Chapter 105

Yueyue should have been sleepy a long time ago. She had just found the building blocks new and had never played with them before, so she forced herself not to sleep. Now that she was feeling sleepy while taking a bath, she closed her eyes.

Lin Tao smiled helplessly, quickly wrung the towel dry, picked Yueyue up from the basin, wiped her body dry, and put clothes on her.

Yueyue let her do whatever she wanted without even closing her eyes.

"This little lazy bug fell asleep." Lin Tao pursed her lips and smiled.

Li Chengxi took Yueyue in his arms, carried her to bed and said, "You should also take a shower and go to bed early."

"Yeah." Lin Tao said.

Tired from taking the train, Li Chengxi didn't plan to bother Lin Tao, so the three of them slept on the bed, which was a little crowded. Lin Tao let Yueyue sleep on the side next to the wall, so that Yueyue would not fall off the bed or be accidentally crushed by Li Chengxi.

That's what being a mother is like. When it comes to children, you have to be more vigilant than anything else.

In fact, Li Chengxi is not such a careless person, but Lin Tao has heard of children being crushed to death by their own fathers while sleeping at night, so she is quite nervous about this matter. Ever since Yueyue was born, she has been sleeping in a small bed. If there was no small bed, she would sleep next to Yueyue.

"Go to sleep." Li Chengxi kissed Lin Tao's forehead and said, "I'll take you and Dad out for a walk tomorrow."

"Um."

Although it was the first time she slept in this bed, because Li Chengxi was there and this was Li Chengxi's former room, the air was filled with Li Chengxi's scent, so Lin Tao slept quite soundly.

When she woke up the next morning, Yueyue happened to wake up too, and was looking at her with her big eyes.

Lin Tao found that Yueyue's clothes were already on. They must have been put on by Li Chengxi. Just as she was thinking about it, Li Chengxi came in and said, "Are you awake? Go wash up and have breakfast. Eat early and go out for a walk."

When Lin Tao went to wash up, Li Chengxi carried Yueyue downstairs first.

Uncle and aunt had already bought breakfast. When aunt saw Lin Tao coming down after washing up, she said, "I don't know what you like to eat in the morning, so I bought some fried dough sticks, soy milk, and buns."

"Aunt, I'm fine with anything." Lin Tao came over and helped to take the buns and dough sticks from the oil paper bag to the bowl. Seeing that her uncle and father were not there, she asked, "Where are uncle and father?"

My aunt laughed and pointed outside, saying, "He's exercising outside. Your uncle learned Tai Chi from Master Hong who lives in the back, and he has to exercise every morning. When my father-in-law saw it, he thought it was strange and wanted to learn it too. Your uncle is teaching him now."

"A Tao, go call them to eat. I'll go see if grandma is awake." said my aunt.

My grandma is old and usually goes to bed early. She went to bed late last night and woke up late today. But this is a good thing. The older people are, the worse their sleep is. My grandma usually has a bad sleep and often wakes up at four or five in the morning.

Lin Tao responded and followed her aunt's line of sight. She walked to the window and looked outside. She found that her father Lin Changhai and Lu Xiangdong were indeed gesticulating outside. The two seemed to be getting along well. No one knew what they were talking about, but they were laughing very happily.

A little to the side, Li Chengxi was holding Yueyue and watching her grandfather and uncle practicing Tai Chi. Yueyue clapped her hands happily and called out, "Waiteng, uncle--"

Yueyue was wearing the cotton jacket that Lin Tao had made for her, which made her face look even rounder. Her hair had grown a lot longer. Lin Tao had tied her hair into a bun before, but today was too cold, and longer hair would help keep her warm, so Lin Tao didn't tie Yueyue's hair up.

Lin Changhai cut Yueyue's hair into ear-length short hair, which made her look even cuter. She looked so naive, just like a doll in a New Year picture.

This scene really looks like a beautiful painting.

But Lin Tao couldn't care less about appreciating these things at the moment. She had to eat breakfast. The temperature was low in winter. If she didn't eat quickly, it would be cold later.

Lin Tao opened the window and was greeted by a gust of cold air. She shivered, tightened her collar, exhaled, and called out to the outside, "Uncle, Dad, Cheng Xi, come and have breakfast."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Lin Changhai responded.

Li Chengxi glanced at Lin Tao, then carried Yueyue into the house, bringing a chill in. Lin Tao came over, stretched out her hand and held Yueyue's hand, wanting to see if her hand was cold. As a result, she touched it and found that the little guy's hand was warm, even warmer than Lin Tao's.

