Free Web NovelChapter 20: Chapter 20
Chapter 20
On a bright new morning, Mu Heng woke up early as usual to fetch water and fill the jars. The air was slightly colder than before, which made Yueqian not want to leave her warm bed at all. If not for the scraping sounds outside that, despite being softened, still came through.
"The kids are up early again," she noted as she checked the time on a clock in her interdimensional space and found it was still 4:45 AM. The children and Mu Heng had all woken up and were already doing household chores adeptly.
The kids cleaned and prepared the fire for Yueqian, who would soon get up to cook breakfast. Meanwhile, Mu Heng was shoveling snow outside to clear a path, ensuring no snow would enter their kitchen later in the day.
"Did we wake you, sister-in-law?" Xiao Long asked nervously when he noticed his sister-in-law standing quietly watching them.
Huan’er had just noticed her too and looked down guiltily, while Mu Heng stopped shoveling, his glance as if to say she could go back to sleep a bit longer.
"It’s okay, waking up early is good. It lets us do more things," she responded before taking her petite body to the already filled water jars.
Yueqian took her own bowl to scoop water to wash her face and brush her teeth. The novelty of the tools always fascinated the children. This time, Yueqian remembered that the kids would usually just wash their faces and rinse their mouths as they did every day. So, she went to fetch some items from the storage room, which also used to store her dowry.
She returned with three toothbrushes and three bars of soap, set out in three separate sets, one set per basket, much like her own set.
Yueqian looked for Mu Heng and called him and the kids over.
"Even though these may feel strange to use at first, they are definitely good items," she said before handing them one set per each.
"This is called a toothbrush, this is toothpaste, and this is soap."
"Is it the expensive soap?" Huan’er asked.
"I’ve heard from people from the capital too; they know about soap. People in the city use soap to wash clothes as well."
"Yes, this is that kind of soap," Yueqian nodded.
She recalled how she had seen people at the manor using soap, albeit a simple mix of fat and ash—basically just fat and lye.
The soap Yueqian had brought from the store was not a simple product like those; it was designed to nourish the skin, smell pleasant, kill bacteria, and clean dirt effectively.
"But isn’t it very expensive?" Mu Heng frowned. He did not want to use her items, since there were too expensive.
"To me, it’s not considered expensive. Besides... you are my husband. I want you and the little ones to have a nice scent on you. It makes it pleasant for those close to you," Yueqian told him.
"Like the fragrant scent I smell on you?" Mu Heng, almost not minding his words but then blushing at his own statement, as if he were a creep secretly smelling his wife’s scent, how could he not feel embarrassed?
Yueqian was taken aback for a moment, almost blushing herself but then couldn’t help but chuckle a little when she saw his embarrassed face, he blushed more than her.
"That’s right."
"Alright, here’s how to use it: squeeze this onto the toothbrush like so, then rinse your mouth, spit, and brush your teeth with this brush."
"Is it like using leaves to scrub?" Huan’er asked. She had seen some village women clean their mouths and even scrub their teeth with rough leaves.
"Yes, that’s right," Yueqian nodded in response.
Although people in the countryside only use leaves, in the cities, they have developed methods to use their hands or leaves with salt to brush their teeth to make them whiter.
"When you’re done brushing, remember not to swallow. You must spit it out and rinse several times to get rid of the toothpaste taste," Yueqian handed Huan’er a prepped toothbrush.
The three of them looked at each other, knowing they had to proceed since Yueqian was watching. The kids easily followed due to their young age and excitement about learning new things. It was only Mu Heng who felt somewhat awkward, especially when his mouth was full of foam. He was shy about spitting in front of the woman he had feeling for, and even more embarrassed when his mouth got messy.
Fortunately, the awkward moment didn’t last long.
"Next, this soap is for washing your face and body. First, rinse your face with water, then rub the soap like this to create foam. Put the soap back in the basket and use the foam to scrub your face. Be careful not to let the foam get into your mouth or eyes, as it could be dangerous. Once you’re satisfied with the scrubbing, rinse it off with water. This will remove all the dirt," Yueqian instructed, demonstrating with her own soap as she hadn’t washed her face yet.
