Chapter 202: Prosperity 202: It’s never-ending, right?

Gu Qingqing went to the inner room. Chu Dai was talking to Shen Sui about school. It would be the first grade of junior high school soon. He asked him if he wanted to buy some stationery.

"I haven't used up what I bought on the island last year, so I don't need to buy new ones this year." Shen Sui picked up his little nephew who was sitting on the ground and brushed the dust off his pants and feet.

"Okay." Chu Dai pulled a chair next to him and motioned for Gu Qingqing to sit down: "What did grandma say to you?"

"She said she would prepare something for us to take back. She didn't want us to leave." The woman sat down next to him and watched Xiao Tuantuan and her little cousin chattering about something.

"It's not easy here at grandma's place either. Tell her not to bring anything," the man held her hand and placed it on his right leg. "The harvest production team is too barren. I heard from grandpa and dad that the food production here is very low. One mu of land only produces half of what the invincible production team produces."

"Yes, when I was a kid, I came to my grandmother's house to celebrate the New Year. During the New Year, my grandmother let me eat wheat bran steamed buns and cornmeal steamed buns, and she hid in the kitchen to eat wild vegetables." Gu Qingqing rubbed his palm and said softly, "Life was really hard before, but later the Gu family's life became better, so my brothers came to deliver food from time to time."

The man listened to her quietly, letting her fingers play around in his palm.

After a while, he said, "Didn't Dad exchange experiences on increasing production with the leader of the harvest production team?"

"I'm not sure about that," Gu Qingqing leaned on his shoulder, watching her eldest son sticking his butt out and standing on tiptoe to reach for the dried sweet potatoes on the table. "This time I found that the leader of the Fengshou Production Team is not the kind of person who doesn't do practical things. I don't know why Secretary Zhou and his team came to the Fengshou Production Team this time."

"It should be a good thing." Chu Dai tilted his head slightly, smelled the scent of soap in her hair, and asked, "Are you sleepy?"

"A little bit." Gu Qingqing yawned, "Shall we leave after breakfast tomorrow?"

"Well, go wash up and go to bed."

When Gu Qingqing got up, she did not forget to call Shen Sui: "Ah Sui, go wash your face and go to bed."

"Okay." Shen Sui carried Xiao Nian Nian.

When Chu Dai passed by the table, he picked up Xiao Tuan Tuan and Shi Chongshan in his arms and walked towards the kitchen.

"Oh, how come this kid has such a stained face?!" Gao Haiyue quickly took her son from her nephew's husband's arms, cursed him a few words but couldn't bear to let him go, so she quickly got some hot water and a towel to wipe his face.

Shi Rushuang also came to the kitchen, and together with her daughter-in-law, she fetched some hot water and helped the two little guys wash their faces. Only then did they finish their work.

Zhou Man looked at the crowded kitchen with a smile on her face, and turned around from time to time to talk to her eldest daughter-in-law.

"The room you sleep in is the innermost one on the east side. Qingqing should know that, right?"

"I know." Gu Qingqing took the little guy from Shen Sui's hand and pinched his fair face: "Ah Sui sleeps with cousin at night? Is it okay?"

Shi Rushuang looked at the child with some worry. He was usually a man of few words. There were many rooms in the Gu family, but he lived in a single room.

Facing so many pairs of eyes, Shen Sui nodded calmly: "I can do anything."

"Okay then." He Qiushui was obviously relieved. "I don't know where Qingzhou has gone. I'll let your sister take you there later."

"Yeah, okay."

Gu Qingqing and her family of five had left, but the kitchen was still busy. After the Shi family had washed up, they were discussing what to bring them tomorrow, as well as the gifts that the two daughters-in-law were going to bring back for the New Year.

"This is my cousin's room," Gu Qingqing pushed the door open with one hand. Little Niannian twisted and turned in her arms. She patted her son's butt to calm him down. "There is a quilt in the closet. Take it yourself. If you feel cold when you sleep at night, tell your cousin. Got it?"

"Okay, brother-in-law, you guys go to bed too, I'll do it myself." As he said that, he opened the closet door and took down the top layer of blue coarse cloth quilt.

Gu Qingqing looked at his slender back, secretly shocked, and said to the man next to her: "Why do I feel like Ah Sui is almost as tall as me?"

"Well, it's almost the same." The man took a glance and pulled his son's hand out of his mouth. It was wet with saliva. He was a little disgusted and pinched his wrist to wipe the saliva on the coat of Xiao Nian Nian next to him.

When Xiao Niannian saw his father's actions and his brother's grinning, curved eyebrows and waving hands, his big black eyes were full of disbelief.

How can you do this to your baby!

Seeing Shen Sui bringing down the quilt and making it ready, Gu Qingqing also felt at ease and went back to her room with the man, not forgetting to close the door.

Their room was already warmed by the charcoal stove. Gu Qingqing took off Xiao Nian Nian's shoes and let him climb onto the bed by himself: "Did your mother bring this?"

"It should be my aunt." The man said casually, "I saw her carrying a stove over here earlier."

"Ah." Gu Qingqing grinned: "The elders are really considerate. They even left a crack in the window."

