Blinking, it's time for spring farming again. Zeng Ruixiang and Zeng Zifeng are both on vacation at home. Because the paddy fields at home have been rented out, the wheat harvest season has not arrived, so there is no busyness at home like in previous years. Zeng Ruixiang and others happen to help Ziqing loosen the soil in the watermelon field, weed, and catch earthworms and small frogs to feed the chickens.

  The new courtyard's back mountain, Ziying goes to check every day, bringing a specially made small iron shovel. When she sees chicken and sheep dung, she buries them at the base of the trees. With plenty of spring rain, the saplings don't need watering, and they've even sprouted new buds. The wild grass on the mountain has grown too, and the sheep eat the grass while the chickens eat the insects in it, as well as the newly grown vegetables. Ziying hardly needs to take care of them, except for occasionally scattering some chicken feed. It's completely natural free-range farming. Moreover, when she has nothing to do, Ziying will chase after the roosters, because only if the chickens run more will they taste better in the future. For this reason, Ziying slowly trains a few dogs to help her drive the chickens.

  Zeng Ruixiang would often go to the village reservoir to fish when he had nothing to do, Zifou would sometimes read books and get tired, then go to relax, and Zilu would follow his father to catch frogs every time, just because Ziqing said she loved to eat them.

  That day at noon, when lunch was ready, Madame Shen saw that they had not returned yet and was a bit anxious. She asked Zi Fu to go find them. Before long, she heard Zi Lu excitedly shouting: "Mother, mother, come quickly and take a look! I've caught a huge turtle!"

  Zi Qing ran out first, only to see Zi Lu struggling to pull the fishing rod and dragging a turtle back. "Second brother, you're so awesome! We can have turtle soup tonight."

  Yu Rixiang took him out fishing today, and the villagers came to find him with something, so he put down his fishing rod and left first. Zilu saw that there were also children fishing next to him, and there were companions catching frogs on the shore, so he didn't leave. He would take a look at his father's fishing rod from time to time. He really caught a crucian carp, and Zilu became interested, changing from catching frogs to fishing. In a short while, five or six small crucian carps were in the bucket.

  When the other kids were packing up to go home, Zilu pulled out his fishing rod and found it was very heavy and couldn't be moved. After spending half a day's effort to find someone to help him pull it up, he saw that it was a turtle. He didn't know how the fishhook had hooked onto the turtle's head, but he managed to get it ashore. However, he didn't dare to grab it and could only drag it home like this. Just as they reached the entrance, they bumped into Zeng Rui Xiang and Zi Fu.

  Zeng Ruixiang said: "I've been fishing for these years, and I've never caught a turtle before. Today is really a coincidence. It's just right to supplement your mother's body."

  "You don't say your craftsmanship is no good, and you also say my son is lucky." Shen's wife glared at her husband, but she was still very happy in her heart, because Zeng Rui Xiang said he would give her some compensation.

  Recently, Mr. He occasionally took a whole large toad, cut it open, removed the internal organs and gave it to Mrs. Shen to make a soup. Zi Qing was a bit scared when she saw it, but Mrs. Shen asked her to try some. The soup was very clear, so Zi Qing closed her eyes and took a sip, and indeed it tasted very fresh. However, she didn't dare eat the frog meat.

  This time, I don't know how He managed it, but the soup turned out to be as thick and creamy as milk. Everyone had a small half bowl, and the rest was left for Shen's family. Zi Qing felt that she had never tasted such delicious soup before. After finishing drinking, they all smacked their lips, looking at the older brothers with an expression of not having enough, which made He laugh and say: "Want more? I'll make some again, grandma will do it." Unfortunately, this kind of luck never came again.

  No one expected that when Ziqing and his family were enjoying the turtle soup, the news of Zirong bringing back a turtle would spread throughout the village, naturally reaching Lao Yezi and Tian Shi. At that time, Tian Shi was picking vegetables in the garden and ran into her neighbor Liu Shu, who was also tending to her vegetable garden. Seeing Tian Shi, she asked, "Zeng Jia Auntie, is the turtle soup delicious?"

