"Not always like this. Back at home, we used to have meat to eat," Mu Yongnian explained softly.
Song Nianchu glanced between the two of them. "How old are you two?"
Mu Haoxuan: "I'm five."
Mu Yongnian: "I'm eight."
One five, the other eight—just how hungry must they be to risk coming to the seaside to catch fish?
"Your clothes are all wet. Go change into something dry, or you'll catch a cold," Song Nianchu said.
"We don’t have any spare clothes at home…" Mu Yongnian replied sheepishly.
"No clothes?" Song Nianchu frowned.
"We have clothes, but they were just washed this morning and aren’t dry yet," Mu Yongnian explained.
His mother had said she didn’t have time to do laundry often, so it took days between washes.
Song Nianchu didn’t know what to say to that. After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"Come with me."
"Huh?" Mu Yongnian and Mu Haoxuan stared at her with wide eyes.
"Follow me," Song Nianchu said, leading the way.
Out of the corner of her eye, she kept glancing back. If the two little ones chose to follow, she’d take them home. If not, she’d just go about her work.
Mu Yongnian was still hesitating, but Mu Haoxuan had already toddled after her on his short legs.
"Sister, wait for me!"
With Mu Haoxuan running off, Mu Yongnian had no choice but to follow.
Once he caught up, he earnestly corrected his little brother’s address.
"She’s not 'sister.' She’s our… sister-in-law."
"Sister-in-law?" Mu Haoxuan tilted his head up at Song Nianchu.
When Yang Dafu had caused trouble that day, he’d been too young and was kept indoors, so he’d never actually seen Song Nianchu before.
"If you don’t want to call me that, you can just say 'sister,'" Song Nianchu offered, privately thinking "sister" sounded much nicer—and younger.
"Sister!" Mu Haoxuan grinned after a moment’s thought.
"Good boy." Song Nianchu was pleased with his quick understanding.
"I told you, you have to call her sister-in-law, not sister," Mu Yongnian insisted sternly.
His personality was a lot like Mu Shi'an's—rigid and proper.
"I want to call her sister! Sisters are young and pretty," Mu Haoxuan declared with his own logic.
"That messes up the family hierarchy," Mu Yongnian argued, frowning.
"It’s fine, let him call me whatever he likes," Song Nianchu interjected.
Since she’d said so, Mu Yongnian couldn’t press further.
But he was sure his sister-in-law must not have gone to school—otherwise, why would she let his little brother call her "sister"?
By the time they finished talking, the three had arrived home.
The water vat in the courtyard was full. On sunny days, the water inside would warm up under the sun, making it unnecessary to boil water for baths.
Song Nianchu tested the water with her hand—just the right temperature.
"Take off your wet clothes and rinse yourselves. I’ll go find you something clean to wear," she instructed Mu Yongnian and Mu Haoxuan.
If they didn’t wash off the seawater, their skin would feel sticky and uncomfortable.
"...Okay," Mu Yongnian replied awkwardly.
Once Song Nianchu went inside, he looked around.
The courtyard was neatly kept, though there was a pile of wood stacked to the side—maybe for chopping later.
A small vegetable plot had been cultivated nearby, growing all sorts of greens—some familiar, some not.
Unlike Mu Yongnian’s hesitation, Mu Haoxuan wasted no time stripping off his wet clothes. He grabbed a ladle, scooped up water, and poured it over himself from head to toe.
"Third Brother, hurry up and wash too!" Mu Haoxuan, refreshed, scooped another ladleful and splashed it onto Mu Yongnian.
But being shorter, he only managed to drench Mu Yongnian’s chest, missing his head.
Mu Yongnian snapped out of his thoughts and took the ladle.
"Let me do it."
"Okay!" Mu Haoxuan nodded obediently.
Mu Yongnian carefully rinsed Mu Haoxuan first before washing himself.
Unlike his little brother, he didn’t strip completely bare—after all, he was eight now and knew what modesty meant.
When Song Nianchu returned with clothes, she found one boy stark naked and the other still dripping wet.
Mu Yongnian avoided her gaze, embarrassed.
Song Nianchu immediately understood—he was shy now.
"Come here, let me dry you off," she called.
Mu Haoxuan scampered over bare-bottomed, and Song Nianchu toweled him down from head to toe.
She then slipped a white undershirt over him—one she’d bought for herself but never worn.
On Mu Haoxuan, it looked more like a little dress.
"Fits just fine," Song Nianchu chuckled.
"I think so too!" Mu Haoxuan twirled around, utterly unashamed.
Mu Yongnian couldn’t bear to watch.
"I don’t have clothes your size, so I borrowed one of your brother’s. It’ll have to do for now," Song Nianchu said, turning to Mu Yongnian and handing him a towel and a set of clothes.
Hearing the clothes belonged to his eldest brother, Mu Yongnian didn’t refuse. He took them and ducked behind the woodpile to change.
When he reappeared, he’d swapped his wet clothes for dry ones.
Mu Shi'an’s shirt hung down to his calves, making pants unnecessary.
"...Thank you," Mu Yongnian mumbled, returning the towel.
"Don’t mention it." Song Nianchu found both boys far more likable than Mu Jingmei.
Just then, a loud growl interrupted the moment.
Song Nianchu glanced at Mu Haoxuan in question.
Mu Haoxuan immediately clutched his stomach.
"I didn’t mean to! I’m just hungry…"
Song Nianchu patted his head. "Wait here for a bit."
She draped the towel over the edge of the vat and headed to the kitchen.
It was still early for a full meal, so she rummaged through the cupboard and pulled out half a bag of dried noodles.
Though unassuming, noodles were a rare treat in these times.
Without hesitation, she also retrieved two eggs from the bottom shelf, planning to make each boy a bowl of egg noodles.
Soon, the rich aroma wafted outside, where Mu Yongnian and Mu Haoxuan waited.
Mu Haoxuan sniffed eagerly.
"Third Brother, do you smell that?"
"...Eggs, I think," Mu Yongnian said, his own stomach rumbling in response.
"Eggs? Is sister making eggs for us?" Mu Haoxuan’s eyes sparkled.
"No way. Eggs are too precious. She’s probably making them for herself," Mu Yongnian muttered, swallowing hard.
Back home, they used to have eggs every day—even milk in the mornings.
But since coming here, eggs were reserved for their father and second sister. It had been ages since he’d tasted one.
