Shen Qing woke up early, but there were others in the house who got up earlier than her.

First, it was Huo Bing who woke up earliest.

She went to the kitchen to boil hot water for the whole family.

After boiling, she poured it into a large wooden bucket and covered it with a wooden lid to keep it warm so the family could use it whenever they needed it.

The large iron pot was used to cook cornmeal porridge—Mother had said that from today onward, everyone would eat three meals a day and make sure to build up strength and energy.

It was still mid-March, not yet the busy farming season for the early harvest, but Mother had started this new routine early, even though they didn’t usually switch to three meals a day until the harvest time was near.

She had also told Huo Bing and her younger sister that they should focus on building their strength.

Mother had specifically reminded her to take care of her health and replenish the energy lost from childbirth.

Even though last night Mother told her to focus on resting and not worry about the household chores—no fishing, no foraging for wild vegetables, not even the light work of washing clothes—Huo Bing felt that cooking and heating up water wasn’t too hard.

It was light work that kept her warm by the fire, and it didn’t seem like much of a burden.

Mother had treated her kindly, so she wanted to return the favor.

The head of the household, her husband, was being taken care of by Mother while she helped with the children.

Her brother-in-law and sister-in-law had their own chores to tend to, and Huo Bing couldn’t just laze around.

She still had work to do.

After adding the cornmeal to the pot, Huo Bing chopped up some wild greens that her sister-in-law had picked the previous afternoon and threw them in.

Salt would be added later, once it was cooked.

This way, they could use less salt but still have a stronger flavor.

She then set up the steamer and arranged the leftover dumplings from last night on top.

There were still twenty-three dumplings left!

In fact, if they had all eaten freely last night, they could have easily finished the twenty-three, even if Jiang Xiangzhong hadn’t eaten.

But in this season when food was scarce, it was best to avoid overeating and wasting food.

So, everyone had only eaten until they were full and stopped.

Huo Bing instinctively swallowed at the sight of the dumplings.

They had thin wrappers and hearty fillings, just the way she liked them.

Mother couldn’t eat too much porridge, so she’d have ten dumplings. Xiao Hua would get one dumpling and a small bowl of corn porridge, which would be enough to fill her stomach.

The remaining twelve dumplings would be split among the six of them, and with the big pot of porridge, it felt more abundant than during the harvest season.

Huo Bing felt a little worried—was there enough food?

Mother had said she would go to the city to find work and that if she found something like carrying heavy bags, she could send her husband and the younger brothers to help.

A person could earn thirty to forty wen a day…

Before she had time to dwell on it, Jiang Xiangnan and Jiang Xiangbei entered the kitchen.

Jiang Xiangnan shouted, “Sister-in-law, leave my breakfast in the pot. I’ll eat after I go catch the yellow eel.”

Yesterday afternoon, he had spent a lot of effort digging up worms and put them in the trap.

He had to get up early to check it; otherwise, someone might steal them.

Jiang Xiangbei, smiling, added, “Sister-in-law, mine too.”

Mother had said that today she was going to the city to sell yellow eels, and Jiang Xiangbei wanted to accompany her to see how it worked.

He thought it would be better to collect the eels early and head to the city while they were still fresh.

Huo Bing absent-mindedly agreed, “Okay.”

She wasn’t quite used to her brothers-in-law being so polite and respectful.

In the past, Jiang Xiangbei had been okay, just nodding in acknowledgment, but Jiang Xiangnan often ignored her completely, either silently fetching water or with a gloomy face.

It was strange for them to be so cheerful today.

But it felt really nice.

Jiang Xiangnan and Jiang Xiangbei quickly filled the wooden basin with hot water and didn’t bother to add cold water from the yard.

They burned their hands and muttered in discomfort while using their palms to dab a bit of hot water on their faces.

Then they rushed out to the yard, picking up the carrying poles and baskets and heading toward the riverbank.

Jiang Shui, who had been waiting until the brothers were out of sight, started letting out the chickens and ducks.

First, she opened the gate to let out the ducks.

Nine ducks waddled out, squawking loudly.

Soon, the neighbors’ ducks joined the chorus of quacking.

After closing the gate behind the ducks, Jiang Shui went to release the chickens.

Four hens and one rooster stretched their wings, scratching around the yard for food.

Jiang Shui carefully chased the chickens a bit farther from their coop before bending down to collect the eggs.

The weather had warmed up compared to winter, and the chickens and ducks had been laying more eggs recently.

Three chicken eggs and five duck eggs—these were carefully placed in a small bamboo basket.

Normally, if Jiang Shui found so many eggs, she would have hidden one for herself or Xiao Hua, as a small treat to help nourish them.

But after what happened yesterday, she carried the bamboo basket to the large water tank and began cleaning the eggs, carefully scrubbing off any dirt.

In the past, she hadn’t washed the eggs because it could make them go bad more quickly, but today, since Mother was going to the city, it was better to clean them up before selling them.

Clean eggs would sell better and fetch a higher price.

When Shen Qing came out, this was the scene she saw: her daughter was carefully cleaning the eggs by the water tank, while the eldest daughter-in-law was cooking breakfast for the whole family.

The light from the fire flickered warmly, creating a cozy atmosphere on this cold spring morning.

She reminded, “Xiao Shui, I’m going to the city later. Hua Hua is still asleep. After you eat, keep an eye on her.”

“Okay!” Jiang Shui replied loudly and clearly, without a hint of complaint.

It was the first time she had responded so willingly.

Last night, Mother had told her she should take care of Xiao Hua, saying she was only fifteen, still a child herself, and couldn’t stay up late caring for a sick baby.

Was she still just a child at fifteen?

From the time she could remember, Mother had always told her to be sensible, obedient, kind, and diligent—qualities that would be useful when she got married.

There was no room for laziness; all the household chores were assumed to be her and her elder sister-in-law’s responsibility.

When Xiao Hua was born, she was even younger, and she had taken care of the baby so that her elder sister-in-law could do the heavier work.

But now, three years later, it seemed that Mother still considered her a child.

Jiang Shui felt a warmth in her eyes and quickly lowered her head, wiping the duck eggs with the grass she had twisted into a bundle.

Shen Qing looked at the clean eggs and asked, “Why are you washing the eggs?”

She hadn’t washed the eggs before; why start today?

But she had to admit, cleaning them made a big difference!

The eggs often got dirty with chicken or duck droppings, and she had to hold them carefully with her thumb and forefinger.

Without meat, eggs were the best source of nutrition, but with only five duck eggs and three chicken eggs, there weren’t enough for everyone.

With a family of over ten people, it would be hard to give everyone even one egg a day.

Especially Huo Bing, who, according to the customs of her hometown, would normally get a bowl of sugar eggs every day.

If only they could get some store-bought eggs—it would be great if the market had imported eggs.

They were cheap and big, and for the same price as one pound of wild river shrimp, they could get eight to nine pounds of eggs!

If only there were more options like this…