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Zhong Wan was even sleepier than the children. She started yawning as soon as she started telling the story. After reading less than half of the picture book, she said to the children, "That's all for today. Time to go to sleep."
After saying that, she yawned and put on her slippers to go make milk.
The doctor said that the three babies were not developing as well as other children, so they had two regular feedings a day.
Zhong Wan didn't understand what it meant to earn money to buy baby formula before. But since baby formula became a household necessity, she truly realized how difficult it is to raise children, even though the children are already quite grown up, which means she has to make a huge expense.
Mumu, Caicai, and Xiaohe didn't make a fuss even though they hadn't heard the ending of the story. They lay in a row with blankets covering their bellies, waiting for their mother to prepare the milk.
In the living room, Chu Qinghuai frowned as he looked at his phone. Renting a house was already on the agenda. He estimated that he and Zhong Wan would continue to live in the rented house until they bought a house, just so that the children would have a room to sleep in.
The economic pressure that follows is not only about basic necessities like food, drink, and shelter, but also about long-term investments in education and housing, the future of which is still uncertain.
Seeing his worried look made Zhong Wan feel bad too. It was as if she had returned to the time a few years ago when the two of them were crammed into a small rented room. He was like this, sitting in front of a second-hand computer he bought for two hundred yuan, with the buzzing of an electric fan in his ears. His brain felt like it was tangled in several coils of thread, unable to get around it or figure it out.
Zhong Wan passed by and said, "Go to sleep first, we'll talk about it tomorrow."
Chu Qinghuai's eyes remained fixed on his phone as he replied, "I'll look at it for a while longer and ask my friends if they know any real estate agents."
"I'm so sleepy. Watch for another ten minutes and then come to sleep. Otherwise, you'll wake me up if I fall asleep."
"Know."
Zhong Wan went to the kitchen, took out the baby bottles from the sterilizer, and reminded the man, "Don't forget to wash the bottles."
She is only responsible for brewing, not washing.
"Um."
Chu Qinghuai was used to doing these things. He looked up at her and saw that Zhong Wan was really exhausted, yawning several times in a row. "Why don't you go to sleep and I'll make the soup?"
His voice interrupted the other person's train of thought. All that could be heard was an "Ouch!" Zhong Wan said several times, "I'm so angry! I'm so angry!" "Don't talk when I'm busy. My brain is already slow, and now I've forgotten how many spoonfuls I scooped."
The milk powder dissolved in water. She held the bottle up to her eyes and shook it gently, but no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't tell how many scoops of milk powder were inside.
Hearing the commotion, Chu Qinghuai came over, his phone tucked into his pants pocket. He rolled up his sleeves and calmly said, "Pour it out and soak it again."
"No, that's too wasteful."
Zhong Wan shook her head and continued to shake it well. Chu Qinghuai said, "Don't give it to the child, be careful he doesn't get diarrhea."
“Who said I gave it to the child?” She took a bowl from the cupboard, unscrewed the bottle cap and poured the contents into it, then handed the bowl to Chu Qinghuai with both hands. “Drink it, it’s time for him to grow.”
Chu Qinghuai, with one hand in his pocket and leaning lightly against the refrigerator, tilted his head and smiled when he heard this, "Are you sure I'm going to grow taller?"
"Drink up, drink up." Zhong Wan didn't want to hear him say any more, so she put the bowl to his mouth and forced him to drink it, almost choking Chu Qinghuai to death.
"You murdered your husband!"
Chu Qinghuai coughed twice with red eyes, his tongue unconsciously sticking out to lick his lips. "It's too bland. We should have used two less spoonfuls."
"How did you know that! Have you been secretly drinking the baby's formula?"
Zhong Wan brought her nose close to his mouth and smelled it. There was only a faint milky smell, with little fishy smell. Anyway, she couldn't drink a drop.
Chu Qinghuai smiled helplessly and continued, "Yes, I secretly tasted it."
"You're really bad."
Zhong Wan hummed twice and continued scooping milk powder into the warm water, warning him, "If you don't want a second bowl, don't bother me."
Chu Qinghuai rested one hand on the table and indeed remained silent, quietly watching her movements and mentally counting the spoonfuls for her.
After brewing a cup, he casually twisted the cap tight and rubbed his hands together.
After all three bottles of milk were prepared, Zhong Wan said to him, "Let's go to sleep."
Chu Qinghuai also carried a baby bottle and followed behind her, making sure to turn off the living room lights.
These past few nights, it's been Zhong Wan putting the kids to sleep. Naturally, the three little ones prefer to sleep with their parents, so they were very happy when they saw their dad and mom come in from outside the room, their little feet dangling incessantly.
Xiao He giggled: "Mom and Dad sleep with me."
"They're here."
Zhong Wan handed out the bottles to each baby, sat on the bed with her back against the pillow, and planned to wait until they finished drinking their milk and rinsing their mouths before going to sleep.
Xiao He wouldn't sit still while drinking milk, sometimes kicking her legs up, sometimes rolling around. Zhong Wan was afraid she would choke, so she patted her little bottom and reminded her, "Drink properly."
Mumu slowly moved to her mother's side, her head resting against her arm. Zhong Wan took the opportunity to pull her close, her chest facing her, and patted her little bottom. She had tried this several times, and it helped the baby fall asleep quickly.
Seeing her older sister being held by her mother, Xiao He wanted one too. Zhong Wan, meeting her daughter's meaningful gaze, consciously moved between the two, holding one in each arm. The air was filled with the fragrance of flowers, fruits, and milk. She hugged the two babies tighter, closed her eyes, and immersed herself in the comfortable atmosphere, feeling drowsy.
