"Even though it's roasted, Grandpa, Grandma, and Mom and Dad can still have some." Xu Mumu said a bit shyly, understanding Li Caixia's thoughts. She saw her mother looking proud, basking in the envious gazes of her second and fourth aunts.
"We don't get to eat any good food, this is all for you, no one will snatch it from you." Li Caixia was extremely touched; her daughter still thought of her, it wasn't in vain that she treated her daughter so well.
Ultimately, that wild duck egg and two bird eggs were boiled in the rice pot by Xu Mumu.
Li Caixia was heartbroken; these were eggs, after all, wild duck eggs are even bigger than chicken eggs, and although the two bird eggs weren't big, they were still good stuff.
Looking at the lunch, Xu Mumu slightly pursed her lips; the food was dried sweet potato rice, not peeled, just cooked directly mixed, with quite a lot of wild vegetables, there was very little actual rice.
Last night, since she wasn't well, she ate a bowl of egg custard and a bowl of millet porridge, though a bit thin, compared to today, the difference was immense.
In memory, the whole family ate like this, otherwise, the home's grain wouldn't be enough to fill them, so many people at home, Madam Chen always calculated the food for them to last till the end of the year.
That the family could be fed, it was all thanks to Madam Chen calculating the family's meals so the Old Xu Family never faced starvation.
Xu Mumu swiftly shelled the duck egg and the two bird eggs.
She placed the two bird eggs in her brothers' bowls, and divided the duck egg, giving two pieces to her grandparents, and the rest to her parents; her remaining little piece was similar in size to the bird egg in her brother's bowl.
"Mumu, you're still not well, eat it yourself. Mom doesn't love eggs." Li Caixia put the egg back into Xu Mumu's bowl.
Madam Chen and Old Xu were very moved, not expecting their granddaughter to give them the eggs; though the head of the household, they had endured many hardships, storing the good things for their sons and grandsons, having rarely tasted good things, even an egg was reserved for the New Year's treat.
All these memories were vivid, and it was precisely why Xu Mumu had great respect for the elder couple.
"Grandpa, Grandma, and Mom and Dad all have done so much work, need to supplement some nutrition. I'm completely well now, you all eat quickly, I won't eat it again if left to cool it'll taste fishy." Xu Mumu said with a gentle smile.
"Silly child." Madam Chen turned her face, wiped her face casually with her hand, and said helplessly.
"Eat, this is Mumu's heartfelt intention." Old Xu said earnestly, looking at Xu Mumu with even more warmth.
"Minglei, eat, it'll help you grow taller." Li Caixia added the duck egg into her youngest son's bowl.
"Mom, you're really nice." Xu Minglei's eyes brightened immediately; he hadn't tasted the bird egg yet before swallowing it whole.
Xu Mumu ate her bowl of sweet potato porridge, which indeed didn't taste great, but compared to the expired food she had to eat post-apocalypse, it was quite pleasant, so she was happy while eating.
The second branch kept silent, quietly eating; Xu Xue was pondering the division of the family, having caused no fuss, naturally meaning no split. Her body hurt, after Madam Chen beat her with a broom when she first came back, a large bruise formed on her arm.
At that moment, she hurt all over, having been beaten yesterday, and in the morning, Xu Minglei knocked her unconscious with a stone, during midday, that old lady struck her several times with the broom.
Xu Xue had one thought now: hurry up and divide the family, continually living with this big family, she was on the verge of madness.
After lunch, Xu Mumu lay down on her bed; in this house, she was the only one with a single room, which wasn't big, and had almost nothing inside, even her pampered status had little to show, indicating just how poor the family was.
Sunlight streamed from outside, warm in the spring, having just eaten lunch, Xu Mumu didn't feel cold. Her room's location was quite good, perfectly situated to catch the sun.
Sunlight fell on the bed while Xu Mumu took out her books from the rattan box.
Holding the books again, Xu Mumu felt like she had been transported to another world.
During those six months post-apocalypse, every day was focused on surviving, killing zombies, and finding food, these were the most pressing issues.
She flipped through the textbooks, and the contents were still familiar; Xu Mumu's face beamed. These decades-old textbooks had knowledge points that weren't difficult, even easier than what she had learned before; this gave her more confidence.
The work whistle sounded again, the family moved once more; among Xu Family's third generation, only Xu Minghui was required to go to work.
"Sis, want to come out to play? I've arranged with Tiedan to collect firewood." Xu Minglei entered to see his sister reading, always feeling she had changed significantly since falling into the water.
"Alright, I'll go take a look." Xu Mumu noticed Xu Minglei's probing look but said no more.
The original character's grades were really average, in memories, her scores were mid-lower tier among the class, which for a former good student like Xu Mumu was quite troubling.
If the original scores were used, with college entrance exams resuming next year, there would certainly be no hope.
Xu Minglei, now ten years old, counted as half a laborer; despite being favored by the elder couple, he couldn't play every day, as there was still work to do.
At least the Xu Family's firewood storage was filled by these grandkids, now stored to the brim.
"Second brother, we want to go too." Xu Tao and Xu Jiaojiao joined him.
"Go ahead, but I'm not carrying firewood for you." Xu Minglei looked at the sibling duo dismissively, resembling bean sprouts, especially Xu Jiaojiao, who was always crying.
"Big Sister, are you well?" Xu Jiaojiao looked up at Xu Mumu.
"I'm well now, come, I'll take you out to sunbathe." Xu Mumu reached for Xu Jiaojiao's hand; compared to her slightly plump hand, the girl was thin as skin and bones.
In the apocalypse, she'd seen people as emaciated as this, even thinner than Xu Jiaojiao, though the little girl was only suffering from malnutrition.
Looking at the little girl in front of her, with good features yet yellowed skin, it was all caused by malnutrition; she had observed Xu Xue and Xu Wan, both were thin but still bore good features, the Old Xu Family had fairly good looks.