Ding Qiunan was ready in no time. Li Chu brought her a cotton-padded coat and helped her put it on, then put on a hat, scarf, and gloves, making her look like a bear.
Then the two of them set off with their bicycles. Once outside the courtyard, Li Chu rode the bicycle while Ding Qiunan sat behind him, carrying New Year's gifts for her sister and brother-in-law: a packet of tea, a packet of milk candy, several pounds of apples, and a package of pastries. Ding Qiunan had also prepared two red envelopes; as her aunt, she was going to give her nephew and niece lucky money today, each containing ten yuan.
While walking, Li Chucai told Ding Qiunan that he had taken an elderly woman to the hospital that morning, and he kept talking about what happened at the hospital that morning.
Ding Qiunan then realized that everyone had gone to help at Uncle Yi's house that morning. Now everyone in the courtyard knew that she had been sleeping and hadn't gotten up, which made the girl so angry that she kept hitting him with her head while sitting behind him.
Upon arriving at her sister's house, Ding Qiunan gave the two younger children the prepared red envelopes. Seeing so much money, even Jiadong, who usually maintained a mature demeanor, became much more affectionate. Of course, all mothers are the same; the money hadn't even warmed their hearts before Li Qin took it away, claiming it was for them to save.
During the meal, because Li Chu had started to quit smoking and drinking, Wang Ziwen didn't drink much either, so they finished their meal quickly. The two of them didn't stay at their sister's house for long; after finishing their meal, they sat together and chatted for a while before leaving. Li Qin knew that they were going back to Ding Qiunan's parents' home the next day, so she didn't keep them any longer.
On the way back, Li Chu didn't ride his bike; the two of them pushed it slowly back. The streets were crowded, and everyone's face was beaming with happiness. Yes, although there had been famine in the past two years, the basic living standards of city dwellers were still guaranteed. It was the New Year, a very important festival for every Chinese person—who wouldn't be happy?
Li Chu had originally planned to take his wife to see a movie or go to Shichahai for some fun, but Ding Qiunan refused to go and insisted on going home. This left Li Chu scratching his head in frustration. He was already a homebody, and now he had married a homebody woman. The couple were the kind of people who rarely went shopping, so his wife was easy to take care of.
Back home, Ding Qiunan lay flat on the sofa and let out a long sigh: "Ah, it's so comfortable at home, I can do whatever I want."
Li Chu ran to the kitchen and opened a jar of peaches. The two of them shared it. Xiao Hei smelled the aroma and perked up. It came close to the two of them and stared longingly at them. Li Chu deliberately teased Xiao Hei with the jar of peaches, refusing to give it any. This made Xiao Hei angry. It paced back and forth and barked.
Ding Qiunan laughed until her stomach hurt. In the end, the girl went to the kitchen and made some good food for Xiao Hei, which calmed Xiao Hei down.
After finishing the canned food, Xiao Ding sat on the sofa and applied the black ointment Li Chu had given her to her face. Ever since she learned that this ointment had a skin-whitening effect, she had been applying it every day. After using it for two months, she felt that her skin had improved a lot, though she wasn't sure if it was just psychological. After applying the ointment, she had to wait a while before washing it off, so she picked up a book and started reading.
Seeing his wife with ointment on her face, reading a book and not talking to him, Li Chu could only run out to find his third uncle to play chess.
Two terrible chess players got together and started playing with great enthusiasm. A lot of people from the yard came over to watch, and even Uncle Er from the backyard came over, gesturing and giving them pointers, busier than the two chess players themselves.
"Li Chu, this is wrong. You should mount your horse, not drive a carriage."
"You just need to fly an elephant."
...
"Come on, Li Chu, step aside and let me handle this. Watch me teach Yan Laosan a lesson."
Li Chu wasn't annoyed. "If you want to come, then come. It's not worth arguing with someone over something like this during the New Year."
So he made room for Liu Haizhong to go up, and stood aside to watch.
A group of people gathered around watching the two play chess, chatting and laughing, until the wives of each family came out to call for help. Only then did they realize that it was time to eat and the sky was gradually getting dark.
After the crowd dispersed, Li Chu saw Ding Qiunan standing in the yard and quickly approached her with a fawning smile: "Wife, is dinner ready?"
"You bunch of grown men, when you're having fun you don't know to come home for dinner, and your families have to come and call you," Ding Qiunan said irritably.
Li Chu chuckled but remained silent.
On the living room table, the food prepared by Ding Qiunan was already laid out. The main dish was dumplings, and the girl also prepared two other dishes.
Sitting down at the table, the girl looked at Li Chu and asked, "Are you really determined to quit smoking and drinking now?"
"Of course! If you say you'll quit, you have to quit completely. Besides, that stuff doesn't really do you any good." Li Chu nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and ate some food as he spoke.
"So...when should we have children?"
"Don't rush, I've only just started quitting smoking and drinking. It will take at least two or three months to see results." After eating a dumpling, she continued, "Keep taking the pills I made for you. They're for conditioning your body. The better your body is, the healthier your baby will be."
Ding Qiunan was somewhat disappointed: "It'll take that long?"
"Don't rush me, honey. You'll find it annoying once you get pregnant."
"Hmph, no way." The girl wrinkled her nose at Li Chu.
Li Chu smiled at his wife and didn't argue with her.
The two chatted about this and that until they finished their meal. Li Chu didn't let his wife do anything else; he cleared away the dishes himself.
After tidying up, Li Chu went to the study and took out a Go set. He didn't know how to play Go, but he could teach his wife how to play Gomoku.
The two quickly started playing on the sofa, with Ding Qiunan's coquettish voices and Li Chu's smug laughter echoing in the living room. After a few laughs, the laughter turned into pleas for mercy.
As night deepened, Li Chu went to the restroom and returned to find Ding Qiunan asleep on the sofa.
This girl, even when she was sleepy, didn't go upstairs to sleep, just to keep him company.
Li Chu tiptoed forward and picked her up. The movement woke the girl, who struggled to get down: "Let me down, I haven't washed up yet."
"Wait a moment, I'll bring the water upstairs to wash you. I'll carry you up first."
When Ding Qiunan heard him say that, she stopped struggling and obediently let Li Chu carry her up.
"Take off your cotton-padded coat and trousers first, I'll go get some water," Li Chu instructed after putting Ding Qiunan on the bed.
Little Ding lay on the bed, half asleep, and nodded.
When Li Chu brought the hot water up, the girl was asleep again, still dressed. He shook his head helplessly and had no choice but to do it himself.
When Li Chu finished washing up and went upstairs, Ding Qiunan had kicked the blanket aside and was lying in the middle of the bed in a starfish position, wearing a sweater and long underwear.
Li Chu found this scene quite amusing. Sigh, there's no camera around these days. Otherwise, she could take a picture of it and enjoy it herself.
As long as Li Chu isn't sleeping next to her, this girl can toss and turn on the bed, and in no time she can sleep from one end of the bed to the other.
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