The ending was still happy. When Duoduo opened her eyes, she felt like she could hardly breathe. She stretched and saw that Xinan was sleeping with her in her arms.
The boy's heart was so satisfied, but when did his father arrive? Seeing the dark circles under Southwest's eyes, Duoduo sensibly and quietly got up.
He quietly put on his clothes and went to the front yard, where he saw Cuihua making breakfast. He quickly ran over to help.
"Grandma, let me cook for you." Duoduo ran behind the stove, picked up firewood, and prepared to add more firewood.
"No need, you should go wash your face and brush your teeth. There's hot water over there, be careful not to burn yourself." Cuihua looked at Duoduo with a smile. Now the father is acting like a father, and the son is acting like a son. How wonderful.
After washing her face, Duoduo helped Cuihua prepare the dishes and chopsticks. Her busy figure was just like how she was when she was a child in Southwest China. She was well-behaved and sensible. It was as if time had flowed backward.
Before long, everyone in the family got up one after another. When Southwest woke up and didn't see Duoduo, he smiled with relief, feeling that it was worth coming over in the middle of the night to sleep with him.
Back in her room, she saw Liu Lili braiding Yan Bao'er's hair and suddenly remembered that Nan Nan must have a lot of little girls' hair ornaments here, since Yu Shu's head was covered with them.
"I'll go ask Nan Nan if she has any nice hair accessories to tie up our baby's hair, okay?"
Yan Bao'er said softly, "Okay."
When Yan Xiaonan heard that Southwest wanted to give Yan Bao'er a hair accessory, she smiled and said that she should have one in her luggage and that she would go look for it.
Once inside the room, I slipped into the space and found many pretty headbands, hair ties, fluffy little balls, and hair clips of various colors in the children's area. These things look so cute on a little girl's hair.
Looking at the huge bag of hair accessories, Southwest was a little incredulous. Two hair ties are enough for braids, maybe with a headband at most. How could there be so many?
"Nannan, there are too many. It'll take forever to stick them together." Southwest only needs two.
Yan Xiaonan laughed: "Second brother, take them all back. These aren't enough for Bao'er to have her acupuncture for three months."
Southwest shook her head. "Nannan just likes to talk nonsense. Hair ties aren't food, how can they be used up so quickly?"
Liu Lili was overjoyed when she saw so many colorful headdresses: "Nan Nan, where did you get all these things? They're so beautiful! I've looked at them in department stores, but they don't have this many different kinds."
Southwest shook his head. In his memory, Nan Nan was a capable younger sister, and almost everything she produced was of the highest quality.
Yan Bao'er finally made her grand entrance, wearing a bright red down jacket, dark black down pants, and a pair of bright red cotton shoes. She looked absolutely pleasing to the eye.
Her fair and delicate face was flushed, mainly because Liu Lili had styled her hair into pretty little braids, which were then completely coiled on her head and secured with colorful little clips, making it very eye-catching.
Southwest finally understood. This is how girls should dress. And when did her own daughter become so beautiful? Duoduo walked over, squatted down, and took Bao'er's hand: "Little sister, have breakfast with your brother."
Yan Bao'er looked at Duo Duo happily and mumbled, "Brother, hug me."
Duoduo picked up Yan Bao'er and walked towards the dining table. She took Yan Bao'er's small bowl and fed her with a spoon: "Egg drop porridge, it's very delicious, it's made with milk."
Yan Bao'er finished the small bowl of porridge spoonful by spoonful, and then wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. Duo Duo wanted to put Bao'er aside, but Bao'er refused to get down no matter what, and hugged Duo Duo tightly and wouldn't let go.
Cuihua laughed and pointed at Bao'er, saying to Southwest, "Look at your daughter, doesn't she look just like Liu Jin when she was little? Back then, Liu Jin would cling to Southwest like this too."
Southwest nodded. They really did look alike. If the two children could stay like this forever, he would be at ease. At least the brother and sister would have someone to rely on.
Just as the atmosphere was getting lively, there was a knock on the courtyard gate. Southwest quickly went out to open it, and Ma Ming rushed in like a spring breeze: "Aunt Cuihua, I want to eat breakfast."
He was thinking about the rice cakes and egg porridge that Cuihua made. He had asked his wife to make them for him, but they never tasted as good as Cuihua's.
A large pot of egg drop porridge, plus the big white steamed buns that Nan Nan secretly took out, was gone in no time. Her appetite was truly something else.
"Did you know that Xiaojun came back last night, bringing his wife and two sons with him?"
"Which Xiaojun?" Everyone was puzzled.
"Tang Xiaojun from Uncle Tang's family, he's recovered and has returned to Mushroom Village with his family," Ma Mingchun said.
Southwest frowned. He vaguely remembered Tang Xiaoling mentioning this older brother. He had joined the army at either sixteen or eighteen. At first, he was able to send his allowance back, but later he gradually stopped sending it.
Not only did he stop sending money, he also stopped sending letters. When Tang Jianjun received another letter from him, it was asking for money because he had found a wife and needed a bride price for the wedding.
Then, the money was sent out, but the correspondence stopped again. When the next letter arrived, it was asking for money again because his wife was pregnant. Tang Jianjun sent another sum of money.
This went on for many times, until finally Tang Jianjun stopped reading his letters altogether, and would just shove them into the stove when he received them.
Later, after Tang Jianjun followed him to Beijing, they never heard anything about Tang Xiaojun again, and they had completely forgotten that there was such a person as Tang Xiaojun in this world.
"You came back last night? What time was it last night? Why didn't you come over for dinner?" Cuihua asked.
“Last night, when they found no one at home, Tang Xiaojun climbed over the wall and went inside. Then he opened the gate and let his wife and son in,” Ma Mingchun said.
“Well, climbing walls must be a piece of cake for Tang Xiaojun,” Bei Nan nodded in agreement.
"So, the whole family of four slept in Uncle Tang's room. When Uncle Tang came home, he was scared half to death, thinking that a thief had broken into his house," Ma Mingchun said, picking up another steamed bun.
"Why is she sleeping in the main room? She doesn't know the rules." Yan Xiaonan frowned. Her own main room was where she was nursed to sleep. Even if she couldn't nurse back to health, no one would take over her room.
"Uncle Tang wasn't happy either. He asked Tang Xiaojun this, but what did Tang Xiaojun say? Only the kang (heated brick bed) in the main room was warm. In this cold weather, they didn't know where the firewood was." Ma Mingchun slowed down the pace of eating his steamed bun.
"And then?" Southwest asked.
"Later, Uncle Tang and Auntie went to the woodshed to fetch firewood to heat the kang (a heated brick bed), but the kang in the west room hadn't been heated in a long time, and it took all night to get it a little warm," Ma Mingchun said.
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