The child was very sleepy, so Xu Xiangjuan stopped talking to the child's father and let the child wash up first.
After washing up, Gua Gua climbed into bed to go to sleep. The new clothes she was going to wear tomorrow were already placed next to her pillow. She had put them there early so she could put on the new clothes directly when she woke up tomorrow morning.
Zhou Chengning was still standing behind Xu Xiangjuan without moving. Xu Xiangjuan saw that Guagua was indeed going to sleep, so she turned around and talked to him, "You should also go to bed quickly."
Zhou Chengning: "I'll go to bed in a minute."
"No, I want you to go to bed before I leave. You've finished washing up, so you can go to bed directly." She wouldn't let Zhou Chengning get away with it.
She had no doubt that her man would follow her to her parents' house and wait for her at the door.
"Juan, don't worry about me. I'm going to sleep now. You should go quickly. The earlier you go, the earlier you can come back." Zhou Chengning took off his cotton jacket and drove people away.
"Don't you usually take off your cotton-padded jacket after going to bed? Why are you taking it off before going to bed today?" It's cold in winter, so their family puts clothes and pants by the bed for both adults and children. If there are two people sleeping on one end, the person sleeping inside puts the clothes innermost, and the person sleeping outside puts the clothes outermost, so that they can put on their clothes directly when they get up in the morning.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't want to complain, but she couldn't perform the act completely, and Guagua was a better actor than his father.
Zhou Chengning had no choice but to go into bed as his lover said, and wait until his lover left before going out.
Seeing Zhou Chengning lying down, Xu Xiangjuan was worried, so she leaned over the bed and whispered in his ear, "Warm the bed for me. I want to sleep warmly when I get home."
It’s not actually that cold today. The stove at home is cold and there’s no boiling water. There’s only water in the thermos that was boiled yesterday. I can’t even feel the water temperature when I fill the hot water bag.
Niu Niu and Gua Gua don’t need hot water bottles tonight, but they can’t just leave their men with nothing to do and think about going out as soon as they have nothing to do.
When Zhou Chengning heard this, he stopped thinking about following his lover and focused on keeping the bed warm.
To make sure that her man would not do anything wrong, Xu Xiangjuan went to her parents' house.
...
"Juan, I think your personality has really changed a lot." After the whole family finished chatting, the two sisters chatted alone in the room.
The nephew was sleeping, and Xu Xiangjuan asked her sister not to sit by the bed and chat with her. The two of them moved stools to the corner of the room to chat.
The room for the two sisters is neither big nor small. It is better to sit in the corner and chat quietly than to sit on the bed and chat. At least it will not affect the sleeping children much.
The children ran and jumped all day today and slept soundly at night.
After going through so much, how could it not change? Xu Xiangjuan pretended to be curious and asked her sister, "How could it have changed so much?"
Xu Xianglan couldn't describe it immediately. "I don't know... maybe like a mother?"
When I think of my own sister, my impression of her is that she has a quick temper, protects her shortcomings, and is decisive. Why does she seem gentle now?
Could it be that she was influenced by her brother-in-law?
It's possible. After all, birds of a feather flock together. My sister is almost losing her temper because of her brother-in-law.
Xu Xiangjuan was helpless, "Sister, what are you talking about? How am I not like a mother?"
Xu Xianglan: "That's not quite accurate. You've become much gentler, and your sister isn't used to it."
Xu Xiangjuan: "Is it not good for me to be gentle? It saves us from talking and arguing all day long, which is annoying to listen to."
"Is it because of your brother-in-law? To be honest, apart from our mother, your brothers and I all supported you marrying your brother-in-law."
How could I not agree? My brothers and sisters have always said that my sister should find a man with a calm temper so that the family can live in peace, and she should not marry a man with a quick temper.
Aren’t these two people with hot tempers going to blow the roof off your house every day?
Xu Xiangjuan: "Mom only cared about money at that time. I wanted to be satisfied with myself. I was not a child, so I didn't want her to control me."
Xu Xianglan sighed, "I think you are just a child, and children don't care what others think."
Xu Xiangjuan: "Sister, you are the one who lives your life, not someone else's. Our mother just has poor taste. Fortunately, none of us four brothers and sisters married the person she chose."
My sister found her brother-in-law herself. He was an educated youth who went to the countryside. At that time, my sister faced a lot of resistance when she wanted to be with him. My sister didn't have a bad temper like her, and the psychological pressure was much greater than when she got married.
Xu Xianglan laughed, "Who told me that my mother gave birth to a bunch of hard bones?"
Xu Xiangjuan: "Yeah, a bunch of tough guys, none of them look like mom... Sister, how are you doing?"
Xu Xianglan: "It's pretty good. I eat and drink as I should. Your brother-in-law is caring and your mother-in-law is easy to talk to. The old man at home was sick and hospitalized this year, so he didn't come."
Xu Xiangjuan: "I hope the old man can recover soon."
Xu Xianglan: "I hope that your brother-in-law will let me go home and rest for a few days. My family is so busy. I have to take a bus for two or three days, stay at home for two or three days, and then go back for another two or three days. I have wasted a lot of time on the road... I really want to stay at our house for a few more days."
Xu Xiangjuan: "It's only been a few days since the Chinese New Year and the house is deserted again."
Xu Xianglan: "Let's have fun while the fun is going on."
"What's the fuss? Isn't the New Year all about making food and eating... Sister, take it."
Seeing her sister take out a red envelope, Xu Xianglan immediately pushed it back, "What are you doing?"
"The New Year's money for my nephew, sister, didn't you give it to my Guagua and Niu Niu? What's wrong with me giving a red envelope to my nephew?"
