Chapter 156 Hungry Again

Holding the light, breathable fabric in her hands, Mrs. Fang’s eyes grew slightly moist. She had never expected her daughter-in-law to be so considerate toward them, even thinking of such small details.

In the past, the usual practice was to wear a cotton-padded jacket with an outer layer; in winter, they wore the padded jacket, and after spring, they would remove the cotton stuffing to continue wearing it as a single garment. One piece served two purposes. Nearly every household followed this pattern, making just two sets of such clothing enough to get through the entire year.

Now that the weather was gradually warming, Mrs. Fang and Li Xihua prepared to wash and store the thick clothes. They planned to switch to lighter, thinner robes. People, especially in rural areas, rarely wore short sleeves and shorts even in the summer heat. This was partly due to cultural customs, and also because short sleeves and shorts made one more vulnerable to injuries while working in the fields.

Tang Xin, however, sighed when she saw the so-called summer shirts; the fabric was so thick she wondered if wearing them in summer wouldn’t cause heatstroke. Following her suggestion, Li Sheng and Li Kai both bought light, thin fabrics to have summer clothes made for the family.

Originally, Li Kai had bought the fabrics—which Tang Xin had brought home openly. It was a bit tight to make one set of clothes for each family member with just that, so Li Sheng purchased more, even more than before. Now everyone could have two sets, allowing for changes and washing.

As Mrs. Fang examined the fabric, she was already envisioning the designs for each garment and quickly calculating how much cloth would be needed. Meanwhile, she reminded her eldest daughter, “You should treat Tang Xin better from now on.”

“Am I not good enough to her already?” Li Xihua retorted. Besides working, she helped her mother with laundry, cooking, and cleaning when she came home, while her sister-in-law typically didn’t get up until the sun was high. And yet, Li Xihua was accused of not being good enough to her sister-in-law?

Mrs. Fang gave her eldest daughter a sharp look. “I’m talking about your mouth. Sometimes, can you think before you speak?”

This time, Li Xihua didn’t immediately argue back. She knew her way with words was lacking and wasn’t sure she could meet her mother’s expectations in the future.

With so many people around and the yard not very bright, they avoided playing hide-and-seek and instead chose “Eagle catches the chicks,” which was quite popular.

At first, Tang Xin was the mother hen and Li Sheng was the eagle. But the skill gap was too large—within moments, the eagle caught all the chicks. Even the mother hen was captured and taken back to the eagle’s nest. Li Kai and Li Xiyue, who refused to join the game and watched from the sidelines, laughed in unison. The three children clapped their hands and cheered, “Big brother is amazing!”

So they switched roles, with Li Sheng as the mother hen and Tang Xin as the eagle. Mrs. Fang and Li Xihua watched the lively scene in the yard, both smiling warmly. Even Li Zhirong, who sat nearby smoking silently, had the corner of his mouth curl up slightly.

During their recent trip to the county seat, Tang Xin had specially bought cigarettes for Li Zhirong, albeit the cheapest kind with very plain packaging. Li Zhirong was deeply moved; after all, in the team, aside from the officials, no one else smoked cigarettes. Most people, like Li Zhirong before, used a pipe to smoke dry tobacco.

Except for the rare times he had smoked when meeting the team leader, this was the first time Li Zhirong actually owned a full pack of cigarettes with a filter. A whole pack.

He had been too busy during the day to smoke, and honestly, it wasn’t that Li Zhirong was stingy. Such things were rare treasures for country folk like them. If he smoked in public, others would ask for a share. Would he give it or not? With so many people, one cigarette each was an impossible burden.

So, no matter how good the stuff was, he dared not show it off outside. But by night, he eagerly took out the pack. Mrs. Fang, watching the old man, half-joked, “It’s nothing special. Don’t smoke too much.”

Her daughter-in-law had told her cigarettes weren’t good for health, but Tang Xin understood that for her father-in-law, who had smoked all his life, quitting was difficult. At his age, abruptly stopping was nearly impossible. Also, she knew that dry tobacco was probably more harmful than these modern filtered cigarettes, so she had bought him a pack this time.

Li Zhirong chuckled bashfully and took a deep drag, though he knew his daughter-in-law was probably right—that he should cut down in the future. “I swear, once I finish this pack, I’ll quit,” he promised.

Meanwhile, the adults and children in the yard continued their noisy play and laughter. Tang Xin felt utterly exhausted. Just playing games with the children, and yet her stamina was lacking. When she was the mother hen, she couldn’t run fast enough and the eagle caught all her chicks. When it was her turn as the eagle, she thought at least the youngest, Gu Nan, wouldn’t escape.

Gu Nan was very cunning; he stayed closely behind Li Sheng, almost matching the adult’s pace. To the chicks behind the mother hen’s open arms, she was like a giant protective umbrella.

Tang Xin, the eagle, was sweating profusely, gasping for breath, but in the end, she didn’t catch a single chick. She put on a pitiful expression and said, “Oh, I’m exhausted. If I don’t catch a single chick, I’ll go hungry. What if I starve to death?”

That was quite an odd approach for an eagle.

Before Li Jiang and Li Hai could react, Gu Nan suddenly dashed out from behind Li Sheng and scampered up to Tang Xin, his little legs moving quickly. He looked up at the eagle with big, bright eyes and said adorably, “It’s okay. You can eat me.”

Tang Xin laughed heartily and scooped Gu Nan up. “Little chick, you better not regret it—I can eat you in one bite.”

Gu Nan, with a serious face, replied, “Okay, eat me. My meat is the most tender.” Then he added, “Big brother’s old now, with thick skin and tough meat—not tasty at all.”

Li Sheng froze completely.

Tang Xin twirled Gu Nan around a couple of times, praising him nonstop, “Oh, my baby, you are just too adorable.”

After only a couple of spins, Tang Xin declared she was about to faint. Li Sheng quickly took Gu Nan back, and the three children immediately clung to him, demanding to play on the swings.

Tang Xin sat aside, catching her breath, and suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I’m hungry! It’s true that when you’re growing, you eat a lot but still get hungry easily.”

Mainly, the current meals were low in oil and fat, so they didn’t keep her full for long.

Hearing Tang Xin, Mrs. Fang quickly asked, “There are a few eggplant boxes left. I can heat some for you.”

Looking outside at the moonlight and estimating the time, Tang Xin’s complexion wasn’t very good, so she quickly shook her head.

“No, mother, it’s too late to eat again. It’s not good for the body.”