Chapter 110

Lin Manman took advantage of her day off to go to the food factory, bought two pounds of meat, and went to Lin Tao's house.

Lin Tao had just washed the sheets and was hanging them up to dry. The courtyard door was half open, and Lin Manman walked in. As she walked into the kitchen, she put the meat in the kitchen and said, "Sister, let me help you."

Lin Tao said helplessly: "Manman, look at you, you come home just for the sake of being home, and you buy things again. I told you not to buy things when you come to my house."

Lin Manman walked out of the kitchen, smiled, and said, "Didn't I just get my allowance? I sent money to my mom but she said no, saying everything was fine at home and asked me to keep it for myself. I don't usually use much of it, and it was me who came up with your stir-fried pork."

As she spoke, Lin Manman walked to Lin Tao's side and reached out to take the other side of the sheet from Lin Tao's hand.

They each took two corners, shook them, and spread the freshly washed sheets out, then hung them on the clothesline to dry.

Lin Manman asked: "Where is Uncle Lin?"

Lin Tao poured the water in the basin into the pond and said, "Take Yueyue out to play. This little girl likes to run outside now. Every day after breakfast, she wants her grandfather to take her out to play. After lunch, she wants to go out again. She's like a wild girl."

"Now is the time to play. Yueyue used to be little and always played at home. Now she can walk and run, doesn't she want to go out and play with the older kids? And with Uncle Lin accompanying her, it's okay. The weather is not too hot now, it's not that sunny." Lin Manman said, "In the past, the two of us always ran to the mountains."

Talking about the childhood, Lin Tao couldn't help but smile: "Yeah, we were also..."

The two chatted for a while, and Lin Tao said she wanted to make a skirt for Lin Manman, but Lin Manman didn't want it. She wore a military uniform every day and rarely wore casual clothes, so Lin Tao gave up.

Knowing that Lin Manman had not had lunch yet, Lin Tao made her another bowl of rice tofu, added some sour peppers and some minced meat to it, and mixed it with the rice tofu, which tasted delicious.

Lin Manman ate a small bowl and took the initiative to wash the bowl.

Looking at Lin Tao operating the sewing machine to alter Yueyue's clothes, she thought for a moment and said, "Sister, I have encountered something recently and I don't know what to do. I want to ask for your opinion."

Lin Tao didn't stop moving, and glanced at Lin Manman: "Well, you ask, what's wrong?"

"Sister, Mingcheng sent me a letter a few days ago. He said... he wanted to date me..." Lin Manman felt embarrassed when talking about this. Blushes appeared on her fair cheeks and she began to pick her nails unconsciously.

She has been like this since she was a child. Whenever she feels nervous or shy, she can't help but pick her nails.

Lin Tao noticed and said, "Stop picking your nails. You'll pick your nails until they're all bald."

Lin Manman's face turned even redder, and she quickly hid her hands behind her back, but stopped picking her nails.

Lin Tao was not surprised to hear this and said, "Actually, I had guessed this day would come before the New Year."

Lin Manman: “Ah?”

Years ago... she and Li Mingcheng didn't seem to say anything... She understood that she had gradually developed a good impression of Li Mingcheng through their correspondence over the past six months.

But she was like this, but Li Mingcheng had felt this way since before the New Year.

Lin Tao cooked food for Li Mingcheng to see him off that day, but Li Mingcheng kept staring at the door, as if waiting for someone. During dinner, he asked why Manman didn't come. When she said that Manman was celebrating her friend's birthday and couldn't come today, Li Mingcheng's eyes flashed with disappointment. But when Lin Tao reminded Lin Changhai that Li Mingcheng couldn't drink alcohol after taking medicine, Li Mingcheng's mood obviously improved.

At that time, Li Mingcheng had already fallen in love with Lin Manman, but Lin Manman didn't know it.

However, Lin Tao did not expect that Li Mingcheng, who was a man of action and would do things immediately, could wait another half a year on this matter.

She was willing to believe that Li Mingcheng truly loved Manman. Because he loved her, he did not dare to tell her his feelings easily. Because he loved her, he took his time when facing Lin Manman, who was slow in feelings.

but……

"Manman, sister wants to ask you, do you like Mingcheng?" Lin Tao said.

