Chapter 72: Wasting Time
In winter, every breath exhaled turned into a puff of white mist.
Of the two trees by the courtyard gate, one followed the rhythm of the seasons; in winter, its leaves fell in abundance, and it was now bare.
The other tree was still green—a deep, dark green—that looked cold just to behold.
Jiang Mianmian was bundled up in a thick padded jacket, which added an even greater burden to her already clumsy body.
It made her look clumsy (and cute) like a ball, round and roly-poly.
They say: three months to roll over, six to sit, nine to crawl. Jiang Mianmian could crawl at six months, directly winning at the starting line ︿(￣︶￣)︿.
She used the time she saved to… crawl.
Babies crawling more can increase vestibular and cerebellar coordination. In the process of growing up, it has milestone significance, laying a good foundation for standing and walking later.
One step ahead, every step ahead! (Mianmian the Overachiever!)
Qin Luoxia discovered that her daughter loved to crawl, but she was too fastidious. The child wouldn’t touch a speck of dirt; unless she saw something washed clean, she would absolutely refuse to take anything handed to her.
She would never crawl on the ground either; she insisted on a mat.
Qin Luoxia wove a straw mat—actually woven from straw—and Jiang Mianmian would crawl back and forth on it.
When crawling, there would often be a black ant leading the way~~
The family had long since discovered the little ant’s tracks, but knowing that the Kidnapper, The Peddler, had been bitten to death by ants, they tacitly accepted that this ant was a guardian spirit of the house.
Other people’s guardian spirits are snakes or foxes; for Mianmian, it was an ant~~
Jiang Mianmian often raced the ant, and she won every time, because when she got close, Little Black would wait for her.
The little white horse was also especially close to Mianmian. At Mianmian’s home, this horse didn’t serve as a means of transport. Father didn’t ride it to work, and Jiang Feng didn’t really ride it when strolling into the county town; it was too flashy, there was nowhere to park it, and they worried about it being stolen.
So, only Mother would sometimes ride the horse into the mountains to exercise it. Most of the time, Little White acted like a guard dog, standing right by Mianmian’s side.
It was easy to keep; it liked to eat wild onions and even ate leaves from the trees. It didn’t really eat much grain, otherwise, their family really couldn’t afford to keep it.
The world was becoming more chaotic, and there was no more news from those two young masters from the capital.
The dairy goat was sold because Mother felt the goat was an insult to her own ability to produce milk; she had plenty of milk, so it was a waste. Mainly, the family couldn’t afford to keep two large animals, so they sold it for money.
Jiang Mianmian practiced crawling hard also because of Little White’s encouragement.
With such a white steed right in front of her, she wanted to ride it too.
When she grew up, riding “Ferrari White” and making a stylish entrance—just thinking about it was wonderful.
Time flew, and although Jiang Mianmian was an infant, she was very busy.
Eating, drinking, pooping, peeing, and sleeping took up a lot of time.
When awake, she had to crawl to exercise, and also perform for the family… to make everyone happy.
Recently, judging by the news Father and Elder Brother brought back from outside, it seemed like there were famines, bandit disasters, and military disasters everywhere; it was very chaotic.
The summer drought had just passed, and now the winter freeze was here. This year’s winter was exceptionally cold.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t have any personal experience of it.
Because her family was living even better.
At least they could eat their fill every meal. Although their outer robes still had patches, everyone had a padded jacket underneath, and their straw sandals had been replaced with cloth shoes with soles.
Although others couldn’t see the clothes, everyone in their family had a healthy complexion.
Jealous people in the village gossiped about them, saying they lived off the horse’s blood, that the whole family relied on one horse to survive, and that the whole family were mere stable hands.
In reality, Jiang Mianmian felt that the gifts from the two young masters from the capital were a part of it, but a household couldn’t be supported by just two gifts; it was mostly due to the family’s own hard work.
Mother brought back prey very frequently.
The money Father brought back was also more than before. (Jiang Mianmian didn’t know how Father managed it; Father didn’t say, and Mother didn’t ask.)
Elder Brother seemed to be getting better at getting by; he brought home a lot of miscellaneous things.
Elder Sister had developed a “retriever dog” skill and would always go into the mountains to forage for some delicious things.
The mushrooms Elder Sister dug up were too fragrant. Even though Jiang Mianmian felt like she might end up “lying on a board” (dead), just smelling that aroma made her drool three pounds.
But Elder Sister was always fine whenever she ate them.
One time, the mushrooms were so brightly colored—even more vibrant than the colorful embroidered shoes Elder Sister kept by her bedside—that Elder Sister smacked her lips and cooked them for an extra meal for herself. Aside from running to the latrine twice, she was completely fine.
But the pheasant Mother had caught and brought home to raise was poisoned to death that day~~
Because Elder Sister had used that bowl to hold chicken feed for the chickens.
Jiang Mianmian was startled.
She didn’t dare touch Elder Sister’s food easily~~~
Elder Sister got a beating from Mother.
A real beating.
Jiang Mianmian watched with lingering fear.
Fortunately, so far, she hadn’t been spanked by Mother.
Qin Luoxia felt that her little daughter’s fastidiousness was exactly inherited from Father.
