Chapter 126

"These are the marbles and books I bought for Brother Qingming, and this is the pen I bought for Brother Xiangyang." Yueyue began to count the things she brought for her friends.

Although she is young, she remembers clearly who asked her to bring what, how much money she spent, and how much money was left. She even writes it down in a small notebook.

Lin Tao started teaching her to recognize and write when she was three years old. Yueyue's handwriting is not very good now, but it is quite neat. However, she still doesn't recognize many words. For example, she doesn't know how to write the word "钢" in "pen", so she uses pinyin instead. The pen cost six yuan, and brother Xiangyang gave her six yuan and eighty cents, leaving her with eighty cents. She returned the eighty cents and the pen to Zheng Xiangyang.

Zheng Xiangyang said, "No, the remaining money is for you to buy canned food."

Everyone knows that Yueyue likes to eat canned food. The funniest time was when Yueyue caught a cold, but she refused to take medicine because the medicine prescribed by the doctor was in the form of a capsule. Yueyue was too small and had a narrow throat, so she couldn’t swallow the whole capsule at once. So she had to open the capsule, pour the powder inside into a cup, rinse it with warm water, and then swallow it.

This medicine tastes the bitterest!

After drinking it once, Yueyue refused to drink it again, saying that she could cure her cold by eating a can of peaches. Children are not feeling well when they are sick, and they are making a lot of noise. Lin Tao didn't want to tolerate it, but her grandfather Lin Changhai couldn't stand it, so he quickly bought a can of peaches and asked Yueyue to take the medicine first, and then eat a bite of the can after the medicine was finished.

Yueyue relied on this can of food and took medicine for two days before the fever subsided.

Later, Yueyue said that she cured her illness with canned food, and Qingming laughed at her for a long time.

However, although Yueyue loves to eat canned food, she is very principled. She refused to take 80 cents from Zheng Xiangyang and showed him her small piggy bank: "Brother Xiangyang, I have money. I can buy canned food with my own money."

Seeing her insistence, Zheng Xiangyang had no choice but to say, "Okay, I'll take the money back. Next time it's your birthday, I'll buy you something good to eat."

"Yeah." Yueyue nodded quickly.

Zheng Hongxing was watching from the side, and his mouth leaked when he spoke: "Why are they all brought for them? Where are the ones for the nest? Why are there none?"

Yueyue pointed at Zheng Hongxing's belly and said, "Brother Hongxing, you ate all the roast duck I brought you."

Wang Qingming continued, "It should be out of his stomach now. He probably went to the toilet. Brother Xiangyang, did Brother Hongxing go to the toilet today?"

Zheng Xiangyang glanced at Zheng Hongxing and said, "Yes, I had diarrhea last night after dinner, and again today."

Yueyue was surprised: "Brother Hongxing, why did you go there so many times?"

Zheng Hongxing's face flushed. He was only seven years old and used to being shameless. He finally felt what it meant to lose face: "...I am better, so I went there several times. You are not as good as me."

Wang Qingming said, "Last time, Aunt Shui Fen said that you were lazy and had a lot of shit and urine."

Zheng Hongxing: "...I'm going to do my homework!"

Zheng Hongxing glared at Wang Qingming and went home to do his homework angrily. Yueyue glanced at Wang Qingming and said, "Brother Qingming, Brother Hongxing is angry."

"Every time he gets angry, he goes to do his homework. I do this for his own good. If I make him angry a few more times, he will finish his homework sooner." Wang Qingming said.

When Yueyue heard this, she suddenly felt that it made sense. She would try to irritate Brother Hongxing and make him finish his homework earlier next time. Every time Brother Hongxing finished his homework very late, Aunt Shuifen would scold him.

Yueyue learned that Lin Tao was going to the city for further studies and would be away for half a month, and she was reluctant to let her go.

The day before Lin Tao left, Yueyue, who had originally slept in a separate bed, pulled Lin Tao aside and asked, "Mom, can I sleep with you today? You're leaving tomorrow and will be gone for more than ten days, which is too long to count with both hands. I will miss you."

