Chapter 54

Er Bao was very disappointed, he puffied up his cheeks.  

Then, his father grabbed him and tossed him next to his elder brother. “If you keep complaining, you’ll sleep next door by yourself!”  

Er Bao looked at his father’s strong physique and dared not resist. He gazed at his mother as if she were a heartless betrayer.  

Shen Yiyi immediately switched sides, glaring at Li Chen before beckoning her second child back to her side. She lay down beside him and said: “Good boy, Mother loves you the most!”  

“Even more than Father?”  

“Even more than Father!”  

Overjoyed, Er Bao secretly flashed a victorious smile at his father in a place where Shen Yiyi couldn’t see.  

Li Chen: “…” This little rascal—what a waste of effort raising him!  

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Since Er Bao had won, the sleeping arrangement remained unchanged.

Xiao Bao and Da Bao lay to Shen Yiyi’s right, while Er Bao and Li Chen were on her left. Li Chen and Shen Yiyi were separated by Er Bao, and Li Chen had to sleep under his own blanket…  

Everyone was exhausted, and soon the lights were turned off for the night.  

Li Chen, however, couldn’t sleep.

He wasn’t sure if it was because he had napped too much in the afternoon or for some other reason.  

As he listened to the steady breathing of the four sleeping beside him, he felt both satisfied and somewhat wronged.  

He wanted to hold his wife while sleeping too…  

Just as he was about to close his eyes and force himself to sleep, he suddenly felt a light tug on his blanket. He immediately opened his eyes and saw his wife already sitting up, speaking in a hushed yet teasing tone: “Move Er Bao over.”  

Li Chen’s eyes lit up instantly. He sat up without hesitation and carefully moved Er Bao, who was sleeping soundly beside him, to his wife’s original position.  

“Be gentle, don’t wake him up.” Shen Yiyi reminded him.  

Li Chen immediately softened his movements. He couldn’t risk waking up this little rascal—otherwise, he wouldn’t get to hold his wife.  

After settling Er Bao down, he discreetly pushed the wool blanket farther away.

Shen Yiyi noticed and was speechless: “……”  

After settling Er Bao, Li Chen lay back in his spot, thoughtfully lifting the blanket to signal his wife to lie down.  

Shen Yiyi followed his lead and lay beside him. Li Chen slightly propped himself up, carefully adjusting the blanket on her other side. But when he lay back down, he suddenly became reserved and did not embrace her.  

Shen Yiyi found it both endearing and amusing. Feeling a bit softhearted, she took the initiative to wrap her arms around his waist.  

Li Chen paused for a moment before finally turning to his side. He slipped an arm under her neck, letting her rest on it, and pulled her into his embrace.  

No words were needed.

The two simply held each other and drifted off to sleep.  

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The next day, the main task for the family of five remained the same—heading up the mountain to collect firewood.  

It was also the day the team officially finished the autumn harvest. Chen Qiang no longer had to work in the fields, so he too planned to gather firewood.  

This meant the wooden cart was no longer available for Li Chen to borrow.  

However, Li Chen couldn’t bear to let Shen Yiyi struggle with carrying firewood. He could carry some himself, but one person’s strength was limited—it was too time-consuming and exhausting.  

So, after some discussion between the two families, they decided to gather firewood together and split it evenly.  

It was Shen Yiyi who suggested this arrangement. Lin Daniu felt uneasy about it, as she was pregnant and couldn’t help. In their household, only Chen Qiang was a strong laborer, while Wang Cai was still a child. On the other hand, Shen Yiyi’s entire family of five was pitching in.  

To make up for it, Lin Daniu offered to make cotton-padded clothes for Shen Yiyi. Shen Yiyi couldn’t refuse, so she handed over the fabric and cotton.  

And so, the two families began their cooperation.  

Li Chen and Chen Qiang took turns pulling the cart and chopping wood, while Shen Yiyi tied up the bundled firewood. The Three Baos and Wang Cai were responsible for picking up dry branches.  

By the end of the first day, Shen Yiyi was utterly exhausted.  

Before being sent to the countryside, she had been pampered by her parents. After arriving, she had once spent an entire day harvesting wheat but had barely managed to cut ten square meters before the team leader reassigned her to cutting pig grass. After two or three days of that, Li Chen had fallen in love with her at first sight—and from then on, even the pig grass was prepared for her.

