"So tired." After working for so many days, Song Qing finally finished everything and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mom, can I still eat popcorn?"

After finishing her meal, An'an stood in the courtyard, looking up at Song Qing who was standing at the entrance of the main room. "Just a little bit."

Less than half an hour had passed since they put down their chopsticks. Theoretically, Song Qing shouldn't have wanted to feed her anymore, but she found herself unable to refuse An'an's request.

Children this young can do whatever they want and say whatever they want. But when she's twelve or thirteen, she keeps everything bottled up inside.

Even earlier than twelve or thirteen years old, An'an in her previous life stopped making her own requests after starting elementary school.

"Can you still eat? If you can, then we'll eat a little bit and the rest tomorrow."

Lu Suian will receive a lot of love, and even if her needs are unreasonable or cannot be met, Song Qing hopes that she will have the confidence to speak up.

Adults can judge whether their needs are reasonable, but they cannot stop them from making demands.

"I can still eat a little more."

She knew her request was a little unreasonable, because she had just been burping from eating so much popcorn, but the smell of popcorn was just too good.

If she doesn't eat some more tonight, she might dream about popcorn all night.

"Okay then." Song Qing untied the net bag, pinched three or four grains into her small hand, and seeing Lu Yang standing over as well, she assumed he wanted some too, so she handed him a handful as well.

Lu Yang, not understanding why, reached out and took some. An An watched as her mother gave her father even more popcorn, and she seemed a little angry.

Why did Mom give Dad more than she gave her? Because in the past, Song Qing always shared food with her, so it didn't matter to her whether Mom gave her more or less.

But Dad is different. He and Mom have only known each other for a short time. Why should Mom treat him better than An'an?

An'an became more and more depressed, and forgot to eat the few kernels of popcorn she was holding.

Lu Yang chuckled as he looked at the popcorn in his hand, then poured it all into his mouth. It was crunchy, sweet, and had the aroma of corn—delicious!

Both pots in the kitchen were boiling water, and Song Qing moved a stool over and began to organize the things she had bought that day.

They bought a sofa chair from the furniture factory that was similar in style to the one in Song Qing's home. It was actually just a long wooden chair with a backrest added to the back.

Although it lacks carvings and patterns and is made in the simplest style, Song Qing specially ordered walnut wood, which cost thirty yuan more than usual, and it also came with a small tea table.

She originally wanted to buy a stylish sofa chair with cushions at a department store, but when she thought about the price of over a hundred yuan, and the fact that it didn't match the style of their house, she gave up. Of course, the main reason was the price.

The wooden chairs nowadays are quite nice and have a rustic feel. Once I make two long backrests, they'll be just like the sofa at home.

The gifts that Song Fuming and his group brought were still on the coffee table; they were mostly snacks like cookies.

With the addition of what Uncle Lao Gen and Lu Yang had bought at the supply and marketing cooperative, An An wouldn't lack snacks for the next two months.

The kitchen was warm, and Song Qing was worried that the cabbages would thaw, so she asked Lu Yang to put all the vegetables that Lao Gen's wife had brought over into the side room. The side room now only had three jars; the rest were empty.

The grain they bought was placed in a small jar, and they even made a wooden board to cover it. It's cold now, so there probably aren't any rats yet. In a few days, they'll have to go and collect some stones to weigh down the board.

"Is the water hot yet?" Song Qing didn't want to move anymore after tidying up for only a short while. Oh well, I'll do it tomorrow.

Lu Yang nodded. He had already heated the kang (a heated brick bed), and the room was warm enough now. "Shall we wash inside?"

"Let's go in the shower, it'll get the floor wet."

It's still very cold, so I can't just run from the shower room to the room in a single layer of clothing. If I have to put on clothes and run back after showering, I'll have to take them off again before getting back on the bed, which would be too much trouble.

Thinking about this, Song Qing thought that she might as well wash it inside the house; the floor would dry tomorrow.

“I have a military overcoat that I can wear back.”

Lu Yang had already gone to the dormitory today to pack all his things, but his luggage bag was still on the chair and untouched. He took out the military overcoat from inside.

It was indeed very thick. Lu Yang was tall, over 1.8 meters, and it reached his calves. Song Qing was more than ten centimeters shorter than him, and it was only a few centimeters short of reaching his ankles. After all, it was something from the military, and the workmanship was quite good and it was very thick.

"Okay, then bring the water to the shower room."

Having stayed in the guesthouse for so long, where we always just wiped ourselves down with hot water, I had planned to take a shower today. I even went to borrow two honeycomb briquettes from Chen Yuehong.

Lu Yang lit the coal stove and put it in the shower room, then carried the hot water over.

"An'an, come here, we're going to take a shower."

The shower room is empty. I need to bring a stool over to put my clothes in. It looks like I'll have to build a rack inside to hang my clothes.

The shower room wasn't very big, and the coal stove had been burning for a while, so the temperature was quite high. Lu Yang stood outside the door with his coat in his arms, waiting.

Song Qing quickly stripped An'an naked, gave her a quick bath in hot water, dressed her in her nightgown, and then opened the door.

Lu Yang immediately came in, wrapped her in his military overcoat, and carried her back into the house. Song Qing followed behind him, carrying her clothes as she changed.

After pulling her out of the army coat with a "whoosh," An'an let out a long sigh of relief.

Having just finished a hot shower, she was quickly wrapped in clothes again, making it almost impossible to breathe. Song Qing suppressed a laugh and pinched her plump buttocks.

"Stay on the kang (heated brick bed). You need to wear shoes to get out of bed. Mom is going to take a bath."

The blankets, freshly aired today, smelled wonderful. An'an snuggled under the blankets and mumbled to Song Qing, "Mommy, hurry up, I want to hear a story."

Lu Yang had already gone out to fetch water. Song Qing took off her thick clothes, grabbed the light clothes she needed to change into, wrapped herself in her military overcoat, and went to the shower room.

There were still people in the shower room at that moment, and Lu Yang was standing there at a loss.

He used an iron bucket to carry water, but there was also a wooden basin on the ground. When Song Qing washed An'an, he had her stand in the wooden basin and then poured water on her, so the wooden basin also showed signs of use.

He didn't know whether Song Qing was scooping water from the bucket or pouring it into the wooden basin. In the short time he was thinking about it, Song Qing had already opened the shower door with her clothes in her arms.