Lin Tao looked at Yueyue's sensible appearance, and felt reluctant to let her go. She said, "Okay, Yueyue will sleep with mom today."

It was actually fine when Yueyue slept in a separate bed from them, except that she was a little scared in the first few days and didn't dare to sleep alone. Later, Li Chengxi lit a kerosene lamp in Yueyue's room, and after Yueyue fell asleep, he turned it off. After about a week, Yueyue got used to sleeping alone.

When it was time to go to bed, Yueyue would bring her own quilt over, move it to Lin Tao's bed, climb onto the bed nimbly, and read a book with her mother.

Lin Tao read Li Chengxi's books, while Yueyue read her own picture books.

When Li Chengxi came in after taking a shower, he saw the scene of a dozen children and couldn't help laughing. But he couldn't laugh the next moment because Yueyue looked at him and said, "Dad, I'm sleeping with Mom today. You can sleep in my bed."

Li Chengxi: “…”

The beds at that time were quite small, and it was just enough for the two of them to sleep on them. Now Yueyue is four or five years old, and she takes up quite a lot of space, so it is really crowded for three people to sleep on them.

But Li Chengxi glanced at Lin Tao. The young lady couldn't bear to leave her mother, and he also couldn't bear to leave his own cousin.

Lin Tao received Li Chengxi's gaze and suddenly understood what he meant. However, the girl was still young and needed to be coaxed. Li Chengxi was already so old, it was okay for him to sleep alone all night.

Lin Tao said, "Cheng Xi, why don't you go over and sleep there tonight, and I'll sleep with Yue Yue tonight."

Li Chengxi didn't say anything. He responded, took his quilt, and went to sleep in the next room.

Lin Tao and Yueyue read a book together for a while. When it was almost time to turn off the lights, Lin Tao put away the book and covered herself with the quilts along with Yueyue and her daughter. They couldn't sleep yet, so they talked together.

In the summer on the island, it is very hot during the day, but at night, it is easy to catch a cold if you don’t cover yourself with a quilt, so you must cover yourself with a quilt.

"Mom, I will miss you so much." Yueyue hugged Lin Tao's arms and buried her face in her arms.

Lin Tao kissed her cheek: "Mom will miss Yueyue too, but she has no choice because of work. Yueyue will understand her, right?"

"Well, I'm grown up now. I'm not a child anymore. I won't cry secretly." Yueyue said seriously.

Lin Tao: "Yueyue is very well behaved."

Lin Tao told Yueyue another bedtime story, and Yueyue fell asleep while listening to it in a daze.

Just when Lin Tao was about to go to sleep, the bedroom door was suddenly opened. Before Lin Tao could ask who it was, she heard Li Chengxi's hoarse voice: "It's me."

Lin Tao half-raised herself in the darkness and asked, "Chengxi, how did you get here?"

Li Chengxi struck a match, and the flame of the match lit up the darkness, lighting a hole in the darkness. The flame flickered, and Li Chengxi lit the kerosene lamp, then went to hug Yueyue.

Yueyue was sleeping soundly, and she had no idea that her father had picked her up, put her on her own bed, and covered her with a quilt.

Li Chengxi returned to the room. Lin Tao sat on the bed with her back against the wall. Looking at Li Chengxi who had done such a thing with such a calm face, she said with a smile: "What if Yueyue wakes up unhappy tomorrow?"

"It's okay." As Li Chengxi spoke, his slender fingers placed on the buttons of his shirt and unbuttoned them one by one.

Start from the top one and work your way down to the last one.

First, his bronze chest was exposed, and then his tight belly. Although Li Chengqi was in his thirties, his physical condition was as strong and powerful as when Lin Tao first married him.

He got on the bed and put his arms around Lin Tao.

Lin Tao will be gone for more than half a month this time. Not only is his girlfriend reluctant to let her go, but he is also reluctant to let her go. He took advantage of the night before to give her a good beating. Lin Tao leaned on Li Chengxi's chest, her face flushed.

