Chapter 7: Waiting for a Rabbit by the Stump
“Pfft, pfft, pfft.”
A new day began with farting.
The whole family did not sleep well.
Because the little one started having diarrhea in the middle of the night and went all night long.
Qin Luoxia herself also went several times.
She thought she had eaten something bad, which had implicated the baby.
Jiang Feng and Jiang Yu also got up to help, mainly to change the baby’s diaper, worried she would get diaper rash from the stool.
“It must be Sixth Auntie’s curse, why didn’t she just fall to her death?” Jiang Yu cursed somewhat meanly.
Jiang Feng echoed: “Don’t worry, Sixth Auntie has offended so many people, she won’t end up well.”
Jiang Mianmian felt a bit guilty and dared not make a sound; she didn’t even babble anymore.
This really wasn’t Sixth Auntie’s fault.
Children really shouldn’t eat random things from outside, and spiritual spring water was no exception.
When adults drank spiritual spring water, it cleansed their marrow and tendons, but she only ended up being carried around to be washed.
The weight of her stool was almost catching up to her body weight, which was a bit unscientific.
She was very hungry now and incredibly energetic, but Mother wouldn’t breastfeed her.
She cried out anxiously in gibberish.
“Want to eat, want to eat.”
She waved her hands and feet!
…
Before dawn, the whole family was already busy.
Father Jiang Changtian took out a handful of fine grain from who knows where.
Mother Qin Luoxia brought out a stone mill from a corner.
Elder brother Jiang Feng pushed the mill, while elder sister Jiang Yu added the fine grain to it.
Watching the fine grain being ground into powder by the stone mill circle by circle.
Jiang Yu carefully collected the powder into a bowl.
Father heated the pot, removed the firewood, left the charcoal to keep the pot simmering, and then poured the bowl of powder into the pot to stir-fry.
Mother held Jiang Mianmian to watch.
Jiang Mianmian waited with rapt attention.
Seeing the whole family busy for a bite of food for her, she felt a bit embarrassed.
Soon, the powder gave off a fragrant aroma. Then Father scooped up the powder, put it into an earthenware jar, took out a spoonful, and mixed it with boiling water.
The pot used to stir-fry the fine grain powder wasn’t wasted either; they poured water into it and boiled it.
Father, brother, and sister each drank a big bowl of the rinse water from the pot.
As for Jiang Mianmian, she ate the stir-fried powder mixed with boiling water; it had the scorched fragrance of rice. Wasn’t this just rice porridge? It was soft as it went down her throat, and she felt her stomach slowly filling up, which was very comfortable.
She finished a bowl quickly and babbled for more, but Mother didn’t give her any.
Mother rinsed the bowl Jiang Mianmian had used for the rice porridge with boiling water and then drank the rinse water; that counted as her meal.
Except for Jiang Mianmian, the whole family only filled themselves up with water.
It was dawn.
The sounds of chickens and dogs in the village could be heard.
Jiang Mianmian was full and sleepy.
Father Jiang Changtian let out a big yawn and hurried off to work. Jiang Yu also had to go help at the landlord’s house, and Jiang Feng ran off as usual.
Qin Luoxia, on the contrary, felt incredibly energetic.
She felt she could actually split a yard’s worth of firewood, but there was no firewood left at home.
After thinking about it, she tied the baby to her chest, put on a bamboo basket, and headed towards the mountain behind their house.
Their house was on the edge of the village, with the mountain right behind it.
Qin Luoxia was a capable worker and very diligent. After finishing the housework, she had no choice but to go into the mountains to forage for things.
She didn’t plan on going far, just wanted to check the edge of the mountain to see if there were any medicinal herbs she could dry and sell for money.
Jiang Mianmian slept soundly in Mother’s arms.
She even dreamed she was riding in an airplane.
The plane was descending, flying downwards with an “Ahhh!”
It was flying too fast, and she was a bit scared, so she opened her eyes abruptly.
She saw nothing but green.
Green leaves, blue sky, white clouds, and Mother’s chin.
She let out a breath.
Then she felt Mother’s strong heartbeat and strong chest muscles.
“Iya yaya!” she cried out.
Want to eat, want to eat.
At the baby’s cry, Qin Luoxia felt her breasts engorge, and her thin clothes instantly became wet.
During her postpartum confinement, she had no milk, but she hadn’t expected to have so much now that it was over.
She felt her body was fine now, and since it had been empty all night, she should be able to feed the baby.
So, she found a large rock, sat on it, unbuttoned her clothes, and began to breastfeed.
The weather was still hot, but fortunately, the mountain breeze brushed against her face, blowing away the heat.
The sounds of insects and birds in the trees filled her ears.
Jiang Mianmian latched onto the nipple and began to suck greedily.
Mother had drunk the spiritual spring water and expelled toxins from her body, so her milk was now very fragrant.
It was sweet and smooth.
Jiang Mianmian smacked her lips while drinking, as if someone were squeezing a bottle to feed her.
She couldn’t keep up, she really couldn’t keep up, and the excess milk flowed directly from the corners of her mouth.
Qin Luoxia held the baby carefully and patted her, taking the opportunity to rest as well.
As Jiang Mianmian drank, she got a bit tired, and Mother thoughtfully switched sides for her.
Just as she started drinking again, her eyes went wide, and her toothless little mouth opened wide.
Behind Mother was a cliff, and on the cliff was a little bear cub, rolling and tumbling down…
The little bear cub crashed straight into the stone pedestal and knocked itself out.
Jiang Mianmian was so shocked she opened her mouth wide, then closed it, and a mouthful of rich milk sprayed down her throat.
This was probably “Waiting for a Rabbit (Bear) by the Stump (Rock)”…
Can we come back tomorrow?
