I relied on a system to prolong my life in ancient times.

Chapter 302 The Mischievous Twins

Xiao Siyue ate the rapeseed oil she brought home for dinner.

The Xiao family raved about the taste of rapeseed oil. Unlike lard, rapeseed oil doesn't have a strong flavor that overpowers other ingredients, and it's especially good for stir-frying vegetables, preserving their original flavors and creating more distinct layers of taste.

"Yue'er, this dish tastes good," said Grandpa Xiao, picking up a piece of stir-fried bok choy with his chopsticks.

"Yes, it's a pity there's still too little oil; our family won't have enough to eat for long," Xiao Sining said regretfully.

"Fifth Brother, don't be in such a hurry. By next year, you can eat it every day." Rapeseed is not like corn or potatoes, which were good seeds to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people. Before it was widely available, people only dared to try it, and the rest were kept as seeds. It took several years before they could eat it normally.

Xiao Siyue plans to keep some of this year's harvest for her own family to use as seeds, and give the rest to Zhou Di. She doesn't need to worry about it anymore; she can keep next year's harvest for her own consumption.

"Well, it's nothing really. I was just reminiscing. I've been eating lard and soybean oil for so many years, I'm used to it." Xiao Sining said a little embarrassed after hearing Xiao Siyue's words, feeling that she was being too sentimental.

Xiao Siyue didn't ask how Xiao Qinian responded to Emperor Zhou regarding the rapeseed. Her job was simply to plant the seeds awarded by the system and hand them over after the harvest the following year; the rest would naturally be handled by others.

After Xi Ningzhi finished her postpartum confinement, she focused her attention on her two children. The two children had already been named, the boy was called Xiao Yixu and the girl was called Xiao Yiran. The two children were very lively and noisy.

Although it's only been a little over a month, it has already exhausted Xi Ningzhi, just like she is now.

As soon as Xiao Siyue arrived at Xi Ningzhi's place, she saw this scene: two children were crying loudly, stretching out their two little lotus root-like arms and insisting that Xi Ningzhi hold them.

When Xi Ningzhi picked up Xu Xu, he stopped crying and even giggled. But Ran Ran was different. As soon as she saw her brother in her mother's arms, she became unwilling and cried desperately. Xi Ningzhi felt extremely distressed.

Aunt Xiao couldn't soothe her either, so Xi Ningzhi had to hand Xu Xu over to the maid and pick up Ran Ran. This time, Ran Ran stopped crying, but Xu Xu started wailing again.

So Xi Ningzhi coaxed this child and that child, until she was panting heavily, before finally getting both children to sleep.

"Aunt, Third Sister-in-law." Xiao Siyue walked in, greeted the two women, and then turned her attention to the two children.

"Is Xu Xu and Ran Ran causing trouble again?"

"Yeah, they're such little devils! They're so young, and they're already fighting over who gets the boy. They're driving me crazy!" Xi Ningzhi exclaimed as if she had found someone to confide in when she heard Xiao Siyue's words.

"Yes, those two children of Yue'er are really something. I can't even help them with anything. They only bother your third sister-in-law, and they won't even let your third brother have a chance," Aunt Xiao said with a bitter face. Looking at her daughter-in-law's haggard appearance, she felt extremely distressed.

Previously, in order to take care of Xi Ningzhi, she specially assigned several more maids and servants, but they were of no help at all.

"Third sister-in-law, the child probably likes you too much, but you can't spoil her like this. You can't immediately comfort her when she cries. If she gets a taste of the power of crying, she'll learn that crying works and she'll keep using that trick." Besides, children don't think things through; they act on impulse. If you don't change this habit soon, it will be much harder to change it later.

"That's what I thought too, but when I hear the child cry, I can't help it, my heart aches terribly." Xi Ningzhi knew it was wrong, but this was her own child, and she couldn't bring herself to be cruel.

"Third sister-in-law, I'm not asking you to change all at once. You can try slowly, otherwise your body won't be able to take it." Xiao Siyue knew, of course, that these were her nephews and nieces, and she felt quite sorry for them when they cried.

But we can't let Xi Ningzhi continue like this. She's only been out of confinement for a short time, and her body hasn't recovered yet. She should be resting properly. Working so hard every day will cause her to develop health problems later.

Although she had never been married or had children, she had heard and seen that childbirth was like a brush with death for women, and no matter how much they recuperated, they could never fully recover their former health. If they overworked, it would only exacerbate the damage to their bodies.

Besides, this child doesn't belong to Xi Ningzhi alone; the mother shouldn't have to shoulder all the burdens for the sake of the child.

“Ningzhi, Yue’er is right. It hurts me to see the child cry, but it also hurts me to see you working so hard. I was a mother myself, and I know how hard it is to raise children. We were poor before, so we had no choice, but now that we are better off, we women should take better care of ourselves. We can’t do everything for the children.” Aunt Xiao’s words were also a heartfelt advice. She was not the kind of mother-in-law who only cared about her grandchildren and not her daughter-in-law.

"Mother, Yue'er, thank you, I understand." Xi Ningzhi was deeply moved. In her memory, mothers always put their children first. Even in her own family, her mother would think of them first and then herself last.

Aunt Zhou, despite knowing about Uncle Zhou's affair, chose to remain silent for the sake of her two children, pretending to be harmonious. If Zhou Qingran hadn't discovered it herself, she might never have been exposed and would have continued to play the role of a loving couple.

But now her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are advising her to take care of her own health first and then the baby, so how can she not move?

It turns out she was wrong all along. Yes, she is also a person, independent, and not living for any one person.

She can be selfish too.

"No need to thank me. We'll figure out a way to take care of the baby. You've only recently finished your postpartum period, so you should get some rest." Aunt Xiao waved her hand with a smile.

Xiao Siyue was gradually happy to see that Xi Ningzhi had come to her senses. In modern times, many women would break down because of raising children, and she was afraid that Xi Ningzhi would not be able to handle it if things continued like this.

"Third sister-in-law, let's find two wet nurses who are good at taking care of children. They should be experienced; they'll definitely have a solution," Xiao Siyue suggested.

“Okay, I’ll find out right away,” Aunt Xiao agreed.

Xi Ningzhi nodded in agreement. She had indeed been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. It made her quite happy that her child was clinging to her. Of course, she was happy that her own child was close to her, but it was really tiring for the child to only cling to her.

But no sooner had he finished speaking than Xiao Siyuan's voice came from outside.