After learning to brush their teeth and wash their faces with soap, everyone felt refreshingly new. Those were toothbrushes for kids, having pleasant smell, inviting them to eat, and they could feel their teeth were so clean.
The face as well, after washing it with soap, it felt like all dead skin was gone. Moreover, their face and mouth even had a nice smell.
"I feel fresher than ever," Huan’er already clung to her sister-in-law.
She was very fond of her sister-in-law. Although she had only been with them for two days, her sister-in-law had treated them so well.
She gave them luxurious items and cooked delicious food. Besides her beauty, her sister-in-law was also incredibly kind.
"Um, then you must do this every day, understand?"
"Yes, but..."
"But what?" Yueqian raised an eyebrow, looking at the little one who seemed deep in thought.
"What if it runs out? Then sister-in-law won’t have any to use," Huan’er looked at her with a sign of guilt, almost like a child who feels sorry for robbing someone else’s candy and eat it to the last piece.
Seeing such an expression, Yueqian admired the one who raised this young kid, to teach a kid to be this responsible and considerate of others, that person was quite good.
"That’s alright. If we run out, we can go to the capital and buy more, or we can ask someone in the city to buy it for us." Yueqian told the solution while gently stroking the little girl’s hair.
"But that was your money, sister-in-law."
"Well, then Huan’er, you’ll just have to grow up quickly and start earning some money to share with your sister-in-law, isn’t that great?" Yueqian said with a smile.
"Yes, Huan’er will work hard and earn a lot of money," Huan’er said earnestly.
Mu Heng, hearing this, could only look at the two with heart-warming eyes. He knew that Yueqian didn’t want money from his little sister; if she really needed money, she would find a way to get it. Her words were merely to make Huan’er feel comfortable using her things.
"So, what shall we eat today?" Yueqian asked everyone, including Mu Heng who was nearby.
"I’m fine with anything. Yesterday, I bought some rice and meat, try making something with that," said Mu Heng.
He had spent quite a lot of money on groceries the previous day, feeling guilty about keeping money just for himself and letting her pay for the meals.
"How about dumplings then? Pork dumplings with vegetables and vegetable soup." She thought for a moment after seeing the ingredients Mu Heng had purchased the previous day.
"Alright, whatever you decide," Mu Heng did not have an opinion. He walked outside to continue his work, as the two children were already helping in the kitchen.
"Sister-in-law, should I set up the stove to boil water now?" Xiao Long asked.
Does cooking dumplings require setting up a stove for steaming? The boy had a correct understanding. Yueqian nodded affirmatively to the young boy, who promptly went to set up the stove eagerly, diligently performing his tasks.
"Huan’er, come help me here," Yueqian beckoned the little girl. She brought flour, eggs, and water to the table, asking Huan’er to pick up a large bowl.
She poured the flour into that large bowl, cracked an egg into the center, and added a little water. She then asked Huan’er to start kneading the dough while she was chopping meat and grinding seasonings like chopped cilantro and garlic, she chopped everything, including some cabbage.
After resting the ingredients and waiting for the dough, she fried some garlic, freeing up another stove to start making the soup. Yueqian was very adept; she made a fragrant vegetable soup by adding corn.
The children salivate with its aroma. If it were just them, they could live well just on the soup this good, no need for other dishes, perhaps just needing to cook some rice and this would last them two days. freewёbnoνel.com
Once everything was prepared, it was finally time to seriously knead the dough. Yueqian took over from the little girl to ensure the dough was perfectly blended. After achieving the smooth dough texture, they started making the dumplings.
This time, Xiao Long helped too. She taught them to roll out the dough with a rolling pin, then carefully placed the seasoned pork in the center. The most fun part for the children was folding the dumplings, although they tried to make it good, their dumplings were in an uneven shape, unlike Yueqian’s.
Nevertheless, their first attempt at making dumplings turned out quite well.
