"Aning, come and play with Niu Niu." Xu Xiangjuan asked Zhou Chengning to play with the child.
Zhou Chengning had no experience in teasing children and was stunned. "Juan, how do I tease you?"
Xu Xiangjuan was really defeated by her man's stupidity. "Do you need me to teach you this? Just shake hands with Niu Niu and Niu Niu can play with you for a long time."
After listening to his lover's words, Zhou Chengning tentatively held Niu Niu's hand. Niu Niu saw his father's hand and tried to grab his father's thumb with his two little hands. After a while, he probably felt it was too much effort, so he let go of his father's hand and grabbed his mother's hand.
Zhou Chengning realized it later, "Juan, am I disliked by Niu Niu?"
Xu Xiangjuan was amused, "Niuniu seems to dislike you as his father...Are you hungry?"
Niu Niu didn't understand what was said, so of course he asked himself if he was hungry. Zhou Chengning reacted quickly and said he was not hungry.
Xu Xiangjuan: "If you're not hungry, then Guagua must be hungry too. Please help me take care of Niu Niu. I'll go make breakfast."
You still have to eat breakfast, even though many young people don’t have time for breakfast and don’t eat breakfast during holidays, but you still have to take care of your body when you are young... Yes, she was referring specifically to Gua Gua.
When he grew up, Guagua didn't take good care of his health and had many minor ailments, which made her, as his mother, very worried.
Although Niu Niu is closer to his mother, he can also be close to his father. They are in a familiar environment and will not cry for a short period of time.
"Gua Gua, are you going to look for Miao Miao in the morning?" Xu Xiangjuan put on her clothes, got out of bed and asked Gua Gua.
Guagua woke up early, but now she was sleepy again, half awake and half awake. She heard her mother's question and said, "I don't want to look for Miaomiao. I want to sleep."
"Okay, let's sleep a little longer... Aning, I'll call you and Guagua to eat later, you take good care of Niu Niu."
Zhou Chengning, who was covering Niu Niu with a quilt, heard Ying Hao. Niu Niu didn't want to be covered with the quilt and was making trouble with his father. He pushed the quilt away. His father covered him with the quilt back, and then he pushed it away again.
Zhou Chengning felt that he had found a solution. Fortunately, the room inside was not particularly cold, otherwise Niu Niu’s little hands would definitely have been frozen.
The father and son started playing the game of pushing the quilt. Niu Niu was not strong enough, so although he could push the quilt, it was very difficult. Zhou Chengning did not stop his son. He waited for him to push the quilt to his lower belly and then he covered him back.
Xu Xiangjuan came out of the inner room and felt the coldness penetrating into her bones. She wrapped her cotton coat tightly and went to the kitchen to cook porridge.
All the water in the yard was frozen, but fortunately the well was dug underground, so the water temperature did not change much, being cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
After washing with the hot water in the thermos, Xu Xiangjuan picked up half a bucket of water to cook porridge.
In the morning, have fried leeks and eggs, and some shredded pickled mustard tuber, and have it with porridge.
Before breakfast was ready, the father of the child came to the kitchen with his two children.
"Juan, you hold Niu Niu first. I'll take Gua Gua to wash up and then I'll continue to hold Niu Niu." After playing with Niu Niu and pushing the quilt for a while, Zhou Chengning began to put on a cotton-padded jacket for Niu Niu. The little baby was really difficult to take care of. He kept crying and refusing to cooperate when he was putting on the cotton-padded jacket, and it took a while.
Gua Gua put on his clothes by himself and watched his father laugh.
Xu Xiangjuan took Niu Niu over. Niu Niu's little hands were hidden in the sleeves of his cotton-padded jacket, so it was impossible for him to grab others, so he could only move his sleeves.
After adjusting the hat on Niu Niu's little head, she continued to light the fire and cook porridge.
After Zhou Chengning took Guagua to wash up, they came to pick up Niu Niu. Niu Niu was a little resistant at first and didn't want his father to hold him, but after his mother coaxed him a few times, he reluctantly let his father hold him.
After breakfast in the morning, Xu Xiangjuan washed the dishes first. After washing the dishes, she was responsible for holding Niu Niu while Niu Niu’s father washed the clothes.
The temperature of the well water is not low, so Zhou Chengning does not feel cold when washing clothes with the well water. When the sun rises, he washes clothes in the morning and dries them during the day, so that the clothes will not freeze into popsicles at night because of the cold.
