Chapter 20: The Little Dumplings Grew Up

After An An and Lele’s full-month banquet, they seemed to grow like balloons being inflated, changing every single day.

Now, after experiencing teething and learning to roll over, the two little milk dumplings had begun to babble and speak simple words.

The two brothers were growing bit by bit—from tiny soft bundles into chubby round dumplings—showing just how much effort the Lei Family had put into raising them.

Of course, the one who contributed the most to the chubbiness of the two dumplings was their mother, Si Yueyue.

Over the past few months, Si Yueyue had earned quite a bit in royalties from her writing. So, when spring arrived, she used it as an excuse to visit the town, where she quietly smuggled supplies out from her space.

After transporting things from her space, she also delivered some rice, flour, cured meat, and other items to Lei Zhenzhen’s house. After all, this Eldest Sister-in-law had genuinely been kind to her and the two children.

Looking at the things An An and Lele used at home and the rows of jars of malted milk powder stored in her space, it was clear.

For the sake of the two children’s food supply, Eldest Sister-in-law’s whole family had done their best to trade for malted milk powder. If powdered formula hadn’t been so expensive and hard to get, they would’ve traded for that too.

Si Yueyue had refused multiple times, both openly and subtly, but it had been useless. Still, she couldn’t exactly tell them that she already had formula, could she?

So, with no better option, she had graciously accepted the malted milk powder from her Eldest Sister-in-law. Of course, Si Yueyue had also paid money for it. Otherwise, no matter how good Lei Zhenzhen was at earning money, she couldn’t support them forever.

Once the kids grew a little older and Si Yueyue could travel to town more frequently, she planned to bring back malted milk powder for both families as a supplement.

Speaking of which, Si Yueyue suddenly remembered something funny.

At the time, when she had taken large and small bags of goods out of her basket, Grandma Zhao had gotten extremely angry and scolded her thoroughly. Her hopping and yelling back then looked just like a…

Cough… those who get it, get it.

Yes… She could still clearly remember what the old lady looked like back then.

What had the old woman said at the time? Oh, right.

“These wasteful daughters-in-law, not planning to live anymore? Just know how to splurge on those worthless bits and bobs! Won’t be happy until they’ve spent it all, is that it?”

“Why would country folks eat such good stuff? You think it grants immortality or something? If it really did, I’d eat it every day without missing a single meal…”

Pfft— Just thinking about her mother-in-law’s expression made her burst out laughing. Forgive her—she just couldn’t help it.

It was simply too funny.

But of course, life still had to go on. She had so many supplies, how could she let her family go hungry and fall sick?

Si Yueyue went over the matter from every angle with the family and finally got them to understand that she wasn’t just putting on airs. Only then did they slowly accept her explanation.

Well, maybe just on the surface.

But Si Yueyue wasn’t worried—eventually, everyone would get used to it.

The arrival of spring filled the team members—after a long winter—with hope for the new year.

At the moment, the production brigade was bustling with spring planting. Since there were still two little dumplings at home, Si Yueyue wasn’t working in the fields to earn labor points.

Still, with the family now busier than ever, Si Yueyue took on the task of cooking while also watching over the children at home.

That day, as usual, Si Yueyue placed a cooling mat—woven by Lei Dashu—in the main room, then settled her two sons on it.

With a smiling face, she said to the two little babies,

“Mom has to go cook. An An and Lele, sit here nicely and don’t crawl off the mat, okay?”

The two little dumplings reacted—one grinned widely, the other nodded solemnly as if he really understood.

“Ah…”

Looking at the completely different personalities of her two sons, Si Yueyue felt a surge of joy in her heart. Her two little boys were just too adorable.

“An An is so good. Help Mom watch over your little brother, and later Mom will make steamed egg custard for An An.”

“Ah…”

Upon hearing “eat.” Lele—who always drooled at the mention of food—immediately turned to his mom and let out a loud “ah!”

“Okay, Mom will make steamed egg custard for Lele too. Lele, stay here with your brother like a good boy, alright?”

“Mmm…” Lele let out a soft little “mmm.” as if urging his mother to hurry up and cook something tasty for him.

After settling the two boys, Si Yueyue handed them each a small toy before heading into the kitchen to start cooking.

Because the spot where the two boys were placed was close to the kitchen, Si Yueyue could hear if anything happened, so she wasn’t too worried.

Since she had promised to make egg custard for her sons, Si Yueyue took a few extra eggs from the cupboard, planning to make something tasty for the other kids in the family as well.

