Chapter 5: First Time Out for a Stroll
The sky was just beginning to brighten.
Wisps of cooking smoke curled upwards.
Jiang Mianmian had her diaper changed, and feeling fresh and dry, she snuggled into Mother’s arms, clutching her firm “rice bowl” with both hands, working hard to suckle.
It probably wasn’t just her imagination; after giving Mother the spiritual spring water this morning, the milk already tasted sweeter and was much thicker than usual. Furthermore, it no longer ran dry after just a couple of sucks; instead, it kept flowing continuously until she was full and let out a burp, at which point she stopped eating.
After more than a month, she had finally had a full meal, and Jiang Mianmian felt like she had truly come to life.
She just hoped that next time, she would start crying before she ended up soaking in her own pee…
After finishing her milk, she reached out to fiddle with the spiritual spring water. Watching the spiritual spring water gurgle, it always remained just a small bowlful—or perhaps a small cup—with a thin layer at the bottom. Once she drank it, it would slowly return to that same level.
Drinking the spiritual spring water, she felt her sense of smell improve just a tiny bit.
She could smell the scent of fresh poop and milk on herself…
Qin Luoxia looked at the little girl waving her arms and couldn’t help but smile.
She stood up, and surprisingly, her body didn’t sway; she felt as if she had regained the agility she had before giving birth.
Well, that made sense; country women weren’t that delicate, and she had already rested for a month.
She had always been a diligent person. Since early morning, she hadn’t just tidied up the house and cleaned every corner, she had also chopped all the firewood in the yard in one go.
After finishing the chopping, she stared at the pile of firewood, feeling a bit stunned.
It seemed like she had more strength than before and wasn’t even panting; had she rested too well?
After finishing her chores, Qin Luoxia ate a dry steamed bun with the leftover soup from the morning, then tied a cloth around her body, strapped her daughter to her chest, and went out.
This was Jiang Mianmian’s first time leaving the house, and she was quite excited. She took a deep breath, only to be hit by a scent of various kinds of poop fermenting together…
Ugh, it was too late to hold her breath, so Jiang Mianmian could only bury her head in Mother’s embrace.
They walked for a long time before encountering anyone; it seemed their home was quite isolated, not in the center of the village.
Mother greeted people along the way. Listening to the villagers call her “Lady Qin,” “Little Qin,” “Sister-in-law Luo Xia,” “Sister-in-law Jiang Family,” or “Feng’s Mother,” it seemed Mother was quite popular.
In the more crowded areas, the smell of poop faded a bit. Jiang Mianmian looked around curiously, her dark, round eyes darting about.
An old woman reached out and grabbed her little leg.
Jiang Mianmian was startled. The old woman’s face was full of deep gullies and wrinkles, looking a bit frightening, but her eyes were very kind.
Jiang Mianmian, held by the dry fingers, didn’t kick; she just looked at the other person curiously.
The old woman gently squeezed Mianmian’s leg and said, “She’s strong and lively; she’s a blessed child.”
Qin Luoxia smiled and said to her daughter, “This is your Great-Auntie. Since Great-Auntie says you’re good, you must be good.”
Jiang Mianmian opened her mouth wide, babbling, and kicked her arms and legs.
Not a single word about her being pretty; could it be that she wasn’t very good-looking?
This was the first time Lady Qin had brought her baby out after her confinement. Yesterday, she had heard the matchmaker, Sixth Auntie, say that the Jiang Family’s little girl wouldn’t survive, that she was as dark and thin as a mouse, so everyone curiously crowded around to see.
Seeing the little girl in the swaddling clothes, she was indeed a bit dark and thin, but fat babies were rare in this day and age; being dark and thin was the norm. The little girl looked lively and spirited, not crying or making a fuss, and was very well-behaved, which made her quite endearing.
Originally, A-Cuis Mother had been showing off that her A-Cui was going to Prefecture City to enjoy a good life, but now she saw that the attention had been diverted.
She also crowded over to take a look.
She scoffed, “Dark and thin, what’s there to look at?”
“Tsk tsk, Sixth Auntie’s words may be blunt, but they’re true. This baby looks hard to raise. Feng’s Mother, you eat until you’re sturdy, but you didn’t leave anything for the child; the child is as thin as a black chicken. If the old master in Prefecture City happens to fancy your Sister Yu, perhaps he could get some medicine for this child to at least help her grow sturdier.”
