Chapter 16

Actually, even if the two brothers didn’t pick chestnuts to exchange for eggs, Ning Shu had decided to give them one egg each morning to nourish their bodies.

After all, their father sent 30 yuan each month, which was enough for three children to each have one egg a day. But since the children asked like this, she naturally wouldn’t refuse, “Of course you can. Considering you’re my sons, besides exchanging chestnuts for eggs, I can also give you one extra fruit every day.”

Eggs were bought with their father’s money, so fruits could be considered as exchanged for chestnuts.

Yi Bao couldn’t believe it. His mother was not only giving them eggs but also fruits.

His mother even said it was because they were her sons, so being a mother’s son had its benefits. “Thank you, mother. Er Bao and I will go pick chestnuts tomorrow.”

He wanted to pick more chestnuts, exchange for more eggs and fruits, and then hide them to eat slowly.

“No need to thank me. Go call Er Bao and San Bao for dinner.” Ning Shu had a very favorable impression of Yi Bao, who was smart, sensible, and responsible, so she was naturally willing to be patient and sincere.

“Okay.” Yi Bao ran out with the pear in his hand.

As soon as he ran out, Er Bao, who was playing with San Bao, saw the pear in his hand, “Brother, is it from mother? Did she really give it to you?” Er Bao’s exaggerated expression made people want to laugh.

He widened his eyes, as if blinking would make the pear in his brother’s hand disappear.

“Yes, she did. Mother also said we can exchange the chestnuts we pick for eggs, and she said we’re her sons, so she can give us one extra fruit every day.” Yi Bao happily shared with his younger brother.

“Tomorrow, you and I will pick chestnuts together. We’ll pick more and exchange for more eggs and fruits, then hide them to eat slowly.”

“Really? That’s great.” Er Bao jumped up with joy after hearing it, but then he thought of something, “Brother, mother promised to raise chicks for us, but there are no chicks yet. Will she break her promise?”

“We’ll ask mother later,” Yi Bao said.

“Okay.”

Seeing the two brothers talking and ignoring him, San Bao crawled over angrily and nudged Er Bao’s foot with his little head.

Er Bao stepped back, “San Bao, what are you doing?”

“Play,” San Bao said firmly.

“Don’t play anymore, mother called us for dinner.” Yi Bao went to the room to hide the pear.

Adding the two apples mother gave them after their noon bath, they now had three fruits.

They could eat one each day for three days, plus the two candies they earned today.

Yi Bao smirked to himself and then went out again. He brought the basket over and turned it upside down, allowing San Bao to crawl inside. “San Bao, come in quickly. Let’s go eat. Are you hungry?”

San Bao understood the word “hungry” and patted his belly, “Hungry,” he said, licking his dry lips and obediently crawling into the basket.

When Ning Shu uncovered the dishes on the table, served the steamed egg custard, and ladled out the sweet potato porridge, Yi Bao and Er Bao carried San Bao in.

“It smells so good, mother, what did you cook?” Er Bao sniffed, his eyes involuntarily glancing at the table.

When Yi Bao came in just now, the dishes were covered with lids. Since there were many mosquitoes and probably bugs in the countryside, the dishes were usually covered with lids made of bamboo or rattan strips, which were woven tightly, so it was impossible to see what was inside.

Now the lids were removed, and Yi Bao also saw what was on the table. However, before Yi Bao could say anything, Er Bao exclaimed, “Wow, so many eggs!”

Yi Bao pulled Er Bao, knowing that these eggs were definitely not for them to eat.

“Come and eat. You guys can have scrambled eggs, and San Bao, being younger, can have the egg custard, okay?” Ning Shu said as she went over to pick up San Bao from the basket.

“Mother…” San Bao hugged Ning Shu’s neck affectionately, burying his little face in Ning Shu’s neck and rubbing it.

Ning Shu patted his little bottom affectionately.

“Mother, can we eat eggs too?” Yi Bao looked at Ning Shu with big eyes. “Can me, Er Bao, and San Bao all have eggs?” Even though they had eaten a lot of meat at noon, could they still eat eggs at night? Yi Bao had never dreamt of such a thing, not even in his daydreams.

“Yes… Would Er Bao like to exchange the chestnuts he picked today for eggs?” Ning Shu asked.

“Yes, yes!” Er Bao quickly sat on the stool. He first sniffed the scrambled eggs with chives and then the stir-fried bok choy. He didn’t even overlook San Bao’s egg custard.

Yi Bao also sat down and asked his younger brother eagerly, “Does it smell good?”

“It smells amazing, super fragrant, even more fragrant than what Grandma makes,” Er Bao said, swallowing his saliva. Despite the delicious smell, he didn’t start eating but instead looked at Ning Shu.

The two brothers wouldn’t start eating until Mother did; they were afraid of making her angry. Over time, they developed this habit.

“Go ahead and eat,” Ning Shu said as she sat down with San Bao and fed him a little egg custard with a spoon.

The two brothers didn’t immediately eat. Instead, they watched Mother feed San Bao, blowing on the egg custard to cool it down before feeding it to him. Somehow, they suddenly felt envious.

“Mother, did you feed me egg custard when I was as little as San Bao?” Er Bao asked innocently. Since Mother was feeding San Bao when he was so little, she must have fed him when he was that small too. Er Bao thought naively.

