The next day, at the crack of dawn, Bai Xue woke up. The kang was warm, so even though the quilt was thin, she slept comfortably.
"Big sister..." As soon as her big sister got up, Bai Ruyun sensed it, sleepily sat up, followed by Bai Ruxia, while the two brothers also sat up.
"Yes, Big Sister is up to make breakfast. If you're still sleepy, you can sleep a bit more!" Bai Xue hadn't dared to take off her clothes while sleeping, fearing the cold.
So in the morning, it was just a matter of lifting the quilt and putting on shoes to get out of bed.
"Big Sister, I'll help you!" Bai Ruyun quickly put on her cotton clothes and pants, following her down to the ground.
"I'm so sleepy, Big Sister, I'll sleep a bit longer!" Bai Ruxia was not as diligent, closing her eyes and slipping back under the quilt.
Although the two were twins, the elder sister was a bit more sensible and diligent than the younger one.
"Xiao Xue, both of you go up and sleep for a while! Dad will make breakfast!" From the southern kang, Bai Daliang heard the noise and woke up.
"Dad, you have an injury on your head, rest well! We can do it! Absolutely don't go out to work!" She had plans, and if Bai Daliang went out to work and was seen, her plans would be hard to implement.
"Dad's fine..."
"Don't say you're fine, at least rest for two months and don't do any work!" Bai Xue interrupted him.
"How would that work, with the New Year around the corner, and after the New Year, we start preparing for spring planting. Without Dad working, where will we get the work points?" Bai Daliang was worried.
There was less than half a month until the New Year. After the New Year, with the spring breeze, work would start again, digging out corn roots, fertilizing the land, preparing for spring planting.
"Don't worry about anything else, I will definitely not let you guys go hungry. Just focus on resting and recovering on the kang, and help Mom look after the baby so that Mom can have a proper recovery month. It might be her last confinement; if she doesn't recover well, she'll have health issues later!"
"This..." Bai Daliang was used to working, and suddenly being asked to lie on the kang and rest without doing any work felt awkward.
"Dad, if you want to completely cut off Grandma and Third Uncle's family from entangling with us, listen to me. Otherwise, believe me, as soon as they find out you started working, they'll burst into our house and grab food!" Bai Xue spelled it out clearly.
Bai Daliang immediately understood his daughter's intention—she wanted him to pretend to be sick.
"Alright! I'll listen to you!" Bai Daliang struggled for a moment before agreeing.
"Okay, the wound on your head isn't healed yet, quickly lie down and sleep a bit more! We'll go make breakfast now!" Bai Xue, seeing her father understand, didn't say much more and quickly went out.
Just as she took out a pound of yellow millet from the cupboard, Bai Rushan followed her out.
"Big Sister, what are you doing? Cooking porridge? I'll get the wood to start the fire!"
"Alright! Add some water to the pot and start boiling it! Big Sister's making millet porridge!" Bai Xue washed the pound of millet in a basin and poured it into the big iron pot.
For breakfast, they cooked thick millet porridge and added brown sugar. Everyone in the family ate brown sugar millet porridge.
While the family was enjoying the porridge, the door was pushed open with a bang, and Grandma Bai's loud voice rang out.
"Daliang! My dear son, are you alright? You've worried your mom to death!"
The whole family was stunned. On the table was thick brown sugar millet porridge, with a bowl for everyone; there was no way to explain it away.
"Big Sister, what should we do? Grandma will definitely snatch it..." Bai Ruyun's little face turned pale with fright.
The others weren't much different, Wang Cuihua also looked distressed.
"Don't be afraid, Big Sister has a plan. Little Chuan! Go get the team leader." Bai Xue instructed Bai Ruchuan to call the team leader before Grandma Bai entered the inner room.
Bai Ruchuan put down his bowl and chopsticks, quickly got out of bed, and ran outside, colliding with Grandma Bai at the inner room's door.
