47
The three children's mouths never stopped all morning at the hospital. One moment they were being fed by this aunt, the next they were being given candy by that uncle. Chu Qinghuai looked away, pretending not to see, holding his phone, which was still on, feeling a little guilty.
Just now, Zhong Wan sent a message asking if the children were behaving well and if they had eaten anything they shouldn't. He only said nice things.
"Don't forget the punishment for Cai Cai and Xiao He. It's definitely meant to teach them a lesson, you hear me?"
"Okay, okay."
Actually, now that Cai Cai has finished eating, she says worriedly, "Mom doesn't allow us to eat snacks, what should we do?"
Xiao He blinked and looked at Chu Qinghuai: "Dad, will Mom be angry?"
"Yes, she'll be angry if she finds out you two ate so much chocolate and cookies."
The chocolates were actually very small, and the three of them didn't eat many pieces, but he made it sound very serious.
"Then I won't eat it. I don't want Mom to be angry," Xiaohe said.
Cai Cai put down the cookie she had just taken a bite of; it was neither good to eat it nor good not to eat it.
"Can you promise not to eat snacks for a week? Just watch your sister eat them." He didn't believe that was possible.
Xiaohe seemed to have made up her mind. Between being greedy and getting angry with her mother, she chose not to make her mother angry.
"Then I won't eat it."
She seemed to vaguely understand why Zhong Wan punished her by not letting her eat snacks—because she had made a mistake and was being taught a lesson.
Chu Qinghuai was touched by her daughter's love for her mother, and said, "You're amazing."
He quietly decided to cook a variety of meals for them over the next week, so that they would be well-fed.
"I won't tell Mom that you ate so many snacks this morning, but you can't eat any this afternoon, okay? You can only have some fruit this afternoon."
The three children nodded obediently.
They played until almost ten o'clock. Chu Qinghuai had to go home to cook, so he told the children to say goodbye to Lin Jiangchen. The children waved and said, "Goodbye, Uncle and Auntie!"
Goodbye, babies, be careful on your way home.
Chu Qinghuai helped them put on their shoes, but Cai Cai couldn't wait and started putting the little shoes on her own feet. As expected, she put them on backwards again.
Chu Qinghuai laughed and said, "Silly girl, don't you feel uncomfortable? You should dress like this."
His shoes could even shine when he stepped on the ground. Cai Cai jumped up and down several times, commenting, "His shoes are really beautiful."
"Alright, Sister Lin and Ayu, let's go back first. I'll come over and bring them food while they're asleep."
Lin Jiang waved her hand vigorously and frowned: "No! Don't come over. How can you leave the child alone at home? Chen Yu and I are fine on our own. Anyway, we're being discharged tomorrow. Please don't come, okay?"
"We'll talk about that later."
He carried a bag full of the children's belongings and led the three children out of the ward.
While waiting for the elevator, he coincidentally saw Yu Fang coming up from another elevator. She didn't notice him, but as she approached, he heard a low curse: "Debt collector."
Chu Qinghuai chuckled sarcastically at the impatience and disgust on his face, but also found a strange sense of comfort in his heart.
Isn't he and Chu Li just sharing the same misfortune to some extent? How ridiculous.
-
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a rainbow of colors on the tabletop, which felt warm to the touch.
At noon, he planned to make sukiyaki for the children, which is to put in a lot of ingredients, prepare the sauce, and simmer it. Basically, when Zhong Wan is not at home, the meals are all similar stews.
Zhong Wan loves to eat plate after plate of stir-fried dishes, so Chu Qinghuai would go to buy groceries every afternoon and cook a few of her favorite dishes in the evening.
The family's meals are basically tailored to her taste.
"Who would like to help me pick and wash the vegetables?"
Mumu raised her hand high. She loved helping adults with housework and enjoyed the sense of accomplishment after finishing. When the other two children saw that their older sister had raised her hand, they felt like they were being a loner if they didn't, so they said, "I want to too!"
"Okay, one serving for each person."
Chu Qinghuai took out three small basins, divided the lettuce into three portions, put them in, and let them wash it themselves.
He usually uses this method to keep the children within his sight when there is no other adult to look after them at home. This helps him with housework and also ensures their safety.
"Wash it clean, we'll give it to you to eat after you're done."
Hearing this, Cai Cai, who had originally intended to slack off, worked even harder, washing lettuce no bigger than her hand until it was incredibly clean.
Chu Qinghuai took a picture of the scene with his phone and sent it to Zhong Wan, captioning it: Hardworking baby.
Three fluffy heads huddled together, washing a few vegetable leaves. Their soft hands were soaking in warm water, and every now and then they would accidentally splash water out of the basin and onto their hair. Chu Qinghuai would then remind them, "Wash properly."
The food was prepared quickly at noon. A big pot of mixed vegetables and meat stewed together emitted a delicious aroma. Today we're not having noodles or rice; we'll have vermicelli and wide rice noodles as our staple food.
Mumu likes wide rice noodles, Caicai and Xiaohe like glass noodles, and Chu Qinghuai made a lot. They can be enjoyed as afternoon tea when they wake up hungry after their afternoon nap.
While the simmering was cooking over low heat, he helped the three children wash their hands and faces and put on bibs. Cai Cai felt that the bibs made her neck uncomfortable and tried to pull them off but failed.
"What's wrong?" Chu Qinghuai noticed his unusual behavior.
"No, it itches."
Chu Qinghuai adjusted the tightness of his neck, then said mercilessly, "You have too much fat on your neck."
As soon as the last two words were uttered, Cai Cai became unhappy and cried out twice in denial: "Not fat!"