After finishing the housework, the family watched Dad unpack the bundle, which was placed on the dining table at home.
Guagua sat obediently on the chair, Niu Niu was held by his mother, his little feet in woolen socks stepped on his mother's thighs, his face facing the bundle, looking at the bundle curiously.
First there was a small paper bag of walnut kernels. Gua Gua asked, "Dad, can I have some?"
Niu Niu followed with two "ah ah" sounds.
"This will only taste good if my mom makes it. You can't eat it now. It's too unpalatable." After saying that, Zhou Chengning took out a slightly larger paper bag, which contained dried red dates.
"Dad, can I eat it?" Gua Gua repeated when he saw the big red dates.
"You can eat them. Guagua needs to wash them before eating. Give Guagua one. Juan, you can eat a few later." Zhou Chengning took out four fruits and gave one to Guagua. Niu Niu also wanted one. He leaned forward and tried hard to stretch out his little fleshy hands to grab them, but his sleeves were too long and his hands could not get out.
Niu Niu was held up by his mother and couldn't reach the fruit. Xu Xiangjuan couldn't let the little guy reach it either, so she grabbed three red dates and put them in her pocket.
These dried red dates are so dirty from being exposed to the wind and sun, they must be washed before eating. Niu Niu is too young to eat them. Besides, Niu Niu wants to put anything he grabs into his mouth, so she had better hide them quickly.
There wasn't much, so the family ate a little before entertaining the guests to taste the food. "Leave some for the New Year, and make red dates and walnuts to entertain the guests on the first day of the first lunar month."
Zhou Chengning knew about red dates and walnut kernels, but this was the first time he had heard of red dates wrapped in walnuts. He was looking forward to his lover making it.
Below is a large bag of soda crackers. Soda crackers were later said to be biscuits that only the elderly eat. Although they don’t have much taste at first, they are still very tasty when eaten slowly. Now they are very precious and can be eaten by both the elderly and children.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't let Zhou Chengning open the soda biscuits, and kept them until the first day of the first lunar month. In addition to walnut and red date soda biscuits, there was also a pound of lard candy, half a pound of nougat, and half a pound of beef jerky. Xu Xiangjuan gave Gua Gua a piece of lard candy and sent her to wash her red date.
After Guagua left, she asked Zhou Chengning to hold Niu Niu and hide the bag.
Although Gua Gua would not steal food, I was afraid that she would use her father's hand to do it, so it was better to hide it where the child could not find it.
The quantity of these things is not large, so it is better to rely on rice candy and melon seeds and peanuts to fill the occasion on the first day of the first lunar month. Fortunately, everyone’s life is hard now, and rice candy is a rare thing. Later, few people would eat rice candy, thinking it was cheap and not valuable.
When Niu Niu saw that his mother hid the things, he got angry and quarreled with his father. His face wrinkled and he was about to cry. Zhou Chengning immediately walked over and coaxed him as he walked, "Be good, Niu Niu. When you grow up, you can eat a lot of delicious food."
Because his father was leaving, Niu Niu forgot about crying. Seeing that the father and son were still in harmony, Xu Xiangjuan went out to see Gua Gua.
Guagua was leaning against a wooden barrel in the kitchen that was almost as tall as her, trying hard to scoop water with a gourd ladle, but she couldn't reach it.
"Guagua, don't scoop water. Mom will get you some hot water to wash the dates." Xu Xiangjuan took the basin that was usually used to wash vegetables at home, poured hot water from the thermos, added some cold water and started to wash the dates. She still had three dried red dates in her pocket that needed to be washed.
Zhou Chengning, who actually didn't get along very well with Niu Niu, went to the kitchen right away and just happened to see his wife and daughter washing dried red dates.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Eat the melon slowly and spit out the seeds. Don't swallow them. Aning, eat a date."
Zhou Chengning bit the dried red dates that his lover handed to his mouth. Niu Niu saw that everyone had dried red dates but he didn't, so his little face frowned again. Xu Xiangjuan had only bitten half of a red date, and seeing that Niu Niu was about to cry, she immediately took Niu Niu from Zhou Chengning's hands.
While coaxing Niu Niu, Xu Xiangjuan fed the last whole date in her hand to Zhou Chengning.
Anyway, Niu Niu can only watch.
...
Twenty-four, sweep the house.
On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, every household begins to clean their houses. Even if the house is old and dilapidated, people will sweep the house and remove the dust to welcome the new year.
Xu Xiangjuan's family is no exception.