Lin Manman bit her lip and said in a very low voice: "Like...Like..."

Three days had passed since she received the package from Hainan. During these three days, she had been thinking carefully about this question. Did she like Li Mingcheng? She asked herself, and later she realized that she should like him, but she was too slow to realize her feelings.

"Then why don't you know whether you should be with Mingcheng?" Lin Tao asked.

Lin Manman lowered her eyes and stared at the tip of her shoes. She was actually a very sentimental and delicate person. Although Lin Tao had not told her much about Li Mingcheng's family, she knew that Li Chengxi's relationship with the family must be bad.

Li Mingcheng was born to a stepmother, so she was in a very difficult situation. Sister Tao would not like anyone she didn't like, but if she was with Li Mingcheng, then Li Mingcheng's mother would be her mother-in-law in the future.

In fact, what she feared most was that Sister Tao would be angry after knowing this, but Li Mingcheng was a very nice person, and she could also see that Sister Tao and her brother-in-law had a good relationship with Li Mingcheng.

Although Lin Manman didn't say anything, Lin Tao could actually guess it. She stopped what she was doing, walked over to Lin Manman and sat down, then reached out and held her hand.

She said, "Manman, actually, I've always known that our personalities are somewhat similar. We often over-complicate things. Mingcheng is a very good person, there is no doubt about that. If you like him, I will definitely support you two being together. However, there is one thing you are right about. I only told you some things about your brother-in-law's family before, and there is still a lot I didn't say. Let me take this opportunity to tell you more."

Lin Tao told Lin Manman about the things that happened in the Li family, but she was very sensible and only said part of it. She still concealed some things that were too sad for Li Chengxi.

For example, Li Guodong didn't go to see Lu Xiangchun for the last time because of Zhang Sufen...

First, she didn't want to open the scar in Li Chengxi's heart and tell it to others in a bloody way, even if this person was someone she treated as her own sister. Second, she didn't want Lin Manman to have too much psychological burden because of her and Li Chengxi at this time.

But even without mentioning this, Zhang Sufen is not an easy person to get along with. As Li Chengxi's stepmother, she can find fault with me, not to mention that Li Mingcheng is her biological son.

If Lin Manman and Li Mingcheng were together, the first difficulty they would face would be Zhang Sufen. If she disagreed, who knows what tricks she would use. She was not afraid, but Manman was different. She was no match for Zhang Sufen.

Lin Tao said, "Mingcheng is a good guy, but his mother may not agree with you two being together. His mother is not someone who is easy to talk to. I am afraid that you will be wronged. So, my suggestion is that if you really like Mingcheng, you can try to date him, but the premise is that his mother must sincerely agree with the relationship between you two and promise not to interfere in your relationship in the future. If she agrees, then you two are both in the army, so there is nothing wrong with it."

"If this problem can be solved, Manman, don't feel psychological pressure because of the things of the previous generation. This has nothing to do with you, and your brother-in-law won't be unhappy if he knows about it." Lin Tao said, "You and Mingcheng are both very good people..."

This is what Lin Tao thought in her heart. As Lin Manman's sister, she would definitely agree as long as Zhang Sufen did not stop her and did not make trouble. In fact, she and Li Chengxi knew why Li Mingcheng took the initiative to go to Hainan. If possible, he would definitely prefer to stay in Shengshan Island.

Lin Tao could see the light in Li Mingcheng's eyes every time he came here and saw their family, and the intimacy in his tone when he called her sister-in-law, but she knew that she and Li Chengxi both had some resentment in their hearts because of what happened in the previous generation.

It’s hard for them to say, so he makes his own choice.

From childhood to adulthood, Li Mingcheng grew up with guilt. If Lin Manman doesn't want to be with Li Mingcheng because of the things that happened in the previous generation, Lin Tao will really feel bad for him.

She hoped that the two of them were together because they liked each other. Even if Lin Manman refused, it should be because she didn't like Li Mingcheng and not because she was Li Chengxi's wife and Lin Manman was her sister, so Lin Manman refused Li Mingcheng.

