Chapter 159: I Will Definitely Be Able to Raise the Child
If it weren't for the fact that they were in public, Wen Wan would really have leaned on Lu Dongping. She had never queued in such a long line in her life. She didn't check the almanac before going out today.
Fortunately, she did get some gains. She bought a piece of gabardine and a piece of navy blue twill, both of which were quite thick.
After they finished buying the things, it was Li Chunshu and his girlfriend's turn in the next group.
Lu Dongping greeted him and said, "We have other things to do. You guys come later."
Li Chunshu responded and reminded him, "Okay, come early then!"
Lu Dongping nodded and protected Wen Wan as they walked out of the crowd.
After they had slowed down a bit at the door, Lu Dongping asked her, "Do you want to buy anything else?"
Wen Wan looked at the crowd of people inside and shook her head decisively: "No, no, no, my legs are almost broken." As she said that, she raised her hand to check the time. Oh my God, it took her more than two hours to buy a piece of cloth. How could she dare to buy anything else?
"Aren't you going to take a shower? Sit here for a while. I'll go buy you some soap and shampoo. There seem to be fewer people over there, not as many as here. I'll be there soon."
Wen Wan thought for a moment and said, "I'd better go with you!"
"Okay, as long as you can bear it."
Compared to the place just now, the place selling daily necessities was not as crowded. Lu Dongping bought soap, towel, shampoo and cream according to her usual needs. After thinking for a while, she bought a box of vanishing cream. Wenwan uses this stuff all year round, on her hands and face.
After they were done, the two of them didn't delay any longer and pushed their bicycles towards the bathhouse. Lu Dongping said to her as they walked, "I still have to go to the department store. The day before yesterday, my uncle told me to see if I could buy some malted milk when I get to the county town. I'd make some for Chuyi. He can't drink milk, so he's only feeding him rice porridge now. He's worried he won't be able to keep up."
Wen Wan glanced at him and said, "I have milk powder, a whole package that's still unopened. That's better than malted milk."
Lu Dongping said, "That's what your family sent you. Keep it and drink it slowly. If your uncle said to buy malted milk, then buy malted milk. He gave you the money."
Wen Wan didn't insist. She gave him the money and went into the bathhouse herself. Then Lu Dongping rode his bike back to the department store.
It was just a coincidence that I met Li Chunshu last time, and this time I met Xu Wenfang and Zhang Yun.
"Lu Dongping, Lu Dongping!" Zhang Yun waved her arms vigorously in the crowd. Lu Dongping heard the voice, looked back, nodded in response, and continued to follow the crowd inside with the sack, going to the side with supplementary food.
Xu Wenfang frowned slightly as she looked at Zhang Yun who was looking excited. She always felt that Zhang Yun was acting weird recently. She used to speak softly and would cry when others spoke loudly, but recently she seemed like a different person, becoming much more generous and cheerful, especially - she glanced towards where Lu Dongping went, and suddenly a horrifying idea emerged in her mind.
She shook her head vigorously to get rid of this terrible idea, but Zhang Yun's eager look made it impossible for her to get rid of it. Instead, she thought about it more and more.
He reached out and pulled Zhang Yun: "Aren't you here to buy something? Why are you still queuing? What are you staring at Secretary Lu for? He's married, so be careful. If someone throws dirty water at you later, don't blame me for not warning you. Your behavior should be reported and criticized."
Zhang Yun retracted her gaze, staring at Xu Wenfang with wide eyes, as if she was spitting blood and making trouble for no reason: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Xu Wenfang smiled and said, "You know whether it's nonsense or not." Then she ignored her and followed the team forward.
Zhang Yun's eyes flickered. The unspoken and unspoken thoughts that had been suppressed deep in her heart were suddenly shattered by Xu Wenfang's words. She felt angry and inexplicably guilty at the same time.
Ever since she went to the Lu family's banquet, it was as if a devil had grown in her heart, instigating her to have all kinds of strange ideas.
When she saw how solemnly and thoroughly the Lu family prepared to marry Wen Wan, she had an idea: finding a man locally wouldn't be a bad idea. As long as she picked carefully and found the right one, it wouldn't necessarily be worse than living in the city. Most importantly, she had had enough of the long days of working in the fields. Hadn't Hu Xiujuan and Wen Wan both found partners and married local members, reaping the benefits and avoiding such hardship? As for Chen Xiuping, that was an accident. She could only blame herself for being blind, unable to find a man, or something, so she ended up with that family.
In short, she felt that for the time being, finding a partner locally would be a very beneficial thing for her.
Once I had this idea, my mind became active.
For the past two months, she had mentally considered all the men of similar age in the production team, but the result was that none were suitable. The ones of the right age weren't qualified, and the ones who were qualified were already married. The rest were too poor to find wives. Any educated youth from the educated youth camp would be better than them.
After comparing them, the Lu family is the best. Apart from the few questions, their appearance and work are all pretty good. It's a pity that someone else got there first.
With a hint of regret and unwillingness in her heart, it was inevitable that something different would happen. She herself did not realize that there was something wrong, and when Xu Wenfang poked her like that, she exploded all of a sudden.