These days, Wang Qiang's family did have some problems, and Wang Qiang's wife had been asking for a divorce, so he had no time to seek revenge on anyone. Zhou Chengning had completely come out of the shadow of the fight.
On dusting day, even Guagua was holding a feather duster and pretending to clean the house, but in fact he was still running around with the feather duster, and even went to Miaomiao's house to show off the feather duster.
Xu Xiangjuan really didn't understand what the child was thinking, so she just told Guagua to come back early and not to leave the feather duster at other people's homes.
Zhou Chengning took a broom and cleared the spider webs in every corner of the house.
Niu Niu was tired from playing and was sleeping early in the morning. Xu Xiangjuan didn't want to keep the little trouble awake during the housecleaning day, so the whole family played with Niu Niu in the morning until Niu Niu was tired, drank his milk and went back to sleep, and then they started the housecleaning.
Dishes, chopsticks, drawers and other things that can be taken out after washing are all placed in the yard to dry. The house is not big or small, and it is definitely impossible to finish cleaning in the morning.
Guagua brought back the feather duster from home before lunch. Xu Xiangjuan confirmed that it was the feather duster from home, put it away, and let Guagua wash his hands before eating.
I just had some vegetable noodles for lunch.
Niu Niu woke up at noon, and looked aggrieved when he woke up to drink milk.
Niu Niu couldn't fall asleep in the afternoon and refused to lie down in his crib by himself. He insisted that his mother hold him in her arms.
Xu Xiangjuan held Niu Niu in her arms and directed the cleaning for half an afternoon. The father and daughter, one big and one small, did the work. Niu Niu watched and barked from time to time, like a little commander.
After the house was almost clean, Xu Xiangjuan took one adult and two children to her parents' home.
Xu Gensheng and Wu Caifeng were also cleaning their own home. This year their son and daughter are back to celebrate the New Year, so the house has to be cleaned thoroughly.
"Mom, are you tinkering with the land to plant vegetables?" Xu Xiangjuan asked when she arrived at her parents' yard and saw her mother digging a hole in the yard with a shovel.
Wu Caifeng rolled her eyes at her daughter and said, "Why grow vegetables? Plant flowers."
Guagua joined in the fun and stood beside grandma, looking at the small hole she had dug. "Grandma, what kind of flower is that?"
Wu Caifeng: "The camellia is so beautiful. Your grandfather took it home right away."
Curious baby Guagua: "Grandma, what kind of flower is camellia?"
"You'll be able to see it when grandpa brings the melon over later." Wu Caifeng was in a good mood at the moment. She didn't argue with her daughter and patiently answered her granddaughter's questions.
Guagua nodded as if he understood, and then asked, "Grandma, when will grandpa come back?"
Wu Caifeng: "I'll be back soon. Guagua went to the main room to eat rice candy. Grandma put the rice candy on the table."
"Eat rice candy!" Guagua, who wanted to eat, ran to the main room, not caring whether his mother agreed or not.
Xu Xiangjuan thought about it for a moment and knew the reason. "Mom, my brothers and sisters know what our family is like. Is it necessary to plant flowers?"
Wu Caifeng: "What's going on? If your brother and sister don't come back, we won't be able to grow flowers?"
Xu Xiangjuan: "Xing, mom, you keep digging. I'm going to eat some rice candy."
She just happened to run into her mother's digging a hole. In her previous life, there was a camellia tree in her house, but she only saw it after it was planted. She had never seen a camellia tree before this year. No wonder she always felt something was missing.
When my memory came back, it turned out to be a camellia tree.
When I entered the main room, I saw Guagua with a piece of rice candy in his left hand and another piece of rice candy in his right hand. After taking a bite of the one in his left hand, he went to bite the one in his right hand. He didn't neglect either one. His little face was covered with rice candy crumbs and his hands were dirty.
The rice candy was not in a large piece, but was separated into slices. There were not many on the table in the main hall, only seven or eight slices. Xu Xiangjuan handed Niu Niu to Zhou Chengning and ate one slice herself. "Gua Gua, you can't eat it after you finish two slices. Save them for grandpa and grandma."
Xu Xiangjuan broke a piece of rice candy into two halves and gave the smaller half to Zhou Chengning. Zhou Chengning was holding Niu Niu and it was inconvenient for him to take it with his hands, so he ate it in one gulp.
Rice candy comes in peanut and sesame flavors, and tastes very good.
