"Aning, wake up, it's time for dinner." Xu Xiangjuan carried Niu Niu to the inner room and called Zhou Chengning to have dinner.
Niu Niu is not as soft and gentle as his mother. He makes noises and tries to kick his father's face with his little feet, but unfortunately his feet are controlled by his mother.
"Hmm... why is it so dark now!" Zhou Chengning's sleepy voice immediately turned into fear and he sat up abruptly.
The light in the house is dim, but looking out the window, one can also see the dimness outside.
It’s not early, but it’s not that late either. “The first pot of dumplings is almost ready. You should get dressed and have dinner. Don’t get cold.”
She had selectively forgotten what happened in the afternoon.
Feeling sorry for her husband having to get up at four in the morning to work, she didn't wake him up so early, but waited until it was time for dinner before waking him up.
Also tired, Guagua got up by himself to go find his brothers and sisters, but Aning, the father who usually gets up the earliest in the family, did not wake up after hearing the noise.
Zhou Chengning quickly put on his cotton jacket, "Juan, I didn't oversleep on purpose."
Now I feel regretful that I shouldn't have gone to sleep in the afternoon.
Xu Xiangjuan: "I know you didn't do it on purpose. I just wanted you to sleep a little longer. When you wake up, go wash your face. There's water in the thermos outside. I've also put the basin and towel outside for you."
After all, there are not only four of us in the family, we can't show up in front of others looking like we just woke up.
Niu Niu made a few "ah ah" sounds, and to Zhou Chengning's ears, it sounded like he was calling lazy daddy.
Afraid that her husband would be embarrassed to go to the kitchen because he had slept for too long, Xu Xiangjuan waited for him to wash his face and went into the kitchen with him.
The children were still playing in the yard. Xu Xiangjuan was holding Niu Niu. She didn't plan to eat the first pot of dumplings. There was definitely not enough dumplings to share. So she let the adults eat a full bowl first, and the children each had two or three to try. She would eat her fill from the second pot later.
She prepared the filling and dipping sauce, rolled out the dumpling wrappers, and left the rest of the work of making and cooking the dumplings to her sister and sister-in-law while she took care of the children.
Considering that there were so many people, the dipping sauce might not be liked by everyone, so Xu Xiangjuan specially put chili sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil on the large round table outside, and also mashed a lot of garlic, so everyone could add it according to their preferences.
In order to cook the dumplings, you have to add water two or three times when the water is boiling. After adding water several times, a pot of dumplings is ready.
When Zhou Chengning followed Xu Xiangjuan into the kitchen, they just lifted the lid of the pot for the last time.
All the adults were in the kitchen, but no one said anything to Zhou Chengning. However, Zhou Chengning felt guilty and didn't dare to say a word.
Not to mention teaching in school, which is his job, but in life, there are not many men who can make her talkative. Even if it is her grandfather, once the aunt she is not very familiar with is around, he will be taciturn and have nothing to say.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't think it was wrong. She felt it was inconvenient to serve the dumplings while holding the child, so she asked her second sister to help. The adults all had full bowls, and Zhou Chengning also got a bowl. She thought her husband would get one too, but he didn't seem to intend to eat it. He went outside and called the children in to eat the dumplings.
The children came in, and the kitchen was really crowded with people. While the children were chattering non-stop, Zhou Chengning spoke the first words since entering the kitchen, "Juan, I'll serve you a bowl later."
Xu Xiangjuan: "No need to serve me more. There's not much left from the first pot. The children can each share two. After that, we'll start cooking the second pot and I'll eat the second pot."
Zhou Chengning saw that there were indeed only a few dumplings left in the pot, so he took his bowl and went out to the kitchen, asking his lover to go out with him.
It wasn't pitch dark outside yet, and the big round table had not been moved in the yard. The kitchen was too crowded, so we had to eat dumplings outside.
Zhou Chengning had thick calluses on his hands, so he didn't feel much when holding the bowl full of hot dumpling soup. Seeing that her man didn't seem to notice the heat, Xu Xiangjuan didn't say anything if he wasn't hot, and followed him to the yard.
The second batch of dumplings had been wrapped when the first batch was put into the pot, so as soon as all the first batch of dumplings were served, the second batch could be cooked directly.
