Mrs. Li, when Hongji gazed at her intently, saw a burning look in her husband's eyes. Faced with choosing between her husband and her children, she was more concerned about the newborn and the very young ones.
Seizing this favorable opportunity, Mrs. Li quickly walked towards her own room. The door of her room was not closed, and Siwa, who was almost two years old, stood at the doorway, stretching out his arms and shouting loudly, "Mom, Mom's back! Mom, hold me, waaa."
Mrs. Li went over and picked up Siwa, kissed him on the face, and wiped away his tears as she asked, "Has Siwa been good?"
"Siwa has been good. Siwa takes care of his little sister every day."
"Good, Siwa is really good!"
"Hee hee hee," Siwa, delighted by his mother's praise, smiled with tears still on his face, his innocent smile melting Mrs. Li's heart.
Holding Siwa, Mrs. Li walked towards the bed, where the baby who had been lying flat in the bed, had turned over to look towards the door, smiling at the entering Siwa and Mrs. Li.
"Wuwa, you can turn over now!" Mrs. Li exclaimed in surprise, watching her youngest daughter. The other children only started to turn over and babble after two or more months, or around three months.
Hongji saw his wife enter the room, so he followed her inside. It had been a month since he last saw his wife, and he wanted to talk to her about the hardships of the month, as he also missed her.
"Our Wuwa is the cleverest. She's been able to roll over for several days now. This past month when you weren't home, she could only drink rice soup. At night, she wakes me up to pee. I always feed her."
Mrs. Li put down Siwa and picked up Wuwa, who was smiling at her, and kissed her on the face, looking carefully at Wuwa. The smallest of her daughters was the one she was most worried about. The other daughters could eat other foods, but the little one could only have rice soup.
She picked up her little daughter, noting her light body but rosy cheeks. Her daughter's rosy complexion eased some of her worries. Unlike her four elder sisters, she didn't have a skinny, yellowed face or dry, yellow hair.
Only over two months old, her cheeks were rosy, and her hair black. Perhaps her husband had not cut the child's hair, as it was already long enough to tie up.
"Little daughter, and the other children at home, nothing happened to them this month, right?"
"The little daughter was all right. One day when it rained, the three older ones got wet and developed a fever at midnight. I panicked and didn't know what to do, so I could only go to the kitchen to boil some hot water for them to drink. Then I came back to find they no longer had a fever. I tried to wake them to drink water, but when the three children got up, they said I had already given them water. It was so strange."
"What? The three older children? While I wasn't home, surely the outside farm work wasn't all left to those three little girls, was it?" Mrs. Li had suspected as much but couldn't believe that her family would be so cruel. The eldest was only eight years old.
In Mrs. Li's arms, Tang Shiqi blinked her eyes. The three sisters had been humming with fever all night long, and their father, who had been sleeping soundly, later woke up and ran out. She could only use her hand to drip water from the Spiritual Spring in the space onto her sisters' mouths.
In this era, it surely must have been difficult to call a doctor, and there were no specific medicines. She didn't want her three lovely sisters to suffer from fever-induced delirium. It was quite frustrating to have been transmigrated into this backward time in the book.
"My wife, you know, I have to do carpentry, and I try to help with the work at home as much as I can. I also have to take care of the two younger children. If I go outside to do outdoor work, my parents will scold me, saying there's no one to look after the two little ones at home."
Hongji scratched his head, looking embarrassed. Having to play the role of both father and mother was indeed tough, especially since the family didn't help, leaving him feeling oppressed as a man.
"Ah, you've had a hard time," Mrs. Li said, knowing that her husband was caught in a difficult position, like a sandwich cookie. He had managed to take care of the two little ones, so the only blame lay with the family, which was too heartless.
"Wife, I don't want to make things difficult for you. It must have been tough working at the wealthy family's house, no one scolded you, right?" Hongji, this brute of a man, only now considered that it wasn't easy for his wife to work as a housekeeper outside.
"It was bearable. Mainly, I was worried about the children at home. This time, Madam of the household where I worked as a housekeeper gave the children a little something, and I made some clothes and shoes for the children with some other fabric."
Mrs. Li sat down and untied her bundle, from which she took out several comic books, some children's toys, and a few pieces of clothing and shoes for the dolls.
Hongji grinned foolishly and nodded. Seeing that there were no items for him, no shoes or clothes inside the bundle, he understood that Mrs. Li didn't get much from the other family, and it was already good that she could make something for the children.
"Wow, there's so much. Were the comic books and toys also given by Madam?"
"Husband, when I was in Young Master's room at the house I serve, the children there, even those only one or two years old, could look at these comic books to recognize words and learn. It made me think that our girls at home shouldn't grow up knowing nothing either.
I asked the housekeeper to help me buy two comic books. The housekeeper bought the comic books and even toys for me, and he did not take my money. He just gave them for the children at home."
As Mrs. Li was talking to Hongji, she did not pay attention to the direction of the door. Her room had always been off-limits to other family members. Since she had given birth, no one had ever entered, so she wasn't prepared for any family member to come in at this time.
Mrs. Li was completely unaware of other people's intentions. No one entered her room because there was nothing of value. However, this moment was different; she had not opened the bundle yet.
Mrs. Lai and Second Miss, Third Miss had been listening at the wall in the next room. Hearing about the items, Mrs. Lai, with her plump body, charged into the room, her beady eyes bulging as she scolded:
"Look at you, Mrs. Li. You go to work at a wealthy household and even seduce the housekeeper. Where in the world do such good fortunes like a free lunch fall from the sky? I will confiscate these two comic books and the toys. We can't leave the housekeeper's things here."
"Mother-in-law, these are books I asked someone to buy for the children to read. Don't slander me. You can mistreat me, but don't talk nonsense. The Tang Mansion's housekeeper is not someone you can malign. If you get reported to the government, don't blame your daughter-in-law for bringing you trouble."
"Mother, how can you talk nonsense ?" Hongji chided her as he looked at his mother.
"What did I say, huh? If you, Mrs. Li, don't tell the housekeeper, how would he know to report me? Is the government their family's to command? Humph!"
"Mother, surely you aren't unaware that there's a driver in the yard, right?" Mrs. Li's character was very meek, but at that moment, she was rather stubborn.
"Let me see these items. This fabric is quite nice. This handkerchief suits me." Third Miss walked in and compared the children's clothes to her size, finding that even the largest piece didn't fit her, so she could only snatch from the smaller items.
"This hair accessory is pretty. It'll be perfect for me to wear when I become a bride." Second Miss truly fancied the headdress flower.
"Second Sister, I want one too..." The two sisters grabbed the headdress flower and ran out, afraid that Mrs. Li would take it back.
Mrs. Li couldn't believe her family members could be so shameless. Usually, when she was close to death giving birth, no one came to see her, but now they were snatching things meant for the children.
What she cared about most was the comic book in Mrs. Lai's hand. The toys could be taken away; the youngest two could also play with them. Her children hadn't had toys for years; they didn't necessarily need them.
Comic books could help them recognize words and learn, which was what she, as a mother, cared about most at the moment.