Zhou Chengning had no experience in giving gifts at all. When they reached the place where the bicycles were parked, the couple decided to think about it after returning home in the evening.
It was almost 6:30 in the evening when we arrived at the restaurant, close to closing time.
Xu Xiangjuan decided to hang up the closing sign in advance, and the guests who were still eating inside had to wait for them to finish their meal.
The restaurant was not full, but Gua Gua Niu Niu was already sitting at an empty table enjoying dinner.
Now the closing time has been delayed and the two children have to go to bed early, so they don’t have to wait for mom and dad for meals. After all, except for Friday when mom picks up dad for dinner and he is not in the restaurant, he is busy at other times.
Niu Niu is already using chopsticks, although he is not very skilled at it. But seeing him trying hard to eat the noodle soup with chopsticks, I think it can whet other people's appetites.
The restaurant was already closed and there were no new customers, so there was no need to rush. Xu Xiangjuan ordered herself a bowl of hand-rolled noodles and gave Aning a generous portion of rice and vegetables on the rice bowl.
Aning works and attends classes until six o'clock, and still has half an hour on the way home, so she must be hungry. Whenever she has to go to class, she eats more for dinner than usual.
Aunt Zhao and Sister Yang let them have their dinner and go home, and she would do the rest of the finishing work.
When Mom and Dad started eating, Gua Gua had already finished eating and got a few chopsticks of hand-rolled noodles from Mom. As for Niu Niu, he had only eaten half of the noodles.
Niu Niu: "Mom, chili."
When Xu Xiangjuan saw Niu Niu pointing at the chili oil on the table, she took the chili oil and scooped some oil onto the noodles for Niu Niu.
The snow-white soup noodles were added with some chili oil, and the orange oil slowly spread on the soup, but not much was added, so half a bowl of noodles was not spicy.
Niu Niu likes spicy food just like his father, but there is a difference between the two.
Dad can really eat spicy food, so Niu Niu follows his example and adds chili oil to his noodle soup, rice noodle soup, etc. Mom says that we can’t add chili oil to ourselves when there are no adults around. Niu Niu is also afraid of knocking over the chili oil can, so he always waits for Mom to be around to add it for him.
The chili oil in Xu Xiangjuan's restaurant really needs a lot of it to be spicy. People who like spicy food can finish half a can of chili oil. Aning is like this. When eating a big bowl of noodles, she needs to add a lot of chili oil, especially in winter. Niu Niu is different from his father. Niu Niu just sees that his father adds chili oil and the food tastes delicious, so he associates chili oil with enhancing flavor. Just seeing the color of chili oil on the soup noodles makes him feel that the taste is even better.
What Niu Niu’s father loves is the spicy taste, and what Niu Niu loves is the spicy color.
Zhou Chengning took one braised duck foot from his bowl and gave it to his wife and Guagua Niu Niu respectively. He also had shredded white radish, spicy fried potato chips, stir-fried cabbage with tofu and a braised duck leg, which was enough for them to eat.
Xu Xiangjuan told Niu Niu to be careful when eating braised duck feet and to spit out the bones in time.
"Niu Niu, you are going to see your uncle the day after tomorrow. What are you going to bring for him?" Xu Xiangjuan really couldn't think of any other ideas, so she asked Niu Niu who was concentrating on eating duck feet.
Niu Niu listened to his mother and spat out a small piece of duck paw bone: "Give this."
Niu Niu pointed at the duck paw he was eating.
Zhou Chengning felt that Niu Niu was a down-to-earth child: "Juan, it's ok. We can put braised duck feet in the lunch box and go early. Ping An can have another dish for his lunch at home. Now that the weather is cold, we can keep it and heat it up to eat in the evening. We can also pack two bottles of chili oil for Ping An."
The chili oil in the restaurant is made by my wife. It is a unique dish. Homemade chili oil is also used in making malatang. Chili oil is consumed much faster than vinegar.
Zhou Chengning agreed to send chili oil and duck feet anyway.
