Today is the middle of summer.
It is recommended to plant and raise livestock, adopt children, and receive gifts. It is advised to avoid grave tending.
Mother has gone into the mountains.
Jiang Yu carried his little sister on his back, holding a small golden bucket in his hand—specifically, a chamber pot.
The design is somewhat like a wooden flower basket, with a round wooden basin at the bottom and a vine handle on top, resembling an arched bridge.
Taking advantage of the moderate sunlight, she intended to water the newly planted trees.
Directly pouring water would burn the trees, so she needed to dilute it at a ratio of approximately one to nine, which worked well.
Jiang Mianmian covered her eyes. This little golden bucket was exclusively hers.
At the same time, she was curious whether her diluted urine, mixed with water and used for watering the trees, would have any special effect...
If it did...
Hmm...
After watering the trees, her older sister carried her back to the house.
Her older sister continued with her needlework.
Due to the intense sunlight, she sat under the eaves.
Jiang Mianmian was placed back in the wooden basin and was forced to bond with her pet ants.
While other time travelers wielded powerful weapons, she couldn't even defeat a single ant with her bare hands.
She was too timid.
As Jiang Mianmian lay down, she noticed that the excellent black ant was by the side of the wooden basin, occupying its familiar old spot. The spot even had a slight depression, perhaps made by the ant itself, perfectly fitting its shape.
Jiang Mianmian silently reached out her hand, clenched it into a fist, extended her hand, clenched it into a fist. The difference between humans and animals lies in the fact that humans can use tools. If she could grab a stick, she would dare to flick the ant back and forth.
She practiced her grip while keeping an eye on the ant. If it dared to come close, she would immediately... cry out.
After a long time of seeing no movement from the ant, which obediently stayed put, she shifted her attention back to her older sister.
Her older sister's needlework was ordinary, not embroidery, without fancy threads.
She was probably mending shoe soles for poor families.
Stitch by stitch, round after round, layer upon layer of threading made the soles sturdy and soft, enabling one to travel longer distances, to farther places, and still be able to return home from afar.
As long as she didn't look at the needle, it was a relaxing task.
Brush, brush, brush, one round was completed, much faster than any cross-stitch she had seen before.
Her sister's hand speed was decisive and steady. The gaps between the stitches were even, the turns were natural, and the knots were well done.
After watching for a while, Jiang Mianmian became hungry.
Her mother wasn't around, so she must be eating rice porridge.
But she remembered that there was only a small handful of rice porridge that day. It had been a few days, so it must be finished by now.
Sure enough, after she made a few "yiyaya" sounds, her older sister put down the needlework, checked her diaper, found no urine, then picked her up and went to the clay jar in the house to get fine grain powder.
Wasn't handwashing necessary in this process??
Her older sister took the clay jar and shook it lightly, it was light and airy, just a little bit left.
Jiang Yu forcefully overturned the clay jar, vigorously tapping it until not a single particle of powder remained.
Jiang Mianmian was worried that her older sister would break the pottery jar.
In the end, there was only a small bowl of coarse grain flour left.
Watching her older sister carefully add water and stir, making sure not a speck of powder flew out.
Perhaps it was the last bit in the jar, and it hadn't been fragrant these past couple of days due to the rain, giving off an unpleasant smell.
Jiang Mianmian took a few bites but didn't feel like eating anymore.
Then, just like last time, her sister pinched her mouth open when she wasn't paying attention and fed her a spoonful.
One shouldn't stumble in the same place three times.
Jiang Mianmian was prepared to resist this time, determined not to open her mouth.
But her mouth was forced open again, and another spoonful was poured in.
She... felt so wronged, as if she was being tortured for a confession.
She didn't dare cry out, afraid that if she did, her sister would pour the rest into her mouth.
She pursed her lips, tears streaming down.
Jiang Yu, wearing a puzzled expression, couldn't understand why her younger sister didn't like eating the coarse grain flour. It was so delicious and fragrant. She had dreamed of eating it.
Because her sister was adamantly resisting, Jiang Yu couldn't use any tricks and didn't dare pinch her chin again, afraid of hurting her.
It seemed her sister's skull was a bit hard...
So Jiang Yu tried to persuade her with words, "Let's finish these last two bites, be good. Look, before you started eating coarse grain flour, you were dark and thin, like a monkey on a tree..."
Hearing her sister's words, Jiang Mianmian looked frightened. What kind of creature was a monkey on a tree? How ugly was she?