Yueyue has taken after Li Chengxi since she was young and is not afraid of the cold. The older the winter gets, the warmer her body becomes, like a little heater.

When Yueyue saw her mother, she couldn't wait to share with her what she had just seen: "Mom, Mom, Wai Dong, Uncle Dong, Wu Dong!"

The little hands were waving around like grandpa and uncle practicing Tai Chi, which was so funny.

Lin Tao was amused and smiled, reaching out to touch Yueyue's nose: "What a clever little girl."

Just at this time, Lu Xiangdong and Lin Changhai also walked in. Seeing Yueyue's performance, Lu Xiangdong said, "Look, I am a good teacher. Even Yueyue has learned it."

"You are a very good teacher, but it is mainly because our Yueyue is smart," said Lin Changhai.

By this time, grandma had also gotten up and washed. When she saw Yueyue, she called her her darling and took Yueyue from Li Chengqi's arms, holding her for a while before returning her to Lin Tao.

"The steamed buns here are delicious, A Tao, have this." When they sat down to eat breakfast, grandma gave Lin Tao a steamed bun.

Lin Tao gave one to Yueyue, who took the bun in her small, fleshy hands and ate it with gusto. Lin Tao had put a smock on her, so it didn't matter if it got dirty, as it wouldn't dirty the cotton padded jacket underneath.

After breakfast, uncle and aunt were going to work. Li Chengxi said he wanted to take Lin Tao and the others out for a walk and asked grandma if she wanted to go. Although grandma wanted to be with Yueyue, she was afraid that she was too old and they would have to take care of her when they went out to play, and they would not have enough fun, so she said she would not go.

But grandma also has somewhere to go. She goes to play mahjong with a few old ladies who she usually plays with. They don’t sit for long. After playing for a while, they stand up and exercise together. It’s pretty good.

Before Li Chengxi took Lin Tao out, he specially sent his grandmother there.

Several old ladies were about the same age as my grandmother. When they saw Li Chengxi and Lin Tao, they looked at them with cloudy eyes and asked my grandmother, "Is this your eldest grandson? He's grown so big now. He's really tall. He always ran to your place when he was little, right? He's so handsome. Is he going to be a navy? Oh, he has a bright future."

"Is this your grandson's wife? She's so pretty, and they're a perfect match. The baby she gave birth to is also pretty, just like the baby in the picture."

Lin Tao couldn't help but blush on her face after hearing these exaggerated words.

But the grandmother was particularly pleased, and she pulled Lin Tao to continue praising him, "That's right, my granddaughter-in-law and my little great-grandson are so much to my liking."

After being thoroughly praised, Li Chengxi and Lin Tao took Yueyue away.

Seeing that Li Chengxi looked calm and unmoved, Lin Tao couldn't help but joked, "Those old ladies just praised you so much, but you don't seem to feel anything at all."

Li Chengxi chuckled and said, "Ever since I can remember, every time I come here, they praise me three times a day. I've gotten used to it. Don't take it too seriously. Those old ladies are just sweet-talkers. They praise everyone they see, even the parrot at the gate."

Lin Tao was stunned for a moment, then reached out to pinch the soft flesh on Li Chengxi's waist, bit her lip and snorted, "Who do you say is the parrot?"

Yueyue opened her eyes wide, looked at her parents, and then answered for her father: "Mom..."

This sentence made Lin Tao so angry that she glared at Li Chengxi.

Li Chengxi held back his laughter and said to Yueyue in a serious tone, "Yueyue, don't say that. How can your mother be a parrot? Your mother is so beautiful, she must be a peacock."

In return, Lin Tao glared at him.

Li Chengqi pursed his lips and said, "Okay, Yueyue, stop making trouble. If you keep saying these things, be careful that mom will get angry and won't take you to the zoo to see peacocks."

Yueyue looked confused, and she seemed to have said nothing.

The family of three walked to the gate, and Lin Changhai was already waiting. He just stood there and saw from a distance that Lin Tao reached out to pinch Li Chengxi, and the two were fighting. He couldn't help but laugh secretly when he saw it, but when they came closer, he still showed his fatherly authority and said, "Tao, what's the point of fighting outside?"

Li Chengxi said, "Dad is right, Ah Tao, listen carefully."

Lin Tao was speechless. This guy was quite good at dealing with things. It was obvious that he was teasing her!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. A lot of people have been buying New Year's goods these days. Places like department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives are bound to be packed with people.