The father and son's words were not very reliable, but Xu Xiangjuan was slightly moved and asked Guagua for his opinion: "Guagua, what do you think? What should I give as a gift in winter?"
"Put on a hot water bottle with woolen clothes, and the duck feet chili oil that Dad and Niu Niu mentioned will also work."
Although Gua Gua doesn’t eat spicy food, he also agrees that the braised duck feet and chili oil at home are delicious, so it’s definitely okay to give them to my cousin Ping An.
The hot water bottle is her treasure, so of course it is recommended.
Zhou Chengning didn't have any ideas at first, but after the two kids said so, he thought both would be fine: "A hot water bottle is fine, and a woolen jacket can be used by Ping An at school to warm his hands."
He thought the woolen sweater made by his wife was very fashionable and young children would definitely like it.
Xu Xiangjuan probably had an idea that hot water bottles could be added to the gift list.
Heating is not fully mature in northern cities now, nor in the countryside where you can heat kangs. Many people living in residential buildings use heaters. My aunt works in the public security system. Although she is not closely related to firefighting, she has contact with it. She does not approve of the use of heaters. Ping An basically relies on wearing thick clothes to get through the winter at home, which is no different from their family.
Nowadays, hot water bottles are still made of rubber, which has a smell and does not look good, so she made woolen covers that can block out the smell and keep warm, slowing down the temperature and making them less hot. Niu Niu and Gua Gua have to change the woolen covers every now and then. In addition to cleaning them, they also need to be changed with the same idea as changing clothes for a doll, so she made several and could put them directly on Ping An.
My cousin is very generous to Niu Niu and Gua Gua, and the two children definitely wouldn’t mind giving their woolen bags to my cousin.
...
When visiting my aunt's family on Sunday, Xu Xiangjuan really took the children's opinions into consideration. She even got two hot water bottles and put them in a nice bag to make it look less casual.
I brought three cans of chili oil. It’s winter now, so it won’t go bad easily and can be stored for a longer time.
The duck feet and duck heads were packed in a lunch box and put in a net bag. If there was no one around, they could take them home and eat them themselves. If there were people around, they could just add to the dishes.
In addition to these three items, Xu Xiangjuan also bought tea, which was for the adults. The tea was sent to him by his third brother.
My third brother is now in the tea business. His father-in-law's family are tea farmers who make tea. My third brother didn't do the tea business originally, but in recent years he has become more active and started selling tea. He also sent two cans of tea to each of his parents, brothers, sisters and younger sister, including black tea and green tea.
Xu Xiangjuan had previously opened a can of green tea for Aning to use to refresh herself, but later she found that Aning was really sleepy and still felt sleepy after drinking the tea, and she felt it was a waste to leave it aside, so she made several tea-related dishes with the tea leaves. She didn't feel sorry until the tea was almost used up.
The tea sold by my third brother is not cheap. When I was looking for a woolen bag, I accidentally saw an unopened tea and thought I could give it away as a gift.
The tea was for my aunt and uncle, and there was also a bundle of homemade sausages.
They were relatively small gifts, and didn’t cost much, but the thought was definitely there.
"Are you looking for Cunxin's family?"
The family stopped at the door of their aunt's house and knocked several times but no one answered. Niu Niu even shouted to his uncle to open the door because Ping An was not at home.
Xu Xiangjuan wanted to find a neighbor to ask when Ping An would be home. If he was not at home, they would not have to wait in vain.
Before they could ask, an old lady who came back from buying groceries asked the family.
Xu Xiangjuan nodded: "Yes, let's go find my aunt."
"Cunxin was hospitalized for two months. The couple was busy with work and never went home. Ping'an was in high school and lived in the school. He should have gone to accompany his mother during the holidays."
When Xu Xiangjuan heard her aunt say that her aunt was in the hospital, she immediately asked the reason.
