Chapter 95
Jiang Suihan turned around and asked him, "What?"
Out of the blue, she was suddenly asked if she wanted to stay in the capital, which made her feel a little uneasy.
Xu Zhao played with her fingers, which were slender and white. It was obvious at a glance that they were not hands that often worked. He raised his eyes and looked at her seriously: "Just now in the kitchen, Mom told me that she wanted you to stay. You just got pregnant, and it takes a long time to take the train back. Your body may not be able to bear it. I often have to go on missions and cannot take care of you at home. Grandpa's health has not been very good in the past two years. Mom has to take care of Grandpa at home. You are pregnant, and Chenchen is still young. You may not be able to take care of it."
He was very hesitant and conflicted. From a rational point of view, his mother was right. Staying in the capital was much better than staying in the army. There were people at home and a nanny. Everything was convenient. His family could take good care of Jiang Suihan. But if you asked him his true thoughts, he was reluctant to leave her. He felt uncomfortable at the thought of not having her around.
He was used to holding her in his arms while sleeping at night, and she was the one he saw when he woke up every morning. When he ate something delicious, he wanted to bring it home for her to taste. He felt a little uncomfortable when they suddenly had to separate.
Jiang Huihan saw that he was frowning and touched his face: "Do you want me to stay in the capital?"
She didn't answer directly, but asked him instead.
Xu Zhao was silent for a moment: "Everyone in the family is in the capital, including my parents and my second sister. They will take good care of you."
Jiang Huihan stared into his eyes and said, "They can take good care of me, but what about you? Can't you take good care of me? Besides, I'm not without hands or feet. I can take care of myself."
Xu Zhao touched her belly and remained silent.
Jiang Huihan stood on tiptoe and pinched his face, pretending to be angry: "Aren't you very talkative? Why don't you talk anymore?"
Xu Zhao let her hands play around on his face: "Listen to you."
Jiang Suihan snorted: "Then listen to me, I don't want to stay."
Xu Zhao hugged her waist and rested his forehead against hers: "Why?"
Hearing her answer, my restless heart suddenly settled down, the corners of my mouth curled up unconsciously, and a smile leaked out of my eyes.
"Why so many whys? You ask even though you already know the answer." Jiang Sui wrinkled her nose and looked up at him. Her eyes were bright and clear, and her reflection could be seen in them. "Then let me ask you, do you want me to stay?"
Xu Zhao was silent for a moment: "No."
With a wife and children, which man would want to live a lonely life with a cold stove and a lonely bed?
Jiang Suihan gently touched his forehead and said with a smile, "That's it. We agreed at the beginning that I would go wherever you go. I'm not the kind of person who can only share the good times but not the bad times. Don't look down on me. We are husband and wife, and we have Chenchen, so we should be a complete family."
The little expression is kind of cute.
Xu Zhao bit her lips lightly, his voice unclear: "Our Sui Sui is the best."
The couple was very sweet, when suddenly a furry little head popped up between them.
Chenchen tilted his head back, grabbed his mother's legs with both hands, and grinned like a little fool with his tiny teeth bared: "I want one too."
The child started talking early and can say more and more words, but he cannot straighten his tongue and cannot pronounce some words correctly.
The warm and affectionate atmosphere was instantly ruined. Xu Zhao rubbed his temple in distress and cursed in a low voice: "Stinky boy!"
Jiang Huihan leaned on him and smiled secretly.
After having a child, it is not easy to have a quiet private space.
Xu Zhao bent down and picked up Chenchen. Chenchen liked his mother's fragrant embrace better than his father's hard chest.
The child stretched out his little hands and rushed towards his mother, but even though he used all his strength to suckle, he could not shake his father's strong arms. In the end, he was so tired that his little face turned red and sweat broke out on his forehead.
Xu Zhao looked down at his son: "Are you not making trouble anymore?"
