After the siblings busied themselves for a while, the house was finally cleaned up and warmed up.

Sheng Xiping told his younger siblings to wait at home while he went to the Zhou family to pick them up.

The Zhou family's house was said to have three rooms, but it was actually only two and a half. The kang (heated brick bed) in the west room was small and could only sleep two people, while the kang in the east room was a bit bigger and could only sleep three or five people.

With Sheng Xiping and his wife plus their four children, the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room would probably be full. Where would the others live?

Therefore, Sheng Xiping suggested that they go back to their own home tonight and come over during the day.

But Wang Chunxiu refused to agree. "If there's room at home, then let's stay here. It's dark outside, how can a baby walk at night?"

Besides, how long has it been since anyone lived in your house? It's fine for adults to live there, but it's not suitable for little kids."

The old man was particular; if a house is left vacant for too long, who knows what kind of unclean things might move in.

Children's eyes are clean, they can see, and they are easily frightened.

Generally speaking, before moving, the lights in the new house should be kept on for two days to indicate that someone is living in the house.

Those unclean things cannot stand the light and will leave on their own.

“Mom, that’s all ancient history. Who talks about these things now?” Sheng Xiping shook his head and laughed when he heard this.

Some things are true if you believe them, and false if you don't. Especially for someone like him who hunts large areas, he has a strong aura of menace, and those things dare not easily provoke him.

"Fine, you don't believe me, but I do. Tonight, Qinglan and her family will sleep in this room with me. Your father and Qingyue will stay in the west room."

Wang Chunxiu didn't care about any of that; whatever she said went.

"How about Xinhua and Xinyu come with me? Those two boys are restless sleepers at night, they practically roll from one end of the kang to the other, disturbing your rest."

Having no other choice, Sheng Xiping had to back down and take his two sons away.

Zhou Qinglan already has a hard time taking care of the two children at night. If she also has to sleep with Xinhua and Xinyu, she won't get any sleep at all, as she'll be busy covering the two naughty boys with blankets.

"That's fine then. They're both grown up and prone to causing trouble. Remember, come back for breakfast tomorrow morning. You don't have anything there, so we can't cook."

Wang Chunxiu thought it over and agreed. The kang (heated brick bed) in the east room wasn't very big, and there were diapers, cotton-padded jackets and trousers, and small quilts for the two children drying at the head of the kang, so it really wasn't enough room.

So, Sheng Xiping dressed his two sons properly, covering them up completely, and then led them to live at the other end of the No. 1 Middle School.

Zhou Qinglan stayed at her parents' home and took care of the two children with Wang Chunxiu in the evenings.

The Zhou Qingyang family of three returned to the corner building shortly after finishing their meal.

Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu were visiting the house near No. 1 Middle School for the first time, and everything looked new and interesting as they entered.

Upon hearing that this was also their own house and that they would all be moving down there in the future, Sheng Xinhua shook his head.

"I don't want to move down here. There's no Liu Qiang, no Liu Peng, and no Hua Hua here."

"Dad, what if Huahua wants to go home if we move downstairs?"

One sentence left Sheng Xiping speechless.

Yes, what will happen to Hua Hua if they move down? It will be worried because it won't be able to find its family when it gets home.

But we have to move down. A family can't always live apart in two different places. What kind of home would that be?

"We'll see when the time comes; there'll always be a way." Sheng Xiping patted his son's head and led the two of them into the house.

Upon entering the room, they found Sheng Xi'an and a few others sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) playing cards.

It's a little before seven o'clock, a bit too early to go to bed. The new house doesn't have a radio or anything, so the evening is really boring.

They had just found a bunch of playing cards in the cupboard, and after a lot of effort, they managed to put together two decks, so they started playing cards.

"Why are they playing cards here? Didn't they say there were ice lanterns? Let's go see the ice lanterns."

Sheng Xiping chuckled upon seeing this; these guys were really honest, and when he told them to wait at home, they actually did.

The Songjiang River is so lively; there are quite a few people going to see the ice lanterns at night. Why don't you go for a stroll?

"Brother, let's not go today, it's too tiring."

Besides, we've had a few drinks, so we'll just stay home and rest. We'll go see the ice lanterns tomorrow night.

I got off the bus this morning, and after starting a fire and cleaning the house, plus having had a few drinks, I felt really lazy and didn't want to move.

"Alright, let's go tomorrow then. We'll find a place to go tomorrow." Sheng Xiping nodded. Anyway, the ice lanterns are up until the fifteenth of the first lunar month, so we can go see them anytime.

The two brothers, Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu, found it quite interesting that their uncles and aunts were playing cards, so they took off their shoes and coats, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and went to watch.

Sheng Xiping had nothing to do, so he brought back a few pieces of dough from outside, put them in the stove to burn slowly, and then sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to watch them play cards.

They played until about eight o'clock, when the two little ones got sleepy, so Sheng Xiping suggested they go to bed early.

So everyone packed up their stalls, tidied up, and prepared to go to sleep.

There weren't enough bedding in the new house, so Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei each cuddled one of their nephews and slept in the east room, while Sheng Xiping led his three younger brothers to sleep in the west room.

Anyway, with a quilt and a cotton-padded coat, it's enough to get by.

There wasn't much to do during the Chinese New Year, so I didn't get up early the next day. I didn't get up until seven o'clock, tidied up, and then we went to the Zhou family's house for breakfast.

Zhou Mingyuan and Wang Chunxiu both had to go back to work. Zhou Qinglan couldn't take care of the two children by herself, so Sheng Xiping stayed to accompany his wife and take care of the children.

Zhou Qingyue, Sheng Xi'an, and others took Sheng Xinhua and Sheng Xinyu out to play.

The group first went to the street to watch a Yangko dance performance. There were quite a few people in the bureau's Yangko team, dressed up in various costumes.

There were people walking on stilts, running on land boats, and old ladies riding donkeys with pipes in their mouths—a diverse and fascinating scene.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!