Of course, this had come at a price—she had spent all of her 30 yuan. She bought the cotton from Master He, who had sourced it from the black market. Naturally, the price was higher than what she would have paid at the supply and marketing cooperative.

But in the end, it was worth it.

She arrived home before it was completely dark; in early autumn, nightfall came a little after seven.

Wei Dai had already prepared dinner, and the food on the table looked like it had been picked over. Wen Jiajia asked, “Did Chun’er and Xuanxuan eat first?”

He nodded. “The two kids were so hungry. They were already home when I got back. They ate all the mung bean cakes in the cupboard.”

Still feeling hungry, they resisted the urge to eat the biscuits. Wei Dai saw this and cooked in advance so the food would stay warm in the pot.

Hearing the commotion, the two girls came out of the house. Wen Chun ran to the cupboard, took out two fried dough twists, and handed them to Wen Jiajia. “These are the fried dough twists that Principal Guo gave us as a reward! I’ll give them to you, Auntie. One for you and one for Uncle.”

She looked up, clearly proud of herself.

Wen Xuan also nodded vigorously, her chest puffed out and a smile on her face.

Wei Dai came out with two bowls of rice and said with a smile, “They value those twists so much. They hid them as soon as they got back.”

Wen Jiajia exclaimed, “Wow!” and said in an exaggerated tone, “I knew you two were excellent. Even Principal Guo was impressed by you.”

Wen Chun grinned and said, “After class, we helped the teacher move desks. Principal Guo saw us and gave us the fried dough twists as a reward.”

Wen Jiajia gave them a thumbs up. “That’s because you’re willing to help others and respect your teachers. Keep up the good work.”

“Of course!” the two girls chimed in.

Since they had already eaten, the girls weren’t interested in dinner. Watching Wen Jiajia’s reaction, they moved toward the radio.

Seeing that she didn’t object, they confidently turned it on, skillfully tuning to their favorite channel to listen to a story.

They were back to listening to *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* again.

This time, it was the famous scene of heroes discussing valor over wine. No wonder the two sisters were so eager to listen, even at the risk of getting scolded again, just a week after their last reprimand.

They had gotten so engrossed in listening to the radio a while ago that Wen Jiajia had scolded them for it.

In any case, ever since the radio was bought, Wen Jiajia would occasionally scold them for overusing it. After each scolding, the girls would usually manage to resist for a week or two—unless Wen Jiajia switched to a harsher tone, in which case they might hold off for three or four weeks.

But today, having just praised them, Wen Jiajia didn’t want to reprimand them, so she let them listen.

In fact, she wanted to listen, too.

It’s no wonder people nowadays are so knowledgeable about *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* and *Water Margin*. How could those who grew up listening to these stories not be well-versed in them?

After dinner, Wen Jiajia asked Wei Dai, “Will you pick up your aunt tomorrow, or should I?”

Wei Dai replied, “I’ll go. You don’t know anyone.”

Wen Jiajia clicked her tongue. “Silly, if you don’t know someone, you can just hold up a sign.”

That was true, but Wei Dai still preferred to go himself.

He worried constantly, fearing something might happen to Wen Jiajia. He had asked her to take leave a while ago, but she insisted on staying at work until July.

After dinner, Wen Jiajia asked Wei Dai to store the food. She had bought 20 kilograms of rice and 5 kilograms of flour, along with some soybeans and mung beans. Their food supply could last for four or five days, but they couldn’t buy food right after the elders arrived. That would make the elders feel uncomfortable.

“Put the flour in the cupboard, not in the room,” Wen Jiajia instructed. Then she asked Wei Dai, “Can you still wear your pajamas?”

“Yes! I’ve already got three sets; you don’t need to make any for me.”

Wen Jiajia nodded. She lifted the thatched curtain covering the sewing machine and went back to the room to get some buttons, planning to use the fabric to make two sets of long-sleeved cardigans.

Who were they for? Of course, for the aunt.

Their help had solved a pressing need for her and Wei Dai, so it was no big deal to make two pieces of clothing as a token of gratitude.

After much practice, Wen Jiajia had become proficient with the sewing machine and could even embroider patterns.

The panda on the clothes that Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were wearing today was embroidered by her. Although it was a bit rough, it was still recognizable as a panda.

It couldn’t be helped; she only had black and white threads at home.

Because of this pattern, the two sisters had developed a keen interest in pandas. In their words, they wanted to see this “ugly yet cute” animal in real life.

Wen Jiajia still felt a bit guilty and admitted that her skills weren’t good enough, and the panda she embroidered was indeed ugly. In reality, pandas were only cute, not ugly.

Wen Jiajia quickly finished making the two long-sleeved cardigans, spending most of her time on the cutting.

Wei Dai had told her that her aunt’s body shape was similar to her mother’s, so Wen Jiajia made the cardigans based on her mother-in-law’s measurements.

Anyway, cardigans like these didn’t need to be a perfect fit. If they were too big, it wouldn’t matter. If they were too small, she could always keep them for herself.

When she tried one on, it felt a bit tight, but she figured it would fit just right after she gave birth.

After finishing the clothes, she asked Wei Dai to wash them. Wei Dai was quick at doing laundry—it only took him a few strokes. Sometimes Wen Jiajia suspected he hadn’t washed them properly, but after checking carefully, she found they were indeed clean.