"Go to bed early, I'll take you there tomorrow morning." After having fun, Li Chengxi stroked Lin Tao's back.

Lin Tao was speechless, she was about to fall asleep, this man had tortured her several times without any explanation, and now he asked her to go to bed early without even seeing if she could fall asleep right away.

But she was also tired, and after leaning on him for a while, she fell asleep unknowingly.

When she woke up the next morning, Li Chengxi was no longer beside her. Yueyue didn't know when Li Chengxi had held her in his arms again. She was sleeping soundly, and no one knew about it. If Lin Tao hadn't seen it with her own eyes last night, she would have had no idea that Li Chengxi had done this.

Li Chengxi opened the door and came in, saying, "Are you awake? I made seafood porridge, hurry up and get up and drink some."

Yueyue heard the sound, jumped out of bed, rubbed her squinting eyes, and said, "I want to go drink porridge too...Mom, I had a dream last night. I dreamed that I was always flying around. It was very interesting."

Lin Tao glanced at Li Chengxi and felt that Yueyue's flying around was because Li Chengxi carried her around last night.

Li Chengxi received Lin Tao's gaze and said nothing. He urged Yueyue to change clothes quickly because the porridge would get cold soon.

Yueyue can already dress herself, and she does it quite well, so Lin Tao doesn't need to worry about her.

Lin Tao went to wash up and squeezed the toothpaste for Yueyue so that she could brush her teeth.

After washing up, the family sat together to eat breakfast. The seafood porridge was stewed for more than an hour. It contained scallop meat, hairy clams, and shrimp meat, and a lot of chopped green onions were added. It tasted particularly delicious.

"Study hard when you get there. Yueyue will be fine at home, as I'll be taking care of her." Lin Changhai instructed Lin Tao.

Except for the last time when Lin Tao went to the city for a meeting, this was the first time he had to leave home for so long. He only stayed in the guesthouse for one night during the previous meeting, and he missed home terribly.

"Yeah, I know, Dad." Lin Tao nodded.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Li Chengxi took the luggage and sent Lin Tao to the pier to take the boat. Yueyue was very sensible. Although she was still reluctant to leave Lin Tao in her heart, she did not cry or make a fuss. She just pulled Lin Tao's clothes and kept repeating: "Mom, if you have a holiday, you must come back to see me..."

"Yes, Mom will come." Lin Tao squatted down and touched Yueyue's little head. "If you stay at home and listen to Grandpa, half a month will pass quickly."

Yueyue: “Yeah.”

The boat arrived, and Lin Tao boarded reluctantly. Li Chengxi helped her carry her luggage aboard and told her, "Take care of yourself."

"I know, I'm not a child, don't worry about me." Lin Tao smiled. Why did Li Chengxi still treat her as a child?

Li Chengxi: "Call me if you miss me."

Lin Tao: "Okay, I understand."

The boat was about to leave, Li Chengxi got off the boat and stood on the shore, watching the boat slowly go away. Yueyue kept waving her arms, her eyes full of reluctance to leave her mother.

She was reluctant to leave, but this further study was also a great opportunity to improve herself. No matter what, no matter how others recognized her, Lin Tao only studied up to high school, and she herself felt that she had not read enough books. Since there was an opportunity to study, she still had to seize the opportunity to study.

The place where they are studying is at the No. 1 Middle School in the city. It is still summer vacation now and the students are on vacation. The school is empty and the accommodation is arranged in the school dormitory.

The three teachers who shared the dormitory with Lin Tao were all very nice. Knowing that Lin Tao was a teacher at Shengshan School, they asked her if she knew a teacher named Lin. They heard that Teacher Lin was very good and a great teacher.

The three of them all came from different schools, but when they talked about "Teacher Lin", they all spoke in a tone of admiration. Lin Tao felt a little strange when she heard it. She didn't remember knowing them... How did they know her...

After asking, I found out that it was because of Xiao Shengtian.

