The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 9 Return
Not everyone came empty-handed; when they learned that meat would be distributed, most people took something with them.

Those who were slightly better off scooped up a few spoonfuls of grain. Those who were less fortunate took a bundle of firewood.

Most of the people who came were men. Later, after they took the meat back, the capable wives sent them back to bed, put on their outer robes, and went to Old Wang's house.

Each person carried a broom and dustpan, and in no time at all, they tidied up Old Wang's yard perfectly.

While everyone was cleaning up, the Wang family was already having dinner.

Seeing everyone busy in the yard, Madam Feng felt a little guilty. She quickly finished the snake soup in her bowl and turned to go clean the yard.

When the woman in the courtyard saw her coming, she quickly said, "You've had a long day, so take a rest. Don't move, we can finish this little bit of work in no time. It's cold, so go back to sleep after you finish eating."

Feng felt something was amiss and turned to look at her mother-in-law, Old Mrs. Wang, who scolded her: "Still breastfeeding? You need my approval for everything? Get back here yourself!"

She was heartbroken to have lost over two thousand pounds of weight!
There were many people from the village, and even if she didn't do anything, she was tired after a long day and didn't have the energy to launch into a long tirade of insults.

"Sister-in-law, there's plenty of snake soup today. Come on, have a couple more bowls, it'll keep you warm tonight." Little Zhang smiled as she went out, pulled Feng back inside, and then greeted the other women in the courtyard, "Thank you all for your hard work!"

They showed absolutely no intention of helping.

The other wives didn't think much of it; they had received something good, so what was a little hardship?
Not worth mentioning at all.

"Go to bed early. We'll burn two bamboo baskets tonight; it looks like it's going to snow again!" The wives quickly finished cleaning and tidied up the things in the yard before leaving.

The villagers brought more than twenty bundles of firewood, enough for them to burn during the New Year.

The Wang family was also tired. After eating and drinking their fill, they tidied up their things and went to bed.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Liu was helping Xiao Ayu get dressed when Xiao Ayu shook her head, indicating that she could do it herself.

"Mother wants to dress you." Looking at little Ayu's self-reliant appearance, Liu couldn't help but say softly, "I haven't taken care of Ayu before, but I'll make up for it from now on."

Little Ayu had just put on her sleeves when she heard this and glanced at Liu.

She took off her sleeve and placed it in Liu's palm. The girl's soft voice, like cotton, fell into her ear: "Mother, help Ayu put it on."

A wide smile immediately spread across Liu's face: "Oh, good!"

After she finished dressing, Liu noticed that her hair, which was half her waist long, had ends like dry straw, so she simply took a pair of scissors and cut off the dry parts.

She wrapped the cut hair in a cloth. With the remaining hair, she used two scraps of fabric to make a cloth flower, which she then twisted into a small bag.

After Xiao Ayu walked out of the house, she had two small bags on her head, with two light red cloth flowers on the outside of the bags.

With its small face, it really does look like a lucky doll pasted on a door.

"Oh my, isn't this our little lucky baby?" A cheerful voice rang out. Little Ayu turned her head to look and saw a somewhat plump aunt holding something in her arms, smiling at her.

Grandma Wang, who was standing nearby, beckoned to Xiao Ayu: "Ayu, come here."

Little Ayu walked over and snuggled up to Old Mrs. Wang's legs, hiding behind her and peeking out with her little head.

“This is my aunt, she’s from the village chief’s family,” said Grandma Wang.

Little Ayu called out timidly, "Auntie."

The village chief's wife was a capable woman. They had two daughters, but neither of them was as pretty as the girl in front of them.

He couldn't help but think to himself, "She really does look lovable. No wonder the two Wang brothers took her in and raised her."

If their husbands saw it outside, they might pick it up too. "Aunt Wang, it was too late last night, and I didn't want to disturb your sleep, so I came this morning. Last night, our sheep gave birth, and we only milked this much milk. You can give it to your children to drink," the village chief's wife explained her purpose.

She first handed over an oil paper package containing frozen fresh goat milk.

Then, she took out what she was holding: "She gave birth to a few lambs. In this situation, let alone lambs, even the mother sheep is almost unable to raise them. But there are still several children in the village who have been weaned, so we can't just slaughter her now. This lamb is for your family. Although it's not big, you can use it to make soup for your children and it will last for two or three days."

The village chief's family wasn't very large, and their grain reserves were just enough. The sheep, chickens, ducks, and pigs they had raised before had already been slaughtered and eaten, and some of them had been sold or given away to villagers.

The remaining sheep was pregnant, so they planned to milk it after it gave birth.

Several women in the village had recently given birth, and with insufficient food and no milk, they were all relying on this one sheep.

Of the lambs born, only the healthiest one is kept to comfort the mother; the rest are to be eaten.

The lamb that the village chief's wife brought was also small, trembling, and looked like it was barely breathing; it might die at any moment.

When Little Ayu saw the milky white lamb, her eyes lit up slightly.

When the village chief's wife saw this, she went over, squatted down in front of her, and seeing that Xiao Ayu hadn't completely dodged away, she smiled and said, "Your name is Ayu, right? Thank you, you're our little lucky star!"

Little Ayu knew this was a compliment, and blushed shyly.

The village chief's wife left her things behind and left without staying long.

Grandma Wang gave the ice cubes of goat milk to Madam Feng, asking her to cut off a piece, melt it in a hot pot, warm it up, and then give it to Xiao Ayu to drink.

As for the little lamb, it was skinny and could barely stand. It weighed only three to five pounds and was unlikely to survive.

"Give it to Ayu first, so she can stay close to him. At least she's not dead yet, so at least she has a warm basket. We can use it to make soup for Ayu after she dies." The Wang family had no objection to the old lady's decision.

Xiao Ayu didn't realize how she had gained a new friend until she was placed in a chair and a little lamb was stuffed into her.
Tuanzi laughed heartily in the space: 【A little brat with a little brat!】

That lamb looks like it won't survive, probably tonight.

Turning my head, I saw that the previously barely bubbling Wanling Water was slowly bubbling up again, so I quickly ran over and squatted down to watch.

We'll have to rely on this to keep the little one alive from now on.

Little Ayu didn't know anything about life or death. She saw the little lamb trembling and thought of herself when she had very few clothes and always trembled like that.

She thought for a moment, then quietly tore open a corner of her clothes and put the lamb's tail inside.

Then, he held one of the lamb's paws and gently blew on it.

call--

call--

The warm air is blowing on you, so we're not cold.

Old Wang's family is now truly well-fed. Four hundred catties of snake meat filled the small storeroom, along with an inexhaustible supply of firewood and hundreds of catties of various grains.

Since the heavy snow blocked the mountains, the gloom that had been weighing on everyone's hearts has finally dissipated.

Taking advantage of the warm midday weather, Grandma Wang brought her family out to talk to them.

"You all know about the 20 taels of silver that Doctor Hu's family gave us. You've probably all thought about it last night. Here's my plan—"

(End of this chapter)