As A-Cuis Mother spoke, she touched the new silver hairpin on her head.
It was a piece of old silver with two danglers, which was quite something in the village.
In the village, the person A-Cuis Mother disliked the most was Lady Qin. The two had some minor grudges. She would boast about her daughter A-Cui every day, always using Jiang Yu for comparison, saying Jiang Yu was lazy and gluttonous, and claiming her daughter A-Cui was diligent and thrifty.
“A-Cuis Mother, that silver hairpin of yours is pretty; it must have cost a lot, right?” an auntie said with a dry laugh, trying to change the subject.
Jiang Mianmian looked curiously at the woman in front of her. So this was A-Cuis Mother, the one Mother said she wanted to break the legs of? She was indeed annoying.
Her face seemed to be powdered, a bit unevenly, and she had high cheekbones. Her skin was considered fair, but she looked like someone difficult to get along with.
Her own big-faced Mother was still more pleasing to the eye.
Jiang Mianmian quickly looked up and took a sniff of Mother.
“This is nothing. Sixth Auntie said that once my A-Cui enters Prefecture City, the silver hairpins in Prefecture City will be even prettier. The master’s house in Prefecture City has a four-courtyard layout. Do you know what a four-courtyard layout is? Even their servants live in bigger houses than ours! Oh my, Feng’s Mother, I heard that Sixth Auntie went to your place and didn’t fancy your Sister Yu, saying your Sister Yu lacks discernment, unlike my A-Cui, who is clever and capable.”
This time, Qin Luoxia didn’t get angry. Instead, she gently swayed the little daughter in her arms and smiled, saying, “Yes, Sixth Auntie said she would give eighty taels of silver. Our Sister Yu is just a bit dull; it’s a pity.”
A-Cuis Mother, who was in the middle of showing off, suddenly turned black in the face. Eighty taels? That old hag said she would give ten taels; she had actually greedily pocketed seventy taels! How outrageous!
A-Cuis Mother’s expression changed immediately. She couldn’t be bothered to show off anymore and ran off toward Sixth Auntie’s house.
She was going to settle the score with her.
Everyone followed to watch the excitement.
Qin Luoxia held Jiang Mianmian and said she had to take the baby back to cook.
With no excitement left to watch, Jiang Mianmian felt sleepy in Mother’s arms.
In a daze, she felt Mother walking, like when she used to ride the bus to school; the swaying made her sleep even more soundly.
When she woke up again, she found that she had been moved to Mother’s back.
Mother had used a piece of cloth to strap her to her back; it seemed even more impressive than a baby-carrying device, and it was very stable.
At this moment, Mother’s movements were a bit vigorous, which was what woke her up.
Mother was bobbing up and down, as if she were digging a pit.
And little Mianmian on her back suddenly felt the urge to poop, so she opened her mouth and wailed.
Her wailing startled Mother.
Qin Luoxia quickly put the cub down. Seeing her face flushed red and her bottom arched, she knew she wanted to poop.
This child was truly easy to care for. Qin Luoxia held her, spread her legs, and started coaxing her to poop.
“Shhh, shhh, shhh, little baby, poop, shhh, shhh, shhh…”
After Jiang Mianmian finished pooping, she felt comfortable and awake. She was strapped back onto Mother’s back, and the swaying continued.
She thought Mother was heading home, but was this farming?
She was truly hardworking.
Watching Mother dig the ground was also quite stress-relieving. Jiang Mianmian couldn’t help but babble along as accompaniment: “Digging in the small garden, dig, dig, dig… dig, dig, dig…”
Qin Luoxia heard her daughter’s babbling and dug even faster.
She watched as Mother dug a big, deep pit?
It was quite deep; was she going to plant… a person? At this height??
Then she saw Mother cover it with rotted grass and various gray soil, making it look like level ground. In a moment, it was indistinguishable from the surroundings.
Jiang Mianmian couldn’t help but look left and right, but her range of head movement and vision were limited.
And with this turn, if not for the smell of the poop she had just made, she wouldn’t even remember where the pit Mother had just dug was.
After digging the pit, Mother carried her on her back and started walking back.
Along the way, there was the sunset and trees.
Listening to Mother humming a song:
“Yellow earth, green grass grows, my baby girl is fat and round, fat and round…”
Jiang Mianmian also couldn’t help but want to sing along with her babbling:
“If there is an afterlife, I want to dig a pit on the road you must pass by…”
