When Caleb helped Ethan into the kitchen, Damian was just about to dump the entire bowl of borrowed flour into the pot of vegetable soup.
"Hold the flour!" Ethan pushed Caleb away and rushed forward, snatching the bowl from a stunned Damian. "Buddy, if you pour that in, will it even be edible?" Looking at the dark, mushy mess in the pot that smelled faintly bitter and foul, Ethan shook his head. "Even Mrs. Huang's pigs wouldn't eat this slop, would they?"
After complaining, while Damian and Caleb stared in shock, Ethan simply carried the pot outside and dumped the entire contents onto the ground.
"What a waste!" In the nearby vegetable patch, Mrs. Gable happened to see this and immediately clutched her chest in distress.
"..." Ethan rolled his eyes. Damian didn't even have chickens or pigs; was he planning to keep that mush for the next day? Did he want to poison someone? Besides, the village was surrounded by mountains; there was no shortage of wild greens.
Ignoring her, Ethan carried the pot back inside.
"!!! Ethan, you..."
"What?" Ethan set the pot down, poured water into the bowl of flour to start mixing, and looked back at his brother.
"When... when did you get so strong?" That heavy iron pot plus a full pot of soup wasn't light. Wasn't his brother supposed to be delicate, unable to lift anything heavy? Back home, Caleb always did this kind of heavy lifting. Had Damian been mistreating him? At this thought, Caleb shot Damian a fierce glare.
Damian flinched, bewildered by the glare.
Ethan, however, breathed a sigh of relief. Phew~ So he wasn't scolding me. "Oh~ I met the Mountain God when I was up the mountain this time. Received a small blessing, so my constitution improved a bit." He wasn't lying; the "Good Wife and Virtuous Mother System" was a gift from the Mountain God, wasn't it? And the Little Pixiu.
"Really?" Caleb exclaimed, surprised and delighted.
"Did the Mountain God say anything else to you?" Damian frowned, asking worriedly.
"Yes." Ethan nodded while kneading the dough.
"What was it? Ethan, remember! Don't agree to anything it says, especially anything about sacrifices!!" Damian stared at him intently, speaking urgently. It was the first time he'd spoken so much at once. Even Caleb, standing nearby, reacted, his smile vanishing, replaced by concern.
"Sacrifices? The Mountain God didn't mention that. Just told me to behave myself and not bother him up the mountain unless necessary," Ethan shrugged. He was so considerate, yet the Mountain God found him annoying.
"..."
"..."
Caleb looked at his younger brother with complicated feelings. To actually manage to annoy the Mountain God – his brother was probably the first in the entire Blackstone Ridge. Damian, on the other hand, relaxed. As long as it wasn't about being a sacrifice, everything else was manageable.
"You two, help me pick out the shepherd's purse from that basket in the corner and wash it clean." Ethan pointed to the basket of wild greens in the kitchen corner, unceremoniously ordering them around. With only one bowl of flour, neither noodles nor buns would be enough for all of them. The only option was to add plenty of vegetables and make shepherd's purse dumplings. Besides, shepherd's purse was mild and slightly sweet, perfect for vegetable dumplings this season. He had no idea why Damian had boiled it together with other random greens – a total waste.
Caleb beat Damian to it, grabbing the basket and heading outside.
"Damian, Ethan, I should head back now." After washing the greens, Caleb announced his departure. He knew Damian and Ethan's situation and felt too embarrassed to stay for dinner.
"Brother~ Stay and eat before you go," Ethan urged him to stay.
"Yeah, Caleb, if you go back now, you'll miss dinner anyway. Might as well stay and have a bite here," Damian added his persuasion. Both felt a bit awkward; having married each other's sibling made addressing each other tricky. They had previously agreed to just go by age and call each other what they always had.
"Well... I really shouldn't stay," Caleb hesitated but still declined.
"Brother, that's not right. I just woke up, and you won't even stay to eat one meal with me? Is it really true... that a married-off brother is like spilled water?" Ethan turned around, looking at him with teary eyes.
"Uh..." Caleb, who had been fooled by this act countless times growing up, was about to say "I'm not falling for that," when he caught Damian's sharp glare from the side.
"Stay." Damian's tone wasn't a question; it was an undeniable command.
"..." Speechless, Caleb screamed internally: Damian! Don't be fooled by his innocent appearance! He's a pure little terror! However, Damian, who only had eyes for his delicate spouse, couldn't hear his internal cries. In the end, Caleb was forced to stay.
"Dad, what's for dinner tonight?"
"Papa, what's for dinner tonight?"
At dinnertime, the twins appeared punctually at the table, rubbing their bellies and asking in unison.
"Wild vegetables," Damian replied casually as he arranged the stools.
"Vegetables again~" Hearing this, the twins drooped, losing all anticipation for dinner.
"Your Papa made dinner today," Damian added with a smile.
"It's still vegetables."
"Yeah, how good can vegetables be? We're tired of them."
The twins muttered quietly until Ethan came out from the kitchen carrying a platter of vegetable dumplings.
"What's this?" The twins looked curiously at the round, yellowish-green shepherd's purse dumplings.
"Shepherd's purse dumplings. Eat up." Ethan sat down next to Damian, picked up a dumpling, and took a bite.
"Great! It's not vegetable mush!" The twins clapped excitedly.
Honestly, with only a little salt and no oil, the vegetable dumplings weren't exactly delicious. But perhaps because they were truly hungry, or perhaps because they were sick of the vegetable mush, the other four at the table wolfed them down. Although there was only one bowl of flour, there was plenty of shepherd's purse. Ethan had made thirty dumplings in total, each about the size of a baby's fist, which was enough for the three adults and two children.
"Burp~"
"Burp~ I'm full." The twins wiped their mouths with their hands, patting their bellies contentedly. This was the most satisfying meal they'd had since their Aunt Chloe got married. The brothers looked at each other, then turned expectantly to Ethan. "Papa, will you be cooking from now on too?"
Ethan swallowed the last bite of his dumpling. Looking at them, he neither nodded nor shook his head, replying haughtily, "Depends on my mood."
Caleb froze, glanced at Damian, and seeing no displeasure, relaxed slightly. He didn't dare tell his brother that traditionally, anyone married off, girl or boy, was responsible for the household chores like laundry and cooking. Of course, inwardly, he wished his brother didn't have to do anything. But poor families couldn't afford lazy members; one person couldn't support a household alone...
Unaware of the turmoil his single sentence had caused in his brother's mind, Ethan was currently listening with satisfaction to the Little Pixiu's voice in his head. "Ding~ Task completed. Reward: 1 pound of flour. Reward has been placed in the kitchen. Please hide it carefully."
Excellent! Tomorrow morning's noodles were secured!
Afraid Damian would discover the suddenly appearing flour in the kitchen, Ethan broke character and proactively cleared the table, forcefully taking over the dishwashing duties.
Caleb watched his brother's back, feeling incredibly gratified. Sniff~ My little brother has finally grown up, become sensible.