Chapter 77

“Does it hurt?” Ning Shu washed Erbao’s hands with warm water and carefully cleaned the dirt from his wound.

In rural areas during this era, the ground was often muddy, so after falling down, hands would be covered in dirt.

Moreover, with injuries on the palms, dirt could easily enter the wounds.

Erbao was actually quite sore.

When fighting with Zhuang Xiaopang, he was so focused on fighting that he forgot about the pain.

Now, being washed with warm water, all the pain came back, even more intense.

But seeing his mother gently washing his hands, he gritted his teeth and chuckled, “It doesn’t hurt.”

If his smile wasn’t so forced, if his voice wasn’t trembling, Ning Shu would have believed him.

After washing his hands, his wound wasn’t severe, just some scraped skin from small stones on the ground, nothing that needed medicine.

But Ning Shu said, “Starting from tomorrow, until your palm heals, you can’t fight with others or play with dirt, understand? Otherwise, I won’t cook delicious food for you.”

“I understand. I won’t fight with other kids. It was Zhuang Xiaopang who started it. He said his dad disappeared because we said his dad spanked people.” Erbao couldn’t understand why Zhuang Xiaopang’s dad disappearing had anything to do with them mentioning it.

Ning Shu explained, “His dad disappeared because he did something wrong and ran away. It has nothing to do with you. And you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re honest children. As for Zhuang Xiaopang hitting you, it’s normal for kids to play and sometimes fight. If you can win, fight. If not, run away. Understand?”

She didn’t see fighting between kids as a big deal.

However, she didn’t want to burden the children with the thought that they were responsible for Zhuang Daming’s disappearance.

What if they developed a complex about it?

So she directly explained the reason for Zhuang Daming’s disappearance.

But judging from what she heard at the scene, Zhuang Xiaopang’s mother seemed to be level-headed, so she wouldn’t make a fuss about Zhuang Xiaopang fighting with Erbao.

If Zhuang Xiaopang’s mother couldn’t handle it, then she didn’t mind not handling it either.

“I understand.” If Mom said it had nothing to do with them, then it didn’t.

As a child, he would listen to his mother. But then, “Mom, what bad thing did Xiaopang’s dad do?”

Ning Shu: “…”

Seeing the eager look in his eyes, she just covered his head directly, “Children shouldn’t worry about adult matters.”

Using his uninjured hand, Erbao rubbed his head and continued to smile foolishly. “Then when I grow up, can I worry about it?”

Ning Shu: “…”

This kid was beyond help.

“We’ll talk about it when you grow up. Alright, it’s time for dinner.” She took his little hand and led him to the table, not wanting to waste any more time talking with him.

Lin Guodong had already brought the dishes to the table, and the rice was also served.

“Mom, what’s this?” Erbao pointed to the most prominent dish on the table.

The most eye-catching dish on the table was naturally the steamed oysters placed in the center.

Lin Guodong had picked out the smaller ones and washed them, and Ning Shu steamed them in a pot.

Now they were all placed in a colander, with a wooden basin underneath to catch the water from the steamed oysters.

At this moment, after taking out the oysters from Xiaoshan and Xiaoshi, there were probably around ten kilograms left.

But ten kilograms were with shells, so there wouldn’t be a lot of meat.

“These are oysters, eat up, but don’t eat too many. Eating too much will upset your stomach, understand?” Ning Shu reminded.

Anyway, this meal only had these oysters, and everyone ate together.

The two children couldn’t eat much, as their speed wasn’t as fast as hers.

“I understand,” Erbao replied.

Yibao also nodded and curiously grabbed a piece.

Ning Shu certainly wouldn’t lag behind them.

She picked one that looked relatively large, cracked the shell open with both hands, and reminded them while doing so, “Be careful not to cut your hands. If you can’t open it, let your dad do it.”

Actually, they were easy to open.

But children might not have enough strength to crack them open.

“We know.”

“Mmm.”

The two children responded quickly and didn’t eat slowly.

“Mom, this tastes really good.” After opening the shell and eating it, Erbao’s eyes lit up.

It tasted as delicious as snacks.

In fact, steamed oysters were meant to be eaten as snacks.

“Yeah, it’s delicious,” Yibao agreed.

Erbao was eating his fish slice porridge, probably because the fish slice porridge was so delicious.

It was his first time eating it, so he was quite enthusiastic about finishing his meal.

He didn’t even show much interest in the steamed oysters, which was unusual for him because he usually liked to eat whatever his brother ate.

Besides the steamed oysters, sour and spicy fish was also the star dish of the day.

Lin Guodong had eaten pickled fish soup before, but it was his first time eating sour and spicy fish.

Ning Shu’s sour and spicy fish slices were coated in flour, giving them a chewy texture.

However, even without being coated in flour, Ning Shu still enjoyed sour and spicy fish slices.

She cooked according to her own preferences, usually making whatever she liked to eat.

After frying the flour-coated sour and spicy fish slices, Ning Shu fried the leftover pickled vegetables in the same oil, then poured in hot water.

The reason for using hot water was that it would turn milky white when poured in, whereas cold water wouldn’t.