Lu Dongping had no idea that an older married man like him with a bad reputation had become so popular that even after getting married, people would still care about him and buy things for him.
He arrived at the right time. There were two cans of malted milk, and he took them all. Then he bought some other side dishes for Wen Wan, stuffed them into his pocket along with the two boxes of malted milk, and carried them out of the department store.
Wen Wan finished her bath, dressed, and dried her hair halfway dry before emerging. This bath lasted over an hour, and Lu Dongping wondered if she'd bloated herself. He'd gone to several places, done everything he needed to do, and when he came back, no one was there. He even had the landlady go in and check to make sure there was someone inside.
Wen Wan's hair was not dry yet, and it was difficult to braid it, so she just walked out of the bathhouse with her hair loose.
Lu Donglin was sitting on a bicycle by the gate, his long legs resting on the ground. Two half-filled sacks were hanging from the shelf behind him.
Wen Wan ran out from inside with her backpack and came to him; "Lu Dongping, I'm done washing. Have you been waiting for a long time?"
Lu Dongping was afraid of looking at the "little crazy girl with disheveled hair" in front of him while riding on the handlebars, so he reached out and brushed her messy hair: "It wasn't long, I just got here a while ago."
After saying that, he reached out and pulled the scarf off her neck and wrapped it around her again: "I've bought everything I wanted to buy, how about you?"
Wen Wan said: "I've finished shopping too. Let's go back. We're tired!"
"Okay, come up, let's go back."
Lu Dongping pedaled the bicycle and it started moving slowly. Wen Wan trotted over, bounced suddenly, and landed steadily on the shelf.
After sitting down, she grabbed his clothes and asked him, "What did you buy now? Two pockets." As she spoke, she sniffed, as if she smelled something.
"I brought two cans of malted milk to my uncle's house on the first day of the new year, and bought you some side dishes. When I left this morning, my mother also gave me some tickets, so I bought some things for the family. I also went to the meat processing plant and bought a pound of meat, and took some leftovers with me.
I want both of the pig livers. I'll give one to my aunt. I'll boil them in a pot, dry them, and grind them into powder. I heard that pig liver powder is good for children too."
Wen Wan was a little confused: "Chuyi isn't even a full month yet! I heard people say that babies can only be given rice soup after they are a hundred days old."
Lu Dongping's voice carried over on the wind: "There's nothing we can do. It's her bad luck. She has no milk to drink. Let alone a hundred days, now she's drinking rice soup before she's even a month old. My aunt fried soybeans and rice and ground them into powder for her to drink. As long as she can be raised, nothing else matters. In the past, our conditions were even worse than they are now. If the adults had no milk to feed the child after it was born, nine out of ten times she would not be able to keep it alive."
Wen Wan pursed her lips and said, "Auntie will definitely raise Chuyi. She has raised five children already, so she will definitely raise him well."
Lu Dongping smiled and said, "Yes, my aunt does have this ability."
Wen Wan stopped talking about the first day of the new year and instead told Lu Dongping about Li Chunshu: "The eighth day of the Gregorian calendar is next Wednesday. I definitely can't go. Can you leave the Armed Forces?"
"I can't leave. I guess my aunt can't leave either. I guess my uncle will go with my father."
When Wen Wan was at home, she understood everything about social interactions, but here, she really didn't understand: "Would it be inappropriate for only Dad and Uncle to go?"
"Nothing bad, it's pretty good. We didn't hang out with them much anyway. You've met Li Guifang, she's not easy to get along with. My aunt and my mother don't like her. When Dongcheng brother held his wedding, there was a quarrel over the child. When we got married, they didn't come, and my second uncle didn't come back either, but he sent someone to bring the gift money. According to my mother's wishes, we won't go this time, we can just bring the gift, but I think Dad will still go. We are from the same mother, so we should at least give him some face."
If he hadn't said it, Wen Wan wouldn't have remembered. It seemed that she really didn't see Lu Mingwang and Li Guifang at the wedding banquet.
"That's fine. The clothes I made for Dad are almost ready. When we go to the banquet, Dad can wear new clothes."
Lu Dongping laughed: "Isn't it a bit early to wear a cotton jacket these days?"
"It's a little early for a cotton-padded jacket, but I made a two-piece suit for Dad. I saw he didn't even have two pieces of clothing, and the ones he was wearing were too many to wear. So I made him a Zhongshan suit, a little loose, which is perfect for now. When the weather gets cold, he can wear a cotton-padded jacket underneath. It's perfect."
Lu Dongping pedaled his bicycle hard, left the county town, and pulled the brake to stop.
"What's wrong?"
Wen Wan asked while shaking her feet and not getting down.
"Get down and sit on the big bar in front."
Wen Wan didn't move. She still felt it was more comfortable to sit on the shelf, as sitting on the big bar was uncomfortable.
Lu Dongping coaxed her: "Haven't you sat on it before? If you sit on the big bar, I can block the wind for you. The most important thing is that you can lean on me, which is more comfortable than sitting in the back."
Really? Are you sure you're not shielding him from the wind? But finally, bewitched by the words "you can lean on me," he obediently jumped out of the car and slumped over the front bar.
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