Chapter 8: Xiaomi and Bruiser

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The sparrow eggs were cooked quickly. Jiang Hu carefully carried the three sparrow eggs back into the house. “Er Niang, eat the eggs quickly.”

Dawa and Erni followed, but both did not say they wanted to eat.

When Er Niang saw the two children, her heart ached for them. She took two and gave one each to the eldest son and the second daughter. “Dawa, Erni, you’ve worked hard during this period of time. Come, these two are yours. One for each of you.”

Jiang Hu opened his mouth but did not stop her.

During the escape, the two children cried from hunger. As a father, he could do nothing except feel sorry for them.

Fortunately, the two children were sensible. After they settled down, they held on tight to their mother whenever there was food. They wanted their mother to be full so that their younger siblings would not be hungry.

Although Jiang Hu did not stop her, the two children shook their heads. “Mother, we’re not eating. Mother, you eat.”

“I still have more. You guys eat. Daddy will catch sparrows tomorrow. We’ll eat together then.” Er Niang stuffed one into each of their hands. “There’s no need to shell it. When it’s cooked, you can eat it together with the shell.”

The two children immediately beamed. “Thank you, Mother!”

As expected, they stuffed it into their mouth. Even the eggshell was fragrant.

Er NIang looked at Jiang Hu and knew that he would definitely not want it if she gave it to him. She took the remaining one and bit half of it before putting the remaining half into Jiang Hu’s mouth.

“Hu, let’s eat together.”

Jiang Hu quickly retreated a little. “I’m not eating. Er Niang, you eat. You’ve worked hard recently. Eat more. I’ll catch sparrows to eat tomorrow.”

Er Niang pretended to look fierce. “You already said that you’ll catch sparrows tomorrow. Then won’t it be the same if we eat sparrows together tomorrow? Besides, you’ve worked much harder than me recently. If you don’t eat, I won’t eat anymore!”

This threat was indeed effective. Jiang Hu ate the remaining half of the sparrow egg helplessly. It was a little fishy and there was not much in his mouth, but to the two of them, this was definitely the best and most precious thing they had eaten in the past few months.

Xiaomi looked at everyone who had to give up even a sparrow egg. While her heart ached, she was also touched by her parents’ relationship.

It was great. The better the relationship between her parents, the happier her family would be!

As expected of a father-daughter bond, Jiang Hu looked at Xiaomi almost immediately and picked her up.

“Is Sanni greedy too? You’re still young. When you grow up, I’ll earn money to buy chicks to lay eggs for Sanni.”

Thank you, Father. I’ll treat you to peacock eggs.

Xiaomi responded happily. She had so many peacock eggs!

“Haha, Er Niang, look. Is Sanni thanking me? Look, she’s so happy.” Jiang Hu laughed and carried Xiaomi to Er NIang.

Er Niang smiled and nodded. “Yes, Sanni must be thanking Daddy.”

After all, they were husband and wife. Jiang Hu quickly sensed Er Niang’s absent-mindedness. When he saw Siwa on the bed, he freed one hand and pulled Er Niang into his arms.

“Don’t worry, Er Niang. I met Doctor Xie when I came back today and told him about Siwa. He said that Siwa is weak and was born premature. He’s not energetic and it’s normal for him to sleep more. As long as he can eat and sleep, it’s the best.”

After all, he was his son. How could he not care? Jiang Hu was also worried about his youngest son. He was really afraid that he would not be able to raise him.

During his two years of escape, he had seen too many newborn babies starve to death.

But he was the backbone of the family. He couldn’t panic. If he did, the whole family would not know what to do.

Fortunately, the children were born after they settled down. At least there was still food distributed by the imperial court for now. Even if it was very little, he would be able to support the entire family as long as he was thrifty and diligent.

Jiang Hu’s words successfully comforted Er Niang. She picked up Siwa and touched Xiaomi’s face.

“Hu, give the children names.” The children had been born for a few days. It was time they had proper names.

Jiang Hu pondered for a moment. “Er Niang, do you remember the old scholar we met previously? He named Dawa and Erni.”

Er Niang was stunned. “You mean that old man?”

Jiang Hu smiled. “Yes, he named Dawa ‘Jiang Yu’ and Erni ‘Xiao Xue.’ Let’s name Sanni and Siwa accordingly.”

Er Niang nodded repeatedly and looked at Jiang Hu expectantly. Jiang Hu saved that elementary scholar back then. For a few months, the old man taught Jiang Hu how to read.

When Xiaomi heard that she was finally going to be given a name, she pricked up her ears and listened carefully. Her eldest brother and second sister’s names were not bad. She hoped that her name and her fourth brother’s name would be good too.

“Hehe, Sanni, do you want to know your name as soon as possible?” Jiang Hu tapped the tip of Xiaomi’s nose.

“Yes, Xiaoxue, Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu are not good. When it rains heavily, we can’t go out. Why don’t we name Sanni ‘Xiaomi?’ I heard that only the rich can eat rice. I hope that Sanni can eat rice every day in the future and be fair and chubby.”

Good, good, good. This is good. It’s the same name as before!

Xiaomi babbled in response. Er Niang said in surprise, “Hu, Sanni likes this name very much.”

Jiang Hu raised his chin proudly. “Of course. Daddy personally named her.”

Er Niang looked at Jiang Hu with admiration. “What’s Siwa’s name?”

Jiang Hu pretended to be deep in thought. “Siwa is not in good health. I hope he can grow up to be mighty and strong in the future. Let’s call him Jiang Wei. Oh right, let’s also give him a nickname. It’s easier to raise him then. Let’s call him ‘Bruiser”.”

With a puff, Xiaomi spat out a bubble. Hahaha, ‘Bruiser.’ Luckily it’s not ‘Dog Egg’!

However, it was obvious that Xiaomi’s reaction was misunderstood by her parents. Jiang Hu shook Xiaomi in his arms. “Sanni also thinks that the name Daddy gave little brother is very nice, right?”

Xiaomi waved her small hand. Don’t worry, Daddy. I’ll definitely help you raise little brother to be mighty and strong. But forget about ‘Bruiser’. I’m afraid that won’t do.

“Hehe, I knew Sanni thought so too.” Jiang Hu continued to smile foolishly.

They were like a chicken talking to a duck, not understanding each other.

But no matter what, the names of the two children were decided. Xiaomi now knew her eldest brother and second sister’s names.

So they were not just Dawa and Erni. So everyone had official names.

After playing with the children for a while, Jiang Hu brought the two older children to the kitchen for dinner. He did not forget to bring a bowl for Er Niang.

After dinner and washing up, the family sat on the bed and rubbed the straw rope. Although there were stools at home, it was a little cold to sit on them. They sat on the bed with a mattress covering their legs. The straw rope was placed on the mattress.

Although it was not very clean, it was much warmer this way.

There were no thick clothes at home. Other than filling the stomach, they had to protect themselves from falling sick. If they got sick at this time, they could only lie down and wait for death.

Therefore, rather than keeping clean, it was more important to keep warm first before talking about anything else. But Xiaomi took the opportunity to rummage through the space.