Chapter 6: No More Tears

“Ahhh!” Dahu, who was running gleefully, got tripped up by a small stone. His tiny body fell forward onto the ground.

Chen Manman quickly scooped up Erhu and rushed over. “What happened?!”

She picked up Dahu, who was sprawled on the ground, and nearly burst into tears herself. His little palms and knees were scraped, and the skin on one elbow was completely torn off, bloody and embedded with pebbles. The weather was still hot, and he had only been wearing a sleeveless vest today.

“Waaah! Mommy! Wuwuwuwu…”

Holding Dahu gently, Chen Manman’s heart ached. “It’s okay, sweetie. Mommy’s going to take you home and put medicine on you.”

She lifted Dahu with one arm, scooped up Erhu with the other, and dashed home.

“There, there… Mommy will blow on it for you, okay?” Seeing Dahu crying so heartbreakingly, Chen Manman couldn’t help but tear up too, guilt washing over her.

Once home, she laid the two boys on the kang bed. “Dahu, be good! Mommy’s going to get medicine. It won’t hurt after that. Erhu, keep an eye on your brother, okay? I’ll be right back.”

She stepped out, entered the kitchen, and slipped into the portable farmhouse courtyard. Rushing upstairs, she tore through drawers and boxes until she found disinfectant cotton, gauze, red medicinal liquid, tweezers, and an alcohol spray.

Then she grabbed two bottles of milk from the storage area, peeled off the labels to reveal clear glass bottles, and exited the courtyard again.

Back inside, Chen Manman gently disinfected Dahu’s wounds, carefully removing the tiny stones with tweezers, applied red medicine, and wrapped it all with gauze.

“Dahu is the best and the bravest! You didn’t even cry while Mommy was treating your wound, right?”

“Mm! I’m the best!” Dahu sniffled. “Mommy, I didn’t cry—look!” He wiped away his tears with his uninjured wrist and tilted his head proudly.

“Yes, you didn’t cry at all. Such a brave boy!” Chen Manman softly wiped the tear-streaked face with a clean cloth. “How about a bottle of milk as a reward?” She opened one and held it to his lips.

Kids could be easily distracted.

“Milk?” Dahu sniffed the sweet scent and instantly perked up.

Gulp, gulp—he took two big swigs.

“Mommy, it’s sooo good!” He licked his lips, a satisfied look on his face. “Mommy, give the rest to my brother—I’m full.”

Though he said that, his eyes were still locked longingly on the bottle.

“You’re such a good brother. This one is yours. Mommy got another bottle for Erhu too. He did a great job looking after you—so he deserves a reward too!”

She opened the second bottle and handed it to Erhu.

Erhu, however, was still staring at Dahu’s bandaged elbow. His eyes filled with tears, and he suddenly burst into sobs. “Mommy, I don’t want it. Give it all to brother! He’s bleeding!”

Clearly, the sight of Dahu getting hurt had scared him badly.

“There, there, don’t cry, sweetheart. Your brother is fine—he’ll be all better in a few days!” Chen Manman was a bit flustered. She’d never looked after kids before.

“Don’t cry, Erhu,” Dahu added quickly, raising his bandaged arm slightly to show he was okay. “See? It doesn’t even hurt! We each have one bottle of milk, and when I get better, I’ll take you out to play!”

Chen Manman hugged the two boys close, gently patting their backs. “Erhu, no more crying. Mommy will make braised pork for dinner!”

She felt overwhelmed—she clearly didn’t know how to comfort kids properly. She figured she’d better dig into some of those parenting books in her storage space later.

Thankfully, both Dahu and Erhu were well-behaved. In no time, the two little ones were happily sipping their milk.

“Mommy’s going to cook dinner. You two stay on the kang and don’t come down. If you need anything, call me,” Chen Manman instructed as she headed to the kitchen.

The sun was already setting—time to get dinner started!

She added two more jin (approx. 2 lbs) of pork belly to the one she’d bought, cut it into chunks and blanched it. She then rendered some lard from the fatty pieces, pouring the extra fat into a small bowl—most families used lard for cooking these days, and hers was no exception.

