On the second morning of a winter day, a thin layer of mist hung in the cold air. In the 1970s, the tradition of returning to one's parents' home after three days of mourning was still preserved in rural areas.

Xu Qianjiao wore the red coat she wore at her wedding, a red flower on her head, and her hair was tied up in a retro princess style. She smiled and turned around to Cheng Jiawen, "Does it look good?"

Cheng Jiawen looked at her with a smile, "Beautiful, my wife is very beautiful."

Hearing this, Xu Qianjiao smiled with satisfaction. She looked at herself in the mirror, pouted, and said coquettishly, "It would be nice if I had a lipstick. It would definitely look better with lipstick on."

Cheng Jiawen touched his nose, turned around, and pretended not to hear what he said. Xu Qianjiao didn't agree with him. She came over and actively helped him straighten his collar. "Don't you think so? Doesn't it look better with lipstick on?"

"Hey, wife, we don't sell this lipstick in our little place. It's only available in the provincial capital, and you need a foreign trade coupon. A small one costs over a hundred yuan." Cheng Jiawen tried to persuade her to give up the idea. "Besides, you look beautiful without lipstick, too. Fresh and natural, a natural beauty."

"Tsk, you stingy guy. If you don't want to buy it, then don't buy it. I'll do it myself." Xu Qian raised her head at him proudly, immediately let go of her hand that was fixing his collar, and walked aside to continue admiring herself in front of the mirror.

Cheng Jiawen touched his nose, leaned over and said in an exaggerated manner: "My wife is amazing. She can even make lipstick. It's great, Trojan Horse." After that, he kissed Xu Qianjiao on the face.

Xu Qianjiao smiled and pushed him away, "Hey, stop clinging to me, go away."

"No, no, I just want to stick to my wife." After saying that, he continued to rub Xu Qianjiao's neck.

Xu Qianjiao touched his furry hair and couldn't help but sigh in her heart: His hair is so good, so soft, like a big furry dog, so nice to touch, so comfortable.

The two played for a while, but it was getting late, so they got up and prepared to go home.

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Cheng Jiawen held Xu Qianjiao's hand with one hand and held a basket full of gifts for his in-laws in the other.

Along the way, they stepped on the thick snow, making a "crunching" sound. The cold wind was so sharp that it hurt their faces, but their hearts were filled with joy.

The two of them walked faster and faster, and they couldn't wait to return to the home that made them feel warm.

Here, Xu's father and mother got up early in the morning. Xu's mother cooked a lot of delicious food in the kitchen, including spicy rabbit meat, chicken stewed with mushrooms, and fried small twisted dough sticks and fried dough sticks.

"Here, bring this to the kang. Remember to heat it up. The weather is very cold now. They must be very cold when they came here today. When they come later, tell them to eat first. I will finish this." Mother Xu instructed Father Xu while serving the dishes.

She heard that the Cheng family had split up, but Cheng's father and mother did not give Cheng Jiawen any food. Cheng Jiawen had to go out to buy food these two days, and there was no place to cook. The two of them had not had a good meal these days.

Father Xu took the dish from Mother Xu and nodded, "I know, I know. I won't let your precious daughter and son-in-law go hungry."

After saying that, he quickly ran back to the room with the dishes, put them on the kang, and immediately covered them with a basket to prevent the heat from dissipating.

After a while, Cheng Jiawen and Xu Qianjiao finally arrived at Xu's house. Before they reached the door, they saw Xu's father and mother already standing at the door waiting for them. After seeing this, Xu Qianjiao and Cheng Jiawen immediately quickened their pace.

"Dad, Mom, it's so cold, why are you standing here waiting? Come on, come on, go in quickly, don't catch a cold." Xu Qianjiao saw that the two of them looked pale from the cold, and hurriedly pushed them home.

As soon as they entered the door, Xu Qianjiao and Cheng Jiawen were choked by the heating in the house. How much firewood was used? It was so warm, just like summer.

When they took off their coats, they saw that the kang was filled with all kinds of food.

Mother Xu pulled the two of them to sit down and pushed the dishes in front of them. "Come, Jiawen, Jiaojiao, I made some dishes for you. Come on, eat. I heard that you haven't cooked for the past two days and the food is not good. Come on, eat and make up for it."

After that, he handed two pairs of chopsticks to the two of them. Cheng Jiawen and Xu Qianjiao looked at the huge table of dishes, and their hearts felt warm. They looked at each other and said in unison, "Thank you, mother."

"Dad, Mom, you guys come and eat together. There are so many dishes that we can't finish them all." Xu Qianjiao said with a smile as she looked at the two of them.

"Okay, let's eat together." Father and Mother Xu also sat on the kang, picked up their bowls and chopsticks, and ate together.

The whole family sat together, chatting and laughing, having a great time.

"Jiawen, what are your plans after the family splits up?" Father Xu asked while eating.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jiawen quickly swallowed the food in his mouth. "Dad, I have two ideas. One is that I build a house next to you so that it will be more convenient for us to take care of you and mom. The second is that Jiaojiao and I will move in here and then hire someone to expand the yard and the house and build two more rooms. Now I want to ask you and mom for your opinions. Which one do you think is better?"

Upon hearing this, Xu's mother fell into deep thought. Undoubtedly, she preferred the second option, but she was also worried that outsiders would spread rumors. You know, rumors are harmless when you don't pay attention to them.

But once you start to care about it, it will always be a thorn in your heart that you can never pull out.

Thinking of this, she stared at Cheng Jiawen, "Jiawen, if you move in, the villagers might say you're a gigolo, a live-in son-in-law. Don't you mind?"

Hearing this, Cheng Jiawen smiled and shook his head, "Mom, I don't care about this at all. Besides, these rumors haven't stopped these days. What's the big deal? We just need to be happy."

"But......"

Mother Xu was about to say something when Cheng Jiawen interrupted her. "Mom, actually the second option is better. We can take care of you two as well. Besides, you know, I've never been close to my family. Ever since my grandparents died, no one cares about me anymore. I really treat you two as my family, so you don't need to worry about these things. Or do you dislike us and don't want to live with us?"

"No... no, how could I dislike you? I'd love to live with you." Mother Xu felt a little uncomfortable when she heard what he said, especially when she heard that no one cared about him, she felt even more distressed.

Seeing this, Father Xu smiled and tried to smooth things over. "Old lady, since Jiawen has made up his mind, let's just listen to him."

Xu's mother nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, then I'll do as you say."