After all, she couldn’t only care about her own two children. The other kids needed nourishment too—and so did the adults in the house.

Spring planting was exhausting work. How could anyone manage it without a bit of proper food?

In the kitchen—

The pot on the stove was bubbling with steam. Inside was the egg custard Si Yueyue was preparing for her two sons.

As for lunch for the rest of the family, she was planning to make a clay pot rice with preserved meats.

She first took out various seasonings from her space, mixed them into a sauce, then brought out a piece of preserved meat and sliced it up for later use.

Next, she diced some pre-peeled potatoes, chopped the soaked shiitake mushrooms, and placed the shelled green peas nearby, ready to go.

Once everything was prepped, Si Yueyue stir-fried the preserved meat in the pan until it released its fragrance and some oil. Then she added the potatoes, mushrooms, and peas, poured in the sauce she had prepared earlier, and stir-fried everything over high heat until the sauce was rich and aromatic—then turned off the heat.

Finally, she took out the steamed egg custard, washed the pot clean, added rice and water, poured the stir-fried ingredients into the pot, and covered it with a lid. Cooking it like regular rice would be enough.

When the rice was done, she would fry half an egg for each person and place it on top—delicious and visually appealing.

Sigh—originally, she had planned to give everyone a whole fried egg. But when she thought of the looks her family would give her—bright, judgmental gazes full of silent accusations that she was wasting food—she gave up on that idea.

After all, changing how the family thought had to be done slowly, right?

While Si Yueyue was busy in the kitchen, in the main room, An An and Lele were engaging in a battle of wits and strength.

At first, Lele had been playing obediently with his brother An An on the cooling mat. But once the aroma of food began drifting out from the kitchen…

Lele’s little butt couldn’t stay still anymore. Who cared about toys when there was the scent of delicious food? Certainly not him.

Lele tossed aside his toy, tilted his body, and with coordinated movements of arms and legs, began crawling slowly off the mat—like a little turtle on a beach.

An An noticed that his brother was crawling beyond the mat. The tiny child suddenly exploded with strength, letting out a babyish shout:

“Di—…”

As he made the sound, he scrambled over with hands and feet to get to his brother’s side.

“Di… mm…”

His tiny hand patted Lele’s arm gently, reminding him again.

Lele blinked his big round eyes at his brother.

“Ah…”

Hmm? That didn’t sound like what his brother had said…

“Ah… mm… nn… tz…”

Trying hard to articulate what he wanted to say, Lele hissed out a few unclear sounds, his whole little body deflating like a balloon that had lost air.

An An shook his head when he heard his brother’s response.

“Ah… mm…”

But at that moment, Lele had already been overtaken by the delicious scent from the kitchen. He didn’t want to listen to his brother at all. No matter what An An said, he turned his head and kept crawling forward.

Seeing that his brother wasn’t listening and was about to crawl off the mat, An An reached out, grabbed Lele’s foot, and pulled him back with all his might.

Lele, still facing the kitchen, stretched out his chubby little arms:

“Tz… mm… ah… ying…”

An An continued tugging his brother back with force, his little face turning red from the effort.

“Puh…”

Little An An kept his mother’s words firmly in mind—Mom had said they were not allowed to go off the mat. He didn’t know what a “cooling mat” was, but he understood Mom had said they should stay here to play.

Thus began a baby-sized tug-of-war.

One pulled inward with all his might; the other pushed outward just as hard.

After a round of struggling and fighting…

In the end, An An couldn’t match Lele’s strength. His arms gave out, and he plopped back down in place.

But seeing his brother escaping—crawling step by step toward the edge—his sense of duty as the older brother overwhelmed him, and little An An finally couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Waaaah—!”

He burst into tears.

Hearing his brother cry, Lele stopped crawling and stared at him blankly.

At that moment, Si Yueyue—who had been adding firewood at the stove—heard the noise from the main room and quickly came out to check.

Little An An, upon seeing Mom emerge, stopped crying excitedly and hiccupped as he tried to speak:

“Hic… mm ma… ma, di, chu…”

Si Yueyue saw the two boys sitting on opposite ends of the mat—one with snot streaming down his face from crying, the other frozen in place like a little fool.

And then she heard her elder son speak.

She stood there, stunned.

If anyone else had seen this scene, they would’ve probably said: “They’re just like their mom’s kids—one a big fool, the other a little one.”

Coming back to her senses, Si Yueyue’s heart ached a little as she saw An An’s red-rimmed eyes. She went over and gently wiped his face.

“An An, why are you crying?”