Chapter 24: Mother’s Praise

By the time Bai Yunqi finished his bath and came out, the sky had already turned dark.

Except for Da Mao, who was still feverish and unconscious, everyone in the Bai Family, young and old, gathered in the courtyard, all eyes on the wild vegetable pancakes being served.

“Three boiled eggs, you three children eat first,” Jiang Dai said, fishing out three eggs from her pocket and placing them on the wooden table.

Juanjuan looked at her mother, as if asking: When did you cook these?

Jiang Dai replied, “Ahem, I boiled them while you were heating bathwater for your Eldest Brother.”

Boiling eggs was something she could handle.

To prevent Juanjuan from sharing the eggs with her, Jiang Dai quickly explained, “I really don’t eat eggs, you all go ahead!”

【I absolutely hate boiled eggs. Back in school, I ate so many that just seeing them makes me want to gag.】

【But instant noodles with a poached egg, I can still eat that. But here… where would I find instant noodles?】

Jiang Dai bit viciously into the wild vegetable pancake, slowly comforting herself.

【It’s fine, just think of it as reminiscing about the hard times, like paying tribute to the Red Army soldiers of the past who climbed snowy mountains and crossed grassy fields, eating tree bark and roots. What’s wrong with eating a pancake?】

As Juanjuan nibbled on the boiled egg, listening to her mother’s words, she felt less miserable.

She remembered the village grandmothers saying that a decade ago, there was a famine here, and many people starved to death, eating roots, bark, and even bugs.

Suddenly, Juanjuan felt a closer bond with her mother, finding common ground in her mother’s unfamiliar words.

“I wonder if Da Mao will pull through,” Bai Tian said, swallowing the pancake in two bites before heading inside to check on his feverish second son.

“When you went out to find Eldest Brother, he woke up once, drank some water, and seemed a lot better,” Yun An reported, chewing on his boiled egg and updating the family on his twin brother’s condition.

Speaking of which, his twin brother Da Mao was indeed unfortunate. How could he have a fever for so long? Wasn’t he worried about burning out his brain?

After finishing the wild vegetable pancake, Juanjuan went to brew medicine for her still feverish Second Brother.

It wasn’t that the Bai Family members were enslaving Juanjuan. Rather, Juanjuan didn’t trust her parents and brothers near the stove. They were too likely to blow up the kitchen.

Her father had already done it once. Her mother admitted she was clueless in the kitchen. Eldest Brother had quietly mentioned he used to be an Immortal and didn’t eat, so how would he know his way around a kitchen? Besides, Eldest Brother had just fallen into a cesspit; he needed rest and shouldn’t overexert himself.

Although Third Brother often helped her quietly, cooking was not something she wanted to trouble her rather unusual Third Brother with.

Juanjuan busied herself at the stove, standing on a specially made small stool because the pot was too high. Jiang Dai, though unable to help, stayed by Juanjuan’s side, watching the four-year-old skillfully work and secretly learning.

【Juanjuan is so capable. In the modern era, a four-year-old would probably still be playing!】

【I really need to work harder. Letting a child do the work makes me feel so guilty. Slacking off like this is not the way!】

Juanjuan listened to her mother’s thoughts. She didn’t feel that working was hard or unfair. She only felt that her value was finally being recognized—a child who was disliked by her father from birth, never favored by her mother, and bullied by her brother.

At four years old, she yearned for a word of praise from her family.

When the medicine was ready and she was about to serve it, Jiang Dai immediately intervened.

“Here, Juanjuan, let me carry it.”

【Finally, something I can do. I must do this, otherwise, I’ll feel really embarrassed.】

Hearing her mother’s words, Juanjuan didn’t argue about who should carry the medicine. She simply looked at her mother and said with a gentle smile, “Okay.”