They returned to Hongshan Town at around 3:10 in the afternoon. After getting off the bus, Zhou Chengning still held Xu Xiangjuan's hand and went back. Xu Xiangjuan's refusal gave him courage.

The two went back home first. Xu Xiangjuan took a piece of soap and put the others aside for the time being. She wanted to take a piece of soap to her mother's home.

"Juan, this is for you." Zhou Chengning took out the things he bought at the department store today and gave them to Xu Xiangjuan.

Xu Xiangjuan was a little surprised, "Vanous cream? When did you buy it?"

"I bought it at noon. I bought it while I was looking at stationery." In fact, he went there specifically to buy it, but lied to her that he was looking at stationery.

He heard from Teacher Sun that whenever Teacher Sun's wife went to the city, she would buy a box of face cream to apply on her face. It smelled nice and was moisturizing. He also "inadvertently" asked Teacher Sun about the price, and he knew he could afford it.

Xu Xiangjuan accepted it, but didn't say it would be more economical to buy a pound of pork, nor did she ask how much a box cost. How much could it be? He only had the two yuan she gave him for pocket money.

The man's love was not in vain. Xu Xiangjuan thanked him: "Thank you, I accepted it, I like it very much."

There were really only the couple at home at this moment. When Zhou Chengning heard his lover thanking him and putting the vanishing cream he gave her into the sewing box on the bedside, his face and heart were hot.

"What are you doing in broad daylight!" Xu Xiangjuan was shocked when Zhou Chengning hugged her and kissed her a few times.

If there were children around, he wouldn't dare do this. "Guagua and Niuniu are not at home. I want to kiss you, nothing else."

Xu Xiangjuan was furious, feeling that her position at home had been shaken. She must have been too nice to Zhou Chengning these past few days, which made him bolder. "You want to do something else? Dream on! You're a cowardly man. You're showing off to me when the kids aren't at home, right?"

"I'm not trying to be arrogant, I just want to kiss you." This time Zhou Chengning did not kiss Xu Xiangjuan, but just held her in his arms. He automatically filtered the title of "cowardly man" into a nickname given by his lover.

Xu Xiangjuan couldn't say anything harsh anymore, so she hugged his thin but broad back with both hands, "We'll go to my mom's house later. If you don't want to go, then don't go. But I'll stay longer. You can read books at home and do whatever you want. Anyway, there's no work for you to do right now."

She had to make sugar-roasted chestnuts and couldn't go home early.

Hearing that he would have to stay longer, Zhou Chengning hesitated for a while, but still said, "I'll go. Guagua and Niu Niu are also at my parents' house."

Xu Xiangjuan was helpless: "Look at you, are you pretending or are you really good-tempered? My mother scolded you like that, and you are not angry."

Zhou Chengning: "Why should I be angry? I can live a good life now, thanks to mom giving birth to you, so even if mom scolds me in front of me, I won't be angry."

Xu Xiangjuan felt a little embarrassed when she heard this, "Have you always thought so?"

He sincerely thought so, "Yeah, I've been thinking so since I married you."

Xu Xiangjuan didn't want to hear any more cheesy words, "I wasn't wrong about you at the beginning...Okay, let's go to my parents' house."

His wife seemed to be in a good mood, so Zhou Chengning took the opportunity to ask, "Can I sleep in our family's bed at night? Or Juan, you can sleep in my bed, my quilt is bigger."

Are you in a hurry to catch a cold and have a fever?

Xu Xiangjuan would not agree, "Who do you want to catch a cold? The weather is getting colder now, and my sleeping arrangements at night are not just right."

Zhou Chengning: "It's been more than a year since we last had..."

The original idea was, "You can't do it within six months after giving birth. Don't even think about it. If you think about it, you're going to hurt my body."

Zhou Chengning didn't know much about this. In the past, his wife made the decision. If his wife wanted him to... Yes, she had just given birth and was already weak. "No, I don't want to do it anymore. I don't want to do it because it will hurt my body."

"You can go now."

"Yes."

...

When Xu Xiangjuan returned to her mother's house, Gua Gua was no longer peeling chestnuts but watching her grandmother knitting a sweater.

Xu Xiangjuan asked Niu Niu, and she had already gone to see Niu Niu, "Mom, is Niu Niu sleeping?"

When Guagua saw his mother coming, he immediately hugged her thighs and said, "Niuniu, go to sleep after crying. Good mother, here's something delicious."

