Xu Yan couldn't speak; whenever she opened her mouth, she could only utter broken syllables intermittently, and she tried her best to endure it.
But Xie Zhuo would get extremely agitated at times like this, as if he wouldn't be at ease unless he forced her to say something or scold him.
Something's wrong!
Xu Yan cursed inwardly.
Xu Yan had forgotten how she finally fell asleep, but she remembered that Xie Zhuo kept hugging and kissing her. She guessed that if he could carry her in his pocket and keep her with him, he would have done so a long time ago.
Xu Yan had never seen anyone so clingy.
When Xu Yan woke up, it was already past nine o'clock. Da Bao and Xiao Bao had already gone to school, and Xie Zhuo had just returned from the brigade leader with a letter of introduction.
Xu Yan looked through the letter of introduction over and over. Xie Zhuo took out the clothes she was going to wear today from the closet and prepared to dress her himself.
“I can do it myself,” Xu Yan said, putting the letter of introduction aside and taking the clothes from his hands.
"Didn't you say you didn't have much strength?" Xie Zhuo didn't let go.
“That was last night,” Xu Yan said, looking at him. “Besides, it was just getting dressed…”
Before she could finish speaking, Xie Zhuo moved the clothes in his hand further away, leaned over and kissed her on the corner of her lips, then kissed her on the neck. As he walked down, Xu Yan quickly raised her hand to cover his mouth.
"What are you doing so early in the morning?" Xu Yan asked him reproachfully.
"Since you have so much energy, do what you did last night again," Xie Zhuo said.
He's good-looking with bright eyes. When he stares intently at someone, it always makes you feel a rush of emotions and an urge to agree to his request without thinking twice.
Xu Yan: "..."
The two stared at each other for almost half a minute before Xu Yan loosened her grip on the corner of the blanket. "Put it on."
However, as Xie Zhuo carefully helped her get dressed and put on her shoes, Xu Yan raised her hand and tapped his chin, "When you were little, did you always want a doll?"
Xie Zhuo didn't say anything, but hugged and kissed her for a long time before letting go.
Because they were leaving the next day, Xie Zhuo took his things to Liu Mancang's house first, hoping that Yang Shulan could come and keep Xu Yan company while he was away.
"You silly child," Yang Shulan frowned as she looked at the more than three pounds of meat Xie Zhuo was carrying. "It's just going to keep Xiao Xu company tonight, you could have just told me, why are you carrying so much meat?"
"This is the first time I've traveled far from home since we got married," Xie Zhuo said with a smile as he handed the meat to Yang Shulan. "She doesn't have any relatives here, so she's relying on her aunt."
“Don’t worry, you’ll be exactly the same when you left,” Yang Shulan said. “I guarantee you won’t be missing a single hair.”
"But I really can't take this meat. Helping you look after Xiao Xu was just a side thing. If you do this, how are we supposed to get along in the future?"
"Take it back quickly, so that Xiao Xu can recover."
Yang Shulan declined.
"There's more at home," Xie Zhuo said, taking the meat into the kitchen when she didn't take it. He put the meat on the cutting board and came out before Yang Shulan could come over to talk to him.
"Oh, you silly child," Yang Shulan wanted to go to the kitchen, but Xie Zhuo stopped her.
“We still have some at home, and Xu Yan and the other two don’t eat much,” Xie Zhuo said. “Although the weather is getting cooler now, they will spoil if left for too long.”
Yang Shulan still didn't think it would work, but Liu Mancang chimed in, "Mom, just leave it there. After you cook, just invite your sister-in-law and Da Bao and Xiao Bao over to our house for dinner."
Hearing Liu Mancang say this, Yang Shulan finally stopped refusing.
They then asked Xie Zhuo when he was leaving and when he would return.
“It’s good to go and see him,” Yang Shulan nodded after Xie Zhuo told her about Xiao Bao. “Although the child doesn’t say it, he must still miss his mother. In particular, there are always some gossipy people in the brigade. If they talk about it too much, the child will be easily influenced.”
“Yes,” Xie Zhuo nodded.
He thought of his previous life again.
In his previous life, he was always very busy. Although he wanted to be good to his two children, he never had the time. Apart from making sure they were fed and clothed, he rarely paid attention to their mental health.
He doesn't know whether Da Bao and Xiao Bao had a happy day, or whether they cried or had nightmares. They don't say either.
That's why, even as they grew up, their relationship wasn't very close.
Xie Zhuo sighed.
"Maybe there's something he can't say about it," Yang Shulan said, comforting Xie Zhuo, thinking he was sighing because she was a mother of two.
"Hmm," Xie Zhuo didn't explain further and nodded in agreement.
After leaving Liu Mancang's house, he originally wanted to go to Li Aihua's house, but he guessed that Li Aihua's family had already gone to weave baskets, so he went home first after walking around there.
Xu Yan was packing Xie Zhuo's things when she saw him come back. She waved to him and said, "I brought you some clothes and some cookies and peach shortbread. If you're hungry, have some to eat first."
"There's a dining car on the train. Oh, you've taken the train before, so you should know. Eat whatever you want, don't try to save money. Your family isn't short of cash."
"Let's go to town this afternoon, buy some fruit, and some sunflower seeds or something. It'll be a good way to pass the time."
"It's getting colder and colder. I wonder what the temperature is like over there. I'll go get you another coat..."
As Xu Yan was speaking, she was about to walk towards the wardrobe when Xie Zhuo hugged her as soon as she turned around.
“That’s about it. I’ll be back soon,” Xie Zhuo said, resting his chin on Xu Yan’s shoulder. “If there’s anything missing in this box, it’s you.”
Xu Yan didn't say anything, but raised her hand and touched his face.
"I really want to take you with me," Xie Zhuo said, tilting his head to kiss her wrist.
Taking Xu Yan with them is impossible; there are still two kids to go. If they both leave, the two kids will probably cry their eyes out.
Just knowing that their third uncle was leaving, both Da Bao and Xiao Bao burst into tears, and kept whispering to him to come back soon.
"Okay, you two little crybabies," Xie Zhuo said, lying between Da Bao and Xiao Bao that night. "When I come back, your third uncle will buy you gifts."
"What gift?" Da Bao wiped away his tears.
“I’ll buy you whatever you want,” Xie Zhuo said.
“We want Uncle Three,” Xiao Bao said, his voice trembling with tears.
Xie Zhuo was both amused and touched.
I kissed each of the two little ones on the cheek, told them a story, and put them to sleep before returning to my own room.
Xu Yan was still checking to make sure nothing was missing before closing the suitcase.
After Xie Zhuo entered, he received some money and tickets, some in small change and some in larger amounts, totaling about a thousand yuan.
"As the saying goes, 'A poor family should travel with plenty of money,'" Xu Yan said. "Our family isn't poor, so we should bring more money when we go out. Don't skimp on food and drink, or you'll come back looking thin."
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