CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 61: AUNT WANG XIANG

"Don’t tease Xiao Mi anymore, let’s eat. After the meal, we still need to tidy up the vegetables. By the way, are you going to the town tomorrow?"

If you plan to go to the town, you’ll need to pack the vegetables tonight so you can set off early in the morning.

Jiang Hu: "Yes, I’ll go. I took a break today, and there are quite a lot of cucumbers in the field now. Plus, I need to inquire about the ox cart."

If we have an ox cart, we can often take the wife and kids to the town.

Second Aunt: "Then ask the Shopkeeper Liu about how we should go about renting it out to the villagers, if they wish to use it."

After all, directly refusing them doesn’t seem too good.

Jiang Hu acknowledged that he understood.

After finishing the meal, they first took care of washing and putting the kids to bed, with the eldest son and the second girl staying with their younger siblings. Second Aunt and Jiang Hu, carrying an oil lamp, sorted out the vegetables to be delivered to the restaurant the next day.

The greens needed their roots cut off, rotten and old leaves discarded, and washed free of soil.

Cucumbers with bends and deformations were picked out and kept for their own consumption.

Occasionally, there were a few eggplants that had gone unnoticed and grown too old, which also were kept for their own meals.

As for tomatoes, peppers, and luffas, only the best were sent to the restaurant while the lesser ones remained.

Even though the older and less attractive vegetables weren’t visually appealing, they still tasted good, and they enjoyed eating them at home too.

By the time the couple finished sorting everything out, it was already late at night. It was just as Xiao Mi and Tie Dan woke from their nap, and they quickly fed them some porridge.

The two little ones finished half a pot of porridge, burped, and continued sleeping. This time, they didn’t wake up in the middle of the night looking for food but slept soundly until daylight.

When Xiao Mi woke up, she wasn’t surprised to find her father gone, with only Tie Dan by her side and the sound of her mother’s voice outside.

Xiao Mi, her face turning red with urgency, shouted, "Mom!"

The anxious tone in her voice alerted Second Aunt, who quickly entered the room, "Xiao Mi is awake, what’s wrong?"

"Pee, pee." She was already at her limit!

Second Aunt hurriedly picked up Xiao Mi. There was a chamber pot at the door for the little ones to use at night. With relief, Xiao Mi resolved her urgent issue. Tie Dan, still groggy, also woke, and Second Aunt quickly picked him up for a bathroom break too.

"Xiao Mi, are you hungry? Aunt Wang Xiang is here. I’ll go out and chat with her for a bit, you play for a while, okay?"

Second Aunt propped a small pillow behind Xiao Mi, letting her sit comfortably on the small bed, placing Tie Dan beside her.

Xiao Mi could talk, and she would shout if she needed anything. They were not worried at all.

Xiao Mi nodded, "Food."

She remembered; her mother had told her father before bed last night that after breakfast, they would cook some porridge for her and Tie Dan to eat.

Yes, it was the porridge cooked in a pot beside the charcoal pile.

With food to eat, who would still want milk!

Second Aunt smiled helplessly, "Alright, alright, I’ll get your meal."

Saying so, she carried out the chamber pot without closing the door, just in time to hear Wang Xiang’s voice, "Your Xiao Mi is really clever, she even knows to call someone when she wants to pee."

"Yes, she even helps me watch over Tie Dan, though we dare not go too far, after all, she’s still young."

Their voices drifted further away, and Xiao Mi couldn’t hear them anymore.

Tie Dan, fully awake, started to climb on Xiao Mi. He was a real baby, understanding nothing, only knowing his sister smelled nice and he was very tempted to nibble on her.

And then, contentedly, he was filled up with Spiritual Spring water.

Second Aunt came back after emptying the chamber pot and washing her hands, then went to the kitchen area to take out the already cooked porridge to let it cool.

"Sister-in-law, shall I hold one of them for you? You’ve got your hands full with so many kids on your own, it must be tiring."

Wang Xiang hadn’t left. She followed Second Aunt into the room, saw the two little ones on the bed, and reached out to pick up one.

Coincidentally, Wang Xiang picked up Tie Dan.

In an instant, Tie Dan started crying, stretching towards Second Aunt, clearly wanting to be held by her.

Second Aunt quickly took him back, "Wang Xiang, I forgot to tell you, Tie Dan recognizes people. You can hold Xiao Mi, she’s good and doesn’t mind unfamiliar people."

Feeling awkward, Wang Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, "With such little ones, of course, they’d recognize people occasionally."

Saying so, she turned to hold Xiao Mi. Xiao Mi was cooperative, knowing this was Liu Hai’s mother, Uncle Liu Yang’s wife, and she seemed to have a good relationship with her mother, so she let her hold her.

Wang Xiang picked Xiao Mi up from the bed and adjusted her to a comfortable position. Seeing Xiao Mi’s chubby and cute face, her grin widened.

"Xiao Mi is so adorable. No wonder Brother Jiang loves holding her, if I had such a cute daughter, I’d be delighted too."

Being praised, Xiao Mi gave Aunt Wang Xiang a sweet smile, just as Second Aunt managed to calm Tie Dan.

Xiao Mi immediately looked at her mom, "Brother, sister."

Where did big brother and big sister go? They always kept an eye on them in the mornings. Why haven’t they returned today?

Wang Xiang looked at Xiao Mi in surprise, "She really can talk!"

Her son often came to play with Dawa, and said Xiao Mi could talk when he returned home but they thought, at just five months old, how could she possibly speak, maybe just babble a few words like ’Mama’ or ’Papa’ by instinct.

So they thought it was just a child’s babble sounding like words and paid no attention.

But now, she heard clearly; Xiao Mi was speaking, even saying "brother" and "sister"!

Second Aunt smiled and nodded, "She’s just started recently, not many in the village know yet."

Then she turned back to Xiao Mi, "Your brother took your sister bug-catching. With daddy home today, they’re busy catching bugs for the mountain."

Other than the vegetable garden, the cropland still had plenty of those juicy beetles, snails, and earthworms.

Xiao Mi responded with an ’oh’, showing she understood, and patted her belly, "Mom, hungry."

It was time to eat, the fragrant porridge!

Wang Xiang’s eyes hadn’t left Xiao Mi. She was amazed, almost incredulous.

Second Aunt, accustomed to it, smiled and nodded, "Alright, alright, Xiao Mi’s hungry, let’s get you some food right away."

She gestured for Wang Xiang to accompany her to the kitchen. The little bed was still placed there, and she set Tie Dan back in, signaled Wang Xiang to place Xiao Mi in beside him, the siblings seated together.

Second Aunt poured the perfectly warm porridge into bowls, took a small wooden spoon, and sat in front of the small bed, feeding them alternately, one spoonful for each.

If this were in a past life, Xiao Mi would’ve surely turned her nose up!

But now? Who cares about all that, filling up the belly is what matters!

"How adorable," Wang Xiang, with a small stool in hand, sat beside Second Aunt, her eyes almost sparkling as she watched the two little treasures.

"Sister-in-law, what are you feeding them; how did you raise such adorable kids? Unlike my Liu Hai, who’s only ever a pest to me!"