As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never lose a battle. Jian Shuangshuang's impression of this world is limited to a broken courtyard, a few faces, and the broken bowl held by Yu Si Niang. So the urgent task is to first understand the situation of this family.
Fortunately, Yu Si Niang didn't suspect anything, or rather, she had unconditional trust in this daughter, not even a hint of doubt.
"Our Old Mu Family is just an ordinary household in Er Gui Village..."
Yu Si Niang spoke in great detail, covering the Mu Family's population and even the number of old hens at home. Jian Shuangshuang closed her eyes, using her unique method to categorize the identities of the family members on a mental map. That's when she realized that the original Mu Shuangshuang and she had only a difference in surname, meaning from now on, she must change her surname from Jian to Mu.
There's not much to reminisce about; in her previous life, Jian Shuangshuang was pretty much alone. Her parents were abroad for years trying to earn more money. Growing up into her twenties, she hadn't seen her parents many times. Later, they formed new families overseas.
So changing her surname wasn't a big deal to her. On the contrary, Yu Si Niang was incredibly kind to her.
She... had the feeling of having a home.
Her eyes suddenly became wet. Jian Shuangshuang, now Mu Shuangshuang, couldn't remember how long it had been since she last cried, but it wasn't out of sadness. The feeling was so peculiar; someone who had never been valued was suddenly cherished like a precious gem, making her feel deeply satisfied!
"Shuangshuang, I've said so much, you must be hungry, right? Be good, eat first and afterward I'll brew some medicine for you," Yu Si Niang said.
Yu Si Niang was completely immersed in the joy of having such a sensible daughter, having forgotten that she was forbidden by Old Mrs. Mu from using the kitchen to cook things for her own daughter, especially medicine.
Through the information provided by Yu Si Niang, Mu Shuangshuang also learned that Old Mrs. Mu didn't only mistreat her; the entire Old Mu Family had similar portions, although others received slightly more.
After continuous warfare, it was now time to rest and recuperate, and everyone's days were just as miserable. Although the Mu Family was considered decent in Er Gui Village, there were too many mouths to feed and not enough land. Plus, heavy taxes on the fields in recent years and Mr. Mu and Old Mrs. Mu having lots of sons and grandsons, there wasn't much left.
Three to five taels of silver would be enough for a three-person family for a year, and by this calculation, the Mu Family's yearly expenses were relatively high as well.
But Mu Shuangshuang always felt that Old Mrs. Mu was overly frugal. Farmers shouldn't lack vegetables since they are life-sustaining items. The harvest cycle in the fields is several months, but the return for vegetables takes only one to three months; they just need to be watered and fertilized occasionally.
Yet Old Mrs. Mu was stingy enough to bring back yesterday's leftover vegetable leaves for today's meal, which was excessively frugal.
Maybe it was because she was really hungry. Mu Shuangshuang ate up the piece of sweet potato taken from Yu Si Niang's bowl, along with some rice grains more precious than gold, and even the wilted cabbage of changed color was devoured without any remains. Though not quite full, having something to settle the stomach stopped it from growling.
Despite the distress in the process.
"Mom... alright... to go out..." Mu Shuangshuang looked at Yu Si Niang with bright eyes like stars, wanting to say that when she felt better, she'd go out to find something for them to eat. Things from the sky or running on the ground could always fill the stomach.
"Alright, once you're better, Mom will take you out to the mountain, to the town, wherever Shuangshuang likes," Yu Si Niang replied.
Saying this, Yu Si Niang's hand touched Mu Shuangshuang's hair, gently smoothing it without stopping, even as she didn't notice at all that her daughter was too filthy to be approached, despite the greasy feeling on her hands.
Mu Shuangshuang hesitated; the sour and smelly odor on the original body was unbearable even to herself, let alone to Yu Si Niang.
"Mom... stinky... don't..." Despite saying more and more, her voice hadn't paused, yet Mu Shuangshuang had to express that she wasn't stopping Yu Si Niang from getting close, but at least wait until she was clean.
"What are you saying? Mom's daughter, how could Mom dislike? Our Shuangshuang isn't stinky at all, not ugly at all; our Shuangshuang is clean and pretty!"
Mu Shuangshuang looked at the earnest expression on Yu Si Niang's face with an unconcealed smile, suddenly calming down.
"Mom... rinse... mouth!" Mu Shuangshuang suddenly widened her grin, then pointed to her teeth full of sticky tartar to tell Yu Si Niang she wanted to rinse her mouth.
Mu Shuangshuang couldn't change her body these two days, but she could control her teeth, at least to not let someone scold her for bad breath due to her words, making her a sinner through the ages.
Yu Si Niang paused a moment, pondering her daughter repeatedly asking for cleaning, unable to let her daughter always be disappointed; washing teeth shouldn't be an issue, right?
Yu Si Niang stood up, "Shuangshuang, wait a bit, Mom will get you something to clean your teeth."
Mu Shuangshuang's eyes lit up, nodding vigorously.
She couldn't bear the stink of her mouth any longer, having just eaten a meal forcibly.
Ugh, just thinking about it makes her feel sick!
Watching the door eagerly, she finally waited for Yu Si Niang to return, holding a locust tree twig, with a somewhat awkward expression, her originally wax-yellow face slightly blushed, but Mu Shuangshuang knew that wasn't embarrassment, she must have been irritated.
Seeing the twig, Mu Shuangshuang was momentarily stunned before realizing there were no toothbrushes in ancient times. Either using fingers to pick at her deeply stained teeth, which wouldn't clean, even with a knife, or using a twig to scrub like their kind from locust or willow trees, needed to soak the cut end in water overnight, then bitten soft the next morning with teeth and adding salt or herbs for brushing.
Yu Si Niang handed the locust twig to Mu Shuangshuang and gave her a clay bowl full of cold water, setting the water basin directly on the brick bed.
Mu Shuangshuang bit deeply on the twig several times; not even widening her mouth more would soften the twig's head.
Thinking for a moment, Mu Shuangshuang handed the twig to Yu Si Niang.
Yu Si Niang blanked out a moment, observing her daughter's expectant gaze slowly, finally taking the twig and biting soft the soaked end, then passing it to her daughter.
Mu Shuangshuang took the twig, drew some water into her mouth, and started cleaning her teeth carefully!