Chapter 165 The Name is Chosen

Xia Juanjuan asked Li Zhan to carve the remaining bamboo strips into the shapes of various simple small animals, strung them together with ropes to make wind chimes, and hung them above the crib.

The three little guys officially moved into the small bamboo bed that night. They were attracted by the wind chimes above their heads, which moved around in the wind and sometimes collided with each other, making crisp sounds. They even cried less.

Lizhan was really looking forward to sleeping at night.

These three little brats are definitely bed hogs. They are not big, and when they sleep side by side, they take up half of the bed. He and Xia Juanjuan, two adults, take up the other half. Even so, he has to be very careful when turning over in the middle of the night, for fear of crushing them.

Now that they have gone to sleep in their own little beds, he and his wife can...

Unfortunately, the happiness didn't last long. Beibei came into the room happily, holding her little pillow.

"Mom, Beibei can sleep with you tonight!" Beibei said in a baby voice. She had already moved a small stool to the bed, climbed onto the bed clumsily using her hands and feet, and happily rolled around on the bed several times!

Li Zhan: "..."

Doesn't he just want to sleep with his wife in his arms? Why is it so difficult?

These little Cheng Yaojins who showed up halfway were one by one...

However, seeing Beibei's happy and excited look, Lizhan couldn't bear to chase Xiao Cheng Yaojin away.

When Xia Juanjuan became pregnant, Xiaowen and the others started to sleep either with Lin Yuru or with Xia Shuangshan, and she never cried once.

After the three younger brothers were born, they never fought for favor or got jealous. Juan Juan had finally arranged to take them to bed, and the little ones showed their childish happiness. What else could he say...

I had no choice but to sacrifice my own happiness...

Two days later, Shen Wanxue and Yang Qiushi came again at night. They first hugged the three little kids with infinite sympathy and played with them, then smiled and said:

"I discussed it with Lao Yang. We thought that since the child was born in winter, it would be very cold. It snowed that day, so we should add some fire to the name. Also, we want to take the meaning that a single spark can start a prairie fire, so we picked three characters with fire or sun in them. Do you think it's okay?"

After Shen Wanxue finished speaking, Yang Qiushi continued, "These three characters are Yan, Ye, and Yao. If we add a star in the middle, it will be called Lixing Yan, Lixing Ye, and Lixing Yao. What do you think?"

Xia Juanjuan and Li Zhan looked at each other.

Xia Juanjuan really likes these names. They mean "sparks that start a prairie fire" and have good meanings.

Li Zhan also smiled and nodded, saying: "It's good, I like it very much."

Xia Juanjuan held the third of the triplets in her arms, while Shen Wanxue and Yang Qiushi held the other two respectively.

Xia Juanjuan lowered her head and smiled at the three young guys who were still ignorant: "Xingyan, Xingye, Xingyao, thank Grandma Shen and Grandpa Yang for giving you such nice names! From now on, you will be the three little sparks of our family!"

Several people in the room couldn't help laughing.

The name 'little spark' is quite appropriate.

Isn't a newborn child a 'little spark' of every family?

I don’t know if the three little ones understood what the adults said, but they just kept giggling, warming everyone’s hearts.

After seeing Shen Wanxue and Yang Qiushi off, Xiaowen and the others came over and took turns sleeping with Xia Juanjuan.

Xia Juanjuan was going to call Beibei to come over to sleep, but was blocked by Li Zhan at the door.

Lizhan Wuxian said with resentment: "The three little brats can take turns to have one night each. It should be my turn tonight, right?"

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment, and then she met Lizhan's burning eyes. She felt a little embarrassed, so she pushed him and said in a low voice: "You are such a grown-up, and you still compare yourself with a child? You are shameless!...Ah!"

Before she finished her words, Li Zhan had already grabbed her hand and forcefully pulled her into his arms. He leaned over to her ear and whispered unhappily, "You know how grown up I am now? I've finally come back a few days ago. I know your body hasn't recovered yet. Can't I do it to the end?"

Although Xia Juanjuan gave birth naturally, it had only been about a month, so Li Zhan didn't dare to do anything reckless. But if the three little ones who had begun to understand were not around, he could be more extreme...

Xia Juanjuan was about to speak when she saw Beibei running towards Lizhan excitedly, holding a small pillow.

Unfortunately, the door was blocked by Lizhan, so Beibei raised her head and frowned and asked, "Fourth Uncle, don't block the door! Beibei wants to sleep with mom tonight!"

