The yellow corn niblets churned vigorously in the rich bone soup.
Mother Rong covered the pot lid.
In the afternoon, Mother Rong scooped out a bowl of bone soup. Similar to last night's supper, she added the plain porridge to the soup and served it to Ye Lulu.
Ye Lulu drank contentedly, her body warm from the inside out. She spent the rest of the day in bed, resting and taking care of the three babies.
When the sky was about to turn dark in the afternoon, the men from the Guan family returned from the city. When they entered the courtyard, Eldest Brother Guan put down the sack of rice he was carrying and instructed, "Today, we bought two catties of white rice and ten catties of black noodles."
Father Guan also went to do odd jobs, so they earned more copper coins than yesterday. However, there wasn't much left because there were too many people in the Guan family.. The grains that were bought were basically cleared every day, and all the money earned today was spent on food.
Nine copper coins per catty of pure white rice was very expensive. It was bought for Ye Lulu and the babies. Black noodles were noodles of the worst quality. They cost four copper coins per catty. The Guan family usually ate only black noodles. Today, they bought ten catties of it and Mother Rong placed them in the kitchen.
The texture of black noodles was naturally very bad. Farmers also found it too coarse and difficult to swallow, and it was tasteless. However, most people in the village only ate black noodles.
Buying these rice and noodles would cost all the money they had earned today. They even had to add in a few copper coins. There was no money left.
This was the Guan family's poor situation.
"Milk!"
"Grandma, we're back!"
"Grandma~"
A bunch of lively children ran into the house from behind and rushed towards Mother Rong. They started to shout 'milk' one by one. Their voices sounded from all directions and it was extremely noisy. The courtyard instantly became lively.
They saw a group of children with different heights and sizes jumping around Mother Rong. Some of them were only three or four years old. The oldest was seven or eight years old, and their bodies were already very strong.
Almost all of them were boys… Each one of them was stronger than the other. Their hair was shaved short, and they could barely tie a small knot on the top of their heads. Their faces were white and tender, and they looked strong and healthy. Their eyes were black and bright.
These were the children from the next generation of the Guan family.
The day before yesterday, they had to handle Guan Chibei's funeral. Coincidentally, Ye Lulu was about to give birth as well. As the house was too busy and chaotic, the Guan family sent all the children to Third Sister Guan's house in the city to stay for two days.
Today, the house was no longer hectic. Since Eldest Brother Guan and the rest went to the city to do manual labor, they brought back the children on their way home. After all, Third Sister Guan's house didn't have much space, and there were too many children.
Hence, it was true that the Guan family had a lot of people.
Eldest Brother Guan had four boys, aged eight, six, five, and three respectively. The three-year-old even had snot hanging from his nose and was a small-sized child. Second Brother Guan had three children, two boys, and a girl. This girl was also the only granddaughter of the Guan family and was five years old.
The two families already had so many children. This was also one of the reasons why Guan Chixi insisted on not getting married and Mother Rong and the rest did not rush him.
The Guan family was too prosperous and there were too many boys. If they were to create a ruckus, it would tear the sky apart. Furthermore, Ye Lulu gave birth to three boys recently, so Mother Rong was feeling both happy and troubled.
"Grandma, Damao is back! Did you make any good food for Damao?" Eldest Brother Guan's oldest son, an eight-year-old boy whose height had reached Mother Rong's waist, stood in front of Mother Rong and asked her for food.
Mother Rong also missed her grandchildren. She grinned from ear to ear as she hugged a bunch of children and said, "Yes! I've baked sweet potato pancakes for tonight. I'll serve them later."