Yi Bao didn’t ask, but he listened intently.

Ning Shu: “…” The original owner’s memories didn’t include feeding Er Bao egg custard at such a young age. But seeing the two brothers looking at her with shining eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to deny it.

So, she scooped up another spoonful of egg custard and brought it to Er Bao’s lips. “You’re a big boy now, and I’ll feed you too. Come on, open wide…”

Er Bao looked at the spoonful of egg custard offered to him, and suddenly his eyes welled up with tears, and tears fell without warning.

Ning Shu was surprised. Why was Er Bao crying? “Er Bao, what’s wrong?”

“I… I…” Er Bao didn’t know why, but he just felt like crying. Being so young, he couldn’t describe this feeling; it was like a mix of happiness and sadness. Not knowing what else to do, Er Bao smelled the fragrant egg custard, then simply opened his mouth and swallowed the custard in one bite.

As the egg custard entered his mouth, its smooth, tender, and delicious taste filled his senses. It was so delicious that he hesitated to swallow it.

Actually, he had tasted steamed egg custard before. When he went to the old house for dinner, there were times when they made steamed egg custard there, but with many people around, each person only got a spoonful, so it seemed like a long time ago, maybe last month? The month before that? Erbao couldn’t remember the taste of the steamed egg custard he had last eaten.

Ning Shu saw him looking foolish, but didn’t ask further. She scooped up some steamed egg custard for Yibao too, saying, “Here, Yibao.”

Yibao was precocious; he envied it a bit when his mom fed Erbao steamed egg custard. But he didn’t dare to think that his mom would feed him too.

He looked at Ning Shu with a bewildered expression, looking clueless. At that moment, he finally looked his age. “Thank you, Mom,” Yibao obediently opened his mouth. He didn’t cry like Erbao; he held the steamed egg custard in his mouth, letting it slide down his throat bit by bit.

The warm custard warmed his heart as it passed from his mouth to his body.

Before all the custard had been swallowed, Yibao lowered his head, pretending to drink sweet rice porridge. In reality, his tears also dripped into the bowl, mixing with the sweet potato rice porridge.

“Mom, eat… Mom…” San Bao saw his mom feeding the two elder brothers and opened his mouth, waiting for her to feed him too.

Ning Shu naturally fed him, and also introduced the dishes to the two elder brothers. “The red in this little bok choy is cured meat, made from pork, very delicious.”

“Okay,” Yibao replied, then picked up a piece of farmhouse sausage. He took a small bite, feeling a bit sweet, really delicious.

“Brother, is it tasty?” Erbao, seeing this, also picked some up and asked Yibao.

“Tasty,” Yibao said, “It’s sweet.”

“I like sweet things, I like sugar.” Erbao stuffed a mouthful into his mouth, stirred it a few times, “Wow, it’s even tastier than the steamed egg custard.”

So, he reached out for another chopstick, cautiously looking at Ning Shu as if she would scold him and retract his hand immediately.

But Ning Shu didn’t. She didn’t say anything from Erbao’s second chopstick, to the third… all the way until there was no sausage left in the little bok choy.

Erbao not only ate for himself but also fed his older brother. From being cautious at the start to continuously feeding, he ignored Ning Shu’s presence.

After dinner, both boys’ bellies were round. It was the first time they felt so satisfied after a meal.

In fact, they didn’t eat much. It seemed like they ate a lot, but they mainly drank a lot of sweet potato porridge. Ning Shu added sugar when cooking the sweet potato porridge; the slightly sweet taste made it delicious.

So even though they drank a lot, the porridge was mostly water, and their bellies would deflate after a couple of hours.

Seeing them finish eating, Ning Shu said, “Take San Bao to the yard to digest a bit. You’ll have to take a bath later.”

At the mention of bathing, Erbao hurriedly asked, “Will there be meat and fruits to eat after the bath?”

Yibao pulled Er Bao’s sleeve; Erbao’s mouth was always faster than his hands. “Mom, let me wash the dishes. You’ve worked hard cooking meat today,” he said, trying to please her, afraid that Er Bao’s words would upset their mom.

Yibao had never washed dishes before, which Ning Shu found surprising. The previous owner of the body had never asked the two boys to wash dishes either.

It seemed like something the previous owner hadn’t done when she was young, and Ning Shu hadn’t asked the two boys to do it either. Similarly, things the previous owner hadn’t enjoyed when she was young, she hadn’t let the two boys enjoy either.

For example, the previous owner had never done chores when she was young. Whenever Ning Shu’s mother asked her to do chores, she would run away, and after a few times, Ning Shu’s mother knew it was useless to ask, so she did it herself.

Consequently, the previous owner never asked the two boys to do chores.

Another example was that the previous owner had never worn new clothes when she was young.

She always wore the clothes left by her older sister, so the clothes the three boys wore were also made from her own clothes.

In short, the thoughts of the previous owner were very different.

But even though Ning Shu was self-serving, she wouldn’t ask two five-year-old children to wash dishes.

However, she didn’t refuse Yi Bao either. Instead, she said, “You won’t wash the dishes clean, but you can’t just sit there while I cook and wash dishes. From now on, you’ll gather firewood and share the household chores. Can you do that?”