  "What is turtle soup? Where did you get turtle soup?" Tian obviously didn't understand.

  "You don't know? This morning, your second grandson caught a big turtle while fishing, and it's said to be over two or three catties. Your grandson didn't dare to pick it up, so he dragged it home, and many people in the village saw it. It's probably worth several hundred copper coins. But since your son is so rich, I heard that your daughter-in-law is pregnant again, shouldn't you stew it for her as a supplement? You can also taste some freshness with them, I heard it's very nourishing. My family's mouth is also fishing, how come we don't have such good luck? But our small household just can't bear to eat even if we catch one, worth several hundred copper coins." Liu aunt said.

  Hou didn't feel like listening to the rest of what Tian said, so he hastily picked some vegetables and headed home. As soon as he entered the house, he asked his grandfather: "Has anyone from Er Ye's family come over?"

  "No, what brings you to look for them?"

  "Hum, look at your good son, always saying he's honest and kind, but now you've also seen through him, right? He's got a wife and forgotten his mother." Then Tian Shi went on to repeat what she had learned from the neighbor, "Such a good thing, how could he not think of his parents? Doesn't he know that I, as a mother, have always been weak and often dizzy? Not even asking once, but instead benefiting that old woman He."

  "Mother, I think they may not have eaten yet. Why don't we make up an excuse to go to Second Brother's house? Second Brother is your own son, why should good things be wasted on outsiders? Mother, I also want to drink turtle soup, I've never had it since I was little!" Qiu Yu pulled at Tian Shi's sleeve and said.

  The old man couldn't bear his wife and daughter's endless nagging. When they entered the house and saw that Zeng Ruixiang's family was having dinner around the table, with Shen Shi holding a half bowl of thick white soup in her hand, he had to say that the old man's heart still felt a little lost at that moment.

  Tian gazed at the half bowl of turtle soup in Shen's hand, and Zi Qing secretly thought it was not good. Sure enough, she heard Tian say: "Xiang Er, I've been dizzy for a while now, and I also have headaches on one side. The doctor said I'm weak and need to nourish myself well. I heard that turtle soup is the most nourishing, but where can we find it in our kind of household?"

  Zeng Ruixiang got up early and said, "Mother, it's just right that Zilu caught a small turtle today and simmered a bowl of soup. He said to give it to his wife to nourish her body after childbirth. There's still some left in the pot, I'll serve you some."

  As soon as Zeng Ruixiang finished speaking, Tian and Qiuyu sat down, "Oh my, I'm so glad I came. I said my son can't just watch his mother suffer."

  "Grandma, you sit down and I'll help you serve it." Zi Qing said as she stood up and called out to her brother, "Big brother, can you help me carry the clay pot over and pour out what's left? There's just a bit at the bottom of the pot. Let's give grandma and grandpa each a little taste."

  Zifeng followed Ziqing to the neighboring kitchen, where Ziqing quickly scooped a full bowl and hid it away. She then divided the remaining food into two bowls and deliberately scraped the bottom of the pot with a ladle, making noise for them to hear. Zifeng smiled and gently ruffled her hair.

  Tian looked at the bowl with more than half of the soup left, and there were still a few pieces of turtle meat in it. There were only two bowls in total. He asked, "Where's your younger sister-in-law's portion?"

  "Grandma, didn't I say so? It's just a small turtle the size of a palm, how much stuff can it have? We each had one sip and four people shared half a bowl. Originally, it was left for my mother to nourish her body, and grandma spent a lot of effort to simmer these two bowls of soup. Saying that my mother is weak, leaving it for her to nourish herself, we've all been craving it for half a day now. Little sister is an adult too, adults get cravings too?" Zi Qing said.

  Qiu Yu's face suddenly turned red, and she hastily said: "Who said I was hungry? It's your grandma who has a weak body and needs to be supplemented."

  Zi Qing let out a soft "oh" and felt an overwhelming sense of regret in her heart, muttering to herself: "If I had known it would be like this, I might as well have made things easier for myself and ended it."