Niu Niu was not throwing a tantrum at this moment, he just tried to open his father's mouth with his little hands, but his hands were hidden in his sleeves and he couldn't get them out at all, and it looked like he was hitting his father's mouth with his sleeves.
Zhou Chengning didn't know what Niu Niu was doing, so he pursed his lips to prevent Niu Niu from putting his sleeves in.
Unable to open his father's mouth, Niu Niu simply hit his father on the mouth and shook his sleeves a few times. Fortunately, the little kid had no strength at all, so it was soft and didn't hurt.
Xu Xiangjuan was really at a loss whether to laugh or cry when she saw this, so she simply took Niu Niu back and said to Niu Niu, "You are so brave that you dare to hit your dad."
Guagua was afraid that the world would not be in chaos, "Mom, spank Niu Niu, Niu Niu hit Dad."
Xu Xiangjuan: "Before beating Niu Niu, beat Gua Gua first. His clothes are all dirty. Won't Dad be tired from washing them?"
After hearing what her mother said, Gua Gua immediately ran out of the main room with the rice candy. She didn't want her mother to spank her.
Xu Xiangjuan was really afraid that her daughter would bump into something and start crying. "Run slower!"
Xu Xiangjuan was too lazy to chase after him and sat in the main room waiting for her mother to come in and talk about holding a small banquet for Niu Niu.
Before her mother entered the main room, she heard her father coming back. Xu Xiangjuan carried Niu Niu out to look at the tree.
The camellia tree that Xu Gensheng chose still had red flowers in bloom. It was no taller than his neck and was dug out with its roots, carrying a large piece of soil.
The hole Wu Caifeng dug was almost deep enough to fill the tree with.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Dad, why don't you ask my family to borrow a tricycle? It's convenient to ride a tricycle."
Xu Gensheng buried the tree roots in the hole Wu Caifeng dug, and filled the soil back with a shovel. "The tricycle can't go up the mountain. It's only a few steps away, so it's faster to walk."
Gua Gua was very excited when he saw the flowers, "Grandpa, I want flowers!"
Xu Gensheng picked a flower and handed it to his granddaughter, then continued filling the hole.
Niu Niu stretched out his arms, which were not visible, and wanted to pick the flowers.
Xu Xiangjuan did not give Niu Niu the chance to pick flowers, and carried Niu Niu back to the main room.
After the tree was planted, everyone gathered in the main room.
Xu Xiangjuan asked for suggestions for a small banquet, "Mom, for a small banquet for Niu Niu on the first day of the first lunar month, I plan to boil half a pot of longan tea, put three plates of rice candy, a small plate of lard candy mixed with a few nougats, a small plate of red dates, a plate of melon seeds, a plate of sugar-coated peanuts, and a plate of apples and oranges. Is that enough?"
Wu Caifeng: "That's enough. How can you be so wasteful? You just take away the good stuff."
Xu Xiangjuan: "After eating rice candy, melon seeds and peanuts, you can continue to take them. I don't have anything else. My brothers and sisters are here, so I want to make something better."
"Then we have to prepare it better. I wonder if your brothers and sisters are suffering outside. The good grandchildren should also eat better... Mom has some sugar biscuits here. Take them out to treat your brothers and sisters."
Xu Xiangjuan: "Mom, aren't the sugar biscuits here sent to you by your brother and sister? Save them and keep them for yourself. Xiao Xi just needs to buy enough peanuts, melon seeds and rice candy."
She stocked up a lot of white sugar a while ago. As the New Year is approaching, everything is getting more expensive. She had already thought of making frosted peanuts herself and stocked up more sugar.
Here, no matter whether a boy or girl is born in the same year, they will hold a small banquet for the child on the first day of the first lunar month of the following year. However, some families are so poor that they only eat one meal and skip the next, and have no money to hold the banquet for their children, so they simply do not hold the banquet.
Of course, some people are too stingy to do it for their children and only do it for their sons but not their daughters.
Xu Xiangjuan has already prepared everything for Guagua and Niu Niu. This year is her first year back, so naturally she has to be busy and have a happy new year. It just so happens that Aunt Aning and her brothers and sisters can come.
She wasn’t sure whether Aunt Aning would come, but her brothers and sisters would definitely come, so the more sumptuous the meal, the better.
After confirming the small banquet with his mother, Xu Xiangjuan and her family left. Before leaving, Guagua asked his father to pick a camellia to take back so that he could show off two of them to Miaomiao.
The author has something to say: Thank you, little fairy, for throwing a mine in this life~~~~
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