Li Mingcheng and Lin Manman are both very good people, and they both deserve to be with the people they love.

Lin Tao's words were very clear. Lin Manman nodded, indicating that she understood, and then said to Lin Tao: "Sister, thank you..."

"What are you thanking me for? Are you stupid?" Seeing Lin Manman like this, Lin Tao was so angry that she stretched out her finger and poked her forehead. "If you say that again, I won't cook you stir-fried pork tonight."

"I won't say anything! Sister, don't be angry!" Lin Manman spoke quickly, pulling the corner of Lin Tao's clothes, with a coquettish tone in her voice.

Lin Tao smiled and said, "Manman, be brave. You can start with yourself first and then think about others."

Lin Manman nodded: "Okay, sister, I understand."

**********************************

By the time Lin Tao was about to cook dinner, Lin Changhai finally came back with Yueyue.

Yueyue rode on Lin Changhai's neck and started calling "Mom" as soon as she came in. Her baby voice was crisp, like the sound of a little bell.

"Yueyue is back." Lin Manman was peeling beans. When she heard the voice, she walked to the gate to greet him and called out, "Uncle Lin."

Lin Changhai: "Manman is here."

When Yueyue saw Lin Manman, she called out crisply, "Auntie!"

A few months later, Yueyue's speech became better and she could even speak longer sentences.

Lin Manman picked up Yueyue and asked her what she played today. Yueyue said, "We played house. I was the mother and Qingming was the father!"

Lin Manman was amused by Yueyue's serious look. How old is she, yet she can already play house.

Lin Tao was preparing dinner in the kitchen. She was making stir-fried pork today. She happened to have half an onion left over from yesterday, so she planned to cut it up and put it in the meat to stir-fry together. Onions and meat are very fragrant, and everyone in her family likes to eat onions.

The only bad thing is that when cutting onions, Lin Tao always gets so choked up that she cries.

Just then, Yueyue came in to drink some water. Lin Manman said she would pour some water for Yueyue, but she said no, she wanted to do her own things. She went into the house, took her small kettle, took a big sip, and then went to the kitchen door to see her mother.

But as soon as she got there, Yueyue found that her mother's eyes were red.

The little guy frowned, feeling that something was wrong and his mother seemed unhappy!

Her black grape-like eyes rolled around and she called out, "Mom, look at me!"

As she spoke, she put her hands on her face, scratched her mouth and eyes, and made faces to make her mother happy: "Awoo, awoo, the tiger is coming~"

Lin Tao turned her head and saw Yueyue making faces. Since she learned to walk, Yueyue has become much thinner than when she was a baby. She has lost some of her fatness at the beginning, but she is still fat among the children on the island. Her little face is chubby, her skin is as white as Lin Tao's, and her eyes are particularly lively.

Lin Tao was amused by Yueyue's mischievous look.

Seeing her mother smile, Yueyue covered her mouth with her little hands, smiled secretly, and said, "Mom, smile, don't cry!"

Lin Tao then realized that Yueyue had mistakenly thought she was crying. She shook her head helplessly, walked to Yueyue's side, squatted down, looked at Yueyue straight in the eye, and kissed her on the cheek.

She said, "Yueyue, Mommy didn't cry. She was irritated by the onions when she was cutting them. Do you understand?"

Yueyue nodded, then looked at the onions on the chopping board, puffed up her cheeks, and said fiercely: "Onions, you bad bastard! Hate them!"

In Yueyue's heart, whoever makes her mother cry is a bad guy.

Tonight, Lin Tao cooked a stir-fried pork, minced pork with sour beans, fried zucchini with shrimp, and made some shrimp dumplings. There are a lot of shrimps in the sea recently, and the prices of various types of shrimps in the food factory are also cheap. The family had shrimps with vinegar the day before yesterday, shrimp burgers yesterday, and Lin Tao made some shrimp dumplings today, changing the way they eat.

The shrimp meat is plump and tender, and it is very delicious when used to make dumplings. Yueyue also likes it very much.