So last night Li Chengxi and Lin Tao discussed not going to the department store today, otherwise it would be too crowded and they were afraid of squeezing Yueyue. They could go to the zoo today, which happened to be suitable for children.

To go to the zoo from home, you need to take bus No. 13.

There were exactly two seats left on the bus, so Li Chengxi let Lin Changhai and Lin Tao sit. Lin Tao held Yueyue in her arms, while Li Chengxi held the handrail with one hand and stood in front of the mother and daughter to protect them. After someone got off the bus, Li Chengxi sat next to Lin Tao.

After taking the bus for about an hour and a half, we finally arrived at the zoo.

These days are usually when the whole family is buying New Year's goods in preparation for the Chinese New Year. There are very few people visiting the zoo. When Li Chengxi went to buy a ticket, he didn't even need to queue up and bought the ticket quickly.

However, due to the small number of people, the zoo's originally planned programs were cancelled.

But it's not a big problem. Yueyue is satisfied just by seeing these animals that she has never seen before. The zoo in Shanghai is quite big. There are monkeys, elephants, tigers, lions, peacocks, brown bears, pythons, squirrels, parrots...

Among them, Yueyue likes peacocks and parrots the most. The peacock looks so beautiful when it spreads its tail, and the parrot can imitate human speech. Yueyue says a sentence and the parrot says the same sentence.

If it wasn't for the fact that it was almost time and they had to go home, Yueyue would probably have played here for a long time.

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The next day is New Year’s Eve.

Early in the morning on New Year's Eve, there were sounds of firecrackers outside. Not a bunch of them, but just a few from time to time, probably the children setting off firecrackers.

Lin Tao was woken up. She opened the curtains and looked outside, only to find that it was snowing outside.

The snow was not heavy, but I didn't know when it started snowing last night. It must have been snowing for quite a while. The eaves were already covered with white snow, and the green bricks and black tiles were all covered with white snow.

Looking again, I saw that there were indeed a few little boys nearby who had gathered together to set off firecrackers.

Li Chengxi and Lin Tao finally came to Shanghai to celebrate the New Year. This year, my aunt and uncle also came here to eat the New Year's Eve dinner. On New Year's Eve, the supply and marketing cooperative closed early, so my aunt went to buy some vegetables early. As for meat and other things, we already had them at home, so there was no need to buy more.

Lin Tao alone brought two rabbits, a duck, and a chicken from the island. The family also marinated a few ducks and had some salted meat.

When my aunt and her friends came, they brought a basket of fruit and said that it was brought by my uncle-in-law's colleagues and they brought it for everyone to eat.

It was round. Lin Tao had never seen it before and thought it looked like a glass ball. Li Chengxi said it was called 'longan', also known as 'longan'.

When you peel off the outer shell, you'll see the crystal clear flesh inside.

Yueyue was watching from the side and had already started swallowing her saliva, waiting for her father to feed her. However, she didn't expect that the first longan her father peeled went into Lin Tao's mouth. The little girl felt a little aggrieved and pouted her lips. She was not happy until Li Chengxi finally peeled the second longan and put it into her mouth.

Longan is delicious, but you can’t eat too much of it, as it will cause you to get a sore throat.

Besides, we will have the reunion dinner soon. If we eat too much now, we won’t be able to eat later.

The meal on New Year's Eve naturally has to be more sumptuous. Pickled fresh radish has become a must-have dish in the family because Lin Tao likes it. In addition, seeing that Yueyue likes to eat fried gluten stuffed with meat, my aunt made another one today. The spring rolls were made in the morning and Lu Bowen was asked to fry them. As soon as they were fried, Lu Bowen took out a spring roll and handed it to Yueyue.

Yueyue smiled so hard that her eyebrows were not visible. She said to Lu Bowen, "Thank you, uncle!"

Lu Bowen is a reserved person who doesn't talk much. When he saw Lin Tao yesterday, he just called her and didn't say anything else. But today, Li Chengxi talked to him about work, which finally opened his mouth. He could talk for several hours, and every sentence he said was about his profession.

Lin Tao didn't understand the chemical industry either, but he listened with great interest, especially when Li Chengxi and Lu Bowen were chatting. He obviously didn't study this major, but he always felt that Li Chengxi seemed to know everything and could connect with everything.

Lin Tao felt very proud that her husband was so amazing.

While the kids were chatting, Lin Tao suddenly smelled chili peppers. In the kitchen, her aunt was so choked that she started crying.

My aunt ran out of the kitchen coughing and said with emotion: "This pepper is really too spicy. It's really irritating."

