Little Miss Fortune: I Will Bring Prosperity to My Tang Family!-Chapter 100: Xiaolin is Not to Blame, They Got Fat on Their Own

Chapter 100: Xiaolin is Not to Blame, They Got Fat on Their Own

Chapter 94

Xiaolin is Not to Blame, They Got Fat on Their Own

Xiaolin woke up from a dream, pouting with tears in her eyes as she lay in bed. Hui Ning, worried because her daughter hadn’t left the room despite it being late, went in to check on her. Seeing the chubby child with teary eyes, she quickly picked up the round little body and hugged her to comfort her. Xiaolin whimpered softly, nestling into her mother’s embrace.

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Why are you crying?” Hui Ning asked, gently stroking her daughter’s head and back.

“I just had a nightmare, Mother. Have you made breakfast yet? Hiccup...I am hungry,” she said, changing the subject to avoid worrying her mother. She couldn’t tell her that she had dreamt about her father in the previous life. She didn’t know if Uncle Somsak had won the lottery or not, but she hoped he didn’t buy too many tickets because if he didn’t win, she would feel guilty for making him waste money.

“Crying and then getting hungry, you little fatty,” Hui Ning laughed softly before carrying the little piglet out of the room. The round child clung tightly to her and wouldn’t let go.

After being washed up by her mother, Xiaolin sat munching her breakfast at the backyard platform. She watched her grandmother clean a large basket of duck eggs with Auntie Huan Qingqing helping her. Not far away, there were two pork legs pressed under a large chopping board with a water bucket on top to drain the water from the meat. Next, her grandmother would smoke the meat because she had done it before.

“Are there only two pork legs, Grandma?” Xiaolin asked after swallowing her food.

“Yes, but there’s also salted pork belly. I’ve already put it out to dry,” Zhang Ruo replied to her granddaughter. Xiaolin nodded in understanding.

“Are you afraid you won’t get enough to eat, Xiaolin?” Huan Qingqing asked the chubby little girl, seeing her cheeks puffed out with food. Huan Qingqing laughed at the sight.

“Aren’t you going back to prepare supplies, Auntie?” Xiaolin asked as she put a piece of fried pork into her mouth.

“The workers at home probably have everything ready. They like to go hunting in the forest in their free time, so I hardly have to do anything,”

“Oh, right! I’m planning to buy workers to help Grandfather with the work, but I haven’t gone to check it out yet,” Xiaolin said, remembering her plan.

“How can you go in? That’s not a place for children to wander around,” Zhang Ruo scolded her granddaughter, making Xiaolin shrink in fear. Her grandmother rarely scolded her, but when she did, it was terrifying. The little girl sat quietly, nibbling on her fried pork.

"Xiaolin, don’t even think about going in there. It’s not a sight you want to see, dear. I once wanted to take a look myself, but your uncle stopped me too. The slaves inside don’t live well at all."

Xiaolin sat quietly, listening. Her aunt was right. Just hearing the word "slave" was depressing enough. She couldn’t imagine what they went through at the slave market. As she pondered, she watched her grandmother and aunt washing duck eggs together. At that moment, the three young men from the Huan family came in carrying small baskets suitable for children, followed by Huan Tan, who carried a larger basket.

"We’ve picked them all, Auntie. The villagers went to collect some too. It’s good we went early this morning," Huan Tan said, sitting next to his wife and grabbing a cloth to help clean the duck eggs.

"This is more than enough. You should take some home too. Try eating them with a bowl of hot porridge. It’s delicious."

"Don’t you plan to sell them?"

"We should ask Xiaolin. We used to sell them for a while, but once the villagers knew duck eggs were edible, they collected them for themselves. Selling them wouldn’t yield much, so we stopped," Huan Tan said, raising an eyebrow at his little friend who was staring blankly, cheeks puffed with food. He had to call her name before she snapped out of it.

"What is it?" Xiaolin asked, blinking at her friend and the three Huan brothers, who had somehow settled on the bamboo bed.

"Aren’t you going to sell salted eggs anymore?"

"I plan to raise ducks next year. We’ll need to hire someone to dig a pond first," Xiaolin explained, and Huan Tan nodded understandingly before continuing to wash the duck eggs.

After finishing her meal, the plump child began to think about what else she hadn’t yet harvested. Looking around, she spotted the sugarcane she had planted months ago, now overgrown due to neglect. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Hmm, the sugarcane is just in the backyard. I can deal with that later. What else is left?” The plump child rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

“Uncle, should we gather lotus roots to make lotus root starch? The other day, Aunt Hui Ning made some lotus root starch with grains for me. It was delicious!” Huan Luwen suggested this to his uncle.