Xia Juanjuan smiled and whispered, "If you can convince Beibei, I will agree to your request."

When Li Zhan heard this, his eyes lit up and he said with a smile, "You said it!"

Having said that, he turned around energetically, squatted down, and negotiated with Beibei.

"Beibei, be good tonight and sleep with grandma, okay?"

Beibei tilted his head with a puzzled look on his face: "Why? Last night it was Big Brother, today it's Beibei's turn!"

Lizhan coughed twice, somewhat grieving: "Beibei, look...you and the eldest and second brothers have all had their turns, but Fourth Uncle hasn't. It should be Fourth Uncle's turn tonight, right, Beibei?"

Beibei thought about it and it seemed to be true.

Lizhan looked at the expression on the boy's face and thought he was convinced, and he felt very proud.

Unexpectedly, Beibei suddenly said, "Um... that's not right! Fourth Uncle sleeps with Mom every night, why do we have to take turns?"

Li Zhan: "..."

How can this sleep be the same as sleeping?!

Lizhan had no choice but to continue to fool her: "Beibei, look... do you still want your mother to give birth to little brothers and sisters for you?"

Beibei tilted her head and pouted as she looked at Lizhan. She thought her fourth uncle was a little stupid.

"Fourth Uncle, you are so stupid! Didn't Mom just give birth to three little brothers for us? Besides, what does Mom giving birth to little brothers and sisters for us have to do with Fourth Uncle? Could it be that..."

Beibei suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Lizhan: "Uncle, will you also give birth to a little brother or sister?"

Li Zhan: "..."

How should he explain this?

Xia Juanjuan almost laughed to death, and suddenly felt a little sorry for Lie Zhan who was at a loss for words after being rebuked.

Xia Juanjuan squatted down reluctantly and said with a smile: "Beibei, be good, sleep with grandma tonight, and sleep with mom tomorrow night, okay?"

Li Zhan turned around and looked at Xia Juanjuan in surprise.

Beibei was a little disappointed, but she nodded sensibly and said, "Then mommy's words count!"

When Beibei came back with the pillow, Xia Juanjuan stood up and said, "I am not agreeing to let you...ah!"

Before he could finish his words, the door was closed and Li Zhan picked him up and walked towards the bed...

…

The next morning, Li Zhanshen got up early with a refreshed spirit and went into the mountains to dig bamboo shoots and go hunting as well.

When Xia Juanjuan heard this, she said she wanted to go too.

Because of my pregnancy this year, from spring to autumn and winter, for nearly ten months, I did basically nothing except tending to the small vegetable garden in spring and summer. Things like going up the mountain to dig wild vegetables, bamboo shoots, wild mushrooms, hunting, and picking chestnuts, as well as supplying goods to the canteens of two factories in the county, were all put on hold.

Now that the baby has finally been born, I can go into the mountains!

Li Zhan couldn't persuade Lin Yuru, so he asked Lin Yuru to look after the children while he and Xia Juanjuan each carried a backpack and went into the mountains.

The two of them walked and stopped from time to time, picking some wild vegetables, wild mushrooms, fungus and the like.

Xia Juanjuan saw chestnut trees on the mountain last year and went to take a look under the trees. However, chestnuts usually mature and fall in September or October and can be picked.

This thing tastes good after a little cooking, and can also be used to make dishes such as chestnut roasted chicken, so the villagers will rush to pick it when the season comes.

They went in a little deeper, and although some of the leaves were eaten by small animals, there were still quite a few left under the trees, but they were all damaged by wind and rain.

Xia Juanjuan was a little disappointed.

In September and October, her belly was bigger than two other people's. She had difficulty walking. Moreover, she lived in the county town, so there was nothing she could do.

Li Zhan looked at her disappointed expression and said nothing.

When Lizhan went into the mountains to hunt wild boars two days ago, he had set several traps. When he went to check now, there were no big prey, but he did catch a rabbit and a pheasant, which he put in his backpack, and then went to the bamboo forest to dig bamboo shoots.

The bamboo shoots dug last winter were dried and eaten until this summer, so Xia Juanjuan planned to dry some more of them this winter.

The two of them dug for a while and had almost a basket, so they decided to go home.

Li Zhan poured most of the things in Xia Juanjuan's backpack into his own backpack, and then went back.

The three little kids were crying because they were hungry. Xia Juanjuan quickly put down the backpack, washed her hands, and went to feed them.

Li Zhan chased in and said with a smile, "You are such a loser. You're crying like this after being hungry for only the whole morning."