When it was time for dinner, Yueyue didn't eat her favorite shrimp dumplings first, but asked Li Chengxi to pick up some onions for her. She ate several mouthfuls of onions in a row, and she was particularly hard-working when eating, gnawing with her teeth, and then swallowing them hard.

Li Chengxi found it funny and asked, "Yueyue, why are you eating onions instead of shrimp dumplings today?"

Yueyue snorted and said, "Onions are bad guys. They made my mother cry. I will teach them a lesson and eat them vigorously!"

Although Yueyue is still very young, she has already developed the desire to protect her mother. No one can bully her mother.

Such childish and funny words, coupled with Yueyue's cute look, really made everyone laugh. Especially after Yueyue said this, she felt that what she said made sense, and continued to eat onions with a fierce expression, which was really cute and funny.

This is the most fun time for children. Yueyue does a lot of things like this. Lin Tao once mentioned to Lin Manman that the goose they raised at home actually pecked Yueyue on the butt while she was sitting on the wooden horse.

It's quite painful when a goose bites you, Yueyue was bitten and cried on the spot.

When Lin Tao was giving Yueyue a bath at night, she found a mark on Yueyue's butt. No wonder she cried. This child usually wouldn't cry unless she was in so much pain. Just like Xu Yuting said, she was like a boy and didn't cry as much as other girls.

Lin Tao felt distressed when she saw this and mentioned it to Li Chengxi in the evening. Li Chengxi, the old father, was even more distressed and suggested that they kill the goose and eat it that night.

They originally planned to raise the goose and stew it in an iron pot after the Chinese New Year, but the goose was too fierce and they were afraid that it would bother Yueyue again.

Everything had been agreed upon, but the next day Yueyue refused to let the goose be killed. She hugged the goose's neck angrily and rushed forward to bite its neck, as if to say, "You bit me yesterday, so I'm going to bite you back today."

Later, Yueyue took the "golden hoop" given to her by Zheng Hongxing and chased the big goose around the yard for more than ten laps, pulling out more than ten of the big goose's feathers. This was considered a lesson for the big goose. From then on, the big goose never dared to talk about Yueyue again, and would even hide when it saw her.

Of course, after this incident, Lin Tao and Li Chengxi discussed it and decided not to kill the goose.

They also learned something from this incident. Often, children will solve their own problems in their own way. When encountering a problem, adults can be less anxious to make a decision and wait and see what the children will do first.

At least their Yueyue is a very brave and opinionated child, which is one of her strengths, and they should let Yueyue continue to maintain this strength.

After dinner, Lin Manman played with Yueyue for a while and then went back. Yueyue was the happy fruit of the family, and Lin Manman doted on her very much. When teasing Yueyue, she took out a White Rabbit candy from her pocket and stuffed it into Yueyue's little pocket.

Yueyue very politely leaned close to Lin Manman's ear and whispered, "Auntie, I won't eat tonight. I'll eat tomorrow."

Because Lin Tao doesn't let her eat such sweet things at night, Yueyue's teeth have grown out now, and she is afraid that she will get cavities.

Lin Tao took out the new clothes she had made for Yueyue today and showed them to Yueyue. Yueyue wanted to wear the new clothes when she saw them, but Lin Tao wouldn't let her, saying that they hadn't been washed yet and would have to be washed and dried tomorrow, and could only be worn when the weather got a little hotter.

After dinner, the family took a walk outside. As the weather gets warmer in April and May, it’s time to take Yueyue for a walk outside.

After returning from the walk, Li Chengxi went to boil water for bathing, and the whole family lined up to take a bath.

Lin Tao went to bathe Yueyue first. Yueyue was bathing in the living room. At this time, Lin Changhai could go to the bathroom to bathe. After Lin Tao finished bathing Yueyue, she could go to bathe.

Yueyue was so tired from playing today that she didn't even take a nap at noon and continued to go out to play. Now she is very sleepy.

After Lin Tao washed her, she picked her up from the basin. Li Chengxi wrapped Yueyue in a towel and carried her to the bed. The couple then worked together to dress Yueyue, one putting on her top and the other putting on her pants. After they were dressed, Li Chengxi used a dry towel to rub Yueyue's hair.