"Look, after eating coarse grain flour, you suddenly became fair and tender. Coarse grain flour nourishes people. Just think about that girl Jiang Wan. Although she pretends, she grew up eating coarse grain flour, and she looks so pretty, right? Our little sister should also eat coarse grain flour and become just as pretty, or even prettier."
The more Jiang Mianmian listened, the more tears flowed.
It wasn't just because the rice porridge didn't taste good; she felt inexplicably sad.
Unable to bear it any longer, she burst into tears.
And then her sister poured the last bit of rice porridge into her mouth.
What was even more tragic was that because there was less rice porridge today, her sister didn't even have a sip of the dishwater and gave it to her to drink.
Jiang Mianmian drank the water, and her tears fell into the bowl, drop by drop.
She had only drunk half of it when she let out a big burp.
It wasn't because she was full; it was probably because she was both angry and anxious.
Seeing her sister burping, Jiang Yu stopped feeding her water. Mother said burping meant being full.
So she decided to drink the remaining half bowl of dishwater herself.
Because it was hot and couldn't be kept.
In the Jiang family, they were taught not to waste food and to eat what they could.
As soon as she took the first sip, Jiang Yu's eyes widened.
It tasted so good and fragrant.
"Sss..." Jiang Yu took a breath, just like when she used to peel off her calluses.
Could it be because she didn't scrape the bowl clean earlier? But this water was already clear.
Jiang Yu drank the entire bowl of water in one breath and poured herself another.
But when she took a sip, it didn't taste like anything.
Suddenly, Jiang Yu brought the bowl to her sister's mouth and coaxed, "Mmm, take a sip, just one sip, it's especially delicious."
Jiang Mianmian wanted to roll her eyes right then and there.
One shouldn't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. Even her fearless older sister wanted to deceive her.
Jiang Mianmian reluctantly took a sip in compliance and then closed her mouth.
Jiang Yu held the bowl earnestly and took a sip of the water inside.
After drinking, she smacked her lips as if there was no taste.
Indeed... it was just water, without any fragrance.
She had just thought she had discovered something magical, that the bowl touched by her younger sister would taste better.
Jiang Mianmian thought her older sister had too much free time.
So she peed.
With a proud expression after finishing, she looked at her own fingers and then at her older sister, waiting for her to change her diaper with a silly and sweet expression on her face.
Jiang Yu changed Jiang Mianmian's diaper and couldn't help but lean down to give her a kiss on the cheek, finding her adorable.
Jiang Mianmian blushed unexpectedly when her sister kissed her.
Her older sister was really good to her.
...
In the mountains.
Qin Luoxia walked along, carrying a long stick and tapping it here and there.
Whenever she found suitable wild vegetables, she put them into the basket.
She also met a villager and greeted them.
Gradually, she went deeper into the mountains.
The grass on the path became denser.
Only then did Qin Luoxia take out the spearhead from under the basket and assemble it.
The spear was pointed, hollow in the middle, and had a blood groove. It was almost as long as her forearm, not like a spear used for hunting, but more like a military standard. Upon closer inspection, there were carved words inside.
When Qin Luoxia held the assembled spear, she seemed to transform from a woman who had just given birth to a child into a fierce and valiant soldier. She exuded a powerful aura.
Although she had a round and gentle Buddha-like face, at this moment, she emitted a strong sense of ferocity, like a fierce beast.
Her speed also increased, and she quickly disappeared into the dense forest.
Occasionally, birds would startle and fly away, indicating that something had passed beneath them.
In the evening.
Birds flew away one by one in alarm.
Qin Luoxia appeared, carrying a black, long-haired wild boar on her shoulder.
The spear was stained with blood, and her hand felt a little sore.
She wore a stern expression, unusually serious.
In reality, she was a bit confused.
She remembered that when her mother was alive, she often mentioned her biological father, describing him as a world-renowned hero who charged into battle and swept through thousands of troops. Her mother blamed herself for not leaving him a son, otherwise, he would have surely inherited his abilities.
Could it be that after giving birth to three children, she suddenly inherited her biological father's invincible courage?
Originally, she had only wanted to enter the dense forest to hunt some mountain chickens or something, never expecting to encounter a wild boar.
She was so frightened that she waved the spear around haphazardly.
Even more unexpectedly, she managed to kill the wild boar.
She wore a stern expression, extremely worried about how she would explain this to her husband when she returned.
Last time, when she encountered a small black bear, she said she had bumped into it, and her husband was somewhat skeptical...
If she said she had bumped into this wild boar, would her husband believe her?
