Just as Xiaomi guessed, when she woke up, her father and older brother had both come back, eagerly telling her mother about the day's harvest.
Not only did they use worms from the field to catch fish, but they also caught a lot of fish! Altogether, several pounds of fish, too many to fit in a basin, so they had to use a bucket!
Xiaomi was immediately relieved; now there was no need to worry about food at all.
A light spring rain had been falling for several days, and each time Xiaomi woke up, sometimes Jiang Hu and Da Wa were home, sometimes they weren't.
However, she occasionally overheard her father talking to her mother, saying that others in the village tried the same method to catch fish but didn't harvest nearly as much. Jiang Hu even gave fish twice to a few other village families with children.
Once again, after waking up, the sky outside had cleared, and there were many children chatting in the courtyard.
"Da Wa, are your brother and sister really that great? Do they never cry or fuss?"
"Of course, Xiaomi and Tiedan are so well-behaved, they rarely cry. Dad says they're protecting mom, so she can rest well."
"Really? My little sister used to cry all the time. She cried until her voice got hoarse, and now she sounds terrible when she talks."
"Don't talk about your sister like that. Sisters are to be protected, not talked about."
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about it. Let's keep digging, there are lots of worms here."
The sound from outside reached inside, and Xiaomi blinked, a bit confused as to what was going on.
"Xiaomi, are you awake?" Er Niang put down the half-woven straw sandal in her hand, picked Xiaomi up, and gently patted her back.
Seeing Xiaomi's eyes constantly looking outside, she didn't mind whether Xiaomi was old enough or not: "That's your brother and his friends digging for worms. If they find some worms, they can catch fish, and everyone will get to have fish soup."
Mom and Dad are so generous, Xiaomi replied with a coo.
Er Niang gently pinched Xiaomi's nose: "Does Xiaomi want to go out and play too? You can't, you're still too young. You might get sick if you go out. Once you're a month old, mom will take you out to play."
Xiaomi pouted. I don't want to go out to play, I want to stay and help mom and brother get better!
But evidently, Er Niang misunderstood, thinking Xiaomi was unhappy because she couldn't go out and play.
"Don't worry, Xiaomi. When you grow up, you'll be able to go out and play every day."
Unfortunately, Xiaomi couldn't explain herself and could only giggle foolishly at her mother.
Er Niang chuckled and shook her head, feeling silly; how could she think Xiaomi understood what she was saying?
She patted Xiaomi a few more times and fed her milk. Tiedan woke up too, and she switched to feeding him.
To say both children were really easy to care for, Xiaomi almost never cried. Even when she was wet or dirty, she'd just whimper until her diaper was changed.
And after changing Xiaomi, within at most fifteen minutes, it would be Tiedan's turn. It was as if the siblings had an agreement between them.
Fortunately, since the siblings were so easy to care for, they weren't too exhausted, considering the entire household now relied on the children's father, with no one else to lend a hand.
The less fuss the children make, the more rest their dad can get.
"Er Niang, I'm back. The kids haven't been crying and fussing, have they?" Just as she was thinking about it, Jiang Hu pushed open the door and came in.
"They haven't, they've been so good. You know that." Er Niang said while holding Tiedan, feeding him, with Xiaomi placed beside, who reached out her little arms upon hearing Jiang Hu's voice.
"Brother Hu, you went out early in the morning. Xiaomi surely missed you, see, she wants you to hold her."
Tiedan finished eating, so Er Niang lifted him upright, gently patting his back until he burped, then laid him back down again.
Burping the baby prevents milk spit-up.
Since there's not much food, if they spit it up, it would be such a waste.
Jiang Hu quickly dusted off himself: "I went to chop some bamboo."
He said, picking Xiaomi up: "Good girl, Xiaomi. Dad will make a little bed for you and your brother. Then we can all go out together with dad and mom."
Xiaomi's eyes lit up immediately, clapping her hands: Dad, you're amazing to even make an infant bed!
"Hehe, Xiaomi really likes the little bed, right? Now play with mom while dad gets busy."
Yes, yes, Dad, go ahead. Don't worry about me. Xiaomi continued to babble, not caring whether or not her dad understood.
Then Xiaomi was successfully placed beside her mom by Jiang Hu.
The father and daughter communicate effortlessly.
Jiang Hu half-closed the door as he sat at the doorway processing the bamboo. The bamboo was fresh. After making the little bed, it would need to be left behind the stove for a few days, where it was warm from cooking, to dry out the moisture inside the bamboo.
Recently, there wasn't much work in the fields, and the household had plenty of sparrows and fish so they intended to tidy up the house first.
Back when people in this village fled, they didn't take anything besides food and clothes; pots, bowls, and such were left behind, which was a boon to them.
However, because the tables and chairs in the house hadn't been used for years, they had become old and rotten; he took this opportunity to get everything in the house ready first.
"By the way, Er Niang, once I finish making the little bed, I'll take some fish to town and see if I can trade them for some copper coins to buy salt; we're running low."
The salt they had now was rationed from the government, just like their grain, but it was very scarce, less than an ounce and of the lowest quality coarse salt.
"Alright, take plenty with you. Fish are cheap and won't sell for much." Jiang Hu nodded in agreement.
In recent days, he caught a lot of fish, big and small. The stone vat under the eaves was now used specifically for keeping fish.
It's precisely because they had these fish that they didn't worry about food, so Jiang Hu could spare time to make a small bed.
Listening to her parents talking, Xiaomi regretfully blew a bubble. Too bad she couldn't move now; otherwise, she would put more Spiritual Spring water in the fish tank. The fish nourished by Spiritual Spring water would surely be worth more.
Alas, Xiaomi longed to grow up, thought about it every day, but could only lie in bed blowing bubbles for now, also fantasizing about when her parents would bathe her.
Since birth, it had been half a month, and neither she nor her brother had seen any water. Fortunately, from the third day, her mother would use hot water to wipe their faces, hands, and underarms daily.
The cradle cap on her face had gradually been cleaned off, and she was becoming cleaner bit by bit.
Xiaomi waved her arm, feeling more strength in her limbs, confirming that the Spiritual Spring was indeed good stuff. When she grew a little older, she must let her family drink the Spiritual Spring water every day!
Lately, the household had food again, and Xiaomi still fed everyone milk powder every night, mainly because the milk powder was rich in nutrients and gave them a chance to drink more Spring water.
Based on Xiaomi's observation, over the past half month, her family looked much better, especially her older brother and second sister, whose complexions were no longer sallow like before.
Once again, she marveled at how great the Spiritual Spring water was, then closed her eyes and entered the space.