Yueyue's hair has grown longer. Every day she has her hair either tied into two pigtails or two small buns. The little girl especially likes her mother to braid her hair. After braiding her hair, she will look in front of the mirror for a while. She is so vain.

After rubbing her hair dry, Yueyue, who was panting heavily, was not in a hurry to sleep. She made a gesture towards Li Chengxi, and Li Chengxi understood and took out the rag doll that Li Mingcheng had given to Yueyue from the closet.

Yueyue held the doll in her arms, holding it with one hand and patting its body with the other, mumbling softly: "Good boy, go to sleep, don't cry, go to sleep good boy..."

Lin Tao and Li Chengxi looked at each other, and they both saw each other's helplessness in each other's eyes.

Ever since Yueyue came back from the Chinese New Year, she heard that a military wife had given birth to a little sister, and she has started to covet other people's little sisters.

He had been pestering Lin Tao for a little sister for a long time. Every night he would check if his mother's belly had grown bigger, but her belly was always small. But other people's little sisters came out of other people's mothers' bellies. That aunt's belly was big, and a big belly meant there was a little brother or sister inside.

But Mom didn’t…

Lin Tao had no choice but to say that the doll was her little sister.

Yueyue was not picky, as long as she had one, she would be happy. From then on, she treated the doll as her little sister. Every day before going to bed, she would hold the "little sister" and coax her to sleep. After the "little sister" fell asleep, she would go to sleep herself.

After coaxing her for a while, she put the doll on her crib, squinted her eyes, her eyelids could hardly hold up, yawned sleepily, and said, "Mom, I coaxed my sister to sleep, you can coax me to sleep now..."

Yueyue threw herself into Lin Tao's arms, tilted her head and leaned on Lin Tao's shoulder. In less than a minute, she fell asleep.

It is conceivable how much willpower she had to coax her "little sister" to sleep even though she was so sleepy.

Lin Tao put Yueyue into the small bed after she fell asleep. Yueyue was sleeping very soundly. She turned over and continued to sleep, smacking her lips a few times. I don’t know what delicious food she started to eat in her dream.

This small bed is one meter and two meters long. Last time she measured Yueyue, Yueyue was almost ninety centimeters tall. This child is growing fast, just like Li Chengxi.

When they move to a new house, it will be time to make a new bed for the child. The bed should be the kind that can be slept in until the child grows up.

After putting Yueyue on the crib, Lin Tao took some clean clothes and went to take a bath.

She smelled sweet after taking a shower, with a faint scent of soap mixed with her body fragrance. Li Chengxi came over and said, "Yueyue wants a sister so much, why don't we..."

Under the quilt, Lin Tao reached out to pinch the soft flesh on Li Chengxi's waist, but accidentally touched something hard elsewhere. She pulled her hand back, but was hugged by Li Chengxi, his breath spraying on her neck.

Lin Tao pushed Li Chengxi and said, "Stop making noise. Yueyue just fell asleep. Don't wake her up later."

The last time they had sex, Yueyue woke up once because she wanted to pee. Lin Tao had wanted Yueyue to get up at night to pee, but she couldn't help but pee in her sleep several times. Unexpectedly, by coincidence, Yueyue woke up when she was doing that with Li Chengxi.

Fortunately, the room was pitch black and I couldn’t see anything, otherwise I really don’t know what to do.

Li Chengxi got up and took Yueyue to pee. Lin Tao hid under the quilt with her face red for most of the night.

Since that day, the two of them have been more careful in this regard.

"Hey, let me tell you something." Li Chengxi's hands became still. The two of them sat on the bed. Li Chengxi picked up a book to read, and Lin Tao came over and said.

Li Chengxi nodded and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Manman told me today that Mingcheng wrote to her saying that he wanted to date her." Lin Tao said.

Li Chengxi was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "You little brat has good taste."

Lin Tao smiled and said, "That's right, you two brothers have good taste."

Li Chengxi said seriously: "Then my vision is still better than his."