Chapter 3: Rare Metal Ore?

"Child, Xiao'er has eaten." Shen Chengyao came in with a tray in his hands. On the tray, there were two bowls of porridge, and three pieces of cornbread. Mrs. Liu hurriedly got up and moved a kang table onto the kang bed. Xiao'er used her hands to push her body up and sat down. With the smell of food, she suddenly felt terribly hungry.

Shen Chengyao placed the tray on the kang table. Xiao'er was stunned, was this porridge or gruel? The entire bowl of porridge only had a few grains of rice, and there were only three cornbreads. Who the hell was this going to be enough for? Xiao'er glanced at Mrs. Liu and saw that her expression as usual, not surprised at all. Obviously, this was what their usual dinner looked like, and soon memories from the original owner about meals emerged in her mind. It was necessary to improve the meals soon, Xiao'er made up her mind in secret.

"Xiao'er, eat quickly, you've been hungry for more than a day now." Mrs. Liu grabbed a cornbread and handed it to Xiao'er.

"Xiao'er, eat a bit more, daddy has another one here." Shen Chengyao took out another cornbread from his arms and put it on the plate.

Mrs. Liu, on seeing this, was at a loss for words. She felt heartache for her husband, but also for her own child. If her husband had taken out a cornbread, it meant that he only had one piece of cornbread and a bowl of porridge for dinner, after a day of fieldwork, how could this be enough? Her child had lost so much blood, and hadn't eaten all day, there was not even an egg to strengthen her, she felt helpless.

Xiao'er learned from the memories of her predecessor that the Shen family's dinner was porridge and cornbread. Each person had a bowl of porridge, each adult got two pieces of cornbread, and each child got one. Her own cheap father must have saved one from his own share.

At this moment, Shen Jingrui and Shen Jinghao walked into the room, both of them took out one cornbread from their arms and put it on the plate.

"Mom, Xiao'er eats cornbread."

"Mom, Xiao'er eats cornbread."

"You two children, eat your own!" Mrs. Liu's eyes turned red, and her voice choked. Her children really were thoughtful and filial. Even at such a young age, they knew how to pity people. But it's no way enough for them to have only a bowl of porridge for dinner.

Xiao'er was a bit touched. It seemed like this family loved each other very much. Reborn once, she is content to have family members who love each other like in her past life. Poverty doesn't matter, as it can be changed, but a family that loves each other and stands together is an uncommon gift.

"I just woke up and don't have much of an appetite. I can't eat that much," Xiao'er begrudgingly said. God knows she's so hungry right now that she could eat a whole cow.

"You three eat quickly, or I won't eat either," Mrs. Liu said in feigned anger.

In the end, the three of them had no choice but to eat half more each. Of the rest, Xiao'er ate half, and Mrs. Liu ate one. Only after Xiao'er said to eat more to avoid making her sister hungry did Mrs. Liu agree to eat.

After dinner, Shen Chengyao brought a bowl of medicine for Xiao'er to drink, and then the family simply washed up and went to bed. Ancient people generally worked from sunrise to sunset.

Xiao'er initially wanted to tell her parents about Shen Chengzong and Mrs. Li's plan to sell her to Hu Mansion as a prostitute, but after some thoughts, she decided not to mention it yet, to pretend to be unaware, and see if those two dare to sell her. If they dare to, she has ways to get their own daughter to become a prostitute instead.

The morning light of early autumn had already taken on a light golden hue, spreading warmth on a wall of the farmhouse.

After Xiao'er woke up and moved a bit, she felt much stronger after a few days of rest, and her wound didn't hurt as much anymore.

"Xiao'er is awake, come, mom will help you get dressed." Mrs. Liu was leaning against the wall, embroidering a handkerchief. When she noticed Xiao'er waking up, she quickly put down her needlework, picked up Xiao'er's coat, and intended to help her put it on.

"Mom, I can do it myself." Xiao'er quickly took her clothes and put them on adeptly. She was not really a child, and it was really uncomfortable to have an adult help her dress.

After Xiao'er had dressed herself, she drew water for washing up in line with the previous lady's memory. When she returned to her room, Mrs. Liu had already set up the kang table. On it were a bowl of a soup-like mixture called gruel and two small black steamed buns. Seeing the two black buns, Xiao'er knew that Mrs. Liu had deliberately left her own portion for her. She felt a warmth in her heart and picked up a steamed bun and immediately handed it to Mrs. Liu's mouth.

"Mom, I can't eat that much. You help me eat one."

"I've already eaten, and I'm not hungry now. You eat," Mrs. Liu smiled and pushed away Xiao'er's hand.

"Mom, my hand is getting tired from holding this, eat up!" Xiao'er said and directly stuffed the bun into Mrs. Liu's mouth. In the modern day, as the youngest princess of the Shen family, Shen Xiaoxiao was used to acting like a spoiled child.

"You child, I've said I'm not hungry," Mrs. Liu turned her head to avoid eating.

"Mom, this bun has already touched your mouth. I won't eat your saliva. Hurry up and take it, my arm is getting tired!" Xiao'er pretended to be tired and shook her arm.

"You child, where did you get all these notions?" Mrs. Liu helplessly took the bun and began eating.

After breakfast, Xiao'er boredly rummaged through Mrs. Liu's sewing basket. She picked up a purse that was half embroidered. A lotus was embroidered on it with only one leaf left to be finished. The lotus was already looking elegant and lifelike, Mrs. Liu's embroidery skills were obviously very good. It seems that she would have to learn this earnestly in the future. For knowledge that she didn't understand, Xiaoxiao in her past life was eager to learn.

"Mom, this purse is almost finished. Why didn't you finish it before embarking on the handkerchief?"

"The handkerchief is urgently needed by your younger aunt, so I embroidered it first."

"Oh." With that, Xiao'er agreed and continued to look through the items in the basket. This younger aunt of Xiao'er was a piece of work, lazy and egoistic concerning her looks.

Xiao'er saw a white stone lying beneath the basket. Picking it up, she found that it was shaped like a swan, smooth in texture. It was not jade, she didn't know what material it was, but it looked pretty. It could be some rare mineral. Her memory told her it was picked up by the previous lady near the river and was her favorite toy. Xiao'er put down the stone and continued browsing. Her finger was accidentally pricked by the needle on the purse's embroidery thread. A bead of blood immediately dripped out. As she pulled her hand back, the bead of blood wiped on the white stone, then the stone disappeared into thin air.

"Ah!" Xiao'er let out a soft cry of surprise.

Mrs. Liu was helping her younger sister change diapers. Hearing the shout, she looked up but thought Xiao'er was just pricked by the needle. She lowered her head and continued changing the diaper.

"You child, there are needles in the basket, be careful when you go through it."

"Mom, the white stone is gone." Xiao'er was extremely surprised.

"Gone? It was in the basket before, maybe Hao'er took it to play with. Ask him when he comes back." Mrs. Liu hadn't had time to embroider these few days, and hadn't noticed whether the stone was there or not when she took the embroidery needle and thread to work on the handkerchief. She found Xiao'er's surprise considering she often played with that stone, and now that she had just woken up and was looking for it again, rather amusing.

Coming to her senses, Xiao'er felt that she could not tell about the stone disappearing into thin air. The people of the ancient times were superstitious; telling them about such a thing would scare them.

"Oh, I just remembered. I lost it when I took it out to play last time and couldn't find it." Fortunately, Mrs. Liu had just been busy helping her younger sister change diapers and hadn't noticed that Xiao'er had picked up the stone.