“It can be stored for a long time, and it won’t be a problem to dry it for a whole spring and winter. You can also add some to your stews later, and it will taste even better,” Haitang said. Hearing this, Xiaoqiu nodded.
Xiaoqiu carried the basket home. There were several children at home, and when they saw Xiaoqiu return, they immediately said, "Mommy, you're back! Mommy's hungry..."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiu nodded and began to prepare food. Since there were more females than beastmen in Xiao Qiu's household, she started cooking noodles.
After cutting off a little meat, Xiaoqiu's eldest daughter looked at Xiaoqiu in front of her and said, "Mom, I'll go out with you tomorrow. You can't possibly gather enough supplies for the winter by yourself."
Xiao Qiu's daughter is named Xiao Shui. Xiao Shui is a few years old, but she looks very thin, like a seven or eight-year-old child. Xiao Qiu sighed when she heard this.
“Okay, then you can go with me tomorrow.” The female’s physical strength was too poor, so she let the other go with her because the journey was too far and the child couldn’t handle climbing, and the little beastman was about four years old.
To be honest, Shi Yue's own husband did not agree with the orcs gathering wild fruits, because he felt that orcs should fight wild beasts.
Thinking about how Haitang took her younger brother around to find food all day long, she felt a little sad. However, females usually don't argue with beastmen, which is the norm, and they respect the other party's decisions.
She was inevitably a little sad, though. Other families would take their young females out with them, but her own young female was so thin and weak, and she was always hungry. She was worried that her partner wouldn't be able to handle the work.
The noodles were cooked, and Xiao Qiu offered them to the children, but the little beastman huffed and puffed, "Mother, I want to eat meat, I want to eat meat..."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiu said, "You're saving those for winter, there's meat in them."
The little beastman started crying, and Xiao Qiu's eyes also reddened and she cried. Seeing this, the little beastman immediately said, "Mother, I don't want to eat meat anymore, don't cry..."
"Be good, all of you be good." She knew winter was approaching, and last winter she had lost one child and another who had starved to death. She didn't want anything like that to happen again.
The little beastman immediately stopped worrying, and the others were similar. Little Water hugged her mother and stopped saying anything.
The next day, Xiaoqiu brought her daughter, whose little basket on her back was small so as not to tire her out too much.
As Haitang sat there, she was a little surprised to see Xiaoqiu arrive with people. She looked at the child and said, "Hello..."
Xiao Shui looked up at Haitang and quickly said, "Hello, sister." Hearing this, Haitang smiled, patted Xiao Shui's head, and gave her the meatballs she had made that day. Xiao Shui looked at her mother, Xiao Qiu, and only took them after Xiao Shui nodded.
Haitang led a few people to start looking for mushrooms, making sure they could clearly distinguish which ones were edible and which ones were not.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiu and the others nodded and quickly started preparing food. Under these circumstances, Xiao Shui looked a little unwell. Being too thin and small, she couldn't keep up and could only look for food where others had already found it.
Xiao Qiu didn't go anywhere else, but luckily there were plenty of mushrooms at this time, and Xiao Qiu quickly filled her basket. Hai Tang told many people that she would pick the ones she had just mentioned.
Don't touch anything else yet. We don't know if these children can eat the food. At the end of the day, Haitang carried the basket back and watched as Xiaoqiu followed Xiaoshui's footsteps and walked slowly backward.
"Xiao Qiu...is this child not feeling well?" Haitang asked. Xiao Qiu looked at Haitang and nodded.
Haitang walked directly to Xiaoshui's side, reached out and took her pulse. "She's very weak, her body is too frail. Xiaoqiu, I'll get you some medicinal herbs tomorrow, you can take them and cook them for this child."
"Will this make you feel better?" Xiao Qiu asked, and Hai Tang nodded, looking at Xiao Shui.
"Yes, she'll be much better, but she still needs to be recuperated. Next time we go out, we'll bring her along, but you can't go too far, her body can't handle it," Haitang said. Xiaoshui's body is weak; the person she just touched was ten years old, but she looked only seven or eight years old.
Xiao Qiu was slightly taken aback when she heard this. Xiao Shui said, "Then I can find food near the woods outside, Mother..." She knew that she had been a burden to her mother this time, as her mother had not been able to find much food.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiu opened her mouth but nodded. Hai Tang said, "The child is weak, so he doesn't need too much meat. Sometimes, you can boil bones to make soup for the child to drink, which can also help him get better."
"Bone?" Xiao Qiu was slightly taken aback when she heard this. Haitang taught others how to cook, but she didn't teach them one dish at a time, and the other females also surrounded her.
"Yes, bones can be used to make soup. You can make soup with bones and then add noodles. It's very nutritious. Also, if you catch a chicken at home, you can keep it and raise it yourself... That way, it will lay eggs, and you can boil the eggs to supplement the children's nutrition. Of course, what do chickens eat?"
Haitang walked a short distance away and started searching with a twig. "Look, even these earthworms are good." The earthworms were huge, wriggling around. "These can be fed to the chickens."
"Pheasants eat? This is the first time I've heard of that. When we catch chickens at home, I roast them for my husband, but one isn't enough. However, eggs are a good thing." Everyone nodded in agreement.
When Haitang returned, she shared her reliable secrets for raising chickens with everyone, saying, "If you don't believe me, you can come to my house and see for yourself. I raise quite a few things." Upon hearing this, Xiaoqiu and the others nodded.
Instead of going straight home, they took a detour to Haitang's house. In Haitang's backyard, there was a chicken coop, a sheep, a lost animal, some rabbits, and a half-grown pig.
“I’ve been raising these for quite a while now, and they’re all growing well. But I have to clean them every day, otherwise they’ll get sick. These eggs are laid by the chickens every day, and I use them to cook eggs for my younger siblings,” Haitang said.
Haitang's initial goal was to make everyone prosperous. She understood that in this ancient world, tribes were absolute and also their protective umbrella.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Qiu and the others had their own thoughts. They all left, but before leaving, Haitang asked Xiao Qiu and Xiao Shui to stay behind. Haitang gave them some medicinal powder to help them regulate their bodies.
"Thank you," Xiao Qiu said, her eyes reddening as she led Xiao Shui away. Xiao Shui was very weak, and she hoped her daughter could recover, otherwise... when she lost her period, she would be tortured to death by the orcs on the very first day.
It's not that there aren't any females; many have been tortured to death by orcs on their wedding night... because their bodies were too weak. Haitang shook her head as she watched Xiaoqiu leave. Every family has its own troubles.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