Mother, who would wave an axe at the eldest and second child at the drop of a hat, had the most patience for her youngest, Mianmian.
Today, Mother didn’t go into the mountains.
It was winter, and there wasn’t much prey in the mountains, or they were hiding deeper inside.
They couldn’t hunt them to extinction; they would still need to eat next year.
The dried meat the family had cured, if eaten sparingly, was enough to last through the winter.
Qin Luoxia sat on the straw mat doing needlework.
Beside her was an earthen stove with a fire built in it, so it wouldn’t be too cold outdoors.
Because Mianmian liked being outside.
This child had been easy to raise since she was small—she didn’t cry or fuss—but she was stubborn about some things: she loved cleanliness and she loved sunshine.
She just didn’t want to stay in the dark room, unless she was sleeping.
Jiang Mianmian crawled a circle, crawled to Mother, sat down with effort, and then watched Mother do needlework.
Mother’s needlework was surprisingly delicate. Jiang Mianmian, having seen Mother often wield an axe, hadn’t expected Mother to be so steady with an embroidery needle.
She pointed to the right side of her clothes, wanting to ask Mother to sew a pocket for her.
“Mother, Mother, pocket.” Jiang Mianmian didn’t drool easily anymore. Although her speech wasn’t clear, she could at least express herself.
She really didn’t understand where people in this era hid their things. She thought sewing two pockets on her clothes would be very convenient; she could put her hands in them, and also put her Little Black in them.
Qin Luoxia was mending clothes for the eldest. After Fenger practiced sword fighting, his clothes tore quickly, and she couldn’t mend them fast enough.
Seeing her little daughter sitting in front of her, white and roly-poly, poking out her chubby fingers—her fingers were also round with little dimples—she loved her so much she couldn’t stand it.
The little daughter was a completely miniature version of her husband, only whiter and rounder; just looking at her made her heart melt.
She couldn’t help but put down her work, gave her a kiss, and then said: “Does Nannan want a pocket sewn onto her clothes?”
Jiang Mianmian nodded her little round head very seriously.
Qin Luoxia laughed again.
She was delighted no matter how she looked at her.
“Sew, Mother will sew it for you right away.”
She saw the sun was quite bright, and the fire stove was right there, so it wasn’t cold.
So she took off her little daughter’s outer jacket.
Jiang Mianmian reached out cooperatively.
Mother laughed again.
Mother had dimples on her round face.
On both sides.
Perhaps because she was past the postpartum period, her face wasn’t as swollen or fat as when she first saw her; she was even prettier.
Jiang Mianmian felt that Mother possessed a kind of maternal beauty all over; she felt very at ease being by Mother’s side.
Qin Luoxia found two scraps of cloth and sewed them onto the position Mianmian pointed to, like patching clothes, but she didn’t sew the top opening. After finishing one, she discovered it could actually hold things and was very convenient.
While Jiang Mianmian was sitting by Mother waiting for Mother to finish her work, Elder Sister returned.
Jiang Yu came back and also sat by the fire stove.
She habitually picked up her younger sister and put her in her lap.
Jiang Mianmian leaned in Elder Sister’s arms, her head resting on Elder Sister’s chest, and felt that Elder Sister’s “little buns” seemed to have developed a bit~~
Soft.
“Mother, A-Cui is really getting married. You asked me to send over a piece of cloth, I sent it, but it felt uncomfortable to look at. Why do girls have to get married? After getting married, it’s definitely not as comfortable as being at home.”
Jiang Yu said with some melancholy.
She was a year younger than A-Cui. If A-Cui could get married, then she might be next.
But just thinking about such things was scary. How good it was to be at home; at home, one is always a girl.
Qin Luoxia lightly tapped her daughter on the head: “What are you thinking about? When you meet your ideal husband in the future, even if I don’t let you marry, I won’t be able to stop you.”
Jiang Yu said definitively: “That won’t happen. Going to someone else’s house is definitely not as comfortable as one’s own home—you can eat when you want, eat whenever you want to eat, and eat whatever you want.”
“Mother, what are you doing?” Jiang Yu looked curiously at Mother sewing something.
Jiang Mianmian thought to herself, Hmph, soon Elder Sister will also know about her pioneering reform. Maybe it will start a trend, and everyone will have pockets on the front of their clothes.
“Your sister has short arms, so I’m sewing two pockets on the front of her clothes so she can put things in them.” Qin Luoxia said gently.
Jiang Mianmian:… o(╥﹏╥)o.
Jiang Yu saw the pocket, and her eyes lit up; this was convenient for holding food.
“Mother, Mother, sew two for me too. No, I want six.” Jiang Yu thought she could put food in them separately.
Jiang Mianmian:… o(╯□╰)o.
“Are you silly? Your sister is a baby, so sewing a pocket is fine. You are already The Eldest Miss; what would it look like to sew a few pockets? It’s silly. Who puts things in outside pockets? If someone sees it and asks you for it, will you give it to them or not?” Qin Luoxia gave a lecture.
Jiang Mianmian:…
Forget it, I’ll just act cute. The transmigrator’s first great invention failed.
The whole afternoon was wasted in front of Elder Sister and Mother.
The weather was so cold.
Time was so warm.
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