Chapter 17: Pleasing
While peeling the sweet potatoes, Bai Lixia asked Bai Shuiliu with surprise, “Big sister, why are we drying so many sweet potato slices?”
“Mother said she wants to dry some sweet potato slices to sell in town for money,” Bai Shuiliu replied. “She also said she can make sweet potato slices that are soft and delicious, unlike the ones we used to eat that made our cheeks ache.”
“If she can really dry out those kinds of sweet potato slices and make some money from selling them, our family’s life will be better off.”
Bai Lixia looked at the hopeful smile on Bai Shuiliu’s face, hesitated with words on her lips for a long time, but ultimately swallowed them and silently continued peeling the sweet potatoes in her hands.
Su Mulan hardly took a break in the kitchen and finally felt that it was too hot inside. She simply grabbed a cleaver and didn’t bother with a cutting board. Using a flat bamboo basket, she sliced the sweet potatoes one by one and arranged them neatly.
As the sun rose higher, Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou hurried back from outside, holding large bamboo tubes in their hands.
Upon entering the courtyard, they excitedly shouted, “Big sister, second sister, look! The two of us caught so many bugs!”
Su Mulan looked up and saw the flushed faces of the two children, sweat dripping down their cheeks and wetting their collars. She immediately felt sorry for them, and casually rinsed a cloth in a nearby basin, wiping the sweat off their heads and necks. “Quickly go drink some water and rest for a while. Don’t get a heat stroke.”
This gesture clearly softened the hearts of the two little ones.
Bai Zhuye hesitated for a moment, biting her lip, gathering her courage to look at Su Mulan. “Mom, look, Midou and I caught a lot of bugs. Enough for the chickens to eat until they’re full.”
As she spoke, she pulled out the wooden stopper from the bamboo tube and held it up in front of Su Mulan.
Su Mulan glanced down and indeed saw quite a few inside.
Inside the large bamboo tube, packed to the brim, were various insects—not just bean worms, but also grasshoppers, colorful caterpillars twisted and tangled together, enough to make her scalp tingle.
Suppressing her discomfort with soft-bodied creatures, Su Mulan reached out and patted Bai Zhuye’s little head. “Zhuye, you’re really capable.”
“These were caught by me and third sister together,” Bai Midou added.
“Midou, you’re capable too,” Su Mulan said, giving Bai Midou’s head a gentle pat as well.
Bai Midou grinned widely, taking the bamboo tube from Su Mulan’s hands. “Mom, I’ll go feed the chickens.”
“Go ahead.” Su Mulan watched Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou happily take the tube of insects towards the chicken coop, eagerly anticipating their joyful feeding scene. She couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
These two little ones clearly had a people-pleasing personality, likely stemming from being mistreated and neglected in the past. Even though they had only spent two days with the improved her, they couldn’t wait to receive affection and approval.
Ah, how pitiable…
Su Mulan’s heart was filled with even more compassion.
Looking up at the sun nearly reaching midday, Su Mulan called Bai Shuiliu and Bai Lixia to pause and help tidy up the sweet potato leaves, prepare lunch, and finish peeling and slicing the remaining sweet potatoes for drying after the meal.
“Lixia, help sort the sweet potato leaves. I’ll take care of these remaining ones. There isn’t much left, so we should finish before lunch. Let’s not delay too long; we might not be able to dry them today,” Bai Shuiliu suggested.
Su Mulan observed that there wasn’t much left to do, so she nodded in agreement. She went to the flour tub and scooped some flour to prepare for making sweet potato leaf flatbread.
Bai Zhuye and Bai Midou, having finished feeding the chickens, with one helping sort the sweet potato leaves and the other assisting in peeling the sweet potatoes.