Xu Xiangjuan and Zhou Chengning sat on the same bench. Seeing that no one was paying attention, Zhou Chengning picked up a dumpling and when it was almost cold, he brought it to Xu Xiangjuan's mouth.
When Niu Niu saw the dumplings right in front of him, he opened his mouth and prepared to eat them faster than his mother.
Knowing that the dumpling was for her, Xu Xiangjuan opened her mouth and the dumpling was quickly delivered to her mouth. Niu Niu didn't know how many times she had experienced this scene and felt aggrieved and wanted to cry.
Xu Xiangjuan also prepared Niu Niu's dinner, "I'll serve Niu Niu's dinner and be back soon, you eat the dumplings first."
Zhou Chengning started eating dumplings only after hearing this.
Because his wife had been on a diet since she gave birth and still doesn't eat spicy or oily food, he didn't pour any dipping sauce on it and directly served the dumplings to her without any sauce. Now when she eats them, she feels that the dumplings are delicious even without the dipping sauce.
The taste of celery is subtle, but the filling is more delicious. The soup used to cook the dumplings is light, but when you bite into the dumplings, the soup that seeps into the dumplings is very delicious. When you eat the soup and fillings, you can completely ignore the bland dumpling skin.
The shapes of dumplings are all different, but because the dumpling skins are rolled to even thickness and the fillings are delicious, the dumplings are delicious no matter how they are wrapped.
He couldn't wait for his lover to come back so he could feed her a second dumpling.
Xu Xiangjuan entered the kitchen and saw her eldest brother eating dumplings from a bowl while cooking, while her second sister and a group of children were chattering and dividing the dumplings.
When his brothers and sisters are around, Gua Gua is always very polite and generous, and is willing to share one of his two dumplings with his cousin.
Xu Xianglan naturally started distributing dumplings to other children first and her own son last. She didn't expect that there would only be one left.
Thinking there would be a few left, she shared them with the other children and could eat them herself. Her son didn't say much, but when little Gua Gua saw this, he took the initiative to share one of the dumplings in his bowl with her brother, saying that her mother would make more for him in the future and that his brother should eat more.
No need for later, there will be another pot later.
Xu Xiangjuan just passed by to get Niu Niu's pumpkin puree, and when she saw that the children were fine, she went back outside.
Her elder sister Xu Xianglan has praised her more than once for teaching the children well, but it’s not just her who teaches well...well, it’s both her and the child’s father who teach well.
At night, Xu Xiangjuan feeds Niu Niu and Zhou Chengning feeds Xu Xiangjuan, and they get along very well.
Xu Xiangjuan felt that she didn't even need to eat a second pot of dumplings as she would be fed by her man.
The second sister will leave tomorrow morning. After the whole family has a lively dinner and cleans up the place, Xu Xianglan stays. The two sisters talk for a while. Then Xu Xiangjuan lets the second sister go back to bed early so that she can go home with more energy tomorrow.
After the second sister left, there were only four people left in the house. After Zhou Chengning washed up, he couldn't sleep for a while and waited for his lover to come back to the inner room.
Guagua: "Dad, will my brother and sister come to our house tomorrow?"
She likes having many older brothers and sisters to play with her, and they will give her things.
Zhou Chengning: "I will come the day after tomorrow night. If my brothers and sisters don't come, Guagua can go to my grandparents' house to play with them. Guagua will go to kindergarten soon, and there will be many brothers and sisters, as well as younger brothers and sisters, with Guagua."
The couple had already decided to put Guagua in the town’s kindergarten, so Zhou Chengning had already asked the principal of the kindergarten and learned that his daughter met the requirements and could be sent there next semester.
When the kindergarten opened, his wife and he went to send Gua Gua to the kindergarten together. From then on, he was responsible for sending his daughter to the kindergarten and returning home.
When Guagua heard that she would have older brothers and sisters in the future, she was no longer so worried and asked her father when she would go to kindergarten.
Xu Xiangjuan came in just in time to hear her daughter asking about the time to go to kindergarten. "There are still a dozen days left. Daddy will take you to kindergarten. From now on, you will go out and come home with Daddy."