The window of this room is not facing the bed, so the cold wind cannot reach them, and it is just a good way to get some fresh air. It is easy to feel dizzy if you smell the charcoal stove for a long time, it is too stuffy.

The man undressed his eldest son and tucked his restless feet into the quilt. "You are very considerate. You even remembered to bring toilet paper when you came out."

"That's because your two sons have tender buttocks." Gu Qingqing looked around. This was an earthen house, and it still looked the same as before. There was a piece of earthen cloth nailed to the wall next to the bed.

The door panels were also old ones with dark knots on them, and a floral line was pulled through the door frame.

"I remember there was no electricity here the last time I came here," she said in surprise.

"The production team next door brought it here when they got the electricity. If we came earlier, it wouldn't be there." Shi Rushuang was afraid they would be cold, so she brought in a quilt and said, "You guys should look after the kids at night. It's even colder here than at home."

"I know, mother." Gu Qingqing took the quilt from her hand. Shi Rushuang said a few more words before closing the door and leaving.

Gu Qingqing stood by the bed and shook out the quilt, and the man pulled the other corner of the quilt and straightened it.

The wind made the two little guys giggle non-stop, and their little feet secretly moved out from under the quilt without anyone knowing when.

Soon, they were ruthlessly stuffed in by their father.

The two guys slept inside against the wall, Gu Qingqing slept in the middle, and the man lay on the outside.

Xiao Tuantuan and Xiao Niannian played all day and didn't sleep much during the day. The room was warm and quiet, and the two brothers quickly fell asleep in each other's arms, facing each other.

Gu Qingqing turned over and nestled in the man's arms, rubbing her head against his chin, "Brother." She said in a muffled voice.

"Yeah." The man put his hands on her waist and rubbed it slowly.

The wind and snow outside stopped, and occasionally the rustling sound of snow falling on the branches could be heard. Gu Qingqing leaned on his warm chest, and at that moment she felt nothing was unsatisfactory.

He has been to all the places where she grew up.

The room was warm, and listening to the man's heartbeat, Gu Qingqing fell asleep in a daze.

The kitchen was still dimly lit, and Zhou Man and her friends were still sorting out things to take away for their granddaughter tomorrow.

There are dried sweet potatoes and pumpkins at home, as well as some taro chips. Zhou Man fried them and will bring them in the car for them as snacks tomorrow.

"Mom, we have some soybean flour at home. Can I make some glutinous rice balls?" He Qiu Shui also rolled up his sleeves and prepared to help.

"Okay, there's some red bean paste left from making the buns, let's put it all inside. I heard that people in the south like sweet food." Zhou Man picked up the fried taro slices with long chopsticks, "My in-laws and A-Dai are very easy-going and can eat a little of anything. We don't know their tastes, so we're really neglecting them."

He Qiushui nodded, "Yes, thanks to Adai's help, he helped his uncle and cousin."

The kitchen light didn't go out until three in the morning.

Gu Qingqing slept soundly until about six o'clock. The man asked hoarsely, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." She yawned, rubbed her eyes with her hand, and quickly put her hand back into the quilt.

It's too cold and the charcoal stove has gone out.

Her consciousness followed the warm place under the quilt, and finally touched a certain part of the man. She smiled muffledly and snuggled into his arms.

"elder brother."

"Um."

"Let me ask you something."

"You say."

"Even before we got married, you would do this in the mornings in the army, right?" She glanced down.

“Yeah.” The man said slowly and lazily, “Don’t look at me like that. The children are here.”

Gu Qingqing: "...Who saw it?" She couldn't help but touch it again.

The man pinched her chin and said with a half-smile, "It's endless, isn't it? I'll go back to my own home in the afternoon, just bear with it."

Just as Gu Qingqing was about to say something, the two little guys next to them woke up at the same time and crawled all over them.

"Mom~Mom! Dad~" Tuantuan left a wet saliva mark on Dad's face.

Chu Dai pulled the kid into the quilt and poked his belly: "Can you wake up earlier every day? Let your mother sleep a little longer."

Xiao Tuantuan just grinned and kissed him on the chin again, and Xiao Niannian followed suit, and the two little guys crowded around their daddy.

Gu Qingqing was jealous: "I'm the one who gave birth to them, but these two little guys always stick to you and never kiss me."

"Oh, then let them stick to you in the future, and even go to your arms when they need to go to the toilet." The man said in a light tone.

Gu Qingqing smiled awkwardly: "Forget it, it's good to stick with you. After all, you played a role in their birth."

The man snorted.

After lying there for half an hour, Shi Rushuang called them at the door to get up and have dinner.

Secretary Zhou and the gentle Finance Minister had gotten up long ago and were drinking tea outside. Gu Qingqing greeted everyone one by one, handed the child to her grandmother and mother, and went to wash up with her husband.

After breakfast, the Shi family members carried large and small bags and sent them to the village entrance.

Chu Dai opened the trunk and asked them to put their things in. "Grandma, aunt, I'm sorry to have troubled you."

After listening to what Gu Qingqing said last night, he knew that the Shi family was concerned about their granddaughter, so he didn't say much about the food being left at home.

"They are all home-cooked dried melons and vegetables. Qingqing, you must soak the dried vegetables for a while before cooking, otherwise you will not be able to chew them."