"Ouch, you little rascal, trying to knock your own grandma to death?" Grandma Bai shrieked loudly, but Bai Ruchuan didn't stop his steps and kept running.
Not minding the collision, Grandma Bai quickly walked inside.
"Daliang! Are you okay? You've worried your mom to death!" She said, sitting in the spot where Bai Ruchuan was sitting. Her eyes didn't forget to wander as if looking for something.
"Mom... Why are you here so early?" Bai Daliang said without any good expression.
"Isn't it because I'm worried about you? As soon as Mom got up, she ran over. Wow, your food is great! This millet porridge is as thick as rice! Your mom is suffering! She can't even fill her belly with water these days..." she sighed and moaned while picking up Bai Ruchuan's bowl and gulping it down.
Grandma Bai was indeed flexible, able to snatch and still lament at the same time.
Bai Xue quickly removed the remaining millet porridge from the basin and signaled to her siblings to eat quickly!
Her younger siblings didn't disappoint her, promptly scraping the porridge from their bowls.
"You worthless girl, why did you take away the porridge? I'm not full yet! Daliang! Are you just going to watch her disrespect me without saying anything? Tell her to bring the porridge back!" Grandma Bai shouted, having quickly finished the porridge in her bowl.
"Grandma, my mom is still in her confinement period, that bit of porridge is supposed to be for her! If the baby doesn't have milk, will you buy formula for them?" Bai Xue was disgusted with this old witch, speaking bluntly.
"Those little rascals not getting milk is none of my business! I'm your dad's mother; he has no reason not to feed me!"
"Don't forget that we separated our households long ago. My dad hasn't missed a single part of his filial duty; as a mother-in-law, there's no reason to snatch food from a daughter-in-law who's in her confinement period!" Bai Xue retorted.
"You worthless girl, who gave you the right to speak here? Shut up! Daliang! Are you going to discipline your daughter or should I teach her a lesson on your behalf?" Grandma Bai declared as she was about to stand up.
"Mom! Please have my bowl of porridge, what's left is really for Cuihua! She still hasn't produced milk!" Bai Daliang said begrudgingly.
"Give it to me!" Grandma Bai reached over and took Bai Daliang's porridge upon hearing this.
Bai Xue gave her father a disappointed look, picked up her bowl, and ate without serving him porridge. She also signaled her mom to eat faster! Otherwise, the porridge in her bowl might end up in Grandma Bai's mouth.
Wang Cuihua bowed her head and started eating her food, but Grandma Bai wasn't happy upon seeing it.
"Your man has no food, and you still have the face to eat? Give your porridge to Daliang! Can't you see he's injured?"
"Mom, Cuihua is in her confinement period, how can she not eat? I'm not hungry, I'm full!" Bai Daliang quickly chimed in to speak for Wang Cuihua.
Bai Xue glared at Bai Daliang, this ungrateful person, forgetting how his mother treated him the other day, yet he's giving her porridge now.
"Grandma, I have something to say. Who injured my dad? Who snatched his porridge, leaving him with nothing? And I must ask, how is the matter of Third Uncle attacking my dad going to be resolved?" Bai Xue didn't care if she was speaking to her grandmother, treating extremes with extremes.
Such an early visit meant she'd heard something through the grapevine and came to see what was happening, likely tipped off by the aroma of dumpling soup they had last night in the courtyard, someone might have told Grandma Bai something.
"Isn't your dad alright now? What else is there to resolve? Isn't it normal for real brothers to have little fights? You worthless girl, what nonsense are you spewing?" Grandma Bai, feeling guilty, hastily ate another mouthful of porridge, her eyes darting around, masking her emotions with loud shouts and curses.
"Grandma, where did you see my dad's recovered? He can't even get out of the kang; just moving makes him dizzy! Do you know Third Uncle caused him a concussion? Also, his wound required several stitches and he has to return in seven days to have them removed! The medical expenses alone cost ten yuan! And he won't be able to work for another two to three months!" Bai Xue felt pained mentioning the ten yuan, but she couldn't tell the truth.