Chapter 2 Where Could We Afford to Feed Another Mouth

Chapter 2 Where Could We Afford to Feed Another Mouth

This precious rain poured heavily for most of the night before it finally stopped.

By dawn, the wind and rain had ceased, and the sun peeked out. Today should be a sunny day, with the air carrying a long-missed dampness.

Li Chunhua, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yu family, got up early, humming a tune as she deftly wrapped a headscarf around her head and then picked up a bamboo basket to go gather pig fodder.

With the rain falling all night, there would surely be plenty of pig fodder sprouting. She needed to hurry and gather some to feed the pigs. The fields had been dry for so long that the pig fodder was pitifully thin, and the pigs, lacking enough food, were also scrawny and barely gaining any weight.

"Big Sister!"

Yu Erhu's wife, Bai Xiaofeng, poked her head out from the kitchen, winked at Li Chunhua, made a hushing gesture, and beckoned her over.

Li Chunhua didn't think much of it and entered the kitchen. "Second Sister-in-Law, what is it?"

Bai Xiaofeng pulled Li Chunhua into the kitchen, lowered her voice, and whispered mysteriously, "Big Sister, do you know? Last night, Mother brought back a little girl and said she wanted to raise her in our home!"

Li Chunhua was startled. "Second Sister-in-Law, you sure have a wild imagination!"

The land had been drought-stricken for three years, and they had to fetch water from a distant river. With several growing boys who could eat a horse, their own rations were already stretched thin. How could they afford to raise a foundling girl?

Even though it had rained now, no one knew what the future held!

Raise her? With what?

"It's not like I'm making this up," Bai Xiaofeng pouted. "Last night, Mother even came to my room to take some clothes Gui Geer had outgrown."

She couldn't help but grumble, "I can still bear children. If I have another child, Gui Geer's old clothes could be saved for the next one..."

Li Chunhua, ignoring everything else, stared in disbelief and asked repeatedly, "Is it true? Did Mother really bring back a little girl to raise?"

"You two, instead of working early in the morning, what are you whispering about?"

Yu Daniu, the eldest son of the Yu family, passed by the kitchen window with his hoe, saw his wife and the cunning second daughter-in-law gossiping, and glared at them. "Father and Mother will wake up soon. What are you dawdling for? The pigs haven't been fed, and the meal hasn't been prepared!"

Li Chunhua ignored her husband's stern face and leaned through the half-open kitchen window to ask him in a low voice, "Husband, did you know? Mother brought back a little girl to raise!"

This was news to Yu Daniu too. He paused, frowned, and then sternly said, "If Mother wants to raise her, let her. Are you wives planning to rebel? Get to work, both of you, and stop wasting time!"

After scolding Li Chunhua and Bai Xiaofeng and sending them off to work, Yu Daniu couldn't help but glance at the main house.

The Yu family's courtyard wasn't large, with only six mud-walled rooms. The central room was slightly larger and served as the main house where Old Man Yu and Wei Pozi lived.

In the end, Yu Daniu asked nothing and silently carried his hoe to repair the mud walls and fences battered by the strong winds.

A while later, Wei Pozi got up, dressed in a gray short outfit, and went straight to the kitchen.

Bai Xiaofeng was cooking vegetable porridge and quickly said, "Mother, last night's rain seeped in, and many logs are wet. Cooking is taking longer..."

Wei Pozi impatiently interrupted Bai Xiaofeng's explanation and asked, "How many eggs are left after selling thirty at the market?"

Bai Xiaofeng hurriedly replied, "We found one egg in the chicken coop this morning, so we have seven in total."

Wei Pozi frowned. "Seven?" She decided firmly, "Cook all seven eggs for the children to nourish them."

Bai Xiaofeng was delighted. Her sister-in-law had two sons, and she had two sons herself, while the third son's household had only one four-year-old son.

Her two sons could at least have two eggs each; it wouldn't be a loss!

Bai Xiaofeng eagerly continued, "Don't worry, Mother. I'll make sure everything is done properly. Huai Geer likes his eggs runny, so I'll cook them less and take them out sooner..."

Wei Pozi nonchalantly "hmm"ed and left the kitchen.

When the Yu family gathered for breakfast, everyone crowded around the elm wood table that Old Man Yu had specially commissioned.

The Yu family was large, with Wei Pozi having given birth to four sons. Excluding the youngest, who was still unmarried, the first three sons had given her five grandsons.