“Lotus root starch?” Huan Tan asked, not quite understanding.

“It’s made by turning lotus roots into starch and storing it. You can mix it with hot water, add a bit of sugar, and grains as you like,”

“Please, Uncle, I want to bring some for my little brother,” Huan Luwen pleaded, looking at his uncle with a hopeful expression.

“If you really don’t want to gather them yourselves, you can hire Uncle Weng to do it. He’s done it many times before. Besides, the lotus roots are in the mud. You wouldn’t be able to get them yourselves,” Xiaolin said, shattering Huan Luwen’s dream of playing in the water. He lay there looking dejected, making Xiaolin laugh.

“So, what do you want to do today, Xiaolin?” Ching Lang asked while scratching the chin of Xiao Hui, the chubby cat that had just jumped onto the bamboo bed. It loved having its chin scratched by humans.

Meowww~

The fat cat closed its eyes and lay on its back, enjoying Ching Lang scratching its chin and belly.

“I think I’ll go collect some vegetables to dry and store for the winter,”

“Then let’s go, Xiaolin. Once we finish making salted eggs, Father said he’ll take us home because winter is approaching. Before we leave, we’ll help you with your work,” Ching Long said as he stood up and spoke to his plump little sister. Hearing this, Xiaolin pouted. They had been at her house for over a month, and she had grown accustomed to their presence. She knew she would feel lonely once they left.

“Alright, let’s go then. I want to dig up some ginger in the forest first. I kept meaning to plant it, but I always forget. It will have to wait until next year,”

The children got up, ready with their small, cute baskets, and stood wide-eyed, looking at Huan Tan, who was still happily washing the eggs. His wife nudged him, and he looked up to see the four children standing around him.

“What is it now, you kids?”

“We’re going to the forest. Today, you have to be our babysitter,” Xiaolin announced, causing Huan Qingqing to burst out laughing.

“Yes, dear, you’ll be babysitting and taking the children to the forest today,”

Huan Tan sighed. He had planned to laze around at home. Staying at the Tang household had made him lazy, and he had gained some extra weight around his belly. Eating well and not exercising meant he’d have to work hard to build his muscles back when he returned home. He didn’t want his wife to tease him for having a belly like an old man.

Xiaolin led the group towards the nearby forest, her chubby cheeks and round belly jiggling with each step. Initially, she had planned to exercise to lose some fat, but she only managed to stick with it for a day or two. Today, she hoped that walking in the forest and working would help her lose at least ten jin.

“This is the path to the lotus pond, isn’t it, Xiaolin?” Huan Luwen asked. Before they left, he had asked his uncle to hire the person Xiaolin recommended to dig up the lotus roots. That person had said he would come after lunch because he had to finish making noodles for a restaurant.

“Yes, we need to walk past the lotus pond to find the ginger I want to dig up. And near there, there’s a wild chicken nest too. Oh, right! Uncle, you still haven’t taken me to the dock!”

Xiaolin turned to remind her big friend of his promise. She had completely forgotten about it until she mentioned grilled chicken. She hadn’t eaten fermented fish in months because the small jar she had gotten was gone quickly, even though she had eaten it sparingly.

"Let’s leave it for tomorrow," Huan Tan said, following the children. He yawned widely, making Xiaolin shake her head before continuing to lead the boys onward.

Xiaolin brought the boys to an area with an abundance of ginger. Huan Tan set down his basket and began digging up the ginger, letting the children handle it from there. Xiaolin spread out some ginger leaves and sat down on the ground, prompting the boys to do the same.

Ching Lang moved closer to the plump child, wanting to spend more time with her before he had to return home in a few days. He frequently glanced at her round cheeks, which looked like soft, fluffy buns. He wanted to reach out and pinch them but was afraid she wouldn’t like it.

"Why don’t you wear the earrings I bought you?" Ching Lang asked. Xiaolin paused her task of knocking the dirt off the ginger and looked at him.

"Why would I wear them into the forest? I save them for important occasions. They’re valuable, and if I wore them all the time and they got lost, what would I do?" she explained. Ching Lang just watched her chubby cheeks move as she spoke.

