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San Bao was in the middle, Yi Bao and Er Bao were on either side. Yi Bao was on the outer side, and Er Bao was on the inner side.
So she slept next to Yi Bao, naturally being on the outer side.
However, just as Ning Shu was about to fall asleep, Yi Bao rolled into her arms.
He was a soft little bundle, very comfortable to hold.
Ning Shu didn’t refuse, she just hugged him and fell asleep like that.
Just when Ning Shu didn’t know, as she closed her eyes, the baby in her arms opened his eyes, then closed them again; the mother’s embrace was very comfortable.
The next day, all three brothers woke up, but they didn’t get up right away.
Er Bao spoke up, “Brother, are you getting up?”
Yi Bao pretended to still be asleep in his mother’s arms.
Er Bao didn’t hear his brother’s voice, so he continued calling, “Brother, are you awake?”
He even got up to check, only to find his brother still in their mother’s arms, which widened his eyes.
“Get up… get up…” Sandwich Cookie Sanbao also joined in, looking towards their mother.
He also saw his big brother in their mother’s arms. Sanbao was quite good at using his hands, so he reached out to pull Yibao, “Bro, get up… bro…”
Yibao just turned his back against them stubbornly, refusing to get up from his mother’s embrace.
He was sleeping, and no one should wake him up.
Though the stubborn Yibao wasn’t woken up, Ning Shu did wake up. She opened her eyes and met the gazes of Erbao and Sanbao, “Are you both awake?”
“Mom, can I sleep in your arms tonight?” Erbao asked, envy dripping from his words.
He wanted to sleep in his mother’s embrace too.
Ning Shu lowered her head, looking at the soundly sleeping Yibao in her arms, she replied, “Sure.”
How could she refuse? She shifted a bit to make room, “Your big brother is still sleeping, don’t wake him up. You both can lie down for a while; I’ll go make breakfast.”
It was still early, and these few days the three children seemed tired.
Ning Shu hoped they could get more sleep.
Breakfast was simple, pumpkin porridge with boiled eggs and egg custard for the Sanbao. While the porridge was cooking, Ning Shu went to freshen up.
After washing up, she started browsing through an app to check out today’s top five products:
Thinking that digging yams and autumn bamboo shoots today could earn her a good amount of money, Ning Shu decided to go for a big shopping trip today.
Four portions of beef sauce cost 80 yuan. Since it has a long shelf life as long as it’s not opened, it’s durable.
Finally, she could have spicy frog with pickled peppers, and she could eat four by herself without any problem.
So, two portions of spicy frog with pickled peppers cost 52 yuan.
She couldn’t give the spicy frog to the two babies, to avoid them thinking they were eating actual frogs.
She had to hide and secretly eat it herself.
Five-flavored pork also lasts long and can be kept for a month without any issues. Since the weather in October wasn’t hot, she bought three portions for 96 yuan.
Sesame-flavored tangyuan would be eaten tomorrow, so she bought three portions, totaling 36 balls.
Dried bananas were even more durable and could be given to Baby One and Baby Two as snacks.
She bought four portions for 60 yuan, spending a total of 322 yuan, leaving her with a balance of 17,412 yuan.
Even though she spent over 300 yuan, she didn’t mind. Because the next purchases of autumn bamboo shoots and yams were relatively expensive, she could earn a good amount of money by selling them.
After just buying the items, Ning Shu took out the dried bananas and placed them in the cupboard.
The dried bananas were packed in tin boxes, similar to the packaging of sandwich cookies.
Ning Shu opened one and took out a piece. It smelled of bananas and was very crispy.
“Mom, what are you eating?” Baby Two asked sharply.
All three babies were up.
“Wash up first, then I’ll give you something to eat,” Ning Shu poured hot water for them to wash their faces.
“Okay.”
Yibao and Erbao helped Sanbao wash his face first, then the two of them went to brush their teeth. Erbao envied Sanbao for not having to brush his teeth: such bliss.
When they returned after brushing their teeth, Ning Shu gave them warm milk to drink and took out a bunch of dried bananas, placing them on the table.
“Eat them after you finish your meal. You can divide them yourselves, no need to give any to Sanbao.”
“We know.”
“Okay.”
After breakfast, Yibao divided the dried bananas.
Ning Shu looked at seven pieces curiously, wondering how they would divide them. It turned out Yibao divided them into three and a half pieces each, really splitting one piece into two halves.
Ning Shu almost burst out laughing.
After dividing the dried banana slices, Ning Shu took Erbao with her up the mountain, while Yibao stayed at home to watch over things.
Ning Shu instructed, “Yibao, except for Grandpa and Grandma, don’t go with anyone who calls you, okay?” She had always taken them to pick wild vegetables, but leaving Yibao and Sanbao at home this time, she needed to give some instructions.
Yibao replied, “I know. Bad people might trick children and keep them hidden from their parents. Grandma taught us.”
“Good. If anything happens, go find Grandma,” Ning Shu added after thinking for a moment. She was far away in the mountains, and it was better to seek help from Lin’s mother, who was closer if something happened.
Actually, Ning Shu knew that before she transmigrated, the three brothers were all fine, and she probably didn’t need to worry so much. But after spending almost a month together, she had developed feelings for them.
“Yeah, I understand, Mom,” Yibao obediently replied. He liked listening to his mother.