"I got it. You won't be short of anything. Mom will go and make something delicious right away." Xu Xiangjuan gestured to Zhou Chengning to hold Gua Gua while she went to the kitchen to fry chestnuts.

Chestnuts can be eaten as a snack.

It's still early now, so we can make dinner after frying the chestnuts.

The chestnuts had already opened, and Xu Xiangjuan told her father in advance how to deal with them. There were so many that they filled half a basin.

Gua Gua was carried by her father and came back to peel chestnut shells. She found peeling chestnuts boring as she had already peeled them. After staying for a while, she went to watch her grandmother knitting a sweater. Now her mother came back, and she watched her grandmother knitting a sweater. She could also run to the kitchen to watch her mother prepare delicious food.

Xu Gensheng planned to get everything done, and he was happy to have his son-in-law help him.

He was not as averse to his son-in-law as Juan's mother. He thought it was good that the son-in-law had no temper. If his daughter really wanted to marry Wang Qiang, they would fight every day.

Wang Qiang is now twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. Because his brother is rich, he also got married, but now he is famous in the village for beating his wife.

Wang Qiang's current wife dares not say a word. If it were his daughter, they would have fought to the death. Fortunately, his daughter had her own ideas back then, otherwise the old couple would have been worried to death about their little daughter.

The younger daughter is smart and capable, but she also has a stubborn temper. If she gets upset, she won't listen to anyone.

Wu Caifeng knew that Wang Qiang knew more than Xu Gensheng. After all, there was little entertainment in the village, and gossip about anyone's family would be talked about by everyone, and Wang Qiang's family knew especially much.

For example, Wang Qiang beat his wife again. For example, Wang Qiang had an affair with Xiaohua and Xiaocao from the next village behind his wife's back, and they were discovered by Lao Wu and Lao Chen while they were being intimate behind a haystack. It was disgusting to hear.

She was also glad that her daughter disliked Wang Qiang at the beginning, otherwise... it would be terrible... Although Wang Qiang is a bad person, it cannot improve her bad impression of her current son-in-law.

This evening, she caught Tang Chao Li Zi and started to criticize him, "You are such a coward. You are eating sugar, oil and salt for free at your parents' house. You don't make much money, and you don't know how to save!"

"Gua Gua, bring a bowl to grandpa and dad. Mom will peel it for you when we come back." Xu Xiangjuan ignored her mother. When the chestnuts were not so hot but still warm, she filled a small bowl and asked Gua Gua to take out.

The little girl Gua Gua walked quite steadily and safely delivered the chestnuts to her father, asking him to peel one for her to eat.

"Dad, stop and eat some chestnuts." Zhou Chengning took two chestnuts and put the small bowl on the open space next to his father-in-law. He then held Gua Gua and sat her on his lap while he peeled a chestnut for his daughter.

The chestnuts looked greasy and their shells were shiny, but they didn't feel greasy at all. After the shells were peeled off, they immediately gave off a sweet fragrance, the unique flavor of chestnuts. After feeding one to his daughter, Zhou Chengning peeled one for himself.

He wanted to eat more after finishing it, but seeing his father-in-law peeling them one by one and putting them into his mouth, he didn't feel comfortable taking them.

"Dad, I want to eat more." Guagua asked Zhou Chengning.

Taking advantage of Guagua's words, Zhou Chengning grabbed two more and said, "Eat slowly, don't choke."

The small bowl was soon empty, so Xu Gensheng called to the kitchen, "Girl, bring a big bowl of chestnuts. The small bowl is not enough to fill your mouth."

Soon Xu Xiangjuan came over with a big bowl, "Dad, don't eat too much. It's easy to get angry and your throat will be dry. If you eat too much, will you be able to eat dinner at night? Aning, you too, don't let Guagua eat too much."

Zhou Chengning agreed with his lover's words and immediately nodded in response, saying that he would not let Gua Gua eat too much.

Guagua’s protests were ineffective.

Xu Gensheng continued to peel chestnuts and eat them, ignoring his daughter.

"Dad, you can eat the leftovers tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Don't expect me to cook for you again after you finish eating tonight. Mom has scolded me several times for using too much sugar, oil and salt. I don't want to cook again and get scolded." After saying that, Xu Xiangjuan went back to the kitchen to cook dinner.

We had dinner at her parents' house today.

For dinner, we had braised crucian carp, cold cucumber salad, stir-fried shredded pumpkin, and vegetable and tofu soup.

Just for this dish, Xu Xiangjuan was scolded again, "Mom, you should take a rest. Don't get so angry that you can't eat. If you don't eat, I will let my Aning eat it all."

