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“???”
Old Tan smacked each of the little heads lightly and scolded, “Hurry up and help your big brother pick up the eggs!”
“Got it, father!”
The fourth and fifth children, still quite young, were overjoyed at the sight of so many eggs. They hopped around excitedly, helping to gather them.
Old Tan instructed Tan Yiliang, “Eldest, leave this to your two younger brothers. Take a few eggs to Aunt Chen next door and trade them for some brown sugar. I’ll make brown sugar eggs for your mother.”
“Yes, father.” Tan Yiliang picked up the basket of eggs and headed out.
In the yard, the two little ones remained, busy collecting eggs.
Old Tan stayed close by, uneasy about leaving Madam Tan alone in the house.
The little baby girl, having just been fed, dozed off drowsily. Occasionally, the chirping and chatter outside made her eyelashes flutter faintly.
For a newborn baby, nothing was more important than eating and sleeping.
But someone kept kicking her.
The Little Sixth Son of the Tan family flailed his legs, crying for milk.
It was only then that Madam Tan remembered her son. She quickly scooped him up, lifted her blouse, and fed him.
The Little Sixth son gulped down the milk eagerly, but before long, he burst into wails again.
The baby girl beside him furrowed her tiny brows, almost waking up from the noise.
Madam Tan was distressed. “Husband, I’ve just given birth, and I haven’t even had a sip of broth. My milk isn’t coming in properly!”
Old Man Tan cracked a few eggs and dropped them into the boiling water. “Don’t worry, Wife. The hen’s finally gotten the hang of things and laid some eggs—enough for your confinement period.”
As he spoke, he glanced outside. “I wonder if the eldest has managed to get some brown sugar yet.”
Tan Yiliang knocked on Aunt Chen’s door, “Aunt, Aunt, are you asleep?”
The light was still on in Aunt Chen’s house, but no one opened the door for a long time.
Tan Yiliang looked up, then knocked again. “Aunt, my mother just gave birth. She’d like to trade for some brown sugar!”
Aunt Chen fanned herself with a hand fan, glanced out the window, then turned to her husband. “Look, look at that. The Tan family is getting on in years, and they’re still having children. They don’t even know how to raise them properly.”
Uncle Chen took a puff of his dry tobacco pipe. “How they raise their kids is none of our business. Why are you complaining?”
Aunt Chen fanned herself vigorously, curling her lips and squinting as she said, “It’s because they’re borrowing brown sugar. They’ve come to our house for it.”
Uncle Chen tapped the end of his pipe. “So what if they’re borrowing brown sugar? Haven’t they helped us out over the years? When you gave birth to the third child, wasn’t it Tan’s wife who carried you all the way from the field and brought you back?”
“I!” Aunt Chen turned her head away. “I just can’t stand that family. They’re poor as dirt. The eldest son is honest but useless, the second one’s an idiot, the third one’s a sickly weakling, and there are two younger ones—looks like they’ll never get anywhere in life!”
“You’ve got a big mouth, don’t you?!” Uncle Chen was done arguing with his wife. He got up and went to open the door for Tan Yiliang.
“Yiliang, your mother gave birth. Is it a boy or a girl?” Uncle Chen asked with a smile.
Tan Yiliang scratched the back of his head and smiled. “My mother’s amazing. She gave birth to twins—a boy and a girl.”
“What?” Aunt Chen quickly stuck her head out. “You’re saying your mother had two?”
Tan Yiliang nodded, smiling. “Yes, Aunt. We finally have a little sister!”
Aunt Chen’s face instantly filled with jealousy. She pouted and, with a sarcastic tone, said, “Just a girl. I don’t know why you’re so happy about it!”
“Old woman!” Uncle Chen quickly shot her a glance.
Tan Yiliang wasn’t bothered by her attitude and handed over the eggs. “Aunt, Uncle, our chickens laid some eggs. We’d like to trade them for some brown sugar.”