After giving instructions, Ning Shu took Erbao up the mountain.
In the mountains, when they found the place where the yams grew, Ning Shu took out two pairs of gloves she had made overnight.
She gave one pair to Erbao and kept one for herself. “Erbao, see that wild grass? Dig out the roots, but make sure to wear the gloves.”
There were quite a few wild yams in this area, perhaps because yams weren’t widely cultivated yet, so no one was eating them. Or maybe everyone was busy with autumn harvesting and hadn’t noticed them yet.
So now Ning Shu could get them cheaply.
Both mother and son’s hands were covered in mud as they dug out the yams one by one from the ground.
While digging, Erbao asked, “Mom, are these for eating?”
“Yes, these are what we had last night, the white things we had with eggs. They’re delicious,” Ning Shu patiently explained to him.
“Wow, so these are it! They’re really tasty and a bit sweet,” Baby Two said, although he had forgotten the exact taste, he remembered it was somewhat sweet.
Ning Shu didn’t know the variety of these yams, but they were indeed somewhat sweet, with a finer texture compared to the “iron rod” yams she had eaten in her previous life. So, they should be more expensive than the “iron rod” yams sold for 9 yuan per kilogram in her previous life.
Actually, anything labeled as wild and pesticide-free would generally be more expensive than those cultivated artificially.
Mother and son dug for a long time before finally digging up all the wild yams in that area.
Ning Shu wasn’t sure how many kilograms they had, but yams were heavy, so there were probably around fifty or sixty kilograms.
Now the problem arose: with Erbao around, Ning Shu couldn’t directly upload the items for sale.
So, she had to take them back home first. Or… Ning Shu’s eyes lit up, “Erbao, go ahead and stand watch up there. If someone comes, call me. I need to go take care of something.”
“Mom, what do you mean by ‘take care of something’?” Erbao asked, puzzled.
The embarrassed mother hesitated to say she needed to urinate, but she eventually blushed and said, “I need to use the bathroom urgently. You go stand guard; don’t let anyone come near. Turn around, and only come when I call you, okay?”
“I understand, Mom. I know that when girls pee, you can’t watch,” Erbao said thoughtfully. He wasn’t a three-year-old who needed to watch a girl pee.
After Erbao had walked a distance away and faced away from Ning Shu, he asked, “Mom, is it okay if I stand here?”
“It’s fine, just keep facing away. Don’t turn around,” Ning Shu reminded him again.
“I got it,” Baby Two stood straight, his eyes cautious as he looked ahead. He couldn’t let anyone see his mom peeing.
Ning Shu immediately took a picture of the yams piled together.
After realizing there were 78 kilograms, she took out 8 kilograms.
Yams could be stored for a long time and eaten slowly. Additionally, if left for a few days, they would sprout on their own.
She planned to plant some herself. In theory, yams should be easy to cultivate.
Actually, anything that could grow wild in these mountains would grow well in one’s own fields.
Ning Shu then edited the post: “Wild yams, crispy, sweet, and rich in flavor. Divided into 35 portions, each portion priced at 25 yuan for 2 kilograms.”
After uploading, Ning Shu put the 8 kilograms of yams in her basket. She then shouldered the basket and approached Baby Two, “Baby Two, let’s go home.”
Erbao looked up, “Mom, are you done peeing?”
Ning Shu: “…Yes, let’s go back.” Can’t he be a bit more civilized?
“Mom, what about the roots we dug out? Aren’t we taking them?” Er Bao asked again.
“They’re all in the basket.” She was much taller than Baby Two. He couldn’t see how many yams were in the basket, nor did he consider whether the basket could hold them all.
But when Mom said they were all in the basket, he didn’t question further. Holding his mother’s hand, they descended the mountain.
It was the first time Erbao held his mother’s hand while walking, and he was quite happy, skipping along the path.
The child’s happiness infected Ning Shu, and she couldn’t help but smile.
It wasn’t yet the busy farming season, so the villagers were still working, and even the children weren’t seen much. When they returned home, they saw Yibao and Sanbao in the yard.
“Brother, Sanbao…” Erbao let go of his mother’s hand and ran over.
“Brother, let me tell you, Mom and I dug up those roots…” Erbao chattered away, sharing the story of digging up the roots.
Ning Shu went into the utility room and then descended into the cellar, placing the yams there to prevent Erbao from seeing that there were fewer yams piled up.
Lunch was lavish. Since they had earned money today, they could enjoy the food purchased from the app in the morning.
Ning Shu took out the beef sauce and salted pork for lunch.
She poured some beef sauce into a plate to steam, then pulled out some edamame from the backyard garden, steaming them together with the beef sauce.
She also steamed eggs with the five-flavored pork, cooking both dishes while the rice was being prepared, saving a lot of hassle.
Finally, she stir-fried some baby bok choy.
After a satisfying lunch, Ning Shu washed the clothes they changed out of yesterday and then took Yibao with her back up the mountain.
Even exhaustion couldn’t delay her money-making pace.
“Mom…” Yibao walked up to Ning Shu, summoning up his courage to reach out his little hand and hold his mother’s hand.
At noon, when Erbao and Mom returned, he saw his Mom holding Erbao’s hand.
Ning Shu tightened her grip on his hand and then gave him a smile.
Yibao’s little face blushed, but Mom’s hand was so big, so soft… so warm!