Lin Tao asked Li Chengxi to hold Yueyue while she went over to take a look.

Only then did I know that my aunt and my younger aunt thought that Lin Tao and Lin Changhai were from Xiangcheng, and they wanted to cook some Hunan dishes for the New Year. For this, my aunt even went to ask a former Hunan Army veteran, but she didn't know how to cook the stir-fried pork, but the peppers were so spicy as soon as they were put into the pot.

Earlier, Lin Tao was going to help in the kitchen, but was called back by her grandmother.

Lin Tao had no choice but to take action now, so she went into the kitchen and said to her aunt, "Aunt, let me do it."

The aunt was choked to tears, and had no choice but to hand the spatula to Lin Tao. Lin Tao took it and started cooking. She not only fried some small meat, but also fried rabbit meat, and added a few dried peppers to enhance the flavor.

By now the smell in the kitchen had dissipated a lot. My aunt and my younger aunt came in. When they smelled the delicious aroma, they both praised Lin Tao's cooking skills.

The aunt was surprised to see Lin Tao not being able to feel the spiciness at all. Lin Tao smiled and said that they were used to it, and people in Xiangcheng could still tolerate the spiciness.

Lin Tao doesn’t know how to cook Shanghainese dishes, so her aunt and younger aunt have to do it, and Lin Tao just watches from the side.

Pickled fresh lobster, fried gluten stuffed with meat, pork liver soup, stir-fried water spinach, stir-fried yam with black fungus, deep-fried spring rolls, river shrimps fried with soy sauce, stir-fried celery with dried tofu, sweet and sour spareribs, fish-flavored shredded pork...

The meat of the river shrimp tastes very tender. It's small, and Yueyue eats one bite at a time after peeling off the shell.

Before eating the New Year's Eve dinner, my uncle took a string of firecrackers to the door and set them off. There was a crackling sound. Lin Tao put on Yueyue a woolen hat she had knitted. There was a pair of ears on the hat, which looked very cute.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the family sat together and chatted, eating the taro and longan from the fruit plate and cracking melon seeds. The women talked about women's things, the men talked about men's things, and Yueyue played with the building blocks obediently, putting them up and then knocking them down.

While Li Chengxi was chatting with the men, he was peeling melon seeds in his hands but didn't eat them. After he had peeled a lot of them, he brought them to Lin Tao and gave them to her.

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The sound of firecrackers bids farewell to the old year, while the sound of gongs and drums welcomes the new year.

It's a new year again. I stayed at home on the first day of the new year. There was no place to go out on such a day. Everyone was resting at home. Even department stores, supply and marketing cooperatives, and state-owned hotels would not open for a few days.

At first, Lin Tao was worried that her father would not be used to the place, but she didn't expect that he and her uncle would get along very well. During the New Year holiday, her uncle took her father out after breakfast.

In the old alleys of Shanghai, many old men set up chess boards and play chess together. I heard that there is a place with a total of ten levels. If anyone can break all ten levels in a row, he may get a reward - a chess manual that is said to be very powerful.

It was not until the fifth day of the New Year that Li Chengxi told Lin Tao that today was the anniversary of his mother Lu Xiangchun's death, and he wanted to take Lin Tao and Yueyue to pay homage to his mother.

Lin Tao knew that Li Chengxi's mother died early, when he was a child, but she never expected that she died in the first month of the lunar year.

During the first month of the lunar year when every household was lit up and families were happily gathering together, Li Chengxi lost his mother forever.

Even thinking about it now, Lin Tao felt uncomfortable in her heart.

Lin Tao held Li Chengxi's hand. His hand was very broad and slender, while her own hand was small. As soon as she held his hand, he held it back. Lin Tao pursed her lips and said, "Okay, let's go see Mom."

"Put on your cotton jacket and I'll take you somewhere first," said Li Chengxi.

Lin Tao didn't know where they were going, but she didn't worry at all. She went upstairs to put on her cotton jacket, and when she came down, Li Chengxi already had a lunch box in his hand. Yueyue was playing with her grandmother and aunt, and it was cold outside, so she didn't go out with them.

Lin Tao and Li Chengxi went out and were hit by a gust of cold wind.

Shanghai and Xiangcheng were similar. They both started to get really cold in the first month of the lunar year. Li Chengxi helped Lin Tao pull the scarf up around her neck, covering most of her face. "That's better."

He took Lin Tao's hand and put it in his coat pocket. His hand was warm, like a heater. Lin Tao felt that she was not cold at all.