Chenchen turned his little face away, leaving his head to his father, and complained to his mother aggrievedly: "Dad, you are bad."
Jiang Suihan touched Chenchen's little face and said, "Yes, Daddy is too mean. We don't want to play with him."
Chenchen struggled to get down, and Xu Zhao put him down. As soon as the child's feet touched the ground, he immediately ran towards his mother.
Jiang Suihan squatted down to greet her baby son. Xu Zhao silently stretched out his claws and grabbed Chenchen by the collar, forcing Chenchen to stop, kicking his short legs in the air.
Chenchen turned his head: "Bad!"
Jiang Sui was overjoyed: "Okay, stop making trouble, or mom will scold you if she sees you later."
As soon as I finished speaking, I heard my mother-in-law anxiously say, "Xu Zhao, let go quickly. Chenchen will feel very uncomfortable if you hold him like this. Are you still his biological father? Our Chenchen suffers because of a father like you."
Su Ying pushed Xu Zhao away, hugged her precious grandson, and asked softly, "My dear, grandma beat Dad away, Chenchen, aren't you afraid?"
As she spoke, Xu Zhao was slapped on the arm by his old mother.
Chenchen was stunned at first, staring with his big round eyes, then he opened his little mouth, clapped his hands, showing his tiny teeth, and laughed happily.
The child's sudden behavior shocked everyone present. Jiang Huihan laughed so hard that her shoulder almost dislocated.
Su Ying laughed until tears came out of her eyes, and mocked her son: "You have come to this day. You are allowed to bully your own son. Are you dumbfounded? Our Chenchen has a temper too."
Being laughed at by his son, Xu Zhao was both angry and amused. He pinched his son's little face and said, "Look at your ability. If you have the ability, don't ask me to make milk powder for you or change your diaper."
Chenchen frowned and slapped his father's hand, as if saying, "How dare you pinch me?"
The child was not very strong and it did not hurt. Xu Zhao felt that he had lost face and snorted, "You still have a bad temper. What's wrong with pinching me? You are my son. I take care of you every day, get up in the middle of the night to make milk powder for you, and wash your diapers in winter. And you still glare at me?"
Xu Zhenguo: "Who are you, father?"
Xu Zhao said calmly: "Of course I am my son's father."
Xu Zhenguo came over, took Chenchen from Su Ying's arms, and glanced at Xu Zhao: "I thought you forgot who your father is."
Xu Zhao looked at the child jumping in his grandfather's arms. Fortunately, his father was very strong, otherwise he would not be able to hold the kid.
Xu Zhenguo took out a small tank from his pocket with a smile. The small tank was exquisitely made and the price was obviously not cheap. When Chenchen saw the small tank, his eyes lit up. He reached out and grabbed the small tank and started playing with it. As for the father who had just made him angry, he had already been thrown aside by the child and didn't even pay attention to his father.
At dinner that night, the mother-in-law happily announced to the whole family that her daughter-in-law was pregnant and there would be a new baby in the family.
Grandpa Xu smiled and asked his son to take out the wine he had collected for many years. Both father and son loved drinking. Grandpa Xu was old and in poor health. The doctor had advised him to pay attention to his daily diet and try not to drink alcohol.
Grandpa Xu held the bottle tightly and said, "It's New Year's Day and my granddaughter-in-law is pregnant again. It's a double happiness. We should celebrate."
Grandpa Xu's excuse was good. Seeing that his old father was really greedy, and he had been thinking about his father's bottle of wine for a long time, Xu Zhenguo simply didn't stop him. He just stared at his father, not letting him drink more.
The Xu family had a very good New Year's meal. There were inevitably fish and meat on the table, including braised pork, steamed fish, four-happiness meatballs, and yam and chicken soup. What surprised Jiang Suihan the most was that there were shrimps, which she liked.
