"What about baby?"
Su Hu rubbed his hands, warmed himself by the flames, slightly hooked his toes, and kicked the brazier towards the bed.
"You are the head of the family, you have the final say."
Li Xiu'e fetched a clean towel from the washbasin stand at the door and wiped his hair.
"In our family's situation, it's difficult to raise another child!"
Su Hu glanced at the little baby girl who was laying obediently in the basket, not crying or fussing, holding the little chick, with a pair of big ignorant eyes, curiously looking around, and couldn't help but sigh.
"Mother, brother is hungry, when can we have breakfast?"
While the two were talking, a short girl with braids and a short stature, who looked about seven or eight years old, came from the next room, holding a four-year-old boy with her right hand.
The clothes of the two children were covered with patches, their faces were yellow and emaciated, they looked malnourished and their development was slow.
"The rice is warming on the steamer. Mom will bring it to you right now."
Facing the two children, Li Xiu'e showed a loving smile, stepped briskly across the threshold, and walked towards the kitchen. After a while, he came back with a tray.
"His father, eat."
She greeted her husband and children to go to the kang, handed the only cornbread to her husband, and distributed two boiled sweet potatoes, one large and one small, to the two children, while she herself picked up a bowl of corn paste mixed with wild vegetables, I scooped it up with a spoon, and put it into my mouth in small bites.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."
The little baby girl smelled the rice, shrugged her delicate nose, grinned, and began to cry softly.
"My baby is probably hungry."
Li Xiu'e's heart trembled, she put down the bowl, moved to the basket, carefully picked up the little baby girl, tried to scoop some rice paste with a spoon, and fed it into her mouth.
"Baha, Baha..."
The little baby girl was very happy to eat, her mouth was still full of thoughts, and her eyebrows and eyes were crooked when she smiled.
Su Hu had fun watching from the sidelines, picked up some crumbs of the cornbread with his chopsticks, and waved them in front of the little baby girl's eyes.
"Yi Ya Ya, Yi Ya Ya."
The little baby girl danced and danced, obviously very interested in cornbread crumbs.
"Don't make trouble, the newborn baby has a weak stomach and can only eat liquid food."
Li Xiu'e pretended to be annoyed, slapped Su Hu's hand away, and continued to feed the little girl with corn paste.
"Mother, is she the picked-up child?"
The eight-year-old girl is already sensible, watching her parents play with the baby girl, she couldn't hold back her curiosity, she swallowed the sweet potato in two or three mouthfuls, leaned close to her mother, poked her head to look at her carefully.
"Yes, mother thought she was pitiful, so she asked your father to jump into the water and fish her up."
Hearing her daughter's question, Li Xiu'e suddenly felt uneasy. She was afraid that the child would be dissatisfied and complain that they were meddlesome. She picked up a baby girl of unknown origin from outside, which made this poor family even worse.
"Little sister is beautiful, and Doudou likes it."
Before the girl spoke, the boy who was leaning on his mother's right shoulder suddenly spoke, eagerly stretching out his little hand, wanting to touch his face that looked very fresh and delicious, fragrant and soft.
"Doudou likes little sister?"
Li Xiu'e's eyes lit up, and she stroked her son's hair happily, feeling the pride of growing up as a child.
"Well, Doudou likes little sister."
The boy's big eyes blinked suddenly, and he spoke clearly to express his meaning.
"I like it too. My younger sister is better than my younger brother. I have someone to keep me company. When I grow up, I can help my mother with her work."
Seeing that her younger brother took the lead, the girl glanced at him unwillingly, and hurriedly showed her liking in front of her parents, lest she would make them angry and dislike her pettiness, not as straightforward as her younger brother.
"Sister Qiao has grown up and is sensible, my mother is so happy."
The heart hanging in Li Xiu'e's throat finally fell back into her stomach when she heard her daughter's words. Lovingly rubbing her daughter's hair, she once again felt the pride of having a young girl in her family.