Chapter 520: Chapter 520: It Bites
Given that Wen Shi was going to sea, Wen’s mother, after arriving home, busily prepared the groceries for making marinated flavors.
Yi Chichi was in charge of taking care of the baby, placing things in order, and playing with the child together with the accompanying Ye Sang.
This one was quite childish, playing with Wen Yi’s rattle more enthusiastically than the children.
She mumbled that after her child was born, she would have to buy a few for her child too.
When she saw Wen Shi using Yi Chichi’s instructions to carve wooden pieces for picture recognition and literacy, she exclaimed, "Are these cards bought as well?"
"No."
Yi Chichi glanced at the cards she picked up to look at and calmly said, "I had Wen Shi make them."
"Did he draw the patterns on them as well?"
"He was responsible for carving, I was responsible for filling them with paint."
"This is good."
Ye Sang flipped through them one by one and found not only words like heaven, earth, person, mouth, eye, nose, etc., but also many flowers, grass, and flying birds, and remarked, "Once Wen Yi learns all these, he would almost have the literacy level of a first grader."
That’s true, Wen Shi isn’t proficient in carpentry, but shaving some wooden pieces isn’t difficult for him, and carving isn’t too hard either. He’s strong, with Yi Chichi sketching on the wooden pieces with a pencil, and he just carves along the outlines.
After carving, they are polished smoothly, then painted and dried. It’s quite a hassle.
But Wen Shi enjoyed doing it very much.
She enjoyed painting very much too.
"Let Old Ke also carve some, to prepare for the child."
Ye Sang thought that was feasible.
"I’ll tell him once he comes home at night."
Old Ke is also a hands-on person, once home from work, Ye Sang told him, and he came over to visit.
Knowing his intention, Wen Shi, carrying the child around the yard, was amused.
"Your child isn’t even born yet, isn’t it a bit early to start carving now?"
Old Ke wiped his hands on his clothes, picked up Wen Yi and said, "Quite heavy," then leisurely said, "If I start early, there’s more time, otherwise, I’d be too busy to focus on it."
That’s true too.
"Come, I’ll show you inside."
As the two adults and the child entered the house, they heard Wen’s mother calling from the kitchen.
"Xiao Shi, come over and taste for saltiness."
The rich aroma of marinated meat filled the air, causing Old Ke to awkwardly say, "Am I here at a bad time?"
"Not at all."
Wen Shi beckoned him to follow, "This is actually for our upcoming voyage."
Old Ke’s eyes widened, "This won’t keep long."
"It doesn’t need to last long, anyway, we’ll eat it all then."
While speaking, the two adults and the child reached the kitchen. Wen’s mother pulled out a pig ear and was preparing to slice it but turned to see Ke Jun, smiling, "Little Ke, have you eaten?"
"Auntie, I’ve eaten,"
Ke Jun replied with a smile. Wen’s mother acknowledged with a sound, "Doesn’t matter if you’ve eaten or not, try this with Xiao Shi."
As she said this, she placed the pig ear on the cutting board and sliced some off for the two.
Wen Yi saw this and started babbling, and Wen’s mother patted his head, "You’re still young, can’t eat these, wait until you’re older."
But as with most infants, they can’t understand adults and are quite unreasonable.
So, waiting for food but not getting any, Wen Yi wasn’t happy.
As soon as he opened his mouth, his deafening crying startled Yi Chichi, who was watering plants in the backyard, to drop the watering can and dart in like a rabbit.
"What’s going on?!"
Wen Shi and Ke Jun were coaxing him, and at the sound of his mom’s voice, Wen Yi’s little mouth turned down even more, feeling more aggrieved.
He reached out his little hands to Yi Chichi, crying even louder.
"Mommy’s here, Yi Yi, don’t cry."
Yi Chichi picked him up to soothe him, looking at Wen Shi and them with eyes asking what happened.
Wen’s mother amusedly explained, "He wants to eat pig ear."
Yi Chichi, "... I’ll take him to the front."
He really couldn’t eat that.
First, he couldn’t chew it, and secondly, the marinade used had too many ingredients. Because of the sea’s climate and environment, the appetite could easily be affected, so Wen’s mother added a lot of chili to the marination.
It’s mainly salty, fresh, fragrant, and spicy, meant to whet one’s appetite.
Therefore, Wen Yi, who just started with complementary food, couldn’t eat it.
Not to mention eating, even tasting would be too spicy, might make him cry.
So, after notifying Ke Jun, Yi Chichi took Wen Yi to the front yard.
Lin Yuanchu happened to be coming back home with a basket, saw his brother with a face full of tears and snot, and curiously came over.
"Auntie, did you hit brother?"
"No, I don’t hit children."
Yi Chichi defended herself and explained why the brother was crying, then peeked into his basket, noticing not only crabs but also small octopuses and some scallops, and asked, "Did you go sea hunting?"
"Yes, my mom asked me to bring these back first. They’re picking oysters."
Seeing his brother crying nonstop, he crouched down and handed over a small octopus, "Brother, play with this."
The little octopus was still alive, very lively, and started climbing up Yuan Chu’s hand, trying to escape his grasp, instantly capturing Wen Yi’s attention.
He stopped crying, his big, tear-filled eyes fixed on the little octopus.
Yuan Chu was delighted, "Auntie, he likes the little octopus."
Yi Chichi observed Wen Yi’s expression and noticed that although the kid was attracted by the octopus, it didn’t mean he liked it a lot.
More like he was observing and being cautious.
"Yi Yi, do you want to touch it?"
She tentatively took his hand to touch the octopus.
As soon as his finger touched the octopus’s slippery body, Wen Yi jerked his hand back, making an "oh no" kind of sound, with a very shocked little expression.
Yuan Chu grinned with his big front teeth showing, "Brother, you can hold it and play, it doesn’t bite."
"It bites."
Yi Chichi immediately corrected him. Yuan Chu paused for a moment, looked at the small octopus in his hand, then at Wen Yi, and squatted down to put the octopus back in the basket.
"If it bites, can’t let brother play with it."
If it bit the brother and made him cry, and mom found out, he’d get scolded.
"Auntie, brother isn’t crying anymore, I’ll go home and keep these in saltwater."
"Okay."
However, seeing his brother leave, Wen Yi wasn’t pleased, crying out wanting to follow.
Helpless, Yi Chichi could only carry him and follow behind Yuan Chu back home.
"Auntie, you sit here holding brother, I’ll go make the saltwater."
He dragged a chair over for Yi Chichi to sit, and went to the kitchen to fetch water.
Wen Yi sat on her lap, his little hand pointing in the direction Yuan Chu left, crying out.
"Don’t worry, brother will be back soon."
Wen Yi, whether he understood or not, really stopped crying and just stared hopefully in the direction Yuan Chu left.
At that moment—
"Wife, where did you go?"
Wen Shi’s voice came from outside, Yi Chichi called back, "At Yuan Chu’s place."
Wen Shi acknowledged with a sound and looked at Ke Jun, "Wanna go together?"
"Let’s see what they’re up to."
Curious as ever, having tasted the salt and seen the wooden pieces, Ke Jun quickly followed Wen Shi over.
Then, as the two adults entered, they saw Wen Yi sitting on Yi Chichi’s lap, head down, eyes fixed on the basin, making ’oh’ sounds nonstop.