"Look at the fat on your face, and then look at your sisters."
Perhaps because she hasn't fully matured yet, Cai Cai's face is round, and when you pinch it, it's full of collagen, tender and soft.
Chu Qinghuai couldn't resist touching it, feeling a little smug. When it first came to his house, it wasn't so fair and plump; this was all the meat he had fattened up.
Xiaohe also reached out to touch Caicai's face, just like her father, but she didn't find anything. After all, she had everything that Caicai had. So after touching Caicai, she started touching her own face, nose, and ears, saying, "Pretty."
Chu Qinghuai found it amusing: "You actually know you're pretty?"
She nodded. "Yes, my sister and I are both beautiful."
"What about your brother?"
Xiaohe never calls Caicai "brother." Subconsciously, she feels that she is the same age as Caicai, so she calls her "Little Green Vegetable" every day.
"The little green vegetables aren't as pretty as us."
Cai Cai snorted, turned her head, and sat far away from her. "You're not pretty."
"I'm beautiful!"
"Not pretty!"
Seeing that the two children were about to start arguing again, Chu Qinghuai smoothed things over: "Okay, okay, everyone is beautiful, beautiful and cute."
Chu Qinghuai lifted the pot lid, letting the aroma fill the entire space, thus preventing an argument from breaking out.
"Dinner's ready, no more arguing."
The three children were well-behaved and quiet, holding their small bowls in both hands, their eyes following Chu Qinghuai's pot.
"Want some?"
Three pairs of bright eyes have already given the answer.
He used his chopsticks to put various kinds of vegetables into their small bowls and said casually, "Eat your vegetables first."
Then, he served himself a bowl of meat and soup.
"Daddy, meat!" Cai Cai said anxiously.
"Eat the vegetables first."
"Meat."
Chu Qinghuai ignored him completely, glanced at Mumu's small bowl, and praised, "Mumu is almost finished eating, I'll give you three sausages later."
Seeing that the discussion had failed, Cai Cai obediently ate the vegetables, which were freshly washed lettuce. Although they weren't bad, they couldn't compare to the deliciousness of meat.
Chu Qinghuai had no other choice but to resort to this tactic. Cai Cai hadn't been refusing vegetables for just a day or two; the little one was very clever. Several times, she would eat her meat and rice and then naturally refuse to eat vegetables, leaving her parents helpless. So now the children have changed their eating order; they can only eat meat after finishing their vegetables.
Cai Cai has become the slowest eater in the family.
-
Chu Qinghuai cleaned up the dishes, played with the children for a while, gave them a bath, and then carried them to bed one by one for their afternoon nap.
The curtains were drawn tightly shut, not a single ray of sunlight could seep in. Chu Qinghuai lay in the middle of the bed, with children on either side of him. He said, "Go to sleep, I'll take you out to play this afternoon."
Everyone closed their eyes peacefully and soon fell asleep.
Chu Qinghuai was more experienced than before. He counted the time and when he saw that the three little pigs were all curled up in the corner sleeping in their most comfortable positions, he carefully got out of bed to make sure he wouldn't wake them. Finally, he slowly pulled up the bed railing and retreated outside the bedroom.
The children take a nap for about two and a half hours, which is just the right time for him to organize the development plan for the fruit shop, send it to Zhong Wan, and chat with her for a while.
The other person had just finished lunch, and the two video-chatted.
What did you have for lunch?
Sukiyaki.
"You're eating so well, have you finished?"
"I thought there would be leftovers, but the babies have bigger appetites and finished them all." Chu Qinghuai didn't expect the three children to be so good at eating.
“You didn’t feed them only meat, did you? They need to eat more vegetables. Cai Cai hasn’t been able to go to the toilet as smoothly as Mu Mu and Xiao He lately. I suspect he hasn’t been eating any vegetables at all and has been secretly throwing them away.”
Not long ago, when the couple was bathing their children, they found several cabbage leaves in Cai Cai's pocket. They didn't know when she had hidden them, but the couple wasn't angry. They both said that their child was a magician.
“I watched them eat, and Cai Cai ate quite a lot of vegetables today.”
"That's good, thank you for your hard work."
Cooking is the most difficult for families with children. Sometimes they won't eat if you cook too much rice, but they fight over it if you cook too little. It's hard to tell if it's intentional or unintentional.
“A friend sent me two apartments on Wutong Street. I’ll take the kids to see them this afternoon. If they’re suitable, we’ll rent them and move in as soon as possible.”
This was a very important matter for Zhong Wan. She nodded and said, "Then remember to send it to me."
Chu Qinghuai agreed.
...
In the afternoon, he arranged to meet a friend in a residential area. When the friend saw his child, he asked in surprise, "Xiao Chu, you have a child already? How old is he? You kept it a secret for a long time."
The three children were fascinated by riding the elevator. They stood attentively, their eyes darting around, which was incredibly cute.
"Two are three and a half years old, and one is three years old."
"Great! I should have brought two pieces of candy."
"It's okay, they don't eat sugar."
After chatting for a while, the group stood at the door of the empty apartment on the tenth floor.
The friend told Chu Qinghuai in a clear, bright voice, "All four rooms you mentioned are available. The master bedroom is the largest, and the other three rooms are a bit small, but they're definitely enough for your child."
After the visit, he did think it was pretty good, so he called Zhong Wan for her opinion, and she agreed.
Chu Qinghuai said to the children, rather inappropriately, "You have to be independent from now on, and you can't sleep with your mom and dad anymore."
Their expressions immediately changed.
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