The capital is not near the sea, seafood is expensive, and it is even harder to buy during the Chinese New Year. This pound of shrimp was grabbed by my mother-in-law at the market near the compound early in the morning. The Xu family has a nanny, who is a relative from their hometown. She said she came to help the family, but she hasn't been back to her hometown for two years. During the holidays, she was asked to go back for half a month and then come back. My mother-in-law is in charge of the meals for the family these days, and Jiang Suhan occasionally helps out.
However, after knowing that her daughter-in-law was pregnant, Su Ying did not let her do any kitchen work and served her with delicious food and drinks, which made her feel embarrassed and as if she was being treated like a pig.
After buying the shrimps, Su Ying immediately asked Jiang Huihan how to cook them. Mingjiang City is a coastal city and people there eat seafood all year round. The cooking methods are more about maintaining the freshness of the seafood, and the most common way to cook shrimps is to blanch them.
Jiang Suihan likes to eat shrimps, but she is lazy and doesn't want to peel them for fear of getting her hands dirty. Xu Zhao reached out and picked up a shrimp and began to peel it. His fingers were long and slender, with distinct joints, and his movements of peeling the shrimps looked pleasing to the eye. Perhaps because he didn't eat shrimps very often, his speed was a bit slow. He had just peeled half of it when a chubby little hand reached out from the side.
Jiang Leyun looked at his sister with a smile: "Sister, eat the shrimp. I will peel it for you after you finish eating."
After saying that, he did not forget to look at his brother-in-law with a bit of provocation.
Xu Zhao glanced at his brother-in-law, and Jiang Leyun shrank his neck and dared not act like a troublemaker again.
Jiang Suihan looked at the layer of shrimps in the bowl, a little speechless, and whispered: "That's enough."
Xu Zhao just peeled a shrimp for each of his grandfather and the others at the beginning, and gave the rest to her, which made her feel embarrassed.
Chenchen prefers meat to shrimp. The soft and juicy braised pork is the little guy's favorite. With a spoonful of rice and a spoonful of braised pork, the little guy sits on his grandmother's lap and is very happy to be served, with his mouth full of oil.
Xu Zhao picked up the handkerchief beside him and wiped his hands, then went to wipe Chenchen's mouth. Chenchen turned his head away in disgust: "No."
Su Ying laughed so hard that she teased the child: "Oh, our Chenchen has a bad temper. He doesn't want the dirty handkerchief that daddy has used. Grandma will get you a new one later."
Jiang Suihan: "You have already wiped your hands, but you still use it to wipe your son's mouth. How much do you dislike your son?"
Xu Zhao put down his handkerchief silently: "I forgot."
He really forgot about it. He was still thinking about Jiang Suihan's pregnancy and didn't pay much attention to it.
Xu Zhao picked up a piece of fish: "Do you want to eat fish?"
I bought a live fish this morning and placed it in a basin of water. It tastes delicious when steamed and has no fishy smell.
When she was pregnant with Chenchen, she vomited when she smelled the fishy smell. Jiang Huihan wrinkled her nose but didn’t react. She took a small bite and didn’t vomit. After eating a piece of fish, her appetite was aroused.
"I want to eat more."
Su Ying said hurriedly: "If you like it, eat more. I will go to the market tomorrow morning to buy some and cook it for you. Fish is good, nutritious, and not easy to gain weight."
The fish was a little far away, but luckily Xu Zhao had long arms, so he could grab it with just one stretch, remove the fish bones, and put the fish meat into Jiang Suihan's bowl.
The elders were still watching, and Jiang Suihan felt a little embarrassed. She felt as if she couldn't move because she was pregnant, and could only sit there and wait for others to serve her.
Jiang Suihan ate most of the fish and several shrimps. She only touched the chicken and braised pork with her chopsticks once or twice, and ate most of the rice, leaving a small part.
Seeing her counting the rice grains while eating, Xu Zhao knew that she was full. He took her bowl, poured the rice in it into his bowl, and stood up to serve her a bowl of soup: "It's a little hot."