They have been married for several years and even have a daughter, but Lin Tao's heart still beats faster like before.

Li Chengxi led Lin Tao to walk into the alley for a while, and came to a two-story house. Outside was a large iron gate with a fence, and the yard could be seen. Li Chengxi called out, "Master Hong."

After a while, someone came to open the door. It was an old man wearing a military coat with half white hair. He smiled as soon as he saw Li Chengxi: "Chengxi, it's Chengxi! Did you come back to celebrate the New Year this year? This is your family, right? Come on, come in."

"It's not that it's hard to get home leave in the army, so we can't come back every year." Li Chengxi came in, leading Lin Tao.

"That's true. That's what it's like when you're in the army. We were far away in Xiangcheng at the beginning and couldn't come back at all." said Master Hong.

Only then did Lin Tao realize that Master Hong used to be a member of the Hunan Army. No wonder he spoke with a Hunan accent, which sounded quite friendly.

When Master Hong learned that Lin Tao was a girl from Xiangcheng, he kept saying, "Girl from Xiangcheng is good, good..."

"You sit for a while, I'm going to pick some flowers." Mr. Hong greeted them and went to pick flowers.

The way he walked seemed a little strange, and Lin Tao couldn't help but take a second look at him, but she guessed that Master Hong might have injured his foot during the war, so that's why he walked like that.

Lin Tao asked Li Chengxi what flowers to pick, and Li Chengxi simply took Lin Tao to see them. It turned out that Grandpa Hong had a flower garden. Because it was winter, he built a shed to keep the flowers, otherwise the flowers would easily freeze to death. Walking into the flower garden, you immediately feel that spring is in the air.

There were at least a dozen kinds of flowers in the flowerbed, some in bloom, some not. The flowers that were in bloom were all vying for beauty, each with its own merits. Lin Tao was in the flowerbed and felt dazzled by the sight of all the flowers. They were so beautiful.

Grandpa Hong cut a bunch of lilies for Li Chengxi, wrapped them in old newspapers, and said, "Go and take them to see your mother."

"Thank you, Grandpa Hong. I put the smoked fish made by my aunt on the table. Remember to eat it later." Li Chengxi said.

Master Hong laughed. Although he was no longer young, his voice was particularly hearty and loud when he laughed: "Hahaha, you kid, you are always so smart."

After leaving Grandpa Hong's house, Li Chengxi explained to Lin Tao: "Grandpa Hong especially likes to eat the smoked fish cooked by my aunt. My mother liked lilies when she was alive, so every time I went to pay my respects, I would bring a bunch of lilies. Grandpa Hong has lilies here, so I exchanged them with him for the smoked fish."

Grandpa Hong has been raising flowers for decades. Before Li Chengxi joined the army, he would return to Shanghai every year. On the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, he would bring smoked fish and exchange lilies with Grandpa Hong.

Lin Tao nodded and asked, "Master Hong, do you want to sell all these flowers?"

Li Chengxi shook his head and told Lin Tao a story.

It turns out that when Mr. Hong was a Red Army soldier in Xiangcheng, he once fell in love with a girl from Xiangcheng. Mr. Hong said that the girl was very pretty and lively. When the injured Red Army soldiers were recuperating in the village, it was the girl who took care of him. When he left, the girl picked a bunch of wild flowers from the mountain for him. They agreed that he would come back to marry her after the war was over.

But later, when the war was over, Mr. Hong went to the village again, he found that the village with simple folk customs, where women washed clothes, men worked in the fields, and children herded cattle, had been massacred by the enemy not long after they left.

Because the enemy came here and interrogated them where the wounded soldiers had gone, no villager was willing to tell them, they gritted their teeth and faced the enemy's guns and artillery without telling them a word. Even if they died, they could not tell the enemy the whereabouts of the soldiers who protected them and fought for their motherland.

Later, Mr. Hong was injured in the battlefield and broke a leg. Later, the New China was liberated and the enemy was driven out of China. Mr. Hong returned to Shanghai and has not married until now. The reason why he grows flowers is because the little girl from Xiangcheng who lives in his heart likes flowers.

Hearing this, Lin Tao's eyes couldn't help but moisten, and she looked back at the house with tears in her eyes. Only then did she understand why she had felt that Master Hong's walk was a little strange before.

During that war era, too many people were unable to be together because of the war.

Lovers are separated from their loved ones, and the war-torn era is a cruel battlefield. Fortunately, everything is getting better.

I hope that China will enjoy peace and prosperity for thousands of years to come.