CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: KEEPING PROMISES

The crown daisy is a wild vegetable growing beside the ditch near the house. Every day, the water used for washing faces is casually thrown next to the ditch.

Initially, no one paid much attention to it. After all, at first, this crown daisy was no different from the ones in other places. When the home vegetable garden had vegetables, wild vegetables weren’t that special anymore.

Until one day, Second Aunt suddenly noticed that the crown daisy by the ditch was growing crisp and green, exceptionally lush, and had an especially strong aroma.

So now, almost every other day, their family would definitely have a meal with crown daisy.

"We’re having steamed eggs today, is there enough millet?" Second Aunt washed the hands of the two children and placed two bowls of steamed eggs in front of Xiao Mi and Iron Egg.

Xiao Mi immediately smiled brightly, "Thank you, Mom."

Iron Egg was so happy that he waved his arms and legs, also shouting, "Mom!"

Each had a wooden spoon, specially made by Jiang Hu from bamboo pieces, polished very smoothly.

Though only seven months old, Xiao Mi was completely weaned, but still secretly added some milk powder for herself at night, and Iron Egg was the same.

Steamed eggs, porridge, and occasionally fish meat with bones picked out, or minced lean meat added to the steamed eggs or porridge.

Basically, it was completely enough to meet the day’s nutrition needs, sparing Second Aunt from worrying about feeding them milk every day.

Second Aunt patted each of their heads, "Eat quickly, your father bought lean meat this morning, and I’ve added it to the steamed eggs for you."

Xiao Mi quickly shouted to her father, "Thank you, Dad."

Iron Egg followed suit, "Dad!"

Their vocal cords weren’t fully developed yet, so their speech was a bit unclear, but the family could still understand them.

"No need to thank me, eat properly now, have the steamed eggs and then some buns."

With that, Jiang Hu picked up his bowl and took a big sip of porridge. Despite it being a plain clear soup with more water than rice, on a hot day, drinking a bowl of this cold rice soup was unbelievably refreshing.

But after all, someone has to work, so it’s not enough to just have a bowl of plain rice soup.

Second Aunt followed up with a tray of buns made from a mix of coarse and fine flour, along with a plate of minced meat kimchi.

Lean meat was minced and then fried with kimchi, making it especially appetizing with rice.

Tearing open a bun and stuffing it with a spoonful of minced meat kimchi, it was both appetizing and filling, paired with rice-water-like porridge, it was unbelievably delicious.

Jiang Hu was really hungry, picking up the bun and eating it, while also urging Second Aunt, "Second Aunt, you should eat quickly too, don’t just worry about us."

The family was gathered around the dining table, enjoying a bountiful lunch. Who would have thought that just six months ago, Second Aunt could only eat two bugs from the field for nutrition after giving birth?

Compared to back then, thinking about having oil and meat now, eating heartily, it was incredibly satisfying.

Xiao Mi was also hungry, sitting on her chair, eating spoonful by spoonful, but Iron Egg was different.

He slapped his hand into his bowl, luckily his hands were clean, otherwise the food would be inedible.

With the other hand holding a spoon, he took a big scoop, but half of it fell out, then he kept his hand still, opened his mouth wide towards the spoon, and took a big bite.

Every time Iron Egg ate, it was like a battle, but luckily there was a special place for his bowl in front of his little chair, and Iron Egg didn’t mind, burying his head to eat the spilled steamed egg directly into his mouth.

Meanwhile, Xiao Mi was neatly feeding herself spoonful by spoonful, without spilling any, incredibly clean.

At times like these, both Jiang Hu and Second Aunt would sigh sincerely, indeed, Little Lucky Star was reincarnated, so different from ordinary kids!

Then they hurried to change Iron Egg’s clothes and washed his face.

Xiao Mi had already grown her front teeth, after eating the steamed eggs, she wanted a bun. Although it wasn’t entirely fine flour, she could still chew slowly and eat it without issue.

Seeing this, Iron Egg also reached out to his parents, wanting a bun.

Second Aunt also tore off a small piece for him.

What made her most worry-free about the children was that whether it was eating, drinking, or their daily needs, they never cried or fussed, only using their calls to alert the adults.

After eating their fill, Second Aunt poured each of them a bowl of warm water, letting them drink slowly with little spoons.

Xiao Mi was in no hurry, sipping slowly, but Iron Egg treated it like playing with water, getting himself all wet in no time.

Luckily, the food and water had all gone into their bellies, while Second Aunt went to wash the dishes, Jiang Hu skillfully stripped Iron Egg naked, tossed him into the basin, cleaned him up, and even used the bathwater to wash Iron Egg’s clothes.

This convenience in summer was the best, leaving a basin of water outside in the morning, it would be warm by noon from the sun, perfect for bathing without fear of catching cold.

Once Iron Egg was cleaned up, Second Aunt hurried the children to their rooms for a nap, while she and Jiang Hu dealt with moving the corn under the eaves out into the yard.

In the morning, they had left early for the fields, and didn’t get to dry the rest. After returning, Second Aunt was busy cooking, but the sun was out now, so they continued drying the corn they had previously shucked.

By evening, they would gather it all back in to avoid it getting drenched by the midnight rain.

Though it was troublesome this way, it would only be cumbersome for these few days. After all, if the corn wasn’t dried and a rainy day came, piled up together it might start to sprout.

The couple worked up a sweat, but neither complained about the hardship or fatigue, they were even quite happy.

After all, this was food, this was their staple for the year to come!

Even though the family earned quite a bit from selling vegetables, it didn’t compare to the sense of security from having a full granary.

Once all the corn was laid out in the yard to dry, Jiang Hu wiped his sweat, "Second Aunt, you should go rest, I’ll go check on the cattle at the back."

Apart from selling vegetables, they used to occasionally take the cattle up the mountain to graze, but with the current farming rush, there was no time for that.

The cow wasn’t picky, although the corn was ripe, the stalks hadn’t all matured, still with lots of green leaves, cutting a bundle of corn stalks could feed the cow for half a day.

Second Aunt: "I brought it a bucket of water when I came back, but with this heat, bring it another bucket."

The couple had fulfilled their agreement with Old Man Ding, hardly making the cow do any work except for hauling vegetables in the morning.

Even during this harvest rush, Jiang Hu carried basket after basket home by himself, letting Big Water Buffalo rest at home, and leaving the ox cart unused, not even using it to haul corn.

For this, many in the village said he was stubborn. The owner of the ox cart wasn’t in Fu’an Village, so he wouldn’t know if they used the ox cart to haul corn.

Even Da Wa had said, they could use it secretly, and Grandpa Ding wouldn’t find out, right?

But neither Jiang Hu nor Second Aunt agreed with this.

To quote Jiang Hu’s own words, "Let’s not even mention that we promised to do this, but how do you know if we secretly used it, someone from the village wouldn’t go tell Grandpa Ding?"

Upon this, Da Wa thought about it and began to understand somewhat.