CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 62: CAN’T WORK

Wang Xiang fully expressed her fondness for the two little ones and praised Er Niang for her effective parenting skills, with all four children being so well-behaved.

Until Wang Xiang left, Xiaomi still couldn’t figure out what exactly she was here for. Was it just to chat with Er Niang?

Xiaomi found Wang Xiang’s visit rather puzzling today. Could she be here to ’absorb good fortune,’ just like Liu Hai before?

Ah well, never mind her.

After Xiaomi was full and was given some warm water by her mother, she was placed under the eaves and watched her mother tend to the vegetable garden.

Tei Dan was cooing, wanting his mother to hold him, but his sister pressed him back onto the bed, making him think she wanted to play. He immediately got excited.

And so, the siblings rolled and tumbled around on the small bed, playing happily. Er Niang just smiled contentedly when she saw them.

At times like these, she truly felt that having twins was wonderful. Two kids of the same age, even though Xiaomi was sensible and smart, the brother and sister were still the same age, with the same disposition and love for play.

Just like now, while she’s working, the siblings play nearby, unlike Dawa and Er Ni in the past, who sat by themselves, leaving her heartbroken.

Today, Jiang Hu came back later than usual. Xiaomi only found out later; she and Tei Dan had overslept. By the time they woke, their mother and elder siblings had already finished breakfast.

After playing for a while, Tei Dan got tired, lying on his sister’s lap to rest. He was always clingy like this, and besides his parents, he liked his sister the best.

Xiaomi wasn’t tired yet and sat up, leaning against the small bed, feeding Tei Dan a little Spiritual Spring water.

When she first saw the little guy, he was wrinkled and covered in yellowish-white crusts. He was incredibly ugly.

Unexpectedly, now he’d grown, plump and fair, and quite cute.

Moreover, the little one who once cried barely making a sound, small and skinny like a little kitten, could now crawl around everywhere. Xiaomi felt a great sense of achievement.

She patted Tei Dan’s little tummy, soft and bouncy, quite comfortable.

"Xiaomi, don’t pat your brother’s belly, or he might throw up on you," Er Niang’s voice came, and Xiaomi quickly withdrew her hand, almost forgetting that children’s short esophagus makes them prone to vomiting.

Er Niang continued working, while Xiaomi switched from belly-patting to head-petting: "Good boy."

Be a good boy, Tei Dan. When you grow up, your sister will take you out to play.

Tei Dan seemed to understand his sister’s words and grinned with a silly smile.

The huge smile was contagiously powerful. Xiaomi now understood why their parents always grinned foolishly whenever they smiled.

After a while, Tei Dan got sleepy, closing his eyes for a nap. Xiaomi wasn’t drowsy, but she closed her eyes too, preparing to check out the space.

The wheat had been planted for almost four months. Perhaps due to the absence of winter in the space, with favorable climate and abundant Spiritual Energy, it had started to form ears already.

Xiaomi roamed around the field: "Now no need to worry, it’ll surely mature before it’s time to plant wheat."

By then, maybe she could walk slowly by herself and find a chance to mix in some space wheat seeds. It should be fine.

Thinking so, Xiaomi returned to the courtyard, first going to offer incense in the main room.

After organizing the supplies in the space, she seldom entered it, only going in every few days to offer incense to the two memorial tablets in the main room.

The incense was still the same amount, never diminishing. Xiaomi had observed before, trying to figure out why, but couldn’t. Besides, she couldn’t stay in the space forever; her parents would be scared if she couldn’t wake up.

After offering incense, she fetched water to wash the dishes, mainly the bowls for milk powder. Several large water tanks were already piled up nearby, filled with dishwater.

These were all good stuff. She planned to wait until she grew older and could go to the toilet by herself, then secretly dump it into the latrine.

Having washed the dishes, she went outside to check the supplies.

The milk powder suitable for her and Tei Dan wasn’t much left. There was plenty of rice gruel, but with no hot water, it couldn’t be soaked properly. Fortunately, they could eat porridge, so drinking less powdered milk later wasn’t a concern.

It’s just that seeing the mountains of rice and wheat flour in the space was heart-wrenching, as there was no way to take it out to eat!

She wished one hundred thousand and one times she could grow up faster!

Forcing her attention away from the rice, she glanced at the children’s milk powder beside her: "These have to be saved for later and find a way to take them out."

Big brother and second sister were separated from her, as their parents would be busy at night, so she stopped deliberately waking up in the middle of the night to find them.

But it didn’t matter; she now replenished the family’s spiritual spring water every day.

After taking a round in the space, Xiaomi went out. After all, no matter how many ideas she had, she could only wait until she grew up. These things were meant to be shared with the family, just a matter of time.

Just exiting the space, she saw someone coming from a distance. Xiaomi squinted and watched carefully for a moment, then shouted, "Dad!"

Her dad was back!

But soon Xiaomi noticed her dad was coming back alone, without the ox cart!

Could it be that Uncle Xiao Ding’s father was unwilling to rent the ox cart to their family?

Er Niang was gathering the dried, yellowed vegetable leaves from the vegetable garden when she heard Xiaomi’s voice and quickly looked up.

"Hu Brother’s back?" In the next second, her joyful expression turned to disappointment, "Hu Brother, didn’t you rent the ox cart?"

This time, Jiang Hu had reached the courtyard gate, seemingly in a good mood. Seeing Er Niang’s disappointment, he smiled.

"Don’t worry, Er Niang. Old Ding is willing to rent it to us, and for free. He’ll bring it over this afternoon."

"Really?" Er Niang was overjoyed, but immediately puzzled: "Why this afternoon? Why didn’t you bring it back yourself?"

The weather was already getting hot. Jiang Hu set down his basket, went to the kitchen to pour a large bowl of water, and almost downed it in one gulp before taking a deep breath.

"The old man wants to come and see what our Fuan Village looks like himself. Oh, and Er Niang, he also said we can keep the ox without paying. We can take vegetables to town daily, but the ox can’t work."

That means, even though we have an ox at home, during busy farming times, the ox would still rest. Even if taking vegetables to town, it could only make one trip a day.

Er Niang wasn’t concerned about this, just happy: "It doesn’t matter if it can’t work, at least you’ll find it much easier to take vegetables to town every day."

After all, dreaming of buying a calf for the family this year or next was out of the question, and a calf needed two years to mature for work anyway.

Jiang Hu: "Besides, this way, if the village wants to borrow the ox cart for work, we can refuse, since we can’t use it ourselves."

After all, the ox was like a lifesaver for someone else, so since they valued it so much, naturally they had to treat the Big Water Buffalo well, too.