perk up; they would even crave a dark, mushy bun, let alone a steamed bun.
My parents, brothers, and sisters all said that when I go out to work, I should bring them steamed buns made from three kinds of flour. They are sweet, soft, and don't hurt my throat at all.
They all obediently lined up in a long queue, even the two children in Grandma Ke's arms struggled to get down.
“Grandma, you go and knead the dough and steam the buns. Their family is going to dig the canal. We can’t let our children go hungry, can we? We’ll use the flour provided by the commune to make three kinds of small steamed buns, each about the size of a fist, one for each child,” Ke Meiyu said to the old lady with a smile.
"I still have plenty of milk powder here, I'll give them some to supplement their nutrition."
The old lady agreed, put the children on the ground, watched them find their older brothers and sisters in the house and stand in line, then went to the kitchen to start kneading dough and steaming small buns.
This morning, Wong Tai Sin delivered another basket of eggs and a basket of fresh meat. The old lady is quite well-off and is happy to let the children enjoy some good food.
How much can two- or three-year-olds eat?
Ke Meiyu washed each child's hands and face thoroughly, and she could clearly see that the children's faces and necks were not the same color.
Looking at her dirty neck, Ke Meiyu felt another headache coming on, knowing what she had to do today.
The children looked much prettier after washing their hands and faces, their eyes sparkling and glistening as they looked at Ke Meiyu.
She smiled and brewed a pot of milk powder, giving each person half a spoonful, a steamed bun made of three kinds of flour, and half a spoonful of minced meat and wild duck egg custard.
Xia Hua has not yet developed, and it is still in its original ecological state. The habitats of wild animals have not yet been occupied by humans, and there are too many wild duck eggs in the deep reed marshes.
Ke Meiyu swept through the area, taking almost a third of the wild duck eggs into her spatial storage – a truly enormous quantity!
The children ate heartily, taking a bite of steamed bun, a spoonful of egg custard, and a sip of milk. Their little eyes crinkled with satisfaction, and their little legs and heads trembled.
This is Ke Meiyu using all the small gifts that her family had given her as a token of gratitude in Kyoto.
After eating and drinking their fill, the children were in a great mood, calling Ke Meiyu "Auntie Yu" sweetly.
Ke Meiyu took advantage of the good weather to give the children baths one by one, teaching them bath songs while they bathed, and the children would receive a piece of fruit candy after bathing.
The older children thoughtfully helped the old lady boil water, or handed Ke Meiyu cloths and soap.
Anyway, kids are easy to fool. The old lady was boiling water, and there was no one else at home. Ke Meiyu rubbed each child a few times as a gesture, then secretly used a cleansing spell to take care of them.
She pretended to wet and rub their clothes a few times, tapped them with a stick, and put them on a stove burning pine resin to dry, performing a dust-removing ritual to deodorize, sterilize, and remove dust.
The little ones, cleaned up one by one, nestled obediently around their blankets, squinting and puffing out their cheeks as they ate candy.
After finishing these tasks, Ke Meiyu took out picture books to tell stories to the children, starting with good hygiene habits, and then accompanied the stories with corresponding nursery rhymes.
Once the clothes were almost dry, the children put on clean, warm clothes and went outside to play games together.
At noon, each child received a small bowl of loofah and shredded pork noodles. After a little digestion, the children fell asleep instantly in bed.
Ke Meiyu brought the old lady a cup of brown sugar water, which contained her own specially prepared fatigue-relieving ointment and had a faint osmanthus fragrance.
The old lady gulped down a large mouthful and sighed with satisfaction, "These kids are quite a handful. I never thought my precious baby would grow up to be so patient with them."
Ko Mei-yu laughed and said, "I think as long as there's food and toys, and you keep diverting the children's attention, they're easy to manage. Managing one might be difficult, but a group is easy once you get the hang of it, right?"
Most importantly, these children weren't the clever little monsters that came later. They were basically born and raised on their own, stumbling and struggling alongside their older siblings. They rarely cried or made a fuss.
Moreover, they are served good things like milk powder, candy, egg custard, and meat. Who would remember to cry? Everyone is eager to behave well.
By the time the children wake up, the adults are usually almost off work.
Ke Meiyu made yam cakes and pumpkin cakes for the children as a snack, and also taught them to count, and they learned another piece of encyclopedic knowledge: what shape our planet is.
The children were reluctantly picked up by the adults.
The Ke family also returned with heavy steps.
Ke Meiyu waved to her older brother, her little face showing her grievance: "Big brother, I've been taking care of the kids with Grandma all day, my back is killing me. Hurry up and cook!"
Qin Yuanjiu glanced at the mischievous Ke Meiyu, then calmly went to wash his hands and face.
Ke Yuanda tossed his things aside, stepped forward with concern, and nodded repeatedly, "Okay, little sister, you and Grandma should hurry back to the house and rest. I'll cook."
Ke Meiyu said emotionally, "It's so good to have an older brother..."
Upon hearing this, Ke Yuansui quickly came over and asked, "Little sister, shall I cook for you?"
Ke Meiyu and Ke Yuanda glared at each other, "What's it to you?!"
Ke Yuansui, feeling snubbed, innocently said, "Little sister, you not only have an older brother, but also your fifth brother, me. Didn't you praise my cooking before, saying I was even more talented than my third brother?"
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