Chapter 45: Doing What Needs to Be Done
Last time when Su Mulan sold the dried sweet potatoes, she brought back a piece of meat and brought home a block of tofu. They had several meals with meat and tofu, satisfying their appetites.
With this large batch of dried sweet potatoes, even more than last time, they naturally expected to earn more money and eat more meat.
Just thinking about eating meat made Bai Midou happy.
“Yeah,” seeing her younger brother so happy, Bai Shuiliu smiled softly.
These past few days, Su Mulan insisted she rest well, not allowing her to do any work. Even when she got out of bed, she made her sit down, and she applied the medicinal alcohol to her foot three or four times a day. The swelling on her foot had already reduced by a large margin, looking much better.
Bai Zhuye was chopping up vegetable leaves and mixing them with some bran to feed the chickens. She pouted and said, “If only I could go to town with Mom to sell the dried sweet potatoes.”
It had been a long time since she went to town. There were so many delicious foods and fun things in town. Even if she couldn’t eat or play, just looking around would make her happy.
“Wanna go to the town’s market fair?” Su Mulan laughed as he brought out the hotcakes.
Realizing her thoughts were heard, Bai Zhuye scratched her ear sheepishly.
“If you really want to go, it’s not impossible. But it won’t be tomorrow. Let’s wait a bit longer. When we’ve made more money from selling the dried sweet potatoes, then I’ll take you all to the town fair,” Su Mulan said.
Although these children were obedient and understanding, they never asked for snacks, even if Su Mulan offered to buy them. Knowing this, Su Mulan felt a pang of heartache for them. She feared that seeing their restrained expressions would make her feel sour inside.
It would be better to wait a few more market fairs, accumulate more money, and then take the children to enjoy a market fair properly.
“When that time comes, I’ll get some clothes to make new clothes for you all,” Su Mulan added. “I’ll also buy some nice head ornaments. I noticed the peach blossoms worn recently were made of satin, and the price isn’t high. I’ll buy one for each of you. But for Midou, being a boy, I won’t get him one. Instead, I’ll make him a pair of shoes. Boys are active and wear out shoes faster.”
The clothes the children wore were clearly originally worn by Bai Shuiliu, then handed down to Bai Lixia. After Bai Lixia wore them out, they were passed down to Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou. They were heavily patched, with layers of patches, and even the inner seams, not suitable for public viewing, had some irreparable holes.
In summer, it was somewhat manageable—the children played around mischievously and helped with farm work, which wore out their clothes quickly. Given the hot weather, many families didn’t mind their children’s attire. However, as autumn approaches and the weather cools down, wearing such short clothes might easily lead to catching a cold.
Hair ties were another issue. Other families bought flowers or at least colorful hair ties for their children. But for Shuiliu and the others, they could only tie their hair into simple buns using strips of fabric torn from old clothes, looking pitiful.
This was Su Mulan’s plan, which she considered perfectly normal and something a mother should do.
However, Bai Zhuye couldn’t help but shed tears.
She cried silently, suppressing her sobs so hard that her shoulders trembled, evoking sympathy from those who saw her.
“What’s wrong?”