The mother of the era is reborn to support her cannon fodder children!

Chapter 7 "Killing Two Birds with One Stone"

Lin Zhao rubbed the heads of the two little ones. Children of this age learn everything, which is so cute.

Tie Niu rushed to Erzai, his face full of envy, and exclaimed in surprise: "Erzai, you want to eat dumplings?"

His saliva was almost coming out.

"Yes, my mother is going to make dumplings today." Erzai smiled and showed off proudly.

Lin Zhao didn't stop him. Her son had often heard villagers making fun of him behind his back, so what was wrong with showing off a little?
"What kind of filling does your mother want to make for the dumplings?" Tie Niu wiped the corner of his mouth and continued to ask.

"Pork and green onion." Erzai is the most enthusiastic child in eating. He had already asked his mother what filling the dumplings would have today.

Pork and green onions.

It must be all meat!
Tie Niu's eyes turned red with envy, "Your mother is so nice, I want to eat dumplings too. It's still a long time before the New Year." His tone was melancholy and regretful.

His family is relatively well off, as they can eat dumplings at the end of the year. Other families in the village are reluctant to give up their fine noodles and have to exchange all their fine grains for coarse grains.

"My mother is the best, the best mother in the whole brigade!" Erzai looked proud, with his neck held high.

For the first time, he felt proud of his mother's kindness to them, and his face flushed with joy. Unfortunately, he was too dark-skinned and no one could see the blush.

The envy on the faces of their friends made Erzai and Dazai feel an extremely unfamiliar emotion in their hearts. They couldn’t describe it. They felt a little happy, and a little like crying.

They held Lin Zhao's hands with a little force and just grinned.

"It's so hot, let's go home." Lin Zhao urged. She rarely went out in such hot weather, and she just felt her face burning.

The family of five quickened their pace and walked home.

In the old house of the Gu family, the old couple looked at each other in surprise at the things Lin Zhao brought.

It’s the first time.

This is the first time I received something from my third brother’s wife.

Father Gu wanted to say that the third son's wife had grown up, but he was always silent, his dry mouth moved, and he couldn't squeeze out a word.

Mother Gu sat there, staring at the small bag of buns and brown sugar in a daze, feeling as if she were dreaming.

"You don't know, I wasn't scared to death when I saw the third daughter-in-law coming over with something. She always comes empty-handed. When she suddenly brought something, I thought she was planning something big...she was going to cause trouble. I was so scared that my heart was pounding.

"Old man, what's going on with the third son's wife? She's not hiding something, is she?" Mother Gu's mind was in a mess. She hadn't been able to calm down since yesterday.

What mother-in-law would treat her daughter-in-law like this? Mother Gu felt really aggrieved.

Father Gu said, "Why think so much? Just accept it if she gives it to you. Even if the third daughter-in-law really needs help, won't you help?"

"...Of course I have to help." Mother Gu continued, "Even for the sake of the children, I have to help."

When I think about it this way, I feel like I'm being held in such a tight spot.

The Gu family hadn't eaten meat for two months. In addition, the farm work was heavy and tiring. Gu's father also craved the smell of meat, so it would have been fine if he hadn't resisted it, but the meat bun was so juicy that he found it hard to resist.

"Let's cut some meat to make up for it someday." Father Gu said after taking a sip of water.

Gu's mother thought to herself how difficult it was to get a meat ticket.

She also felt sorry for the head of the household, as it was really a bit too much for him to work in the fields at his age.

Mother Gu stood up and walked to the cupboard, opened the paper bag, and the aroma of wheat and meat rushed into her nose.

She swallowed, took a meat bun and stuffed it into the old man's hand.

"There are three buns. You eat one and the remaining two are for the kids at home."

Father Gu took it with a smile, broke a bun in half, and gave half to his wife, "Let's eat together."

After saying that, he took a bite and let out a long sigh of satisfaction.

"That's the smell. It's so delicious."

I've been thinking about it for many years, but I never had the heart to buy it.

Mother Gu was also eating the buns and said, "It's delicious. The white flour and the meat, either one is delicious when eaten alone, but it's even more delicious when put together."

These days, every family is poor, and everyone's nose is like a radar, very sensitive.

Tiedan, from the Gu family's eldest son's house, passed by his grandparents' house and smelled meat. He stopped in his tracks, sniffed, and said excitedly, "It smells like meat!"

This sound brought the other children out.

Chirping and making a lot of noise.

Gu's father and mother gave birth to four sons and two daughters.

The eldest son was named Gu Yuanshan, and his wife was Huang Xiulan. The couple had a daughter and two sons. The daughter was twelve years old and named Gu Lan, and the sons were seven and five years old, named Tiedan and Tiechui respectively.

The second son was named Gu Yucheng. He married Zhao Liuniang and had two sons and a daughter. They were eleven-year-old Bangbang, eight-year-old Laimei and two-year-old Yuyu.

The third child is Gu Chan, the eldest aunt, who is already married.

The fourth child was Gu Chenghuai, who married Lin Zhao and had three sons and one daughter.

The fifth and sixth children are twins, Gu Qingzhou and Gu Xing'er, who are still in school.

