Lu Jiao patted his head and rushed, "Eat up first. I'll give it to you after you're done."
To get more food later, the Fourth Born went back to eat breakfast. Lu Jiao turned back to Xie Yunjin and he asked, "How come you want to go back?"
This woman married into this family four years ago and it was rare for her to go home. Especially this person here now was not really someone from the Lu family. So why did she plan to go back?
Lu Jiao said quickly, "Last time, my mother gave me five taels of silver so I could buy you medicine."
Xie Yunjin stared with disbelief in his eyes. Sarcastically, his lips curled up.
There truly was nothing bad he could say about his mother-in-law. Due to Lu Jiao's behavior, he never once visited his mother-in-law. However, when he got hurt, his mother-in-law came over to give him money and asked Lu Jiao to behave.
Look at his own parents. They've never liked him since he was a child and only started to acknowledge him after he did well in his studies. What was the result of all that? The moment he got hurt, they disowned him.
He thought about all the silver he'd brought home the past few years, he felt like he had fed his blood and heart to the dogs. So to his family, he's never meant anything.
The only reason they were ever nice to him was due to the silver he brought home and the honor he brought to the family. And there he was, thinking that he meant more to his parents now that he was older.
Once again, his handsome face became coated with frost.
Lu Jiao saw this change in him and realized this was bad. She stayed silent until he calmed down.
"As you know, my family doesn't have much money. The five taels of silver were likely money my mom borrowed. I'm worried that the family isn't happy with her because of the silver so I want to return the money as soon as possible."
Xie Yunjin listened to this and nodded, "As you should."
It was obvious that he didn't want to talk. He didn't want to eat the noodles either anymore because of his bad mood.
He wondered if there'd come a day where his legs heal. If his legs never heal, he'd never be able to repay the debt he owed to those who cared about him.
Lu Jiao knew he lost his appetite and she didn't force it. She brought up something else.
"Before I go home tomorrow, I'll cook your lunch and tell the Second Grandma to come and take care of you. plus, I plan on looking around the village to see who has dogs to give away. I want to bring home one."
After she spoke, the four little ones all froze again and stared at her in unison.
This time, even the First Born acted excited. The Second Born was the first to speak, "Mommy, you want to raise a dog?"
"Yes, with a dog protecting you, I can worry less."
The Second Born nodded aggressively, "Yes, I want one."
The Third Born happily skipped around and promised, "Mommy, I will eat less so there's food for the dog."
The Fourth Born put down his noodles, "Mommy, I won't eat this anymore. Save it for the puppy."
Lu Jiao found this funny. There was no dog in sight yet and these little boys were already so excited. So it appeared that puppies and kittens had their grip on children in every era.
"Eat up. After eating, I will go around the village and ask."
"Okay."
The four little ones focused on their food then, scared that if they were too slow, Lu Jiao would ditch them.
Since Xie Yunjin didn't object, Lu Jiao took out the leftover noodles and went to the kitchen. She also took out five peaches from her space, rinsed those, and brought them to the east bedroom.
The reality was that she had a lot of different fruit in her space. Peach, grape, watermelon, strawberry, cherry… sadly, there was no way she could take those out.
The four little ones were stunned as they gawked at the peaches in Lu Jiao's hands. They recognized peaches. There were peach trees in the village. But those peaches were small and green and very sour. Even if they do survive long enough to ripen, they were tiny.
The peaches in their mom's hand were giant and red. It was obvious that they would be yummy.
Lu Jiao indicated for the quadruplets to eat the peaches and said to the First Born, "Give one to your dad."
Xie Yunjin didn't eat much today so she needed him to eat more to heal.
The First Born instantly brought his dad a peach, "Daddy, eat up."
Xie Yunjin stared at the peach. He knew what a peach was but he's never seen one this fresh, fuzzy, and red.
There have been instances where vendors in the big cities sold these. However, they were really expensive. How could their little town get peaches like this?
Lu Jiao saw Xie Yunjin's narrowed eyes and knew he was suspicious. So she quickly added, "I went to sell the Ganoderma in town and saw the manager had some. I wasn't sure where he got these from but since he had these, I asked him to sell me a few. I wanted the four babies to try some."
Xie Yunjin thought about it. The manager from Baohe Tang came from a big city. It was no surprise that he had peaches like this.
He gently said to the First Born, "First Born, eat it up."
The First Born shook his head, "I have my own."
Xie Yunjin saw the four peaches on the table and said, "Give it to your mom then."
It didn't matter where this woman came from, so far, she had done nothing to harm this family. On the contrary, she had been more than supportive and therefore, he had to be kind back.
Lu Jiao raised an eyebrow at his words. Woah, the big villain knew to save some food for her? Not bad at all.
She had a lot more of these in her space so she really didn't care for this one peach.
"You eat it. I already ate one before. It's alright."
Lu Jiao then lowered her head to eat her noodles. The First Born persisted in feeding the peach to Xie Yunjin so Xie Yunjin took a bite.
The First Born happily inquired, "Daddy, how is it? Is it yummy?"
Xie Yunjin was speechless due to shock. This peach was extremely sweet. The bite he had made him feel physically great. This was the first time he had a peach like this. What was this about?
"It's sweet. Go eat."
The First Born eagerly walked back to the table and the four children each took a peach to eat. All of their faces lit up as they chewed.
Yummy. These were so sweet.
The Fourth Born took the peach to Lu Jiao and held it by her mouth, "Mommy, you eat too."
Lu Jiao declined, "You guys eat. I have already eaten these."
The Fourth Born refused to move. Lu Jiao found this little guy to be very stubborn at times so she faked a bite.
The Second and Third Born also came over to give her their peaches so Lu Jiao quickly said, "You guys eat quickly. I'm going to go around soon asking to see who has dogs to give us. I won't be bringing anyone who doesn't finish eating."
The children didn't dare to delay after that. Efficiently, they finished their peaches.
Lu Jiao gathered the dirty bowls and the four little guys followed her out. The First Born was the last to leave. He was a little hesitant.
If he left, what would his daddy do?