Guagua didn’t cry like other children when she went to kindergarten. All the parents were worried about their children going to kindergarten, but Guagua didn’t react much. She thought she wouldn’t have to worry about her child, but she didn’t expect that Niu Niu was waiting for her.
Guagua: “Take the car.”
"There is a car to take every day, so Guagua goes to bed early." The geographical location of their home is not very good, and it is really inconvenient to go to school.
Xu Xiangjuan coaxed the sleeping Niu Niu into the small bed, took off her cotton jacket and prepared to go to bed.
There is nothing to do tomorrow. Everyone has a day off on the second day of the first lunar month. Today is really busy and she is so sleepy now.
"Juan, I didn't mean to do that during the day." Seeing that his lover was really sleeping in the same bed with his daughter, Zhou Chengning apologized.
"I know you didn't mean it." Xu Xiangjuan had no intention of moving the quilt and said with all her might.
"Juan...the first day I met you, I wore my most decent clothes." When chatting with Teacher Wang today, he recalled the scene at that time.
Although he didn't have any expectations when meeting his lover, he still thought he should be polite, so he wore his newer clothes. Even though they were two or three years old, they were really new and he hadn't worn them many times.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't quite remember what her man was wearing at the time. She just thought he was tall, looked safe, handsome, and spoke gently. She had no impression of what he was wearing. "Well, he looked good and decent."
"Juan, why don't you sleep in the same bed with me today? I have warmed the bed." Since he is decent and good-looking, why not sleep in the same bed with him?
Zhou Chengning felt that the time when his lover had the best impression of him was when they first met. He helped his lover recall why his lover had such a bland tone.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Because I keep my word."
...It seems that he said that he slept alone at night.
"I've been busy all day today and I'm very sleepy. You should go to bed early too." After Xu Xiangjuan finished speaking, she didn't hear Zhou Chengning continue talking and she fell asleep quickly.
Zhou Chengning had a nap in the afternoon and is now very awake. He wondered if he should dress more decently in the future.
After all, memories will become blurred one day, and I am really afraid that one day my lover will not even remember what he looks like in a decent manner.
...
My second sister passed away on the second day of the first lunar month, and my third brother and aunt passed away on the fourth day of the first lunar month. The year is almost over.
"Juan, grandpa has been looking for friends recently and thinks I'm annoying, so he sent me back." Zhou Chengning sighed while eating lunch.
"Dad is annoying." Guagua agreed while eating with chopsticks with difficulty.
Xu Xiangjuan talked to her aunt, who had told her that she wanted to take grandpa to Huadu, but grandpa refused, so she had to give up. Most elderly people are unwilling to move and are attached to their homeland.
Since grandpa was unwilling to leave, she thought that Aning could go and visit grandpa more often when she had time. Unexpectedly, grandpa found an old friend, who was said to have lived in the cowshed before. Even after he recovered, he did not go back and stayed here to retire.
She was too young at that time, but in Xu Xiangjuan's impression, apart from the heavy labor, nothing bad seemed to have happened here, so it was quite suitable for retirement.
Later, the arable land in the countryside continued to shrink and was basically converted into residential land for building houses. However, since their area had a large land area and few people, they did not build houses. Later, it became a grain base with good air quality, and many people were willing to come back to retire.
"It's good that Grandpa has found a friend. He has something to do... Even so, you should go and see him when you have time."
"Juan, I know... Gua Gua can't say that dad is annoying." Zhou Chengning felt quite a blow when his daughter called him annoying.
Guagua added fuel to the fire, "Dad is annoying. He has to talk a lot to mom at night. Mom, Dad is annoying."
"Did you hear that? Talk less next time." Xu Xiangjuan was not afraid that her daughter would hear something she shouldn't hear...and she and her husband hadn't said anything she shouldn't hear either.
Zhou Chengning was frightened by his daughter, "Guagua, what did Daddy say to Mommy last night?"
Guagua: "I don't know, Daddy Bubble Bubble is the same as Little Honey."
The little guy can also use metaphors.
"Gua Gua, it's a little bee, not a little honey." Xu Xiangjuan corrected her daughter helplessly.
Indeed, it was Aning who usually talked more, and she usually listened and occasionally responded.
The author has something to say: A little bit fat (run away by lifting the pot lid).
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