The chicken soup has been simmered for several hours and it smells delicious. Jiang Suihan likes her soup to be a little hotter. After finishing the soup, she puts down the bowl.
Xu Zhao: "Do you want more? There's more in the pot."
Jiang Suihan shook her head: "I'm full."
Grandpa Xu frowned. In his eyes, a plump figure is healthy. Jiang Suhan is not short, but she has a small frame and looks a little thin. Grandpa Xu once suspected that Xu Zhao did not take good care of his granddaughter-in-law, and made her tired and hungry.
Xu Zhenguo and Grandpa Xu shared the same idea and felt that their daughter-in-law was a little thin and would be better if she was a little fatter.
Su Ying: "There are still dishes, want some more?"
Jiang Suihan: "I'm really full. I ate a lot of snacks during the day, so I'm not hungry."
Su Ying: "Don't eat when you're full. It's uncomfortable to have a bloated stomach. You're pregnant and you'll get hungry easily at night. I'll leave some food for you to eat when you're hungry."
She had given birth to three children and had plenty of experience with pregnancy. She knew that pregnant women get hungry quickly and sometimes even have a greedy stomach. As a mother-in-law, she naturally felt distressed when her daughter-in-law was pregnant with her grandson.
Chenchen went out with his grandfather for the whole day today. In the evening, he stuck to his mother and wanted to be hugged by her.
Xu Zhao held his son's collar by the back, worried that he might hurt Jiang Suihan: "Mom is not feeling well, sit still."
Chenchen is a headache when he is naughty, but he is also good at times. The child struggled to break free from his father's hands, touched his mother's face with his little hands, and frowned: "Mom, where does it hurt?"
In children’s memories, feeling uncomfortable means body pain and having to take very bitter medicine.
Jiang Huihan picked up Chenchen and sat him in her arms. Seeing Xu Zhao's disapproval, she smiled and shook her head: "It's okay, Chenchen is very good."
Children love adults’ approval the most, and they will say loudly, “Yes, I am being good.”
His speech was a bit slurred and his saliva was spurting out.
Jiang Suihan took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of the child's mouth, complaining: "Mom and Dad are both clean people, why are you so sloppy?"
Since I gave birth to my own child, I can only hold my nose and clean up the mess.
Xu Zhao glanced at his son: "Are you good? If you are good, there will be no bad children."
The child inherited the advantages of his parents, with red lips, white teeth, delicate eyebrows and features. He is often mistaken for a little girl. At such a young age, the child knows how to use his advantages. Every time he does something wrong, he always blinks his big grape-like eyes and smiles especially sweetly at people.
In the words of Mrs. Wu, as long as Chenchen smiled at her, her heart felt as sweet as if it were soaked in honey water. She wanted to hug Chenchen in her arms and kiss him, so she couldn't bear to blame the child.
Chenchen wrinkled his nose at his father: "If you are not good, I will be good."
The child looked at his mother, hoping that she would stand on his side.
Jiang Suihan glanced at Xu Zhao with a smile and kissed her son's tender face: "Yes, our Chenchen is the best. Mom likes good children."
Chenchen opened his little mouth, stood up smiling, and put his little head against his mother's forehead, wanting his mother to play with him.
This is the first time Jiang Suihan is raising a child and she has little experience. She knows that parental companionship is crucial to a child's growth. Generally speaking, if there is nothing else to do, there must be parent-child interaction time every night, and Xu Zhao must participate.
After playing with Chenchen for a while, the child laughed non-stop.
Grandpa Xu is old and lives on the first floor. The nanny also lives on the first floor for easier care. Everyone else's rooms are on the second floor.
Su Ying went downstairs to get some water. When she passed by her son's room, she heard Chenchen's laughter coming from the room: "Don't let the child laugh until he gets out of breath. It's getting late. It's time to go to bed."