The entire family of more than ten people sat around the table, lively and cheerful.

Due to the rain, the crops in the fields would likely yield well this year, and water would be more plentiful. Everyone wore smiles on their faces.

Two large pots of vegetable porridge were placed on the table, along with two dishes of homemade pickled radish.

Unlike usual, there was also a large bowl beside the porridge, filled with seven boiled eggs.

Although they raised chickens and pigs, the past few years of natural disasters and poor harvests meant that even the people struggled to get enough food, let alone the livestock.

Originally, they had five chickens, but now only two were laying eggs occasionally. Even those occasional eggs were collected and sold at the market. The pigs were also scrawny and failed to gain weight.

Thus, seeing eggs on the table was a rare treat.

"Mother, you're so happy because of the rain that you even boiled eggs," Yu Erhu said with a silly smile, reaching for the eggs. Bai Xiaofeng slapped his hand away and rolled her eyes subtly. "What are you doing? These are the only eggs we have. Mother told me to boil them for the children."

Yu Erhu, with a good temper, obediently withdrew his hand. "Okay, okay." He was happy that the children could eat them: "For the kids, for the kids."

Wei Pozi chuckled, clearly in a good mood. She bent down and lifted someone into her arms—

Everyone looked closely and saw that Wei Pozi was holding a little girl they had never seen before!

The little girl was so short that she was hidden behind the table, which is why they hadn't noticed her earlier!

However, the little girl was quite pretty, with round almond eyes that seemed to speak. But she was clearly malnourished, with sparse, yellowish hair.

Xingxing, seeing so many people staring at her, was very nervous. She tugged at her clothes, unsure of what to say.

Seeing that everyone had seen Xingxing, Wei Pozi placed the little girl on the stool between her and Old Man Yu.

The little girl was so short that even sitting on the stool, only the top of her head was visible above the tabletop.

"This, this is—" Yu Daniu stammered.

"The little girl I picked up from the rocky beach at the foot of the mountain yesterday," Wei Pozi introduced in an unchallengeable tone. "This little girl is called Xingxing, and she will be raised in our family from now on."

The adults at the table fell silent for a moment.

Putting aside other minor matters, the sudden addition of another mouth to feed was a concern!

What were they going to do with their already strained food supplies?!

Li Chunhua had been thinking about this all morning. Seeing that it was indeed as the second daughter-in-law said, her heart sank, and without much thought, she quickly spoke up: "Mother, you know how hard things have been this year. There were wars, locust plagues, earthquakes, and droughts. The fields have been barren for years, and we've been living off stored grain—though it rained last night, it can barely help the wheat in the fields. Our food supply is still tight; how can we afford to feed another mouth?"

Li Chunhua looked very troubled.

Wei Pozi became angry and slammed the table heavily.

She wasn't planning to mention the matter with the Heartburn Grass yet, but with a cold face, she said, "Did I ask you to give up your food? From now on, Xingxing will live in my room. How much can such a tiny child eat? I can manage with less food to keep her alive! If it comes to it, we'll starve together!"

The four sons panicked. "Mother! We can't let you go hungry!"

"Mother, rest assured. Even if we don't eat, we won't let you miss a single bite!"

"That's right, that's right! This little girl doesn't eat much. If Mother wants to raise her, then we'll raise her!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

The four sons were extremely filial and tried to reassure her one after another.

Yu Daniu, the eldest son, glared angrily at his wife—forcing their mother to say such heart-wrenching words was unfilial!

Li Chunhua felt very wronged.

She wasn't doing this for herself. Putting aside the adults, the two boys in their room were still growing! With the insufficient food supply, both boys were looking pale, and as a mother, it pained her to see them like this.

Now, another mouth was being added to the household. As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yu family, couldn't she say anything?

—But seeing her mother-in-law's determined expression, she knew no one could change her mind. Li Chunhua felt bitter inside.

Yu Lao Tou coughed and, assuming the authority of the head of the family, intervened: "What are you all waiting for? Serve the food, serve the food!"

Yu Daniu's second wife, Bai Xiaofeng, hurriedly stood up and began serving bowls of vegetable gruel to everyone, allowing only half a bowl more if someone finished theirs.

Bai Xiaofeng served the food around the table and reached Xingxing.

Eyeing Wei Pozi's expression, she swallowed nervously and smiled apologetically. "Xingxing—is that your name? Auntie will give you half a bowl first. You can start eating?"