"A daughter who is married off is like water spilled!" Wu Caifeng lowered her voice and stopped shouting.

The dinner was quiet at night. The crucian carp had a lot of bones, so Xu Xiangjuan gave Gua Gua fish soup with rice and told Gua Gua that the fish had a lot of bones and could not be eaten, and asked her to eat something else.

Zhou Chengning didn't feel like he was at home when he was at his father-in-law and mother-in-law's house. He never touched the meat dishes when eating. He only ate shredded pumpkin and green vegetables with tofu, and he didn't take much of these two things.

When Xu Xiangjuan saw this, she put a large piece of fish into Zhou Chengning's bowl and scooped two spoonfuls of fish soup into his bowl. There was not much soup in the braised fish to begin with, and there was not much soup left after the sauce was absorbed. After Zhou Chengning tasted the fish soup, he realized how delicious it was to eat Gua Gua's small bowl of fish soup with rice.

Fish soup is no worse than chicken soup, and it can even be said to be more delicious and goes better with rice.

Most of the fish soup in the dish went into Guagua’s stomach. No one from her grandparents said anything to her, so she just drank the soup.

Although Wu Caifeng was dissatisfied with her daughter's behavior of picking up meat for her son-in-law, she did not say much. If she spoke at the dinner table, she would be scolded by her husband.

After dinner, Xu Xiangjuan went home and washed herself with the hot water from the thermos at home. There were two thermos at home, and they were filled with hot water every day for the next day. If she wanted to take a shower, she would just boil hot water in a large iron pot and use it to wash her body. Xu Xiangjuan used most of the bottle and washed her body after that.

Guagua and his father always wash up later than his mother, and they linger in the kitchen. Zhou Chengning has to boil water and fill the thermos.

After the father and daughter finished washing up, Zhou Chengning came back holding Gua Gua, who was already drowsy and had bare feet.

"It smells good." Seeing his lover applying vanishing cream on her face, Zhou Chengning put the melon away and leaned in to smell it.

"Are you calling me?" Xu Xiangjuan wiped her face and then her neck, then put the things back into the sewing box.

Zhou Chengning smelled it and it was indeed fragrant. It was indeed worth 2 yuan. "Hmm, fragrant."

"Hurry up and get into bed, Niuniu is still awake...and don't wake up the sleeping Guagua, be quiet."

Niu Niu was lying next to Xu Xiangjuan at this moment, with his eyes open, occasionally waving his little fleshy arms slightly and kicking his little fleshy legs.

Of course Xu Xiangjuan had to coax and amuse the child. She had not been with the child all day, and the child was not asleep yet. Normally, he would have fallen asleep a long time ago.

Zhou Chengning quickly went to bed so as not to disturb his wife from coaxing the child.

Xu Xiangjuan was quite patient with the child, and her voice was very gentle, "Niuniu, why aren't you asleep yet? Do you want mommy to tell you a story? My little darling~"

Niu Niu didn't understand what his mother was saying, he just laughed. When the little guy laughed, Xu Xiangjuan couldn't help but feel soft in her heart. She gently touched the little baby's soft cheek with her index finger, and couldn't help but give him a gentle kiss.

This little baby must not be treated like a porcelain doll. Be as careful as possible.

Zhou Chengning, who was watching this scene from the side of the bed, felt unbalanced, "Juan, you've never talked to me like this before."

After all, he was too embarrassed to say that his wife had never kissed him on her own initiative.

Xu Xiangjuan raised her eyebrows when she heard Zhou Chengning's words, "You can't sleep? If you can't sleep, I will talk to you like this... You are even better than a two-month-old baby. What a promising future."

"Well, I can't sleep." Zhou Chengning actually took over the conversation.

Xu Xiangjuan spoke to the confused Niu Niu, "Niu Niu, look at your father, he is even more childish than your sister. Your sister knows how to eat, but your father only wants useless things."

Ignoring Zhou Chengning, Xu Xiangjuan continued to coax Niu Niu. Half an hour later, Niu Niu fell asleep. Xu Xiangjuan turned off the kerosene lamp and went to sleep.

Zhou Chengning realized that it was impossible for his lover to treat him the same way he treated Niu Niu at night, so he felt sorry for a while and then slowly fell asleep.

...

Niu Niu woke up in the middle of the night. Xu Xiangjuan changed his diaper and fed him. He was not very conscious, which is normal.

Whether it is Guagua or Niu Niu, if his wife is taking care of the children in the middle of the night, Zhou Chengning will get up. If his wife needs warm water, he will prepare the water. If his wife needs to drink water, he will pour it.

