Chapter 103: He Coaxes Me

The sour pickles at home were finished. Hu Yao had been craving sour things lately, finding them very appetizing.

In the afternoon, she and Jiang Xiaochao were making pickled radishes in the courtyard. The radishes were planted by Hu Yao, but most of the care was taken by Jiang Han.

Each radish was plump and juicy. After Jiang Han went out after dinner, the mother and son went to the field and pulled back a small pile.

Jiang Xiaochao sat on a small stool, rolled up his sleeves and helped wash.

He was so serious.

Even when his friends came to play with him, he didn’t go, looking like he was very busy.

These past few days, he’d been very well-behaved, not running around to get dirty, and Hu Yao didn’t need much help with the pickling, so she wiped his little hands clean and told him to go play with the other kids.

“I want to watch Mama!” he said in a milky voice.

Hu Yao was slightly stunned and laughed: “Mama is right here, you don’t need to take care of me like that, go play, come back to sleep when you’re tired.”

He was so well-behaved and heartwarming.

After her persuasion, Jiang Xiaochao finally couldn’t resist going to play with his friends. What child doesn’t like running around and playing? Hu Yao smiled and gave him a few instructions, tidying up his little clothes.

He went out to play and wasn’t home anymore, the house instantly became very quiet. Hu Yao pickled the remaining radishes, swept the courtyard, and fed some hay to Jiang Xiaochao’s calf.

The hay was specially dried for Jiang Xiaochao’s calf. Jiang Han looked very unhappy about it, again sarcastically saying that Jiang Xiaochao’s calf was precious, and he would stew it one day.

It’s not clear whether it was because of his frequent threats or because he had beaten Jiang Xiaochao’s calf before, but every time he heard his fierce threats, the calf would moo in distress, as if it had become a spirit and understood human language. Last time, Jiang Han beat it and said he would eat it, and the calf even cried.

This made Jiang Xiaochao heartbroken, and he hugged it to comfort it for a long time, patting it and hugging it. The scene was both funny and strange.

Her hands had been soaked while washing the radishes, and after feeding the calf, Hu Yao removed the bandages on her injured finger.

The wound still had a slight sting, but it was completely fine without the bandage. It was just a small cut, and Jiang Han had wrapped it with bandages, making it look like a serious injury.

Throwing away the dirty and wet bandages, Hu Yao couldn’t stay idle and took out the clothes of their father and son that had broken threads or missing buttons to mend.

The house was peaceful and quiet, the clear wind blowing through the window, the air filled with the faint fragrance of grapes.

Ever since she got tired of oranges, the most common fruit in the house was grapes. Grapes were sweet and sour, and Hu Yao loved them now, eating one or two bunches a day.

Before, their father and son would eat oranges together, but they didn’t like the sour grapes very much, and Hu Yao was the one who ate them almost exclusively.

Grandma Liu knew Hu Yao loved sour things, so she specially made some sour apricots for her, smiling and saying that sour children and spicy girls, this one might be another boy.

Hu Yao didn’t care much about whether the child in her belly was a boy or a girl, it didn’t make any difference to her.

She had some memories of being pregnant with Jiang Xiaochao four years ago, but the feelings at that time weren’t very deep, and looking back, it felt unreal. This child was conceived after she recovered, and although it wasn’t her first time, she still had a sense of novelty and strangeness, sometimes even forgetting that she was pregnant.

During her pregnancy, Jiang Han hadn’t said anything about wanting a son or a daughter in the past three months. His attitude towards the child in her belly was the same as towards Jiang Xiaochao.

When she had the worst morning sickness, he would always say that the child was a troublemaker, and he was worthy of being the same mother as Jiang Xiaochao.

He said they were all the same!

Hu Yao mended the clothes, occasionally eating a grape, quiet and contented.

“Mama.”

Time passed quietly, Jiang Xiaochao came back from playing, pouting his little mouth and moving towards her in small steps, hanging his little head, not as happy as when he went out, his little voice was listless.

“What’s wrong?” Hu Yao put down her needlework, held his little arm, and asked softly.

“My hand hurts!” Jiang Xiaochao raised his little head, sniffed, and raised the other hand that was hidden behind his back to show her: “Blow on it and it will be better!”

He stretched out a finger that was swollen like a small radish in front of her, it really hurt, and he who didn’t like to cry was teary-eyed.

Hu Yao was startled and held his little hand: “How did you get it? Does it hurt a lot?”

“I was moving stones, they were so heavy, and they hit my hand!” He sniffed again, sounding both angry and wronged.

“Didn’t Mama say you can’t play with stones anymore? Look, you hit yourself.” Hu Yao wiped his little hand anxiously, seeing that his swollen little finger was bleeding, she was both heartbroken and nervous, wondering if it was broken, his little hand was so small.

“Mama, let’s go see a doctor.” She got up, took some money, and immediately took him out to the clinic.

Jiang Xiaochao’s little finger was really fractured!

After the doctor examined and bandaged him, Hu Yao was heartbroken and helpless, holding his other little hand and going home, once again giving him many instructions.

“I know, Mama!” Jiang Xiaochao nodded repeatedly, then raised his injured little finger: “Mama, look at my hand, it looks like a radish!”

He said so himself.

“…”

Hu Yao was a little worried, wondering how to tell Jiang Han when he came back that Jiang Xiaochao’s hand had been broken in less than an afternoon.

“You can’t run around until your hand is healed, tell Mama if you want to do anything.”

After arriving home, Hu Yao told him seriously.

“Oh.” He still nodded obediently, sitting on the sofa chair, swinging his little feet and eating peanut candy.

The peanut candy was given to him by a little girl Hu Yao met on the way back from the clinic.

It was the little girl who said she had his baby last time.

Hu Yao only met her today, she was a pretty little girl, just her hair was a bit short, looking like a boy, she was not afraid of strangers, and spoke like a little adult, smart and clever, clearly after the last kiss and fight and baby incident,

The little guy became good friends with her.

The little girl’s full name was Qiu Yarong, a very beautiful name. She not only gave Jiang Xiaochao peanut candy, but also gave it to Hu Yao. She was very talkative for her age and made Hu Yao, who was still worried about Jiang Xiaochao’s injury, laugh and cry.

“Mom, are we going to town again tomorrow?” Jiang Xiaochao finished his peanut candy and obediently stretched out his little hand for Hu Yao to wipe. He forgot about the pain, carefree as he was, and remembered what she said, softly asking her.

“Let’s go to Grandma Liu’s tomorrow.” Hu Yao sighed and gently pinched his little nose.

“If your dad knows you got hurt, he’ll scold you again!”

“Why do you have to scold me when I hurt my hand! Dad is mean!” Jiang Xiaochao pouted: “He should coax me! Blow on it for me!”

Hu Yao couldn’t help but laugh, unable to imagine Jiang Han coaxing him.