Xia Juanjuan felt distressed and guilty. She secretly blamed herself for being too playful and leaving them at home to wander around in the mountains. She said unhappily, "The children are only a little over a month old and can't even speak. Do you expect them to be sensible and not cry or get hungry?"

Although there is milk powder at home, these three little guys are not very picky for some reason. When they are hungry, they would rather cry than drink the mixed milk powder and just wait for Xia Juanjuan to feed them. It's really infuriating.

Lizhan was scolded, and he also noticed that his wife was in a low mood, so he scratched his head and didn't dare to joke anymore. He picked up the eldest child Yanyan who was still waiting in line to be fed and coaxed him, saying with a smile: "Don't cry, dear. Our Yanbao is the big brother. After mommy feeds the little brother, it will be Yanbao's turn!"

After finally taking turns to feed the three little guys, the three brothers, who had eaten and drunk their fill, lay in their cribs burping and smiling sweetly at Xia Juanjuan and Li Zhan, warming their hearts.

Xia Juanjuan's heartache was finally alleviated, and she couldn't help but scold him, "You little bastard, you dare to cry like that, and now you're laughing like this..."

The two of them played for a while, and then Li Zhan asked Xia Juanjuan to look after the child and went out to help Lin Yuru make lunch.

At noon, we had white flour steamed buns and mixed flour steamed buns, millet porridge with sweet potatoes, scrambled eggs with spinach, stir-fried rabbit meat with mushrooms, and wild pheasant soup with fresh bamboo shoots.

In the afternoon, Xia Juanjuan cooked the bamboo shoots, cut them into pieces, and put them in the sun to dry. She also made tofu with the soybeans that had been soaked in advance.

Lizhan took Xiaowen, Xiaowu and Beibei to the river to go fishing.

By the evening, there was another dish of crucian carp and tofu soup on the table.

As soon as Xia Juanjuan saw it, she knew it was for her to produce milk, and her face turned a little red.

In the evening, Li Zhan said with a smile: "Juanjuan, let's go to the county town again tomorrow. The ox cart in the village should be idle in winter, so we can borrow it for use."

Xia Juanjuan was stunned for a moment: "You just came back from the county town, why are you going there again?"

Li Zhan smiled and said, "I was in such a hurry when I came back last time that I forgot about it. Now that we have a new member in our family, shouldn't we update this family portrait? I heard that the kids in the city have to take a hundred-day portrait, but I probably won't be home then, so I'll need you to take pictures for them again. So take a few pictures now that you're at home."

Xia Juanjuan calculated the days and realized that the 100th day of the photoshoot would be almost the Chinese New Year. Did Li Zhan mean that he would not be able to come back in time for the Chinese New Year?

"Can't you come back for the New Year this year?" Xia Juanjuan asked softly.

Li Zhan glanced at her and said with a smile, "Yeah. I'm afraid I won't be able to come back in time."

Xia Juanjuan was silent for a while before she sighed and said, "Well. Then go take the photo."

Early the next morning, Lizhan borrowed an ox and an ox cart, and he, Xia Juanjuan, Lin Yuru, Xiaowen, Xiaowu, Beibei, Yan Baoye, and Bao Yaobao set out in a mighty manner.

Lin Yuru originally didn't plan to go, but Xia Juanjuan dragged her along on the pretext of taking care of the children.

Xia Juanjuan smiled and said, "We should have invited Dad along. It's a pity that he agreed to go build a house for someone else. However, my brother should be able to come back for the New Year, right? Then we can take another hundred-day photo of you, my dad, my brother, and our three little ones!"

Lin Yuru was very happy when she heard this. She said with a smile, "Hey! I don't have a group photo with your father and your brother. At that time, we could hardly get enough food in the countryside, and we couldn't afford this. Oh! If we had taken photos back then and asked with the photos, maybe... we wouldn't have mentioned this! Now that your brother has finally been found, we should spend the money and take some photos!"

When they arrived at the photo studio, the triplets took a photo together first, then Xia Juanjuan and Li Zhan took a photo with the triplets, Xiaowen, Xiaowu and Beibei took a photo with the triplets, Lin Yuru took a photo with them, and then a photo of Xia Juanjuan, Li Zhan and the six children was taken, and finally a group photo.

I didn’t take photos of the triplets individually this time. I plan to wait until they take their 100-day photos before doing that.

The photo studio and its employees were very happy. Although it was a state-owned photo studio and they were paid a fixed salary, it was not easy to come across triplets, not to mention that this family was really good-looking, so they looked good in any photo!