Jiang Suihan raised her finger and said "hush", signaling Chenchen not to talk: "I know, Mom, I'll go to sleep soon."
Chenchen slept with his grandparents last night. I don’t know what happened today. Maybe his father said that his mother was not feeling well and the child was worried, so he insisted on sleeping with his mother at night.
Xu Zhao was worried that Chenchen would not sleep peacefully and would kick Jiang Huihan, so he changed the positions of the three people, with Chenchen sleeping at the innermost, Jiang Huihan sleeping in the middle, and he sleeping on the outside.
In the middle of the night, Jiang Huihan was awakened by thirst. Even though Xu Zhao was asleep, he was still alert. He was startled awake by the rustling sound.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Jiang Suihan: "It's okay, I'm thirsty."
Xu Zhao held her down, lifted a corner of the quilt and stood up to prevent the heat in the quilt from escaping.
Su Ying was very considerate. Thinking of her son and daughter-in-law living upstairs and the dry weather in the north, she filled the thermos in advance and asked Xu Zhao to take it back to the room and put it away.
The thermos was placed under the table. Xu Zhao poured half a cup of hot water, which was a little hot. He picked up the military kettle on the table and poured some boiled water.
Jiang Huihan sat up, reached into the quilt and touched her son's little hand, which was warm. She wanted to take the cup, but Xu Zhao didn't let her take it. It looked like he wanted to feed her water.
Jiang Huihan didn't act pretentiously and drank half of the cup from his hand: "That's enough."
There was light in the room, and Chenchen woke up dazedly: "Mom."
Jiang Suihan saw that her son had woken up and asked him, "Would you like some water?"
Chenchen rubbed his eyes with his little hands and said one word slowly: "Yes."
The child who just woke up leaned on his mother, very dependent, without the noisy energy that he had when he turned into a dragon during the day.
After giving the child two sips of water, he fell asleep again in a daze.
Jiang Suihan looked at Xu Zhao and suddenly said, "I'm hungry."
Xu Zhao: "What do you want to eat?"
Jiang Suihan thought for a moment and said, "Spicy food."
Xu Zhao was a little confused. Jiang Huihan was from the south and couldn't eat spicy food. Even after living in Li Province for three years, she could only eat a little spicy food. And every time she ate spicy food, she would cough and it would take two or three days to heal.
But my mother said that a woman’s taste changes when she is pregnant, so try to let her eat whatever she wants, otherwise she will keep thinking about it and it will affect her mood.
Xu Zhao discussed and said, "You can only eat a little bit, not more."
Jiang Huihan rushed over and hugged his waist, smiling and said, "You are so nice!"
She knew she was not good at eating spicy food, but she suddenly wanted to eat it.
After covering Chenchen with a blanket, the two of them quietly went downstairs.
Xu Zhao asked Jiang Suihan to sit in the living room and wait. He went to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat. When he opened the lid of the pot, he saw the food his mother had left behind.
Jiang Suihan: "I don't want to eat noodles. I want to eat rice, fried rice."
Xu Zhao is a pretty good cook. Sometimes when Jiang Suihan doesn't want to cook, he does it. He doesn't follow the tradition that men can't enter the kitchen. His wife takes care of the children every day and is busy at home and is very tired. He feels sorry for his wife and will help cook when he is free.
Jiang Suihan quickly added: "Remember to add some chili. It's not me who wants to eat it, but the baby in my belly who wants to eat it."
Xu Zhao was a little speechless. She hadn't forgotten her spicy dish yet, and she was using the child as an excuse.
He opened the cupboard, took out an egg, cut some bacon and cabbage leaves, lit the fire, heated the pan and added oil. Fried rice does not require any technical skills and is done in three or four minutes. Before serving, Xu Zhao added a little chili sauce, very little, less than a quarter of a spoonful.
