"Big Sis, does Pingyang Town sell candy?" Bai Ruchuan, who was the first to get the candy, looked at the two old-fashioned paper-wrapped candies in his hand. He was so happy that he almost drooled, but he could not bear to eat it.
"That's right! Other than candy, there's still a lot of delicious food. I'll buy it for you when I have money!" Bai Xue said sadly.
"Big Sis, we're not children anymore. If we have money, we should spend them on the babies!" Although Bai Ruchuan's eyes were filled with desire, he still spoke sensibly.
"You're all children! Come on, Shan, Yun, Xia, eat up!" Bai Xue said and distributed two pieces of candy to each of them.
She took two more candies and opened the packaging. She walked to the bed and placed one in each of her parents' mouths before Bai Daliang and Wang Cuihua could react.
"Xue, I don't eat candy. You eat it yourself!" Bai Daliang wanted to take it out of his mouth.
"I won't eat either! You kids can have it!" Wang Cuihua was the same.
"Both of you have low sugar. Don't spit it out! Make sure you eat them! Dad, your wound will heal faster if you eat the candy. Mom, it will help with the breast milk!" Bai Xue ordered.
The two of them stopped spitting out the candy.
Bai Daliang still remembered what Bai Xue had said. If he did not eat well, his wounds would recover slowly, and he would have to spend more money later.
Wang Cuihua's biggest worry now was that she did not have enough milk. When she heard it would help her produce breast milk, she promptly stopped fighting.
Bai Xue took another one and popped it into her mouth. The sweetness in her mouth instantly lifted her mood.
She looked at the children, who were happily chewing on sweets.
Bai Xue sighed. The people in this era were easily satisfied. All it took was a full meal and a piece of candy to make them happy.
"Alright, who's going to help me with the fire? I'll make you soup with dough balls using white flour!" Bai Xue looked at the happy family wanting to make them happier.
"Me, me, me! Big Sis, I'll start the fire!" Bai Ruchuan was the first to stand up and volunteer when he heard she was going to cook.
"I'll help to start a fire too!" Bai Rushan ran out to take some firewood.
"Big Sis, we'll help you!" The four little ones were overjoyed. They did not ask how she had the supplies to make the food.
It might not have occurred to the children to ask, but it did not slip Wang Cuihua.
"Huh? Where did this white flour come from?"
"Dad, tell her what happened. I'm going to cook first!" Bai Xue left Bai Daliang to explain and happily walked out with the cloth bag.
"Daliang, what's going on?" Wang Cuihua looked at Bai Daliang.
There were two newborn babies sleeping between the two of them. Over the past two days, they had rice soup with sugar, so they slept especially quietly and did not cry or make a fuss.
"You see. Xue saved an old lady who fell in Pingyang Town and sent her home. In order to thank her, the family gave her a lot of food supplies including candy. They even gave her a job. She has to go to town and visit the old lady every couple of days and they will pay her $10 a month!" Bai Daliang explained his understanding to Wang Cuihua.
Wang Cuihua did not have much of a reaction at first, but she became happy when she heard the rest.
"Good people will always be rewarded. Perfect. Xue doesn't have to slog every day. It's great!"
"Recommendation letters are hard to come by! It's fine for now since there's nothing to do in the winter, but it won't be easy after the spring planting season." Bai Daliang sighed.
"When the time comes, bring her to the captain's house and talk to him. The captain is a good person. He won't make things difficult for the child." The couple discussed.
On Bai Xue's side, the boys had already brought in the firewood. Bai Xue took out two basins and poured the white flour into them. She only poured half a catty of white flour into one of them while the other basin contained about a catty and a half. She put away the rest and took out a catty of streaky pork and placed it in the cupboard along with the other things.
"Big Sis, it's not safe to put it in the cupboard!" The meticulous Bai Ruyun immediately reminded her.
"Don't worry! They won't dare to come over for the time being!" Bai Xue said as she took out a kitchen knife.
"Big Sis, this is pork! I can't believe you have pork!" Other than Bai Ruyun, the other three were already drooling around the pork.
"That's right! I'll make you pork and dough balls with soup tonight! Get up first and stop blocking my way!" Bai Xue held a knife and split half a catty of pork that was almost frozen into two.
"Yun, chop this half into minced pork! We're going to make dumplings for our mother!"
She knew there was a custom of making dumplings for pregnant women after giving birth and it was good for the bones.
"Got it, Big Sis!"
Bai Ruyun was very obedient. She took the kitchen knife and began to chop the stuffing.
The three sisters worked quickly and were very deft at cooking.
They worked quickly. Before long, the food was ready. They had never eaten so well in their lives.
She used pork filling to make dumplings. Pork and dough balls with soup looked absolutely tantalizing.
"Alright. The soup's ready! You guys go and put it on the table!" After Bai Xue was done with her work, she quickly found a big basin for the soup.
The white flour dough was soft and fluffy. Half a catty of pork belly was cut into pieces and thrown into the pot to stir-fry with seasoning until the oil from the meat oozed out. She then added seasoning and water and brought them to a boil. She made white flour dough and pulled them into small round lumps before throwing them into the soup to boil.
The siblings, who had never eaten like this before, were about to drool.
When the meal was served, the siblings had already set up the brick platform bed table and placed bowls and chopsticks on it.
"Mom, I made dumplings for you! They are filled completely with pork, so it's good for your bones, especially post-pregnancy. Eat more!" Bai Xue placed a large bowl of dumplings in front of Wang Cuihua.
In fact, if there were cabbages at home, she could have made more dumplings and the whole family could have eaten them. However, thanks to Old Madam Bai, all the cabbages and potatoes planted on the family's land were taken. Other than pickles, there were only two catties of soybeans left at home since she had carefully hidden them and kept them.
"How can I eat so much? You guys eat too!" Wang Cuihua pushed the bowl of dumplings toward them.
"Mom! Just eat it! We're also eating white noodles! There's also quite a bit of meat inside! Big Sis put half a catty of meat inside! Stop feeling bad about it, okay?" Bai Ruyun was more composed and grown up than Bai Ruxia. When Bai Xue was cutting the meat, she kept saying that it was enough!
"Good girl! If I give you something to eat, just eat it! Eat as much as you can! I won't let you go hungry again!" Bai Xue patted her head, feeling sorry for her.
She scooped a large bowl of dough balls with soup for everyone. Actually, it would be even better if there were diced kidney beans. She had them in the supermarket, but unfortunately, she had no excuse to take them out.
Everyone held the dough balls with soup in front of them and savored its fragrant scent intently. Only Bai Ruchuan ate it ravenously, ignoring the heat.
"Chuan, eat slowly! It's hot! There's still some in the basin. If it's not enough, you can have it all!" Bai Xue looked at Bai Ruchuan and felt both amused and sad. As she spoke, she picked up a dumpling for Wang Cuihua and put one in each of their bowls. "Try one first. I'll think of a way to make delicious food for you when I go to town!"
Throughout the entire process, Bai Daliang looked at his eldest daughter without saying a word. His eyes were slightly red, and he could sense his throat choking.
As a father, he did not have the ability to feed the children well. He was eating noodles and dough balls with soup made of white flour because of his eldest daughter. He could not help but feel awkward.