It turned out that they were attacking a group of criminals called Mu Cang. The reason she was injured was not because of the Mu Cang injury. It was because of this big case that my aunt had been under great pressure and was in a bad mood. She insisted on working despite her illness and her leg was severely fractured during the arrest process.
Fortunately, we successfully arrested the criminal gang, otherwise the loss would have been too great.
My aunt went to the scene to make arrangements, and my aunt said that my aunt was really lucky.
Indeed, how could she not be lucky? Xu Xiangjuan was frightened.
Xu Xiangjuan: "Aunt, do you know which hospital it is?"
"Yes, my neighbor and I went there together. It used to be the First Hospital in Huadu, but later we were transferred to the Second Hospital, which is more famous for its orthopedic department. I've been to the First Hospital, but not the Second. But you should be able to find out by asking around. Maybe you can even meet Ping An."
Xu Xiangjuan: "Thank you, Auntie. We'll go to the hospital right away."
Feeling scared just thinking about it, Xu Xiangjuan immediately changed her route with Zhou Chengning and the children to visit her aunt.
I had to ask for directions before I found the Second Hospital.
It was almost eleven o'clock when Xu Xiangjuan arrived at the hospital. She asked the nurse which ward Zhou Cun, an orthopedic patient, was in.
The case of patient Zhou Cunxin is rather special. Last month, someone came to visit her almost every day, and this month there have been quite a few visitors every few days as well. The nurse of course knew that they were in the local area, but was not sure whether this family was a dangerous group. She said she was not sure and asked colleagues on their behalf.
He said he was going to ask his colleagues, but in fact he was going to ask the patient's family if they knew the visiting family.
Xu Xiangjuan didn't have so many complicated thoughts now. She just waited for the nurse to ask if her aunt was there. If not, it would be a wasted trip.
Medical technology is not that advanced nowadays. If my aunt has a serious fracture, she will have to rest for a long time, otherwise the sequelae will be unbearable.
"Mom, I must be in a lot of pain because of my illness." Niu Niu and her sister are afraid of hospitals, especially the younger Niu Niu.
Xu Xiangjuan touched Niu Niu's soft hair and said, "Yeah, it hurts a lot, but it doesn't hurt anymore now."
Zhou Chengning: "Juan, should our family give some money to aunt? I don't know if the money left at home is enough."
He is also very anxious now. Although it has been two months, he knows that being hospitalized for such a long time due to illness must have cost a lot of money.
"I'll ask when the time comes. At worst, I can lend money to my aunt." Xu Xiangjuan suddenly felt that she bought the store too early, but the money had already been spent and could not be taken back.
He has been in the hospital for two months. My aunt's family must have spent a lot of money. Even if they had money, most of it would be gone.
Song Ping'an heard the nurse coming to tell him that someone came to visit his mother and asked if he knew them. After listening to the nurse's description, he realized it was his cousin's family, so he hurriedly said that he knew them and went downstairs to pick them up.
Seeing Ping An, Xu Xiangjuan confirmed that her aunt was indeed there. The family followed Ping An to the ward. On the way, Xu Xiangjuan whispered to Ping An about her aunt's condition.
When they arrived at the ward, Niu Niu and Gua Gua were afraid to go in, so the couple went in carrying their things.
"Uncle, will I be unable to walk in the future? I can't walk if my legs are broken." Niu Niu was afraid of seeing a broken leg.
It was obvious that the child had misunderstood something, so Ping An patiently explained: "The leg is not broken, just the bone is broken. It can heal, and the leg is still there."
Guagua: "Uncle, why does it take so long? I've been living here for two months and I'm still not well?"
My younger brother had mosquito bites on his body before, and he went to the hospital and got a shot in the butt and it was cured.
Guagua didn’t know what disease her brother had, but she knew that he had a lot of mosquito bites on his body. Her mom and dad took her to take her brother to get an injection.
Less than a day later, the injection took less than ten seconds, and I heard my brother crying for a long time after the injection.
Guagua believes that the longer he stays in the hospital, the worse his condition will become.
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