He lived a very comfortable life after getting married. In the past, he had to get up at three or four o'clock to do housework at home. He also had to earn work points. He would read and write in his spare time. He had very little time to sleep. Sometimes he would get so engrossed in reading that he could only sleep for an hour or two. Then he would go back to work after waking up.

When life got better, he went to college and did not go home, thus getting rid of those jobs. But he still had to make a living in college, and he was willing to take on all the hard and strenuous work as long as he had food to eat and could study.

Books were Zhou Chengning's comfort and spiritual food before marriage, but not after marriage.

Although he still loves books, it must be said that he loves more than just books.

The people he loves include his wife, daughter and son.

After marriage, he is not forced to do housework, but is willing to do it. When he goes home, he has a comfortable bed, hot meals, an omnipotent lover, and lovely children.

He didn't feel that he had finally gotten what he wanted after all the hard work, he felt that he had just hit the jackpot.

Niu Niu fell asleep while being fed. Xu Xiangjuan put Niu Niu down and went to urinate. After coming back, she held the enamel pot and drank water.

The water in the enamel jug was poured by Zhou Chengning. It was already warm and just right for drinking. Zhou Chengning had already urinated, and Xu Xiangjuan drank two sips and stopped, so he drank the rest.

Xu Xiangjuan still felt sleepy after drinking the water. She was not like Zhou Chengning who walked back and forth between school and home for more than an hour every day. Today's amount of exercise was too much for her, and she was tired.

Zhou Chengning wasn't very sleepy, so he sat on the bed waiting for the lights to turn off.

Because Xu Xiangjuan slept on the outside, she was the one who turned off the lights. Seeing Zhou Chengning sitting on the bed without any sleepiness, she said, "You won't be able to sleep for a few hours. Go to bed early. You have to go to school tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll go to bed now." Zhou Chengning lay down in the bed.

Seeing that Zhou Chengning still hadn't closed his eyes to sleep and looked at her tenderly, Xu Xiangjuan asked, "How can you sleep without closing your eyes?"

He is always like this, as if he has no temper, speaks gently, looks at people gently, and can never get angry with others.

On the contrary, she has a bad temper and will retaliate if provoked.

Xu Xiangjuan couldn't stand others saying that her man was a coward, a wimp, and a loser... Of course, except for her mother. Anyway, she would curse back at her mother in the past. Don't think that she doesn't listen to gossip. She can know any gossip about every household in the village from her mother. She has to curse back until she is disgusted to death. Fighting is even more of a given. People are so scared that they dare not gossip in front of her, and of course she can't do anything behind their backs.

Now, when people in the village see the couple, they will tease her husband, saying that Cheng Ning married a tigress.

A tigress is a tigress. If someone says something bad about her man, she will tear his face off even if his presence is present. Does she need to choose a time and place to tear her face off?

Zhou Chengning was very well behaved and closed his eyes. However, the more Xu Xiangjuan looked at him, the more she felt that he was being deliberate. From this distance she could even see his eyelids moving.

Perhaps it was because the night was too gentle, or perhaps because she thought Niu Niu would sleep till dawn, Xu Xiangjuan turned off the lights and crawled inside carefully.

The bed in their house is quite big, and the space for her to sleep is small, so she left a space in the middle for Niu Niu and Gua Gua. Her husband is tall, and she was afraid that he wouldn't be able to turn over, so she also left a larger space.

She is the only one who has to endure the hardship in the whole family...so they have to make a small bed for Niu Niu. Niu Niu can sleep in the small bed without a pillow, so she doesn't have to sleep so tired.

“Juan, do you want to…” Zhou Chengning lowered his voice, his heart pounding faster. Although he knew that his lover said that it was not possible within half a year, what did his lover mean now?

No, not within half a year.

Xu Xiangjuan knew that he was thinking wrongly again, "Tonight I will share the same bed with you and coax you to sleep like I would a cow. Are you happy about that?"

She hadn't cut her hair when she gave birth, so before she lay down, she had to lift her long hair to her right shoulder first. After she finished doing that, she lay down.

"With pleasure."

Zhou Chengning’s pillow is not big, but it is just right for two people.

When she felt the warm body coming towards her, Xu Xiangjuan thought she must have been possessed by a ghost during the night.

"Juan, you can coax me to sleep now." Zhou Chengning hugged Xu Xiangjuan tightly in his arms, feeling very satisfied, and took the opportunity to kiss her a few times.