After a few times, Wen Jiajia understood: men have a natural advantage when it comes to housework.

Especially for tasks that require strength, like sweeping, mopping the floor, and washing clothes—they could handle these tasks efficiently and effectively.

It can be seen that some men who claim they can’t do housework might be doing so on purpose—they just don’t want to do it.

After hanging up the clothes, Wen Jiajia needed to take a bath. As she entered the late stages of pregnancy, Wei Dai was concerned about her bathing alone and wanted to join her, but Wen Jiajia naturally refused.

She didn’t want him making advances in the stuffy, hot bathroom.

Unfortunately, the flashlight was out of battery, and she had forgotten to buy new batteries, so she had no choice but to wait for him.

When they went to the bathroom, Wen Jiajia said, “Let me make this clear first. I’m exhausted and extremely sleepy right now. Please don’t touch me.”

Wei Dai immediately became anxious. “How can you be so tired after just one day? What’s going on at your factory that requires a pregnant woman like you to work so hard?”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes. “There are many people in our factory who keep working even when they’re about to give birth.”

Wei Dai had no retort and said firmly, “I won’t be attending this class at the end of the month. I definitely won’t!”

Wen Jiajia nodded. She wouldn’t joke about her health.

After their shower, Wen Jiajia went to bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The power was still on.

When she woke up again, it was already half past five in the morning—a rare sound sleep in the past two months.

For breakfast, they had rice rolls. Wei Dai had soaked the rice the previous day, got up early this morning to grind it, and then steamed it.

As soon as she got up, she saw the hot, white, and tender rice noodle rolls and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Is this made for me?”

Wei Dai responded, “You’re talking nonsense. Who said they wanted to eat rice noodles the day before yesterday?”

Actually, it’s more accurate to call it Kway Teow, as this rice noodle roll is relatively thick and should be called Kway Teow in my hometown.

But the taste is almost the same. Wei Dai also added eggs, vegetables, and minced meat to the mix and poured soup over it. Xie Yi from next door was so tempted that he climbed over the wall.

After Wen Jiajia finished her meal, she noticed it was still early and decided to rest in the yard. When she saw Xie Yi sticking his head out, she asked, “Why are you up so early? Chun’er and Xuanxuan are still asleep.”

Xie Yi scratched his head. “My brother wet the bed.”

As he spoke, cries came from the next room, with occasional shouts of “Brother is bad” and “I don’t have any urine.” Xie Yi’s face changed, and he thought to himself, “Oh no!”

He quickly retracted his head.

Wen Jiajia covered her mouth and laughed. The second son of the Xie family was a stoic boy. As he grew older, he didn’t allow Wen Jiajia to pinch his cheeks, not even his mother, Teacher Shen.

He was also very concerned about his reputation. Once, when he fell, he quickly got up and looked around to see if anyone had witnessed his fall.

He sighed with relief when he saw no one around, but the next second, he saw Wen Jiajia emerging from behind a tree with her face flushed, redder than the pomegranate peel next to her.

Just as Wen Jiajia was laughing at the neighbor’s child, a sudden “ah” came from the room. Before she could react, Wen Chun burst out of the room, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes red and sobbing.

Wen Jiajia hurriedly asked, “What’s the matter?”

She touched Wen Chun’s head and said, “Were you scared awake? Don’t be afraid, it’s okay. The two brothers next door are just joking.”

Wen Chun didn’t answer. After a brief silence, she burst into tears.

Wen Jiajia was stunned. At that moment, blood oozed from Wen Chun’s fingers, and she almost fell over.

“Wei Dai—”

Wen Jiajia instinctively called for help and then pulled Wen Chun’s hand down. Once she saw the situation clearly, she breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense body relaxed.

“What’s the matter?”

Wei Dai, who was weeding outside, ran in when he heard the commotion. Seeing Wen Chun crying loudly, Wen Jiajia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Chun’er lost a tooth.”

“Really?” Wei Dai squatted down and pried open her hand to check. “Why are you crying? Losing teeth is normal; it’s just tooth replacement.”

Wen Chun’s tears fell. “Why did I cry first? Xiao Yi didn’t cry. He’s older than me.”

Wen Jiajia explained, “Everyone is different! Xiao Yi will fall sometimes, but no one can avoid it.”

To be honest, he’s not much older than you.

She took a closer look and saw that Wen Chun had lost the lower central incisor^[1]is one of the front teeth in the mouth, located in the center of the dental arch.. Normally, this tooth should be replaced around this time, so it was perfectly normal for it to fall out.

Wen Chun was still crying. “But if you talk nonsense… it will leak… it will leak out.”

Wen Jiajia wiped her tears. “Everyone experiences this. And where’s the fallen tooth? Let me see.”

Wen Chun fetched the tooth from the bed. She was particular about her teeth and was the one who brushed the longest at home every day.

The tooth was clean and without blood. Wen Jiajia washed it, then, with some surprise, stood in the yard and threw the tooth, which was smaller than a pebble, onto the roof.

The teeth were so light that they made no sound when they hit the roof.

Wen Jiajia felt quite emotional, as it was time for both sisters to start losing their teeth.

It could be expected that, in the days to come, teeth would be thrown onto the roof or under the beds from time to time.