During this period, Gu Qingzhou was taken away by his uncle and only returned before school started.

Tiedan's voice was not small. Xiao Tiechui and others rushed over, as if they were growing up in front of Gu's father and mother's door. They didn't go in, but just watched eagerly.

"Milk, meat, meat..." Outside the door, Yu Yu, the two-year-old girl from the second room, said in a baby voice.

Mother Gu said with a stern face, "They're growing on the chimney. You can smell them even with the door closed."

Father Gu didn't say anything, still savoring the taste of the meat bun. The meat was so fragrant, who couldn't smell it?
"Give it to the children." The head of the family felt sorry for his grandchildren.

"Okay, share." Mother Gu said with a pained look, picked up the two remaining buns, and walked out, muttering, "There are too many mouths to feed at home, and none of the good things can last until the next day."

As soon as she went out, she could hear the voices of her grandchildren talking to each other, which was so noisy that it hurt her ears.

"Grandma, what's in your hand? Is it meat? It must be, I can smell it." The speaker was Tiedan.

Tiechui: "Fragrant!"

The eleven-year-old Bangbang didn't say anything, but his eyes fell on his grandmother's hand involuntarily. Thinking about the taste of meat, he kept swallowing his saliva.

Lai Mei is the toughest one in the Gu family. She came up to Gu's mother and said, "Grandma, your grandson wants to eat."

Even the two-year-old Yuyu knew that her grandma had something good in her hand, and she pulled at Gu's mother's pants, almost pulling them off.

Mother Gu hurried to the kitchen, divided the two buns equally and gave them to the children.

The two buns were divided into several portions, and it was obvious that each person would only have two bites. However, the children of the Gu family were very satisfied. The sensible ones took the initiative to let their parents taste them, while the less sensible ones swallowed them in three or two bites.

Mrs. Gu was a lucky girl. She gave birth to a sweetheart, Tiedan and Tiechui. When she tasted the buns, she smiled and said to her mother, "Mom, where are the buns?"

Mrs. Gu also looked at Mother Gu, she was also curious.

"It was sent by the eldest son's mother." said Gu's mother.

Mrs. Gu Dasao and Mrs. Gu Ersao looked at each other in slow motion without speaking for a long time.

Lin Zhao?

"Why would Lin Zhao send buns over?" Like her mother-in-law, Mrs. Gu's first reaction was nervousness, panic, and shock.

Question marks also popped up in Gu Ersao's head and she looked at Gu's mother.

Mother Gu said, "She said she wanted to build a house and asked your father for help. She brought three meat buns and half a pound of brown sugar as a thank you gift."

There were meat buns and brown sugar. Dazai Niang was really generous this time! Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang almost changed their minds about Lin Zhao, but then they thought of Dazai Niang's difficult personality and hurriedly shook their heads, hoping to wake up.

"Build a house? Why do you suddenly want to build a house?" Mrs. Gu asked curiously.

"I'm tired of the dust in the mud house I live in now."

Mrs. Gu was surprised. "She thinks the mud house is falling apart. Does she want to build a brick house?"

"Of course not." Mother Gu said, "If we're not building a brick and tile house, how can the third son's wife find your father?"

She had long seen that the third son's wife was the kind of person who would not come to the house unless there was something important. As long as she came, there must be something wrong.

Fortunately, it’s a good thing that I came to your house today.

Gu's mother isn't a bad mother-in-law who bullies her daughter-in-law, but that doesn't stop the eldest and second sisters-in-law from feeling envious. Being able to live alone and be the head of their own household, who wants to be controlled by a mother-in-law?!

Unfortunately, it’s useless to envy. My brother-in-law is not married yet, and my sister-in-law is not married yet. If they want to divide the family... it will take at least three to five years.

Thinking of this, Huang Xiulan and Zhao Liuniang felt disappointed and stopped thinking.

I can’t think about it anymore. If I think too much, my mind will wander.
-
On the other side, Lin Zhao returned home with the children.

It was the hottest time of the day, and after she coaxed the children to sleep, she went back to her room to take a nap.

Before going to bed, Lin Zhao saw that the task bar to the right of the lottery wheel had been updated.

After she told the children that they would have dumplings in the afternoon, a new task emerged.

[A childhood without delicious dumplings is an incomplete childhood! Please make dumplings for the children. You will receive 4 points after completing the task. Go for it!]
From this, Lin Zhao concluded:

The tasks posted on the turntable are all related to raising cubs, and even related to the topics they talk about.

The number of points varies, and should be measured according to the difficulty of the task.

This makes it much simpler. You can earn points while taking care of the children, killing two birds with one stone.

Wake up from nap.

Lin Zhao washed her face with cold water and went to the kitchen to work.

The eldest and second oldest children were picking cabbages in the backyard with their younger siblings.

Of course, the twin boys and girls, who were a little over a year old, were causing trouble.

When their brothers scolded them, the two little ones looked at their brothers with clear and innocent eyes, looking well-behaved. When their brothers got busy, they started scratching around again.

"Third cub, don't teach fourth cub bad things." Second cub frowned and loudly educated his younger brother.

