The noisy kids also noticed.
Xiaoman looked at Naonao.
Nao Nao turned around and walked away: "Hao Yu, do you want to come with us into the mountains to collect wild produce?"
Situ Haoyu nodded.
Situ Haoyu is younger than Naonao and Tengteng, but older than Zuozuo and Youyou. His mother divorced his father after his grandparents were persecuted. When his father was sent to a farm, he brought him with him.
Nao Nao pointed into the mountains: "We need to go further in. There are wild animals in there."
Situ Haoyu: "I'm not afraid."
Nao Nao pointed to the military wives who were picking up mountain produce on the outskirts of the mountain: "You can follow them. There are many of them, while my mother is all alone."
Situ Haoyu's eyes dimmed: "They don't like me following them." Situ Haoyu looked at Xiaoman and said, "Auntie, I can run very fast. Auntie, I won't cause you any trouble."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "If you listen to me, I'll take you with me."
Situ Haoyu looked at Xiaoman and nodded seriously: "I will be obedient."
Xiaoman glanced at the basket Situ Haoyu was carrying: "Go back and get a bigger basket."
Situ Haoyu was secretly delighted. Just two days ago, he couldn't even fill this basket completely. "Okay. Auntie, I'll be right back. Wait for me a moment."
Xiaoman: "Mmm."
After Situ Haoyu left, Xiaoman told the kids to rest.
A moment later, Situ Haoyu ran back: "Auntie, I'm back."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "Let's go then."
The older sister looked at Situ Haoyu's legs: "Why did you run so fast?" She had only been sitting for a short while when he came back.
Situ Haoyu smiled and said, "Come on, give me your stone, and I'll carry it for you."
"Thank you. No need."
"Then I'll hold your hand."
"Thank you, but no need."
"All right."
The military wives started gossiping when they saw Xiaoman leading a group of children into the mountains.
A: "Why is Deputy Division Commander Han's wife still going inside?"
B: "She just wants to pick up more stuff. There are so many kids in her family. If she doesn't pick up enough, it won't be enough to eat. Look, she even brought the two youngest ones with her."
C: "Isn't she afraid of encountering wild animals?"
B: "She just arrived, she probably doesn't know."
C: "Then let's remind her. Xiaoman, Xiaoman."
Xiaoman stopped when she heard someone call her: "Hello, is there something you need?"
C: "Xiaoman, there's another mountain behind ours. That mountain is much bigger than ours. There are many wild beasts in that mountain. Sometimes those beasts will come down to our mountain. Xiaoman, if you want to collect mountain goods, go to the outer edge of the mountain. There aren't many mountain goods there, but it's safer."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "Thank you. I'll be careful."
B: "Xiaoman, you'd better not go in. Or... or I can give you some, I don't have many kids at home."
Xiaoman: "No need. We'll be back in a bit. Thank you."
Everyone saw that Xiaoman insisted on going in, so let's not talk about that.
After Xiaoman left, everyone started discussing it again.
A: "Why won't she listen to advice?"
B: "Exactly. This isn't like those years when we were so hungry we couldn't even eat tree bark."
C: "Do you think Huihui's grandma knows that Wang Xiaoman took Huihui inside?"
A: "They definitely wouldn't know. If they did, they definitely wouldn't let me go."
B: "Then...should we tell Huihui's grandma?"
C: "We should also tell Deputy Division Commander Han, but he probably doesn't know either."
Han Bin was looking at documents when Xiao Qin came in: "Deputy Division Commander, two military wives are looking for you."
Looking for me?
"Um."
"Then let them in."
"yes."
After the military wives came in, Han Bin invited them to sit down.
A: "Deputy Division Commander, we won't sit down. We came here to tell you that your wife took your child, Commander Lü's grandson, and that kid from the farm into the mountains to gather wild produce. Your wife went quite deep into the mountains."
B: "We told her there were wild beasts in the mountains, but she wasn't afraid."
Han Bin thought there was something wrong with logistics, which was why the military wives had come to him: "Thank you, my husband knows kung fu. It's nothing."
A did the math: "Your spouse has eight children in total."
"It's alright, don't worry."
On the other side, Grandma Lü Hui also said that everything was fine.
Since they all said they were fine, A, B, and C went to collect more mountain produce.
Around noon, Xiaoman returned with the children. Each child carried a basket, and the baskets were full.
Besides the children, Xiao Hei also had two burlap sacks on his back.
The military wives were incredibly envious. They knew there was a lot of stuff inside, but... but they didn't dare go in.
In the previous military region, Han Bin started as a regimental commander. Here, Han Bin immediately became a deputy division commander, and the military wives felt embarrassed to let Xiaoman take them into the mountains.
Xiaoman waved to her older sister: "Give me your basket." Her sister's basket was full of things that couldn't be found outside the mountains.
"Okay." The older sister handed the basket to Xiaoman.
Xiaoman walked up to A, B, and C with the basket: "Thank you for reminding me. Please take these things back for the children to eat."
A: "No, no, the child went through so much trouble to carry this back. We can't accept it."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "It's alright, we still have some. Here you go."
B: "Then we can't accept it either."
C: "Yes. You have a lot of kids, you should take it back. We... we just said it casually."
Xiaoman saw that Jia was the oldest, so she gave the basket to Jia: "Can you help me divide it?"
Seeing that Xiaoman insisted on giving it to him, A took the basket and said, "Then...then we'll accept it."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "Mm."
After A, B, and C finished sorting, they wanted to put some of the things they had picked up into the basket.
The older sister dashed over and took the basket away: "Auntie, we have everything you picked up. Hehe..."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "You guys go ahead with your work, we're going back now."
A: "Okay. You guys go back first. We'll pick some more."
Xiaoman: "Mmm."
Sister: "Goodbye, Auntie."
After Xiaoman took his sister back, the sister immediately went to her brother's side: "Little brother, are you tired? Let me help you carry it."
Younger brother: "Not tired."
The older sister winked at her younger brother: "You're tired? Come on, let me help you carry it."
The younger brother looked at Xiaoman and said, "Okay."
After Xiaoman left, the military wives started gossiping again.
A: "Deputy Division Commander Han's wife is so generous. We only exchanged a few words and she gave us so much stuff."
B: "Do you think Deputy Division Commander Han is very skilled at finding a lover?"
C: "It should be. Otherwise, they wouldn't dare bring so many children into the mountains."
A: "Deputy Division Commander Han's daughter looks chubby, but I didn't expect her to run so fast."
B: "Absolutely. She usually seems so slow. I never expected her to run so fast."
C: "Not only is he fast, but he also knows how to take care of his younger brother."
...
When Xiaoman and her companions reached the foot of the mountain, Situ Haoyu put the basket down and took out a handful of mountain produce from it, walking up to Xiaoman and saying, "Auntie, thank you for bringing me into the mountains."
Xiaoman took the mountain produce from Situ Haoyu's hand: "We're going again this afternoon. If you want to go, just wait for us here."
Situ Haoyu was overjoyed: "Okay. Thank you, Auntie."
Situ Hong was cooking inside when Situ Haoyu came in carrying a basket: "Dad, I picked up a lot of things today."
"Really?" Situ Hong glanced back. "So many? Put them down quickly."
“Okay.” Situ Haoyu put the basket on the ground. “Today…” Situ Haoyu recounted what happened that morning.
Situ Hong found Xiaoman quite interesting; most people wouldn't accept things from a child: "You gave her a handful of mountain produce?"
"Yes. Dad, Aunt Xiaoman has a daughter named Sister. Sister is smart and fun."
Situ Haoyu rattled off a bunch of things: "Dad, I want to secretly hug her."
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