There were quite a lot of condoms in Xiaomi's space, after all, when collecting supplies back then, she took everything from the supermarket, thanks to the large space. She didn't even spare the shelves.
But she couldn't just take these out; besides whether her parents would be scared, even if they weren't, they wouldn't know what they were or how to use them.
That night, Xiaomi fell asleep worrying, and in her dream, she saw her father holding two more children, telling her they were her younger siblings, scaring her awake.
Fortunately, it was just a dream; it was terrifying, wasn't it?
But after that sleep, it was already midnight, and Xiaomi skillfully fed her parents milk formula secretly.
Milk formula mixed with water from the Spiritual Spring, it's dual nutrition.
It might be the instinct of the body, getting used to the nightly feeding; even if sometimes Xiaomi made a little noise, they wouldn't notice.
Now her arm could be stretched out, and since her parents protected them, sleeping in their direction, Xiaomi just needed to extend her arm to feed milk formula to both her parents.
Once she finished feeding, Xiaomi began to wail loudly, waking up Tiedan too, and then the siblings cried together.
Until they finished the milk formula, Xiaomi was placed on the other side of the bed, between Erni and Dawa.
Erni habitually woke up for a while and went back to sleep once Xiaomi came over, cuddling her as they slept; Dawa didn't wake up at all!
In the middle of the night, the house didn't have any oil lamps, the thatched hut had no windows, only a bit of moonlight through the door gap, while everywhere else was pitch black.
There's no need to worry about others not being asleep; Xiaomi directly fed Dawa milk formula, and once he was full, Erjie also went back to sleep.
After feeding milk formula to her brother and sister, Xiaomi sighed like an adult, knowing her father would make a small bed in a few days, and then her big brother and Erjie would sleep separately; how could she feed them milk formula then?
If she didn't feed them more now, it would be even more inconvenient later, as this milk formula was neither common in taste nor appearance, and tricking them into drinking it wouldn't be easy.
After thinking for a while, sleepiness overcame her, so Xiaomi allowed herself to drift into sleep, deciding to figure it out later.
Waking up refreshed, everyone else was already up. Only Erni stayed with the younger siblings, while Jiang Hu had already left; from today on, as long as there were vegetables in the field, he would take them to the Tongfu Restaurant!
To rush back to water the field, and also avoid others in the village knowing exactly how much he delivered, Jiang Hu left before dawn, without even having breakfast.
"Mom, Xiaomi is awake." As soon as Xiaomi opened her eyes, Erni ran to the door, shouting outside.
"Erni, play with your sister for a while, I'll be right there." Erni's mother's voice came from the direction of the kitchen.
Xiaomi babbled with a pretty smile, and Erni hurried back, "Xiaomi, don't make noise, Tiedan is still sleeping. If you wake him, he'll cry."
Xiaomi quieted down immediately; she had forgotten about that.
Erni's mother and Dawa soon came over, each picking up Xiaomi and Tiedan. Tiedan woke up when Dawa picked him up, but he didn't cry, likely because he wasn't hungry yet.
"Your dad will be back soon. Let's wait to eat until he's home," Erni's mother said, bringing the children to the kitchen. The sun was out now, streaming through the doorway, making it very warm.
Before being placed on a small bed, Xiaomi saw there was vegetable porridge and some pastries on the table, sent by Shopkeeper Liu yesterday. But much of it had already been eaten, probably consumed last night.
Xiaomi smacked her lips; she also had desserts in her space, but those were industrially produced with many additives, definitely not as tasty as these pure, handmade ones.
Unfortunately, she's still too young to even try them.
Erni's mother had Dawa and Erni watch the children as she went to slice some pickles. Now, the porridge wasn't just watery; a bowl of porridge with some pickles could last all morning.
Xiaomi took the opportunity to feed Tiedan milk formula. They were two now, and couldn't rely entirely on their mother; besides, her mother's diet wasn't great, without even an egg.
The nutrition should be saved for their mother to nourish her body, so she doesn't get drained by the siblings.
After Tiedan was full, Xiaomi was too, burping contently, just as Jiang Hu returned. Erni noticed first and shouted that dad was back.
"Good girl, Erni, come have breakfast. Your dad must be hungry too." Erni's mother checked each bowl of porridge, finding them still warm, not hot, just right.
Reaching the kitchen doorway just as Jiang Hu entered the yard, she expressed a warm smile, "Tiger Bro, you're back. Perfect timing for breakfast."
She wasn't in a hurry to ask how much was earned since Tiger Bro always showed her the money brought back before putting it in the piggy bank.
"Didn't I tell you to eat first? Why wait for me? Just leave some for me," Jiang Hu said, placing the basket under the eaves and taking out a small cloth package from it.
Erni's mother said, "We weren't very hungry anyway, and we didn't wait long."
Dawa contradicted, "That's not true. Mom said dad works hardest and we must wait for him to eat together!"
Jiang Hu was moved but insisted, "In the future, if Dawa and your sister are hungry, eat first, don't wait for dad; what if dad comes back late?"
However, Dawa wasn't happy to oblige, instead pouting, "No way, mom's right. Dad works hardest for us, and we will wait to eat with dad."
Standing by the small bed, Erni agreed promptly, nodding that her brother was right!
Jiang Hu felt gratified and touched, then lifted the cloth package in his hands, "Dad bought you something nice today, come and see."
He opened the package, first setting a small cloth bag aside, then unpacking an oil paper package.
When Dawa and Erni saw what was inside, they excitedly exclaimed, "Buns, so fragrant, they're meat buns!"
Jiang Hu nodded with a smile, "That's right, meat buns. One for each of us."
Looking at Erni's mother, he said, "Give one to each for Dawa and Erni, I haven't washed my hands yet."
Erni's mother was surprised and even sniffed, smelling the delicious aroma. She had never eaten store-bought meat buns before.
Nonetheless, she handed one each to Dawa and Erni, setting the rest on the table, "Tiger Bro, save mine for this lunch for the kids. I won't eat it."
The children were having their first taste of meat buns, and they had suffered a lot following them, especially Erni, who had nearly...
Because of this, Erni's mother paid extra attention to the children, eager to give them the very best of everything she could offer.