Since Xiao Shengtian entered the No. 1 Middle School, his grades have always been the best in the whole grade. He also represented the No. 1 Middle School in the competition and won the first place in the whole city. But when he received the award, the teacher he wanted to thank the most was Mr. Lin, who had never formally taught him but taught him the most important lesson in life.

Not only that, he also wrote an essay entitled "The Most Important Lesson in Life", which he submitted for publication in newspapers. The principles of Lin Tao's teaching and educating people in the essay were also promoted in various schools, so that everyone could learn from Lin Tao. This led to many teachers knowing that there was a teacher named Lin in Shengshan School.

"I still have that page here. I cut it out and carry it with me. I think what Teacher Lin said here makes sense. I should learn from her."

After several people had spoken, Lin Tao introduced herself somewhat embarrassedly. Everyone then realized that she was Teacher Lin Tao, the person Xiao Shengtian wrote about in his composition.

Even though they knew that she was only a high school graduate, they didn't think that she was incompetent. Instead, they humbly asked Lin Tao for advice. They studied together and ate and studied together after class. Time passed quickly and before they knew it, a week had passed.

The duration of this training is not long, only half a month, and there will be no holidays during this period.

Lin Tao took advantage of her spare time to write a letter to her family. The city was close to the island, so she received a reply a few days after she sent the letter. The first page was written by Li Chengxi, saying that everything was fine at home, Yueyue was very well behaved, and asked her to take good care of herself.

The next page was written by Yueyue, who said that the food cooked by her father and grandfather was not tasty, and she missed the food cooked by her mother, and asked her mother to learn from her. She also said that she dreamed that she could fly last night, and she flew very high.

I don’t know how to write many characters, so I use pinyin instead.

Lin Tao read the letter over and over again, laughing as she read.

"Why is Teacher Lin laughing alone?"

"Teacher Lin is homesick. I have seen Teacher Lin's wife and daughter. They are very beautiful."

The lunch break was almost over, so Lin Tao put away the letter and went to class with her roommates. Meanwhile, Yueyue and Li Chengxi found a cake shop. The cream at that time was all hard cream, and it was the only shop that sold cream cakes.

When the money was given, Yueyue was eager to get it. Like a little adult, she rummaged through her pockets and said, "This is the cake I want to give to my mother. I'll pay for it."

But a cream cake is not cheap these days. Although Yueyue has some money, after sorting out the pile of banknotes, she only has a few yuan left, which is not enough for the cake.

After asking about the price of the cake, Yueyue found that she didn't have enough money. She pouted and said, "Well, Dad, you pay the money. I'll give you this opportunity."

Yueyue pouted.

Li Chengxi smiled, took out some money from his pocket and handed it to Yueyue: "Here, it's the New Year's money I paid in advance. There's no New Year's money this year."

Yueyue took the money and said, "Great!"

"Dad, Mom will definitely be very happy to see us." Yueyue couldn't hide her excitement in her eyes when she thought about seeing her mom soon. She even skipped and jumped when she walked.

Li Chengxi: "Of course I will."

In the past few years, he had been on several missions and had to go to meetings outside the island, and he was away for several days. But because he was always on official business, he could not spare much time to think about his wife and daughter. But this time, when Lin Tao left, he slept alone in bed after returning, and his feeling of missing her became more obvious.

Li Chengxi carried the cake in one hand and Yueyue in the other, and took the bus to No. 1 Middle School.

Lin Tao had just finished class and was discussing with a few friends where to go for dinner when she saw two people, one big and one small, standing under a tree not far away. The big one was wearing a white navy uniform and standing there with an upright posture, which was particularly eye-catching.

The younger one was wearing a plaid overalls skirt and a white shirt. This set was made by Xu Yuting. Yueyue liked this set of clothes the most. She usually didn’t want to wear it when playing at home. This time, she took it out and put it on when she was going out of the island to see her mother and celebrate her mother’s birthday.

At this time, Yueyue was jumping and waving at her: "Mom, Mom, Dad and I are here to see you!"

