MTLNOVEL Chapter 404: Treat to a Meal
Mrs. Li had long wanted to properly thank Hua Jin, but she never had the opportunity.
Seeing Hua Jin agree to dine together, she was so pleased that she couldn't contain her smile. She immediately took Hua Jin into the main room, where the table was already laid with food for the meal.
"Wow..." Qin Ming, usually composed, instantly lost his demeanor upon seeing so much delicious food. He exclaimed in surprise, "Mother, are we not living anymore?" As he spoke, he swallowed his saliva, unable to take his eyes off the table.
This expression was almost identical to Xiaosi's, making Hua Jin amused. The meal really was quite sumptuous, which was extremely rare during these times.
Mrs. Li might have cooked all of her household's best ingredients at once.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mrs. Li smacked her noisy youngest son aside and looked embarrassedly at Hua Jin. "Please excuse him."
Her words completely treated Hua Jin like an adult.
Actually, what Hua Jin had done, it's hard not to treat her as an adult.
Even though she was not much older than her second son, her own son couldn't even compare.
"No, Qin Ming is adorable!" Hua Jin said with a smile.
"Mother, did you hear? Sister Hua Jin said I'm adorable."
Saying this, he made a funny face at his mother, making the whole family laugh.
Seeing her youngest son gradually return to his original lively self, Mrs. Li's eyes reddened. She could never forget the tense, frightened look of the children on the mountain.
All this was brought by Hua Jin, and Mrs. Li couldn't help but look gratefully at Hua Jin, and pulled her to sit at the main seat.
Hua Jin stopped her. "No need to rush, Auntie, I need to wash up first."
Hua Jin showed her hands, stained with soil.
"Right, right... how could I forget?" Mrs. Li said, intending to head towards the door, but was stopped again by Hua Jin.
"Auntie, no need, I can do it myself."
Hua Jin felt embarrassed to have someone bring water to her.
Seeing Hua Jin was sincere, Mrs. Li didn't insist, and urged her husband to take the sons to wash up.
She was so focused on hosting Hua Jin that she forgot about the others.
"Add a dish." When the Qin family sat down, they found two more dishes on the table, one of which almost made Qin Lu, Qin Ming, and Qin Dagen's eyes pop out.
It turned out to be fragrant braised pork, glistening with oil just looking at it made their mouths water uncontrollably.
"Braised pork, how could we accept this, no, no, Jin'er girl better take it back, such a precious thing..."
"It's perfectly fine, my grandmother asked me to bring it when I came down the mountain; if we don't eat it in this weather it will spoil. Auntie, there's no need to stand on ceremony, besides I can't finish it all! You wouldn't really want to see it go bad, would you?"
"But... it's such a nice thing..."
"No matter how good, it's meant to be eaten, Auntie prepared such delicious food too, let's start, I'm hungry..." Hua Jin changed the topic. "This is my grandmother's pickles, they're really tasty, Auntie, try some..."
As she said this, she placed a chopstick's worth into Mrs. Li's bowl.
Mrs. Li: "..."
"Eat, dear." Qin Dagen spoke up.
Since it was already laid out, given Hua Jin's nature, it was impossible to take them back, and indeed they couldn't be kept anymore.
Anyway, they had already owed so much, they would just work hard in the future, Qin Dagen thought to himself.
"Jin'er girl, eat." Qin Dagen signaled everyone to start and reached for the pickles, his eyes lighting up as he ate quickly.
During the meal, only the sound of chopsticks moving could be heard, and in the end, every bowl, plate, and dish was cleaned completely, even the sauces were mopped up by the two brothers, Qin Lu and Qin Ming.
After the meal, seeing the plates and bowls as clean as new, Qin Shu's family felt awkward.
They really couldn't resist, having not eaten meat for so long, especially fragrant braised pork.
Hua Jin pretended not to notice the Qin family's embarrassment, and when she rose to help Mrs. Li clean up, both Mrs. Li and Qin Dagen stopped her.
"No need, no need, you can just sit."
Hua Jin didn't really intend to help with the cleaning, she just wanted to be polite. Hearing this, she smiled, but didn't truly sit down, instead following Mrs. Li out of the main room as she tidied up.
Now that the meal was done, it was time to arrange things for the little ones.
Seeing this, Qin Shu followed, then pulled his father along, even though there were only their family present, it was better to avoid any misunderstandings.
By the woodshed door, Hua'er had finished cooking the wild vegetable paste, and it was cooling down. Other kids were either crouched or standing, all fixed on the freshly cooked stew, oblivious to Hua Jin approaching from the main room.
"Is the meal ready?"
The soft, sweet voice made Liu Gou and the kids lift their heads almost simultaneously.
"Sister Jin!" Gou'er stood up suddenly, eyes bright as he gazed at the elder sister who was their benefactor.
Hua'er shyly nodded, "It's ready, um... Sister Jin, would you like some?"
If the benefactor sister wanted some, then she'd give her portion to the elder sister, Hua'er thought.
"Yes, yes." Liu Gou and the others also nodded one after another, their thoughts almost identical to Hua'er's, each willing to give up their portion.
Looking at their sincere eyes, even the youngest ones were the same, Hua Jin smiled and shook her head: "No need, I'm already full, please eat."
In high spirits, the stew in their pots wasn't much to begin with. If she ate, it meant some would eat less or go hungry. But this kind gesture made the long journey to deliver medicine and food worthwhile.
Seeing the benefactor sister truly wasn't just being polite, and knowing she'd already eaten at Uncle Qin's, they sheepishly smiled and started eating. Each had a bowlful, which after sharing wasn't so hot anymore.
As Hua Jin glanced at the pot with less than half a bowl left, her eyes flickered slightly. If she had eaten, inevitably a child would be left hungry or not eat at all, or those who were already not full would eat even less.
They ate quickly, a bowl of vegetable paste swallowed in moments, even the remaining in the pot was diluted with water, boiled and drunk, with not a drop wasted.
The group of children ate under the sweltering sun, happy enough to not be hungry, sweat mattered little to them.
Once Hua'er and Wan'er deftly washed the bowls and pot, Hua Jin spoke.
"Pack up, follow me."
The children, including Liu, lit up with excitement and nodded eagerly, not even asking where they were going, just agreeing and hurriedly tidying up.
Indeed, there wasn't much to pack, just the sleeping mats removed from the wooden cart, while most of the grain and water remained with them. A group of kids quickly reorganized everything back into the cart.
Then Liu Gou approached Qin's father and son to express thankfulness.
Although they understood they were allowed in because of the benefactor sister, it couldn't be denied they were kind-hearted. Otherwise, after entering, they easily could've ignored them, let alone lend the woodshed. Thanks were indeed due.
Qin Dagen quickly got them to rise, saying it wasn't necessary.
They hadn't really done anything, merely lent a woodshed, not even bothering with niceties over the meal, which made Qin Dagen feel slightly embarrassed.