The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 23 Sharing
Seeing that Village Chief Hu was frightened, Old Mrs. Wang didn't keep him in suspense. Instead, she said, "Village Chief, I think it's best if not too many people know about this."

There's only so much stuff here; it looks like a lot, but it's actually not much. Once everyone knows this, those who can't make ends meet will inevitably come and ask for more.

A few days ago, everyone was staying in the cave, and they had basically eaten all of their food.

That was to save everyone's lives; there was no other way. It was also a way of repaying their kindness in helping us find Ayu.

Now that everyone is gradually returning home, even if the Wang family were reincarnated Buddhas, they shouldn't continue to help the villagers.

Otherwise, they would have starved to death.

Village Chief Hu pondered, "That makes sense. I won't tell them—the villagers have been having a hard time these past few days, but they know you must be having a tough time too, so they won't come asking for money. If they really do, I won't let them off the hook!"

We shouldn't keep asking any kind-hearted family for things.

Even the kindest-hearted old man, Mr. Hu, wasn't truly obliged to grant every request.

As the saying goes, you can help someone in an emergency, but not someone who is perpetually poor.

“Village chief, it’s not that I’m heartless, but we have a large family. This little bit of food, even if we eat it sparingly, might not last more than a few days,” sighed Old Mrs. Wang. “This looks like good stuff, and I don’t plan to eat it right away. After the snow melts in a couple more days, the road to town should be open. I’ll borrow your donkey cart then, and I’ll have a few of my boys go and exchange it for some coarse grains. If we’re lucky and get a lot, we’ll share some with the village.”

Village Chief Hu waved his hand: "No need, no need. Now that the road is open, they'll probably go there to exchange for grain anyway, but I don't know how much they can get. In this snowy weather, there might not be any grain left in town. Your family should keep what you have for yourselves. Don't keep thinking about helping them all the time. They're not all old, weak, sick, or disabled; they won't starve to death."

Village Chief Hu took one last look at the soybeans; they were so fresh and growing exceptionally well. He really wanted to ask for one stalk in exchange for grain. But then he worried that taking them back would cause trouble for Old Wang's family, so he simply didn't ask.

Before he left, little Ayu waved her hand at him and said, "Take care, Grandpa Village Chief!"

Village Chief Hu turned around, saw the little boy smiling so hard his eyes were curved into crescent moons, and his face was full of wrinkles, and replied, "Okay, good."

After Village Chief Hu left, Old Lady Wang put Little Ayu down and let her sit and play beside her.

He then stepped forward and slapped Wang Chuanman on the shoulder: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and carry the things back. You're just like your father, a blockhead!"

Old Wang: "..." What does this have to do with me?

Xiao Ayu spent almost two hours going back and forth over twenty soybean vines, mainly because the vines were very long and there were many bean pods, and she had to work hard to pull them out of her spatial dimension.

Tuanzi wanted to train her, so she didn't tell her that she didn't have to pull them herself and that Tuanzi could do it quickly with her help.

Little Ayu hugged the soybean vine with her little arms, using all her strength to pull up one vine.

They pulled up a total of twenty trees, and little Ayu was about to turn into a crybaby, but she gritted her teeth and persevered because she was thinking of feeding her mother and the others.

Actually, she was very tired. When her consciousness returned to her body, she still felt extremely exhausted.

But now, seeing the unstoppable smiles on her grandmother's and father's faces, she also became happy.

Suddenly I felt not tired at all!

The three adults carried all the vines back to their own yard, which occupied nearly twenty square meters of land.

As Mrs. Feng was sweeping the yard, she was stunned when she saw what they were carrying back: "What is this? It looks just like soybeans—"

"These are soybeans!" Little Zhang rushed out of the kitchen, grabbed a handful of pods, peeled them open, and popped them into her mouth. "So fresh and tender! Mother, where did you find these? In this weather, how can these things grow?"

"Eat, eat, eat! You stuff everything into your mouth, you'll be poisoned!" Old Mrs. Wang tried to pry the food out of Xiao Zhang's mouth, but Xiao Zhang chewed and swallowed it with a gulp.

Grandma Wang: "..."

Little Zhang: "Hehe, Mother, your daughter-in-law will serve you for the rest of her life. I'm very lucky; I won't die from poison!"

When the others returned one after another, they were all a little confused when they saw the soybean vines in the yard.

October yellow, October yellow, it's only January, how come there are already soybeans?
Grandma Wang was too lazy to explain to these people, so she simply told them to shut up.

Then everyone was told to pick the bean pods, without peeling them, and to keep them to exchange for grain in town in a couple of days.

Upon learning that the food was to be exchanged for grain, although everyone was tempted, no one dared to ask for any.

It's more important to fill your stomach.

They picked three large baskets full of bean pods, and after weighing them, they estimated that there must have been about 300 pounds of pods and beans.

Grandma Wang locked everything inside the house, then took out a ceramic bowl, picked out ten bean pods from it, thought for a moment, then picked out five more and put them in the bowl, just enough to flatten them.