After removing the lard, she tossed in a few rock sugar pieces to caramelize. Once the sugar turned golden, she stirred the pork in until evenly coated. Then she added water, scallions, ginger, garlic, cooking wine, dark and light soy sauce, salt, white pepper, and oyster sauce—most of these seasonings came from her storage supplies.

She covered the pot, brought it to a boil, then turned it to low heat to let it simmer. Braised pork needed to be soft and tender to be truly delicious.

From the cellar, she pulled out some potatoes, peeled and chopped them, and also made some cornmeal dough to slap onto the pot’s edges to cook.

In another pot, usually used for boiling water, she cleaned it and prepared some millet porridge—adding a handful of white rice for extra flavor and texture.

From the backyard garden, she picked two loofahs and a bunch of leafy greens to make loofah scrambled eggs and stir-fried greens.

When she plated it all, the braised pork (three jin with potatoes) filled a whole large bowl. She served the cornmeal flatbreads on a plate, set everything on the table, and went to get the porridge from the kitchen.

“Smells amazing~! Mom must be cooking something good again,” said her older brother, Chen Guangming, stepping into the yard. Even before entering, he could smell the meat.

“Whoa! Braised pork!” He practically drooled at the sight of the full table.

“Big Brother, come help me carry the porridge!” Chen Manman’s voice called from the kitchen.

“Coming!” He came back out with two big bowls of porridge.

“Dad! Mom! Hurry, come eat! Manman made braised pork—it smells heavenly!” he shouted.

“Mmm, smells great,” their mother chimed in as she approached. “Where are Dahu and Erhu?”

“Mom, I took them to buy pork earlier. Dahu tripped and got hurt. They’re on the kang playing,” Chen Manman said, guilt still lingering. She hadn’t watched them closely enough.

“Oh no! Let me check on him,” her mom said, already heading into the house. “My poor grandson—Grandma’s coming!” she called.

Chen’s father and older brother followed her into the house.

Soon enough, Grandma and Grandpa came back out, each carrying one little boy. The family gathered around the table.

“Grandpa, Grandma, I was really brave today! I didn’t cry when Mommy put medicine on me!” Dahu bragged, holding up his bandaged arm.

Chen Manman: “…” Who was the one sobbing like his heart was breaking earlier?

At that moment, Lin Shuhe returned home. He always got back later than the others—after the evening work ended, every cotton picker had to get their harvest weighed and logged individually, and he always took his work seriously. Usually, he was the last one back.

And then came that awkward silence…

“Wash up. Time to eat!” Chen’s father broke the quiet.

Everyone sat down around the table, digging into the fragrant braised pork.

“Manman, your braised pork is amazing! Even better than Mom’s!” her big brother exclaimed with his mouth full.

“Brat! Just eat your meat—can’t even keep your mouth shut with a mouthful of pork!” their mother scolded.

Chen Manman: “…” Her brother was a bit… slow, huh?

Chen Guangming: “Heh heh…”

Yup, confirmed.

“When’s Chunzhi coming back?” Mom asked, glancing at her son who was busy stuffing his face.

“Probably in the next few days,” he mumbled.

Yao Chunzhi was Chen Guangming’s wife. A few days ago, they’d argued about earning work points during the autumn harvest, and she’d stormed back to her parents’ place in the neighboring Yao village—a four-hour walk away.

The couple had only been married for half a year. In the novel, Chen Manman remembered that soon after Chunzhi returned home, she got pregnant. But near the end of her term, a fight broke out between her and the original Chen Manman. During the scuffle, Chunzhi fell, suffered a difficult birth, and the baby girl was born frail and sickly. A few years later, Chunzhi passed away from poor health.

After that tragedy, her once cheerful big brother became quiet and withdrawn.

Thinking of this, Chen Manman couldn’t help but feel sad. In the novel, Yao Chunzhi was a bit petty at times, but she was straightforward and hot-tempered—everything was written on her face. She wasn’t a schemer.

Now that I’m here, that tragedy will NOT happen! she thought firmly.