CHAPTER 165: CHAPTER 165: BABY TURTLES HATCH

However, the attention of the group was quickly drawn back to the turtle eggs.

To accommodate Liu Ze standing at the door, Xiaoxue directly dragged the basket filled with sand and turtle eggs outside, and the four little children formed a circle.

The few turtle eggs were only covered by a shallow layer of sand, and at this moment, the fine sand on top had been brushed aside by Xiaomi, revealing the turtle eggs below.

Xiaoxue silently counted them.

"Xiaomi, why are there only ten turtle eggs left? Weren’t there thirteen turtle eggs before? Where are the other three?"

As she spoke, Xiaoxue hurriedly stood up and went back inside to look.

Xiaomi was startled, oh no! She had forgotten about that!

She had secretly moved three more turtle eggs to the space, leaving only ten outside, and had forgotten to take them out just now!

But even if she remembered, it wouldn’t help. Last night when she went to sleep, all fifteen turtle eggs in the space had hatched without a single one missing; now they were all finger-sized baby turtles, and taking them out would be useless!

Of course, the changes in her mind certainly wouldn’t show on her face, so Xiaomi immediately stood up as well.

"Oh right, where are the others?"

She followed her second sister around searching under the bed, so anxious she was about to cry.

"Second Sister, they’re missing, a few eggs are missing." Her eyes were red, looking so aggrieved.

Xiaoxue gently patted Xiaomi’s back, soothing her softly, "Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s okay if they’re missing; look, there are still so many left here."

Xiaomi still felt like crying...

"Come and see, the turtle eggs are cracking open!"

It was Liu Ze who saved the day, with one sentence, capturing everyone’s attention. Xiaoxue also quickly pulled Xiaomi outside.

Xiaomi immediately ’forgot’ about the missing turtle eggs, her eyes still reddened, but she stared curiously with wide eyes.

"They are really moving, second sister. Is it like hatching chicks, with a little turtle coming out from inside too?"

Xiaoxue: "It should be."

The light suddenly dimmed, and Jiang Hu’s voice came from above: "Xiaomi really hatched them, this is amazing."

It was visible to the naked eye that a crack appeared on the turtle egg, and it was still pulsating. In the middle of the crack, a little bit of black was wriggling.

It was clear that the baby turtle inside was trying hard to break through the egg shell and crawl out.

Tiedan couldn’t take it, and was about to reach out: "I’ll help them."

With a ’smack’, Xiaomi glared at him angrily: "Don’t touch! You can’t help!"

Xiaoxue also nodded: "Yes, when chicks hatch, mother always says not to help; they have to come out by themselves so they can grow strong and not get sick easily."

Tiedan pouted, looking very aggrieved: "I just wanted to help a bit."

A big hand patted his head, and Tiedan looked up; it was his father.

Jiang Hu smiled and said, "Tiedan, you need to understand that some things must be done by oneself to be meaningful, just like these little turtles hatching. Breaking out of the shell is easy for us, but for them, it’s also a kind of exercise."

Tiedan nodded with semi-comprehension: "Does it make them stronger and less prone to illness?"

Jiang Hu nodded: "That’s right, you see, they’re so small and weak. If you directly tear open the shell for them, they can’t exercise and might easily get sick after coming out. Now as they exercise while crawling out slowly, they will become very strong."

Tiedan nodded seriously: "I understand, Dad. I won’t help them; I’ll let them come out by themselves."

Jiang Hu patted Tiedan’s head: "Alright then, you keep watching, I’ll get back to work."

The rice grains had already been sorted, and once everything was back inside the house, everything would be completely done.

This grain, although stacked in the yard, can’t settle in the mind until it’s stored!

Besides, the weather these past couple of days hasn’t been good, unbearably hot, and it might rain at any moment, maybe tomorrow, or maybe in the next instant.

Qixi also came to watch for a while. As a young boy, his curiosity was strong, but since the first one was just starting to move, he wasn’t in a hurry and continued to help Jiang Hu move the rice back.

The turtle egg moved for a while, then stopped, and after a short while started moving again, the crack getting larger until a tiny head emerged.

"It’s out!" Tiedan shouted excitedly: "It’s out, it’s really out!"

Not just the head, two front claws also stretched out, exerting effort to climb out together.

"So amazing, so cute," Xiaomi sincerely exclaimed.

Even though she had seen it once last night, it didn’t prevent her from feeling that the little turtles were really amazing when they struggled to break free from the turtle eggs at this moment.

The others nodded in agreement, and then they heard Xiaomi continue to speak.

"I wonder how long it will take them to grow up. The ones we raise ourselves must taste better than the ones caught in the fields, right?"

It even seemed like she could be heard slurping.

Liu Ze and Xiaoxue: "..."

For a moment, they didn’t know what words to use to express their feelings at this moment.

However, Xiaomi didn’t mind at all and turned her head, blinking wide eyes, looking expectantly at Liu Ze.

"Brother Ze, do you know how long it will take before they can have babies? Once they have babies, we can eat big turtles."

Liu Ze was speechless for a moment, but he honestly started recalling: "It should take four or five years, although I’m not sure exactly, but it takes quite a long time."

Xiaomi was ’surprised’: "That long?"

She even started counting on her fingers: "Three, four, ... seven, doesn’t that mean Tiedan will be seven years old before they can grow up and have babies?"

Staring at the first little turtle that had already crawled out of the shell, Xiaomi’s eyes were full of disbelief.

The cute little look made people feel extremely fond of it.

Liu Ze was no exception and couldn’t help but smile: "Xiaomi, you will also be exactly seven years old by then; you and Tiedan are the same age."

Xiaomi suddenly realized: "Oh, I almost forgot."

"Pfft."

Just as Erniang finished cleaning up the empty shells, the first sentence she heard when she came over was this, and she couldn’t hold back.

Xiaomi pouted: "Mom, you’re laughing at me!"

"No, I’m not, look, the little turtle has already crawled out." She quickly gestured for them to see.

Xiaomi looked down and immediately exclaimed in surprise: "Really, it’s already out so quickly!"

The first little turtle had already completely crawled out of the shell and was climbing towards a higher spot nearby.

To expose the turtle eggs, the surrounding fine sand had been dug away by Xiaomi, forming a small recess.

And now, the newly hatched little turtle was trying hard to crawl out, attempting to find a new place suitable for shelter and hiding.

Meanwhile, there were already two more, no, three turtle eggs starting to move again...