Lin Tao then realized that she was not seeing things, the father and daughter were really here. She hurried over and subconsciously wanted to hug Li Chengxi, but there were too many people here, and there were several friends behind her, so she suppressed her thoughts and hugged Yueyue and kissed her.

Asked: "Why are you here?"

Li Chengxi said, "Today is your birthday, Yueyue is coming to celebrate your birthday."

"Mom, Mom, I bought you this cake with my New Year's gift money!" Yueyue said, "Mom's birthday is July 8th. Today is July 8th. I looked at the calendar. It's today. Happy birthday, Mom. Do you think the cake Dad and I picked for you is good-looking? Dad said it's a cream cake. It must be delicious."

In the past two years, Yueyue was still young and didn’t understand these things, but last year when she celebrated her birthday, she asked Lin Tao when her birthday was, and Lin Tao told her.

It was just a casual remark at the time, but I didn't expect that this little guy actually remembered it and waited until this day to celebrate his birthday.

In fact, Lin Tao never celebrated her birthday. She never looked forward to her birthday since she was a child because she knew from a young age that her birthday was the anniversary of her mother's death.

Every time that day came, Dad would always drink alone. At first, Dad would also celebrate her birthday, but she saw that after Dad celebrated her birthday, she would just cry alone while holding her mom's seat.

Later, she no longer looked forward to her birthday, and she didn't celebrate it. She felt that every time she celebrated her birthday, it was like rubbing salt into her father's wounds. She didn't celebrate her birthday when she was young, and she cared even less about it when she grew up.

After marrying Li Chengxi, Li Chengxi asked her about her birthday, but Lin Tao said she didn't celebrate her birthday. Li Chengxi could guess what she was thinking, so he simply didn't ask. Neither of them celebrated their birthdays.

But Yueyue remembered this day, it was her mother's birthday. Every time she had a birthday, her mother would make her a lot of delicious food. She also wanted to celebrate her mother's birthday and make her happy.

In fact, the relationship between mother and daughter is like this, the mother thinks about her daughter, and the daughter thinks about her mother. Li Chengxi is right, she is the one her mother will protect with her life, and she doesn't want to blame herself for this matter, she just wants to be happy.

Lin Tao was very touched. In fact, she didn't even know that today was her birthday, but Yueyue remembered it so clearly.

Lin Tao introduced several friends to Li Chengxi and invited them to have dinner together.

However, they said that Li Chengxi and Yueyue had come here with great difficulty, so they would not disturb their family, but they still ate some of the cake.

Lin Tao and her family went to a nearby state-owned hotel for dinner and had a lively birthday celebration together.

This was the first time for Lin Tao and Yue Yue to eat this kind of hard cream cake. The cream was sweet and the cake was fluffy and soft. It felt sweeter and more delicious than the egg cakes sold in the supply and marketing cooperative.

Li Chengxi only had one day off, and he had to go back to work tomorrow. Although Yueyue was reluctant, she still went home with her father. But before leaving, she ran back to hug Lin Tao, kissed her on the face, and smiled: "Mom, birthday present."

The remaining week passed quickly and the training was over.

Although the teachers had only been together for half a month, they had a good relationship and were reluctant to part. Lin Tao took a boat back to the island, but for some reason, she did not feel dizzy on the boat the next few times, but today the sea was calm and she felt nauseous and vomited several times on the boat.

By the time we got off the boat, we were all exhausted.

Li Chengxi came to pick her up. Seeing her vomiting like this, he helped her into the car out of pity. He took the water bottle and gave her a sip of water: "What's wrong? Did you eat too much before boarding the boat? Why are you vomiting again?"

Lin Tao shook her head and said weakly, "No, I was just afraid of seasickness, so I ate very little. I really don't know what happened."

Li Chengxi looked at Lin Tao, whose face was a little pale, and then glanced at her flat belly. The worry on his face disappeared, and he smiled and asked, "A Tao, are we having another child?"