At first, Cai Cai rolled onto the interlocking bed to play by himself. But when he turned around and saw that his sisters were not around and were sticking to their mother, the sensitive baby became unhappy. He didn't want to drink his milk and pouted as if he was about to get angry. But Chu Qinghuai quickly made a shushing gesture to him, got on the bed under Cai Cai's gaze, moved to the interlocking bed, and reached out to hug him.
"It's the same, Mommy holds the older and younger sisters, and Daddy holds you."
He picked up the baby bottle that Cai Cai had thrown onto the blanket and put it back in his mouth. The two of them lay down, and Chu Qinghuai stroked his hair and soft back. Soon they could hear the child's soft breathing.
The familiar milky smell filled his nostrils, and his fatigue from the day vanished.
After the children and Zhong Wan fell asleep, Chu Qinghuai, who had also dozed off for a while, quietly got out of bed, washed all three baby bottles, and put them in the sterilizer. Only then was his day's work completely over.
-
After several days of persistent teaching by Zhong Wan, the children finally memorized her and Chu Qinghuai's phone numbers.
Being able to recite is one thing, being able to write is another. The three children have good memories and can clearly recite their parents' contact information, but apart from Mumu having a slight desire to write, the other two children don't like to learn to write. As soon as they get a pen, they scribble on the paper. So Zhong Wan simply bought them drawing pens and sketchbooks.
In the morning, Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai took the children to the noodle shop, bringing them newly bought paper and colored pens. They told them, "If you want to write something, you must write it on paper, but you can't scribble anywhere else on the paper."
"Did you understand? You can't touch Auntie's walls with colored surfaces, and you can't touch the table either."
"Can I draw it on the ground?" Cai Cai asked.
If it weren't for his adorable, blank expression, Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai would have thought the child was deliberately being silly.
"Of course not."
"Can I draw on the clothes?" Xiaohe asked. She really wanted to draw on pretty clothes because she thought she drew very beautifully.
"Of course not!"
Zhong Wan squatted down, unzipped her coat, and said, "Daddy gets very tired from washing clothes, and babies should also avoid getting paintbrushes on their clothes, as they are very difficult to wash off."
Xiao He wanted to say that she didn't need to wash it off, since it wasn't dirty, but before she could speak, Zhong Wan pulled her away.
...
Upon arriving at the noodle shop, the three children shared their newly purchased toys with Lin Jiang and Chen Yu, including drawing paper and pens. Mu Mu volunteered to draw an uncle and aunt, and Lin Jiang was flattered: "Really? I'm really looking forward to it."
Mu Mu smiled shyly after being praised, and sat obediently on the stool, quietly drawing. Seeing this, Cai Cai and Xiao He were eager to follow suit, and sat down with their sister to draw their uncles and aunts as well. Lin Jiang and Chen Yu could not possibly disagree.
Painting calms the mind, and all the abstract masters are narcissistic and think they paint the best. They are completely immersed in art and don't even remember to eat their morning snacks, which makes things easier for Lin Jiang.
She smiled as she picked vegetables and said to Chen Yu, "Our family has produced three little painters. Look how focused they are!"
"Not bad, not bad. They're using watercolor pens, right? I'll buy a set of crayons this afternoon."
Lin Jiang agreed.
Because the three children were so quiet in the morning and didn't go anywhere, Lin Jiang almost got the illusion that the children weren't naughty at all. So she and Chen Yu relaxed a little and didn't keep an eye on the children every moment.
At lunchtime, Chen Yu was still serving them food, saying, "Eat more, you'll have the energy to paint when you're full."
"Uncle, do you like the drawing of you I made?"
Mumu asked, blinking her eyes, hoping for a satisfactory answer.
"Of course, I liked it at first sight." Chen Yu has spent a lot of time with children, so now he can easily offer emotional support.
All three babies were holding onto the paintings they had drawn that morning and didn't want to let go. They really thought they were amazing little artists, and they didn't even want to let go of their paintings while eating.
Of course, she couldn't eat while holding the torn paper, so Lin Jiang could only promise them that they could continue drawing in the afternoon, drawing whatever they wanted, before she was allowed to put away the few sheets of paper and keep them safe.
After a good afternoon nap and some snacks, the three children sat neatly at the entrance of the noodle shop, with white paper on their calves and crayons in their right hands drawing on it.
They wanted to draw a road, so they sat at the doorway and drew it.
Lin Jiang was initially leaning against the door watching the children when she suddenly felt a cool breeze. Afraid that the children would catch a cold, she said she would go upstairs to get her coat and told the three of them not to run around.
"Auntie is going upstairs to get her coat. She'll be back in a bit. Please sit still and don't move. If you need anything, just ask Uncle."
At that moment, Chen Yu was wiping the table, and she entrusted the child to him with peace of mind.
Outside the door, Xiaohe shared her drawings of birds and grass with her older sister, "Aren't they pretty, sister?"
"very beautiful."
Mumu pretended to glance at it, but in her heart she thought her drawing was prettier.
Xiao He held up the white paper for Cai Cai on the right to admire, saying, "Little green vegetable, look at mine."
Cai Cai was focused on finishing her painting and didn't have time to look at Xiao He, so she ignored her completely. Xiao He was unhappy and held the painting in one hand, determined to make him see it.
"Look!"
"Don't pull me, it hurts."
Cai Cai raised her head symbolically, but a gust of wind blew by and carried away both Cai Cai's and Xiao He's paintings. The two, who were very concerned about their artwork, could not allow this to happen. They were stunned for a moment, and then reflexively ran out to chase after the paintings.
"Caicai! Xiaohe! Where are you going?"
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