Chapter 176: Learning To Walk
“Yuan Yuan can’t count yet.” Lu Chengjing tried his best to make excuses for his daughter, “Keep one lactating doe, and send the rest back to the mountains.”
Yuan Yuan looked at the herd of deer, then at her parents, tilting her little head in confusion.
“Did you hear that?” Shang Wan reached out and pinched her little chubby cheek, “Do as your dad says. We can’t afford to keep so many.”
“Next!” Yuan Yuan furrowed her little brows, patted her own belly with her small hand, then turned her head to look at the deer.
“How much milk can that little belly of yours drink? One doe is enough.” Shang Wan amusingly continued to pinch her. The little one might be small, but her ambitions were not.
Yuan Yuan was directly pinched into a duck mouth by her mother, unsure which deer to keep, her little eyebrows furrowing in distress.
Shang Wan spotted that familiar doe and pointed at it, “Good child, keep that one. Let the others go home.”
Yuan Yuan turned her head to look, nodded, a sparkle flashing in her big eyes.
The obedient herd immediately ran back to the mountains just like when they came, as if receiving some command.
Only the doe that was kept lowered her head reluctantly, nuzzling the fawn by her legs, nudging the fawn with her head to make it leave.
The fawn ran a short distance, turned back to look at the doe, flicked its short tail, then da-da-da ran back, sticking to the doe’s side and refusing to leave.
The fawn was only born a couple of days ago. If it were separated from the doe and returned to the mountains, it probably wouldn’t survive.
Shang Wan simply kept both the doe and the fawn, planning to release them back to the mountains after the doe’s lactation period ended.
“Shi Tou, prepare a separate feed trough for these two deer, put it in the cowshed.”
The cowshed, converted from a wooden shed, was very spacious. Adding one big and one small deer would still leave plenty of space.
These days, the ewe’s milk production had gradually decreased. When it first arrived, they had to milk it two or three times a day. The excess was stored in the space or drunk by everyone. Xiao Huan could even make some pastries and desserts with goat milk.
Now, milking once in the morning was enough, just barely sufficient for Yuan Yuan’s two meals.
Now with the doe, Yuan Yuan wouldn’t have to worry about rations for three months.
Before long, the two children and the fawn were playing together, feeding the deer bean cakes.
The fawn was very lively, running happily in the courtyard. When hungry, it returned to the cowshed and hid under the doe to nurse.
The doe was very gentle. With Yuan Yuan around, Shang Wan didn’t tie a rope on the doe. If the doe wanted to go out for a stroll, it could push open the door. As long as it didn’t go far, it was fine.
If it went too far, Xiao Hui would chase it back.
After lunch, with the sun high, no one felt like going out. Everyone returned to their rooms for a nap.
The cicadas chirped tirelessly, noisy yet surprisingly sleep-inducing.
When Shang Wan opened her eyes, the sun was already slanting westward, and the spot beside her was empty.
She raised her hand and stretched, her mind a bit foggy from sleeping too long. She sat on the bed slowly.
“Come on, almost there.”
“Don’t fall, don’t fall!”
“Again!”
Chu Xu’s voice came from outside. Shang Wan put on her outer garment. What was this child doing?
She walked to the window and pushed open the half-closed shutters, looking toward the direction of the voice.
Under the eaves by the garden was a soft cushion. The massive gray wolf lazily lay beside it, its green beast eyes half-open, tail flicking gently.
Chu Xu sat cross-legged on the soft cushion, clenching his hands into fists to cheer Yuan Yuan on.
What was Yuan Yuan doing?
The little one was trying to walk.
She walked unsteadily, stumbling.
Shang Wan lightly jumped onto the windowsill and sat, elbows on her legs, apricot eyes smiling, chin propped, watching intently.
The little meatball on the soft cushion puffed her white tender cheeks. Her little body swayed as she walked, small hands clenched into fists to keep balance.
“Almost, almost, just a bit more.” Chu Xu was even more nervous than Yuan Yuan who was learning to walk. His cat-like eyes wide open, staring unblinkingly at Yuan Yuan’s little feet.
The little feet tilted to the left, splat, her little body was about to fall to the ground. A gray shadow flashed, and Xiao Hui became the meat cushion.
“Just a little bit more.” Chu Xu came over with the milk bottle to feed Yuan Yuan, “Rest a bit then walk again.”
Yuan Yuan held the milk bottle and gulped it down.
The milk bottle contained not milk, but plain water, to avoid getting too much milk and causing heatiness.
Chu Xu wiped sweat from the little baby girl with a handkerchief. Yuan Yuan tilted her little neck cooperatively.
“Good child.” Shang Wan smiled and spoke, beckoning to Yuan Yuan, “Come to Mother.”
Yuan Yuan instinctively wanted to crawl over.
Shang Wan waved at her, “Walk over.”
Yuan Yuan agreed loudly, pushed herself up with her small hands, waited until steady, then carefully took the first step, second step, all the way to the edge of the soft cushion. Her little feet seemed fixed in place, refusing to go further.
“Good child, walk over. Mother will take you to enter the city to play tomorrow.” Shang Wan tempted the little baby girl with a reward.
Yuan Yuan’s eyes lit up, and her hesitant little feet finally stepped off the soft cushion: one step, two steps, three steps…
Her little body swayed, walking faster and faster, until she reached the windowsill. Almost there, but her left foot tripped over her right, about to face-plant.
Chu Xu, who had been following, hurriedly grabbed the back of Yuan Yuan’s vest and yanked backward.
Yuan Yuan lost balance and plopped down on her butt. Xiao Hui rushing over didn’t make it in time to be the meat cushion.
Xiao Hui with paws frozen: “!”
Chu Xu who let go too quickly: “!”
Shang Wan who hadn’t expected this: “!”
Lu Chengjing and the other two who were also peeking: “!”
Summer clothes were thin, the tiles hard. The little baby girl was dazed from the fall and it hurt.
Her bright big eyes instantly misted over, little mouth flattened, then “wah” she burst into tears.
Shang Wan hurriedly jumped down from the windowsill and picked her up to soothe.
Yuan Yuan felt extremely wronged, clung to her mother’s neck, wailing loudly with tears streaming down.
Lu Chengjing and the other two hurried over, asking repeatedly, “Where did she fall?”
“Her butt.” Shang Wan rubbed the little baby girl’s sore butt while soothing softly, “Mother rubs it, no pain, no pain.”
“It hurts!” Yuan Yuan clenched her little fists, shedding aggrieved tears while glaring at the tiles like they were the enemy.
Chu Xu’s eyes darted, he lifted his foot and stomped hard on the tiles, saying to Yuan Yuan, “I beat it for you.”
Yuan Yuan blinked her eyes, her crying softening a bit, as if the tiles getting beaten made her pain go away.
Shang Wan looked down at Chu Xu. Cooing a child had this trick?
Chu Xu gestured that he had seen his aunt do it. His aunt had beaten the tiles just like that, and it worked really well.
Shang Wan: “…”
The tiles were really the scapegoat.
Everyone gathered around to soothe Yuan Yuan. The little one finally stopped crying but nestled in Shang Wan’s arms with red eye rims, refusing to come down.
As soon as Shang Wan tried to put her down, she whined. Her small hands clung to Shang Wan’s neck, little pink face rubbing against Shang Wan’s shoulder like a sticky glutinous rice ball.
Shang Wan kissed her little cheek, hitting the vital point precisely, “Mother keeps her word. Tomorrow she’ll take you to enter the city to play.”
Yuan Yuan immediately beamed with smiles and was willing to get down and walk two more steps.
Everyone: “…”
Turns out she was waiting for this.