The chili sauce was made by the nanny at home. People in her hometown eat spicy food all year round and like to add chili peppers to any dish. After arriving at the Xu family, Grandpa Xu is old and needs a light diet, and rarely adds chili peppers when cooking. The nanny is used to making some chili sauce every winter, and whenever she wants to eat it, she just opens the lid of the can and scoops a spoonful.
Jiang Suihan couldn't wait to grab the spoon and start eating. After taking a bite, she choked: "Cough cough..."
Xu Zhao quickly poured her a glass of water and patted her on the back: "Is it too spicy? If you can't eat it, don't eat it. I'll cook it again for you."
There is still a little rice left in the pot, which should be enough for one stir-fry.
Jiang Huihan quickly protected the fried rice with both hands to prevent him from taking it away: "It's okay, it's not too spicy. I can accept this level. The rice is just a little dry."
Xu Zhao looked at her silently for two seconds, and seeing that she insisted, he said nothing more.
Jiang Suihan wasn't actually very hungry, she was just greedy and wanted to eat something. She ate half of a bowl of rice and said, "I'm full."
The bowl for the fried rice was not the bowl for eating, but the bowl for soup. She ate half a bowl, which was already a lot.
Xu Zhao took the bowl and ate all the leftovers in just a few bites.
Jiang Suihan drank water slowly from the enamel cup and asked him, "Who made this chili sauce? It feels very authentic and delicious."
Xu Zhao: "Aunt He made it. She is from my father's hometown, and her relationship with my family is a little distant. She came to our house when I was very young. People in my hometown love spicy food. If you don't add some chili to your cooking, it will feel tasteless. Aunt He will make a few cans of chili sauce every winter and mix it with rice and noodles. But it's too spicy, and most people can't get used to it."
He can eat spicy food, and ordinary peppers are nothing to him. When he was on a mission in the frontier before, the people there were really good at eating peppers, and they ate them as snacks.
Jiang Suihan: "The chili sauce made by Aunt He is really delicious. If the market opens up in the future, I can open a store to sell chili sauce, and there will definitely be a lot of people buying it."
Xu Zhao touched her head and said, "Don't say this kind of thing outside. Just say it at home."
The situation is sensitive and trouble can come from the mouth, so we have to be on guard.
Jiang Suihan rubbed his hand and said, "I know, stop nagging. I'm not stupid. I was just saying it casually at home. But I believe that darkness is only temporary. Light will surely come. Our country will surely get better and better, and prosperity will surely come."
She has experienced that era in the future and knows that the country will be prosperous and the people will live a stable life. Western countries will not dare to blockade our economy at will, and our country is not afraid of any country.
Because the strength is there!
"Well said!"
Jiang Huihan and Xu Zhao turned their heads at the same time. Grandpa Xu was standing behind them with an excited look on his face. Xu Zhao quickly stood up and went to help him: "Grandpa, why did you get up?"
Grandpa Xu did not answer Xu Zhao's question, but just looked at his granddaughter-in-law: "That's great! You young people are the ones who dare to think and speak. We are all old, and the country needs young blood. You young people are the hope and future of the motherland!"
He is an old revolutionary who has been fighting for the country's cause all his life. His greatest wish in life is to see the country prosper and the people live and work in peace and contentment.
This is his belief and the ideal he pursues throughout his life.
Jiang Suihan was a little embarrassed: "Grandpa, please don't praise me. I'm blushing. Without the efforts of you older generation, how can we have the peaceful life today? I heard a saying before, there is no such thing as a peaceful life in the world, it's just that someone is carrying the burden for you. What I admire most is your generation, Grandpa, who sticks to ideals and beliefs, fights bloody battles, is determined and never gives up. This is what we young people should learn the most."
Xu Zhao looked at her sparkling eyes and determined look, and suddenly he felt that her whole body seemed to be glowing, grabbing all his attention.
Grandpa Xu laughed heartily and patted Xu Zhao on the shoulder: "You married a good wife. It is a blessing for you and for our Xu family."
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