After marrying Li Chen and becoming pregnant, Shen Yiyi had never done farm work again.  

Although bundling firewood was easier than chopping wood or pulling the cart, it still required effort—otherwise, the bundles would fall apart. After a full day of tying firewood, her arms were sore and aching.  

That night, she asked Li Chen to massage her arms, and he felt incredibly distressed for her.  

He told her to rest at home the next day, but Shen Yiyi refused and went along with them.  

However, she no longer bundled the firewood. Instead, like the Three Baos, she simply picked up dry branches from the ground.  

After two days, once she had recovered, she resumed picking up firewood and occasionally helped with bundling.  

Chen Qiang never voiced a single complaint. In fact, whenever he saw Shen Yiyi tying firewood, he would tell her to stop and let him do it—because he was afraid his older brother would punish him!  

After about seven or eight days of collecting, the group had efficiently gathered enough firewood to last both families through the winter.  

The day before they finished, Li Chen and Chen Qiang went hunting and managed to catch three wild pheasants, two hares, and even found three nests of bird eggs.  

Shen Yiyi decided to showcase her cooking skills the next evening and invited Chen Qiang’s family over for dinner.  

Chen Qiang was thrilled. During the autumn harvest, he had to pass by the Li family’s house every morning and evening on his way to and from work. The aroma from their cooking made his mouth water every day. Unable to resist, he had even managed to get someone from town to bring him a few ounces of meat.  

However, his wife wasn’t skilled in the kitchen and was reluctant to use too much oil or salt. Afraid she would ruin the precious meat, he—who had never stepped into the kitchen since getting married—made an exception that day. He went all out, using plenty of oil and salt.  

Yet, no matter how much he ate, it just didn’t taste like what he had been craving. Instead, he found himself longing even more for the food at his brother’s house.  

Every day, when passing by his brother’s home, he would take a few extra deep breaths, as if just smelling it was the same as eating it.  

To show his gratitude to Shen Yiyi, he gave up all the firewood he had collected that afternoon and sent it straight to his brother’s house.  

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The next day, Shen Yiyi stayed in bed until noon. She only got up when Li Chen had already finished making lunch.  

As for the food Li Chen prepared… well, it was edible, at least.  

Since she was the one who had lazed in bed, Shen Yiyi gave him some face and ate it without complaint.

Lazy people had no right to complain.

However, she could train him in the future!  

The Three Baos, on the other hand, were not as polite. Though they had grown up eating the meals Li Chen cooked, it was easy to transition from frugality to luxury, but going back was difficult.  

After getting used to Shen Yiyi’s cooking during this period, how could they stomach Li Chen’s food now?  

Er Bao even bluntly said: “It tastes bad!”  

His words made his father so furious that he ground his teeth and sent him to wash the dishes.  

Since Er Bao didn’t clean them properly, Li Chen washed them again himself, making sure Er Bao stood beside him and watched so he could learn how to do it correctly.  

Er Bao put on a pitiful expression. “Father, I don’t want to wash dishes!”  

“If you don’t want to wash them, who do you expect to do it?” Li Chen retorted.  

Er Bao stared at him, his meaning clear—his father had always been the one to wash them before.  

Li Chen smirked and asked: “I go to work to earn labor points, your mother cooks, your eldest brother helps with the fire—what did you do?”  

“But Xiao Bao doesn’t do anything either.” Er Bao weakly argued.  

“If you could turn as small as Xiao Bao, I wouldn’t make you work either.” Li Chen replied.  

“……” Er Bao couldn’t find an excuse to get out of chores, so he grudgingly agreed.

Deep down, he regretted his words—he never should have complained about his father’s cooking!  

Shen Yiyi, watching from the side, felt a little sorry for her second child. She couldn’t help but discuss with Li Chen: “Maybe we should wait until next year…”  

When it came to his wife and children, Li Chen had two completely different attitudes. In a low voice, he said: “We can’t spoil them. At their age, they should start learning to do simple tasks.”  

Shen Yiyi nodded. She knew she was the soft-hearted, doting type. Because she had owed the Three Baos too much in her past life, she always wanted to indulge them.  

But that wasn’t the right approach. It still required someone like Li Chen, a principled and strict father, to discipline them properly.  

Afraid that she would cave in, Shen Yiyi deliberately ignored Er Bao’s pitiful gaze and went back inside to knit a sweater.

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