Once the water boiled, she added the fried fish slices.

Even with limited ingredients and no star anise or chili peppers, these sour and spicy fish slices were much tastier than simple pickled fish soup.

“Mom, it’s been a long time since we had this fish.” Yibao remembered having it before.

That was when Ning Shu bought it from an app and told them it was from a state-owned restaurant.

At that time, there were no fresh fish available, so she had no choice.

“Yeah, do you like it?” Ning Shu asked. “If you do, there’s enough fish left to make sour and spicy fish several more times.”

“I like it,” Yibao said honestly.

He wasn’t as picky about food as Erbao, but he also liked eating tasty things.

“Mom, I like it too,” Erbao chimed in. “This fish doesn’t have bones, it’s delicious.”

How could fish not have bones? Of course, it was because Ning Shu removed them. But seeing the two children enjoying it, Ning Shu was happy.

“Then I’ll make it for you again tomorrow.”

As for Sanbao’s opinion, there was no need to ask.

Just by seeing him eating so enthusiastically, she knew.

Before, Sanbao’s protein supplement consisted only of eggs, occasionally supplemented by meat from the app.

The fish she bought before was pre-cooked food from the app, which wasn’t suitable for Sanbao, so Ning Shu didn’t dare to let him eat it.

This was Sanbao’s first time eating fish slice porridge, and the soft and glutinous fish instantly overshadowed the meat, making Sanbao really like it.

Originally, Ning Shu was thinking of using the over 20 kilograms of fish to make fermented fish, and then letting Lin Guodong bring some to others.

Now it seemed that she couldn’t make all of it into fermented fish.

She could keep some in a bucket to make fish slice porridge for Sanbao’s health. If they wanted to eat it, they could kill one.

Speaking of which, Ning Shu didn’t know what kind of food a child as old as Sanbao could eat, what he couldn’t eat.

Before she transmigrated, she hadn’t been married or had children, so everything she fed Sanbao was based on her own imagination.

She thought oily and greasy food was unsuitable for him, and spicy food was also a no-go.

Every day, she could only give him egg custard, minced meat porridge, and the current fish slice porridge.

If it were modern times, she could consult a doctor or search online.

“Mom…” Sanbao was concentrating on eating when he suddenly felt someone staring at him.

Perplexed, he lifted his head and saw his mother looking at him.

After a moment of thought, he scooped up a spoonful of fish slice porridge from his wooden bowl and offered it to her. “Mom, eat…”

Ning Shu: “…”

Seeing his face, which resembled a cute little kitten, and the fish slice porridge in the spoon, instead of feeling touched, she felt a bit repulsed.

What was going on? “I’m not hungry, you eat it yourself,” she said, trying to smile gently.

Seeing that his mother didn’t want to eat the delicious fish slice porridge, Sanbao immediately withdrew his hand, stuffed the fish slice porridge into his mouth, and then took out the spoon from his mouth to show Ning Shu.

“All gone…” It meant he finished eating.

Ning Shu: “Sanbao is so good, eating so neatly.” She praised him with encouragement.

“Hehehe…” Sanbao laughed. His laughter wasn’t as refined as Yibao’s, nor as carefree as Erbao’s; it was just particularly cute.

Then, Sanbao continued to eat the fish slice porridge. However, after every bite, he showed the spoon to Ning Shu and said, “All gone,” intending to receive more praise.

Ning Shu: “Sanbao is so good.”

With this praise, Sanbao finished the fish slice porridge and rubbed his round little belly, ready to get off the chair.

When children finished their meal, they didn’t like sitting on the stool; they wanted to move around.

After the family finished dinner, the children stood in the kitchen digesting while Ning Shu tidied up the table and Lin Guodong went outside to wash the clothes changed in the evening.

The weather outside was cold, and there were many clothes for the family of five. If it weren’t for Lin Guodong’s high tolerance to cold water, he wouldn’t have felt cold even when washing with cold water.

If Ning Shu were to wash, she would need to boil hot water all night to finish washing the clothes.

By the time Ning Shu finished tidying up the kitchen, it was already dark outside.

The clothes couldn’t be distinguished between clean and dirty, so she had to roughly scrub every corner of the clothes.

She was especially afraid of the cold in winter.

After finishing her own tasks and feeling too tired to do laundry with Lin Guodong, she went back to her room to sleep with the kids.

Although she had some free time this morning, she felt particularly tired in the afternoon after spending the whole afternoon at sea.

As soon as she lay down on the bed, she felt overwhelmed by fatigue.

Before long, Ning Shu was squinting from drowsiness.

Lin Guodong finished washing and drying the clothes.

He first went to check on the children and found that although each of them was tucked into bed, they seemed lively.

When they saw him, they widened their eyes and looked at him expectantly.

“Dad, are you here to tell us a story?” asked Erbao

Yibao also looked at his dad with bright eyes, eager to learn.

Erbao glanced at the bed and then at his dad, scooting over to make room for him.

The bed in the children’s room was 1.5 meters wide, which was more than enough space for the two kids to sleep comfortably, but it would be a bit crowded if Lin Guodong joined them.

However, being together in bed during winter was cozy.