Today, not only her mother, but also her sister-in-law and sister gave her children red envelopes of New Year's money. The two children are young, so the money did not need to go through their hands, but went directly into her pocket as a mother.
She always gave some to her nephews and nieces, but she was worried about giving them to children, fearing that they would buy firecrackers. She wanted to give them directly to her sisters-in-law, but her sisters-in-law pushed them back.
"No need. You are the youngest sister in the family. It is not reasonable for you to give red envelopes. What's the point of giving? It also costs you money."
"You said what's the point of giving it back and forth, why don't you give it back to me?"
Xu Xianglan: "I'm not giving it to you. I'm giving it to my little nephew. Niu Niu was born this year, and my brothers and sisters couldn't come to the birthday party, so we have to give him some New Year's money, which can also be considered as a gift."
No matter what my little sister is, she is still my little sister. In the eyes of my parents, brothers and sisters, she will always be a child who will never grow up.
"Yeah, then I won't push it off with you, sister." Xu Xiangjuan took back the red envelope decisively.
Others might mind, but Xu Xianglan was always generous to her own sister. "That's it. Stop it. Just leave me some more food tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll make pork dumplings tomorrow night. You can eat a few more, sister. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow... Sister, why are you leaving so soon?"
Xu Xianglan: "I can't cry on New Year's Day. Don't make me cry."
Xu Xiangjuan sighed: "Okay, I know you like to cry, I won't say anything more."
Xu Xiangjuan is a person who has experienced separation of life and death, but even if she has experienced it again, she still can't take it lightly.
...
The two sisters chatted until after ten o'clock in the evening. After the night chat, Xu Xianglan sent Xu Xiangjuan out of the yard, and after her sister left, she bolted the yard door.
Although it was not particularly cold during the day, the temperature dropped at night and was much lower than during the day. My sister wanted to stay and sleep alone, but she didn't because she was really worried about Niu Niu, Gua Gua, and Aning at home.
It's still relatively quiet now, occasionally you can hear the sound of firecrackers coming from afar, every household has lights on, and there are a few sparse stars hanging in the night sky.
Xu Xiangjuan was not in the mood to appreciate the night view. She walked faster unconsciously and just wanted to go home and sleep early.
When they arrived at the door of the house, the gate to the yard was not locked. Xu Xiangjuan had left the door open when she went out, and bolted it immediately after entering the yard.
Instead of going back to the inner room immediately, Xu Xiangjuan went to see where the candle in the kitchen had burned.
The candle was almost burned out, so she didn't light a new one. She just let it burn out.
After washing up, Xu Xiangjuan carried a kerosene lamp into the inner room. Seeing that Guagua and Niu Niu were sleeping in the right position, she turned off the light and went to bed.
She didn't plan to sleep in the same bed with the child's father tonight. After all, she had just come back from outside and was cold, which would wake the child's father up.
At night, she sleeps in the same quilt with Guagua. Guagua is not as big as his father, so the quilt where Guagua sleeps is basically only warm in a small area centered on herself, and the quilt is not small. As Guagua's freezing mother, it naturally has no effect on Guagua.
"Juan, you're back?" Zhou Chengning's sleepy voice sounded.
"Well, I just came back, go to sleep."
Zhou Chengning originally wanted to wait for his lover to come back in bed, but he couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep first, but it was not a deep sleep, so he woke up quickly when he heard the noise, "Juan, get into bed as soon as you come back, it's warm in bed."
Hearing the rustling sound of the quilt being lifted, Xu Xiangjuan asked, "Hurry up and cover yourself with the quilt. Do you want to freeze yourself?"
Later young people especially liked to use death to express the degree of something, such as dying of heat, dying of cold, dying of hunger, dying of sleepiness.
People of Xu Xiangjuan's generation are particularly superstitious about the word death, so it is naturally impossible for them to say that they froze to death.
"Juan, didn't you tell me to warm the quilt and wait for you to come back to sleep at night?" Zhou Chengning felt wronged.
"I asked you to warm the bed, not to wait for me..."
"But I've warmed you up, Juan. Come in quickly, or you'll get sick." Zhou Chengning didn't put the quilt back on.
"I know. I'll get into bed."
Helpless, Xu Xiangjuan groped her way into Zhou Chengning's bed.
My man’s bed is really warm.
Zhou Chengning felt the coolness on his lover's body and gave him a bear hug in the bed.
I was caught off guard and was suddenly hugged. "Are you awake?"
Zhou Chengning explained his behavior, "Wake up, Juan, you are cold, I will warm you up."
"Okay. OK." Xu Xiangjuan did not push Zhou Chengning away and let him hug her.
After hugging for a while, Xu Xiangjuan felt warm all over, "Aning, why are you so nice?"
When Zhou Chengning heard what his lover said, he didn't know how to respond.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't wait for Zhou Chengning to reply, "Go to sleep, we have a lot to do tomorrow."
I have to get up early in the morning, set the table for food, make tea, clean, take care of the children... I feel tired just thinking about it.
Zhou Chengning complained again, "Juan."
Xu Xiangjuan replied lazily, "Yeah."
"It's my duty to be nice to you." Yes, that's right, that's the right answer.
Xu Xiangjuan: "There is no such thing as should or should not, only whether or not you are willing to do it."
My love is right!
"I am willing to be nice to you."
"Don't try to apply what you have learned. Go to sleep. I have been talking to my sister all night. I will talk to you about husband and wife tomorrow night."
Zhou Chengning was embarrassed, "Juan, what is husband and wife talk?"
Xu Xiangjuan: ...Why do I sound a little shy in my man's voice?
"What the couple said."
Zhou Chengning: "Juan, you are tired at night, let's get some rest and talk about husband and wife tomorrow night."
Xu Xiangjuan always felt that Zhou Chengning had misunderstood something...
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