She handed the bowl to Madam Feng: "Take this out, grind some soybeans, and make some soy milk for Ayu. Make a pancake out of the soybean residue for her too."

Such a small bowl of food is only enough for one small child.

Old Wang's family has a small millstone. It was made by several men in the family a few years ago when they went to the mountains to carry stones and then slowly polished it themselves.

It may not be the most refined, but it is very practical.

Feng took the bowl without saying anything and immediately went to grind the beans.

Little Ayu stretched out her little hand and stood in front of Madam Feng, whispering, "Auntie, we should eat together. Ayu doesn't want to eat alone."

Grandma liked to prepare food separately for her, but only for little Ayu, and less for the others.

Now, she feels embarrassed if she's the only one who has it.

Her brothers will definitely be drooling over her bowl again.

Madam Feng squatted down, smiling as she looked at her: "These beans are good for your health. If you drink soy milk and eat soy pulp cakes, you'll grow taller and prettier, just like your brothers." Little Ayu asked, "Did my brothers eat them, which is why they grew up?"

Mrs. Feng paused for a moment and said, "...Yes, we all ate it, so we all grew up. Now, only little Ayu in our family hasn't eaten it, so this was made especially for you, because I want you to grow up too."

"Oh, I see." Little Ayu suddenly understood and nodded. "Then I'll definitely eat my fill!"

When she grows up a bit more, she'll be able to do even more things.

Wang Wulang listened from the side, swallowing hard.

He had drunk soy milk before, probably the year before last, when the family harvested new soybeans and his grandmother generously made tofu pudding.

A large pot of soy milk was distributed to each person, with one bowl for each person.

It didn't have any flavor, but it tasted incredibly fresh, so fresh that you wanted to swallow your tongue. Later, when they ate tofu pudding, they actually thought it wasn't as good as soy milk.

Feng worked swiftly and quickly made the soy milk, then made a small pancake from the soy pulp and placed it in front of Xiao Ayu.

Because it was only intended for her to drink, the soy milk wasn't diluted with much water, resulting in an exceptionally rich flavor.

When Xiao Ayu was drinking soy milk, her older brothers surrounded her, watching her longingly.

"Is it good?" Wang Wulang asked.

Little Ayu nodded.

"Is it sweet?" Wang Liulang asked.

Xiao Ayu shook her head, then nodded.

It's a little bit sweet, and a little bit bitter.

"Sister Ayu, you've finished drinking. May I clean up the bowl for you?" Wang Qilang was about to lick the bowl clean.

Little Ayu immediately understood that her brothers were craving it.

But these are soy milk and soybean cakes for growing taller, and she needs to grow taller too, so she can't share them with her brothers.

Xiao Ayu thought for a moment, then realized there was still water in the space.

Amidst Tuanzi's screams, Xiao Ayu skipped back to the kitchen and brought out a bowl filled with water.

She held it up in front of her older brothers and said, "Ayu, drink soy milk! Brothers, drink water! Let's all grow tall!"

The older brothers: "..."

What can you do about your own younger sister? You can only spoil her.

However, in stark contrast to the harmonious scene in Lao Wang's family, there is Shanyang Village, separated by two mountains.

The village chief of Shanyang Village had a very gloomy face at this moment. In front of him were three men kneeling and weeping bitterly.

Tonight, one of the three families will sacrifice a child.

One of the men howled, "Village chief, if you don't help us, we really have no way to survive! My mother starved to death, and my wife was crushed to death by the snow. You know that our family has only had one son for three generations, and we can't replace our eldest son!"

The man beside him, his eyes bloodshot, roared, "Your big egg is your lifeblood, but my Er Gou isn't?! The snow's melting, the road to town is almost open, can't you stand it? Why do you have to eat my child! You're heartless!"

Upon hearing the words "eating children," the expressions of everyone present changed.

The village chief of Shanyang Village slammed his fist on the table with a loud "bang," which made everyone tremble.

"Now you know how to feel sorry? Where were you before! You swapped other people's kids for yours, and now you feel the pain? You feel you can't bear it! I told you long ago, even animals wouldn't do such a thing, but you did! You did it, but you can't take responsibility for it. Are you even men? Huh?!"

The village chief stomped his feet in anger inside the house: "What a sin! You've committed a sin!"

The man, who had been silent all along, suddenly looked up and said, "If the child is switched, the authorities will investigate, won't they? The people from Hujia Village came over that day and saw it all."

The village chief said with restraint, "People from their village are in our village."

They dared not sue the authorities, because if they did, the people in their village would not fare well either!
"But that day, that young man wasn't from their village. He was so skilled; he broke four of my brother's ribs..."

If that person were to go out and let word get out, they wouldn't be able to get away with it.

Someone else said, "I heard that a baby was found in their village..."

baby……

The three men kneeling below all had a cold glint in their eyes.

A foundling will never be as close as a biological child.

"Village chief, how about we—"

The village chief squinted, remembering that Hujia Village had only been given 50 jin of grain, which hadn't even provided them with a single meal.

"Let's go to Hujia Village!"

(End of this chapter)