The fourth child is a girl, so he is more indulgent towards her and rarely teaches her a lesson unless there are special reasons.

The third child ignored him and happily dug the soil in the vegetable garden with his soft little hands.

Seeing that he didn't listen, Erzai raised his hands in anger and raised his voice several degrees, "Sanzai, if you don't listen to me, I will beat you, okay?"

"Second cub." Lin Zhao suddenly appeared in the backyard and called out to him, "Who do you want to hit?"

The second cub immediately withdrew his hand, feeling a little guilty, and complained, "Mom, the third cub has been making trouble all the time, and it's pissing me off."

"My brother is still young, so I'll teach him slowly. He shouldn't hit others, especially his brothers and sisters. Have I ever hit you?" Lin Zhao said in a gentle voice.

"No." Erzai said, thinking that it was because his mother didn't care about him and his brother. He was afraid that his mother would not let him eat dumplings, so he didn't dare to say it.

Don't doubt it, his mother is really capable of doing such a thing!
"Pull some green onions for me." Lin Zhao didn't keep harping on this matter. She let the children solve their own problems and didn't care about it as long as the general direction was correct.

In the vegetable garden, the eldest son quickly pulled out five onions, waved the onions in his hand, stood up and asked her, "Mom, is that enough?"

"A few more," said Lin Zhao.

The eldest son buried his head and pulled out a few more, then ran back to give them to her.

Lin Zhao took it in her hand, shook off the dirt from the scallion roots, and praised: "Thank you, big boy, you are really capable."

The eldest son blushed and was very happy to be able to help his mother.

There are many kinds of vegetables in the vegetable garden, all of which are taken care of by Gu's mother. The twins sometimes also water them and pull weeds. Anyway, they are more attentive than their mother Lin Zhao.

Lin Zhao took the green onions, asked the eldest and second sons to look after their younger siblings, and went back to the kitchen to start making the dumpling filling.

Soon, a thudding sound was heard from inside.

While I was chopping the stuffing, I heard a childish voice outside.

It sounds familiar. He is the youngest son of the eldest son of the Gu family, Tiechui. He is the same age as the eldest and second sons. They grew up together and the three children have a very good relationship.

Lin Zhao walked out of the kitchen.

When Little Tiechui saw that his third aunt was a little nervous, his little body was tense and he didn't dare to look at Lin Zhao.

"Third Aunt." He called softly.

Lin Zhao recalled the scene in the original book about the hammer:
In the original book, when the eldest and second sons were in trouble one after another, Tiechui, the good brother, always stayed with them and helped them.

Because of this, Mrs. Gu had a lot of resentment towards her eldest and second sons, but she didn't say anything unpleasant.

"Tiechui is here. The eldest and second sons are in the backyard with their younger siblings. Go find them yourself." Lin Zhao said softly with a smile on her face.

"Okay." The silly Tiechui responded and ran to the backyard.

He came to the backyard and shouted, "Big cub, second cub, what are you doing?"

The eldest boy stood up, waved the cabbage in his hand, and replied, "We are picking cabbages."

"Tiechhui, do you want to join us?" Erzai greeted warmly.

"Okay." Tiechui said as he rushed into the vegetable garden and picked cabbages with the eldest and second sons.

After a while, Lin Zhao came to the backyard with a ceramic bowl in her hand.

Seeing her coming, the twins, a boy and a girl, staggered over and asked their mother to hold them. When the mother saw the dirt on the two cubs, she was overwhelmed. She quickly put down the bowl and stretched out her arms to hold the two cubs.

"Whose naughty kid is this?" The voice sounded disdainful, but there was a faint smile on his face.

The twin boys and girls, who looked exactly the same, smiled sweetly and wanted to snuggle into their mother's arms, but were caught by the eldest cub. The third and fourth cubs kissed the eldest brother, but he held their hands and the two little ones stood obediently and stopped making noise.

Lin Zhao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I've made you a bowl of brown sugar water. Drink it if you're thirsty."

"Thank you, Mom." Dazai said, then called Erzai and Tiechui, "Erzai, Tiechui, come and drink some brown sugar water."

Lin Zhao knew that Tiechui would feel uncomfortable with her presence, so she left the backyard after delivering the water.

These days, a sip of sweet water can keep people savoring it for days.

When they heard the word "brown sugar water", Erzai came over with a hammer, and several other children started drinking it one sip at a time.

"Big lad and little lad, the brown sugar water is so sweet." Tiechui's eyes lit up.

"It's really sweet." Erzai said.

Almost all the children in the Gu family were raised by their mother. They were all well educated and there were no domineering or selfish children. With brown sugar water as a reward, the children in the backyard worked very hard.

Time passed and the scorching sun gradually set.

Dazai took Erzai and Tiechui to move the cabbage to the cellar. After they finished, they returned to the front yard and smelled the aroma of meat coming from the kitchen. The five children were like a string of candied haws hanging on the door frame.

"Mom, are the dumplings ready? They smell so good." The second cub, who talked the most, twitched his nose quickly and asked expectantly.

(End of this chapter)