The Fourth Born has a Sweet Mouth
Xie Yunjin was still unconscious but his face and body had to be cleaned.
Lu Jiao used an old rag to wipe down his face and hands. Then, she planned to take off his clothes and clean up his body.
Just as she was about to untie the belt around his waist, an arm reached out and grabbed her hand. Then, a weak and cold voice demanded, “What are you doing?”
Lu Jiao looked up and saw that Xie Yunjin was awake. Right now, he stared at her unkindly as if she was an up-to-no-good hoodlum, and he was a proper woman about to be ruined.
Lu Jiao speechlessly raised an eyebrow, “Because you got out of bed, you got yourself really dirty. You also haven’t bathed in a while. I want to clean you up a little and change you. Aren’t you uncomfortable lying on the bed in your dirty clothes?”
She was a doctor and was used to all this. She never thought much of it.
Lu Jiao rolled her eyes, hard.
Xie Yunjin didn’t let her go even after she explained. Instead, he grabbed onto his own belt. Though he was weak, he still struggled, “I will do this myself.”
Lu Jiao didn’t force him, “Okay, okay, you do it yourself. Untie your belt first.”
Xie Yunjin didn’t move and simply stared.
Lu Jiao realized what he meant by this and turned around, so she couldn’t see him.
Behind her, Xie Yunjin sighed in relief and struggled with difficulty to get out of his clothes. He had vomited blood and his body was incredibly weak. His hands shook and even after several minutes, he couldn’t unbutton his shirt.
The quadruplets were anxious as they watched this and all eagerly volunteered.
“Daddy, let me help you.”
“Let me help you.”
Lu Jiao rubbed her temples helplessly as she wondered how she could solve this.
Outside, Xie Erzhu’s voice echoed, “Third brother, how are you doing?”
His voice made Lu Jiao sigh in relief. She called out, “Second brother, come on in.”
Xie Erzhu entered and was asked to help Xie Yunjin get cleaned up. Lu Jiao then went to the storage room to take out a new set of clothes, “Change Yunjin into this. It’s more comfortable.”
Xie Erzhu carefully checked out Lu Jiao. He had always been terrified of his sister-in-law but today, he feared her more. He had heard that today, his sister-in-law dealt with someone as difficult as Widow Li and managed to get silver out of her.
In the end, she split the money and paid the three families who helped the quadruplets. This event was heavily gossiped about by everyone in the village and a lot of people regretted that they did not help the quadruplets. Mostly, however, people complimented Lu Jiao’s generosity.
When his own mother heard the story, however, she cursed for an hour at how her son was a failure.
Xie Erzhu answered carefully, “Alright, I got it.”
Lu Jiao nodded and turned around. Behind her, the Fourth Born shot his father one last look and decided to follow Lu Jiao. As he ran, he shouted, “Mommy, I come with you.”
Behind him, the other three children angrily glared at him. Then, they started to tattletale to Xie Yunjin, “Daddy, the Fourth Born calls that evil woman ‘mom’.”
“Hmmph, we are going to ignore him from now on. We won’t play with him anymore and we won’t talk to him anymore.”
“We won’t protect him anymore.”
Xie Yunjin frowned and scolded, “What are you talking about? She’s your mother no matter what. Just because you don’t want to call her your mom, doesn’t mean others shouldn’t.”
The Second and Third Born said sadly, “She told us not to call her that.”
Xie Yunjin’s eyes flashed with exasperation. However, he quickly remembered that Lu Jiao was different now and felt better.
“She’s treating you nicely now, isn’t she?”
The Second and Third Born did not speak further. Xie Yunjin stared at the three little beans and said meaningfully, “You don’t have to call her ‘mom’. I won’t force you. But you cannot get mad just because the Fourth Born wants to call her ‘mom’. Remember, you guys are supposed to be good brothers to each other.”
The three children exchanged glances and nodded, “Okay, we got it, dad.”
Lu Jiao didn’t know about this as she headed to the kitchen with the Fourth Born.
The pig head, organs, and hocks from this morning haven’t been dealt with. Though they won’t go bad while in her space, they shouldn’t be left there forever.
Lu Jiao decided to leave the ribs there for now and make the other parts first. However, since they only had one pot, she had to wait until after dinner before she could cook.
Inside the kitchen, Xie Xiaoju had cooked the rice into porridge.
“Third sister, the porridge is ready. Should I scoop some out for the four little ones?”
Lu Jiao nodded and said, “You should stay for dinner as well. There are no other dishes for dinner so it’s simple. Hope you don’t mind.”
Xie Xiaoju shook her head and headed outside right away, “Third sister, I’ll go home first. If you need me, just call for me.”
Lu Jiao wanted to ask her to stay but she ran away really quickly.
Helpless, Lu Jiao went back into the kitchen and placed the scooped-out porridges onto the small table. Since it was late, she didn’t have time to cook vegetables. She decided to take out the red bean baked goods she bought today.
The Fourth Born was stunned as he stared at the red bean cake, “mommy, what is this?”
“Red bean cake. I bought it for you guys. Later, each one of you can have a slice of that and a bowl of porridge.”
The little man’s eyes lit up and he raised his head to compliment Lu Jiao, “Mommy, you are so great.”
This mommy of his was so nice, so much better than the mom he had before.
His cute little face made Lu Jiao giggle. She couldn’t help but bend down and pinch his cheeks, “You think I’m nice when I have food for you. If I have no food for you, you wouldn’t say these nice words.”
The Fourth Born shook his head and his eyes turned into crescents from smiling so big, “Mommy is great with or without food.”
Lu Jiao’s heart popped like popcorn. She couldn’t help but kiss the Fourth Born on the cheek.
The Fourth Born was shocked. He covered his face and started to laugh. His mommy kissed him, she kissed him.
Lu Jiao started to giggle as well. Since it was late, she took the table with the food outside. As she walked, she reminded, “Be careful, don’t fall.”
“I know, mommy.”
The Fourth Born had forgotten that his brothers were mad at him. His mommy was so great. She bought them candy, red bean cake, and even kissed him. What a happy day.
Inside the east bedroom, Xie Erzhu had cleaned Xie Yunjin up and changed him into clean clothes.
Xie Yunjin felt comfortable right away. Though Xie Erzhu had cleaned him before, he’d worn that same old set of clothes for weeks. Now that he had changed into clothes made out of cotton, he felt very comfortable.
The aura that emitted from Xie Yunjin softened as a result.
Lu Jiao entered with the table of food. His face didn’t turn cold right away. It didn’t matter where this woman came from, so far, everything she’s been has been nice. Therefore, for now, he will not ask her to reveal her true identity.