Chen Lan then patted Xu Mingxuan’s back with a hearty and domineering air, saying, “Don’t worry! Young man! Your wife is so smart and capable! Diligent, brave! Kind, generous! And the most important point, my biggest advantage, is that I’m not stingy!
Even if you asked me to support a thousand or eight hundred people, it wouldn’t be a problem! This little matter, what is it? I’m totally okay with it! All these issues are just a drizzle! A drizzle! Easy peasy! Easy peasy!”
As Chen Lan spoke, her mouth couldn’t help but start rambling, and she began to brag about herself with smug self-satisfaction.
It wasn’t until Xu Mingxuan looked up at her in confusion that Chen Lan realized she had accidentally used popular slang from her past life again.
Clearing her throat somewhat unnaturally, she continued, “Uh, Mingxuan ge, in short, one sentence: you can rest assured and boldly do what you want to do! Do whatever you want! As long as it’s not against the law or discipline, not harming national interests, and of course, not harming family interests, I, representing the whole family, support you! You and the whole family are your strongest backing.”
After speaking, she patted Xu Mingxuan’s back again and said, “Alright! Let’s hurry up and cook! It’s getting late, and you have to rush back to the camp after breakfast.”
Xu Mingxuan sniffled and softly hummed in embarrassment, releasing his arms from around Chen Lan.
To alleviate Xu Mingxuan’s awkwardness while the porridge was cooking, Chen Lan asked him to watch the fire and went upstairs. She prepared food and change of clothes for Xu Mingxuan to take back to the camp, along with a bag of silver dollars.
Because Xu Mingxuan had resolved a major issue that had been troubling him for days, he had a very good appetite at breakfast! He ate a delicious meal with great spirits. He went upstairs to check on the sleeping twins, and then leaned down to kiss their rosy little faces.
He reluctantly turned and left the bedroom.
Without further hesitation, he quickly went downstairs. Carrying the large bag of food prepared by his wife, which included several bags of milk powder, biscuits, and pastries, a whole big bag in short. His wife said that if he got hungry at night while studying, he could have some to tide him over!
There were also the change of clothes and a bag of silver dollars specially prepared for him. It felt heavy in his hand, probably around two to three hundred silver dollars!
The items were too many to carry easily, so Chen Lan specifically prepared a large backpack for him to put everything in.
With great reluctance, he said goodbye to his wife, mother-in-law, Mama Liu, Uncle Fu, Xiang Dong, and the rest of the family. Due to time constraints, he couldn’t say goodbye to his mother.
He glanced at everyone again, and without further hesitation, he hoisted the large backpack onto his shoulders, turned, and walked out the door without looking back, out of the courtyard, and quickly headed towards the direction of the camp.
Everyone saw him off from the courtyard and watched Xu Mingxuan’s receding figure gradually disappear into the morning mist of the forest.
Everyone returned to the living room. At this moment, three women and one child had already woken up, and the three of them came to the living room with the child.
Mama Liu saw them and rushed to greet them warmly, smiling and saying, “Have you all washed up? I’ve saved your breakfast for you, it’s still warm in the pot.
I didn’t wake you up to eat together this morning because I thought you must not have had enough rest these past few days, and I wanted you to sleep a little longer, so I didn’t call you to eat breakfast with us. I hope you don’t mind!”
After speaking, she quickly urged, “Come, come, sit down at the table quickly. I’ll go get your breakfast.” With that, she turned to head to the kitchen.
The three women were momentarily at a loss and said, “No need, Auntie, we can do it ourselves.” After sitting down, they immediately got up to follow her to the kitchen.
At this moment, Chen Lan and Hu Yuzhen had already brought the breakfast out from the kitchen.
After putting down the breakfast, Chen Lan and Hu Yuzhen nodded and greeted them separately before heading upstairs to check if the twins had woken up.
Mother had already gone upstairs. Now that the twins were older, they were much more mischievous than when they were babies. Chen Lan worried that Mother couldn’t handle them alone, so she hurried upstairs.
Mama Liu quickly called out to the three women, “Come, come, my dear girls, sit down quickly and eat while it’s hot! The weather is getting cold now, and food gets cold quickly. Eating cold food will make your stomach uncomfortable. Eat quickly, don’t be polite! Come, give the child to me, I’ll feed him. I steamed egg custard for all the little ones this morning.”
Saying this, she reached out and took the child from the round-faced girl.
Hu Yuzhen took the child from Mama Liu’s hand, tied a Nezha-esque bib around the child’s neck, and began to skillfully feed him the egg custard.
The little one ate with gusto. He ate one spoonful and took another, very well-behaved and obedient.
The three women looked at the rich breakfast: thick rice porridge, soft steamed buns made of mixed flour, and large rolls emitting the aroma of scallion oil, and were momentarily at a loss.
It was the woman with the injured arm who spoke first, saying, “Auntie, you’re too kind. You didn’t have to make such a lavish breakfast for us specifically. We would have been fine with anything. You’re spending too much like this.”
The round-faced girl and the long-faced girl echoed her sentiments, “Yes! Auntie, you’re spending too much. We don’t even eat this well at home during the New Year! You’re too polite to do this, we’d be fine with anything.”
Mama Liu quickly explained, “My dears, I really didn’t make it specially for you. We are all eating these things this morning. These are the things we eat every day, so eat without worry! I didn’t make them specially for you.”
The woman with the injured arm quickly said, “Auntie, please just call me Chun Cao! Thank you for preparing breakfast for us anyway.”
The round-faced girl continued, “Auntie, my name is Ru Yi, please call me Ru Yi!”
The long-faced girl said shyly in a low voice, “Auntie, I was born in winter, and my mother named me Xiao Xue. Please call me Xiao Xue too!”
Mama Liu smiled and said, “Good! Good! Chun Cao, Ru Yi, Xiao Xue, eat quickly, don’t be polite with me! Hurry! The food will get cold in a moment. Eat quickly, and after eating, we can sit down and chat properly.”
After breakfast, the three women helped Mama Liu clean the kitchen. When Mama Liu saw Chun Cao also wanted to help, she quickly stopped her, “Don’t lift anything. Your hand is injured, so sit aside and rest. As the saying goes, (it takes a hundred days for bone and sinew to recover). The three of us will finish this work in a moment, you don’t need to help. Just focus on resting.”