"Those earrings are very small. You can wear them every day. If they get lost, I’ll buy you new ones. And when you grow up, I’ll buy you a hairpin too," Ching Lang said, his face as expressionless as ever, but his ears turning red. Huan Tan, overhearing this, coughed so hard his throat hurt, but his son acted as if he were deaf, focusing solely on chubby Xiaolin.

"Is something stuck in your throat?" Xiaolin asked her big friend with innocent eyes. Huan Tan sighed deeply and resumed digging up ginger. It seemed his little friend had been completely consumed by the body of a six-year-old.

In some matters, she was quick-witted. Huan Tan muttered to himself about the chubby child who seemed oblivious to everything.

Flap, flap, flap!

"Oh! It’s chicken!" Huan Lu Wen exclaimed, pointing at the rooster flying up to perch on a tree not far away.

"That’s where the wild chicken nest is. Last time, my uncle and I..."

Xiaolin began, but before she could finish, the three boys jumped up and ran toward the direction she had mentioned. The chubby-cheeked girl could only blink as she watched her big friend sighing like an old man.

Huan Tan turned to Xiaolin and told her to wait there before following the three boys. Xiaolin nodded, not feeling afraid to be alone. This part of the forest was open and close to the lotus pond, where villagers often came to gather lotus pods, flowers, and leaves. There were also duck eggs, although she hadn’t seen any while passing by because the boys from the Huan family had collected more than two hundred eggs.

Loud shouts and the continuous clucking of chickens echoed through the forest, making it hard to tell if the boys were catching chickens or destroying their nests. Xiaolin looked up at the tree where the rooster had perched earlier, but it was gone now.

"Good thing this forest is full of animals. Otherwise, they’d go extinct because of these gluttons. Sigh,"

Xiaolin worked alone for about half an hour before the group returned with three plump chickens. They looked like they had been running from wild boars, covered in dirt and grass, their clothes soaked with sweat, and their previously neat hairstyles now disheveled.

"Xiaolin, can you make some grilled chicken for us?" Ching Long asked, grinning widely as he approached her, holding a chicken securely tied with vines by his father.

"Sure,"

Xiaolin replied, continuing to knock the dirt off the ginger. The boys, feeling guilty for leaving her alone in the forest for so long, quickly sat down to help with the work.

"But where’s Uncle?" Xiaolin asked, noticing that only the three boys had returned. She wondered if he had fallen into a chicken coop or something.

"Father wants to bring some chicks home to raise," Ching Lang explained. He wiped his hands on his clothes and tidied his hair, while the other two boys remained as disheveled as before.

"Don’t they sell chickens in your city?" Xiaolin asked, blinking in confusion. Why would he go through the trouble of catching chickens from another town?

"They do, but the chicken meat there isn’t tasty, and they’re a different breed,"

Xiaolin nodded in understanding. Shortly after, Huan Tan returned with about a dozen young chickens. Xiaolin had thought he would catch chicks, but these were already quite grown. She lost interest in them and resumed her work. Once they had filled all their baskets with ginger, they headed out of the forest.

On their way out, they encountered three villagers entering the forest. Some of them greeted Xiaolin, having helped her dig sweet potatoes at her house before. Xiaolin didn’t forget to mention that the second round of sweet potato harvesting would happen soon and invited them to help if they were free.

The villagers happily agreed, as working at the Tang household meant not only taking home sweet potatoes but also getting paid. Moreover, they were provided with good food for lunch, which included meat and other high-quality ingredients, a luxury for them.

"If you want chicken, take care of it properly. I’ll marinate it," Xiaolin said upon returning home. She began scooping water into a large basin to wash the ginger. Seeing this, Ching Lang quickly took the gourd ladle from her hand and started scooping the water for her.

“Catching chickens to eat again? By now, the chickens in the forest must be almost gone,” Zhang Ruo laughed at the boys’ gluttony.

“Staying at Xiaolin’s house has really boosted their appetites. Everything they eat is delicious. Just look at them, Auntie. They’ve all gained weight since they first got here,” Huan Qingqing remarked, looking at the boys from the Huan family, who now had fuller cheeks and a bit of a belly, including her own husband.

“Anyone who gets to know my little chubby one becomes a glutton too. This child is always thinking up new delicious things for them to eat,” Zhang Ruo said, giving Xiaolin a big kiss on her chubby cheek as she came to hug her from behind. Look at those round cheeks; they were almost as big as buns.

“Well, I’m hungry, Grandma.”

“So you make everyone else gain weight too.”

“Hehe.”

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