Li Chu explained seriously, "How can this be nonsense? I'm stating the facts. Look, when these children grow up, some will get married and others will get married. In the end, won't it still be just the two of us? These children will only accompany us for a period of time. The only ones who will truly stay with us until the end are each other. That's why true love is between husband and wife."
"If that's the case, then what's the point of having children?"
"Having kids is just for fun. Our future children will just be a spice in our lives," Li Chu said matter-of-factly.
Ding Qiunan suddenly felt worried about her future child. With such an unreliable father, it was easy to imagine what the child's life would be like.
Lost in these random thoughts, the girl slowly drifted off to sleep.
Li Chu leaned back with his eyes closed, and after a long while, his wife didn't speak. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the girl was sleeping on top of him again. He gently turned over, wanting to put the girl on the bed so she could sleep more comfortably, but as soon as he made the movement, the girl probably sensed it and hummed twice in his arms, expressing her dissatisfaction.
Okay, I'll just sleep like this. Li Chu carefully moved his body down, making himself lie flat, with his head resting on the pillow.
After he laid her down, he lifted her up to make her more comfortable, then covered her with the blanket and gently stroked her smooth back with his hands.
He couldn't fall asleep after trying for a while, and his mind kept wandering to the newly bought yard. He had some new ideas about renovating the house. He wanted to get everything done in one go and install heating in the house. Now he just didn't know if he could buy a small boiler, cast iron pipes, and radiators. He planned to discuss it with Boss Fu to see if his idea could be realized.
Li Chu vaguely felt that he had forgotten something, but after thinking about it, he couldn't figure it out. Oh well, whatever, the most important thing is to sleep with his wife.
In his dazed state, he seemed to hear a dog barking, but he didn't pay any attention and just tightened his grip on his wife's arm.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Li Chu woke up to find his wife sleeping soundly on top of him, without moving an inch all night. He decided he would have to find a way to correct this habit of hers.
He stretched his arms a little, gently put his wife on the bed, covered her with a blanket, and then got off the floor to get dressed.
Then I went to the bedroom next door and took the mattress and sheets that I had changed yesterday downstairs. I need to wash them today; just air-drying them won't do, or they'll leave marks on the mattress.
Upon entering the living room, Li Chu felt something was missing. After circling around the room, he realized that Xiao Hei was gone. He then remembered that he had let Xiao Hei out last night, but it hadn't come back with them. He muttered to himself, "Damn it, it's probably lost now. Maybe someone has already eaten it."
I was thinking about it, but I still decided to go out and look for it, just in case.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Xiao Hei lying there.
Hearing a noise behind him, Xiao Hei turned around and glanced back. His melancholy little eyes were...tsk tsk.
Li Chu looked at Xiao Hei and felt a little guilty. Then he thought again, "That silly dog didn't bark much, and just stood outside freezing all night." He automatically forgot that he had actually heard the dog barking last night.
When Xiao Hei saw the door open, it stood up, lowered its head, tucked its tail between its legs, and slipped into the living room. First, it ran to the water basin and drank vigorously for a while, then lay down in its den, its eyes fixed on Li Chu standing at the door.
Li Chu stood there scratching his head, went into the kitchen, opened a can of meat, and prepared to feed it to Xiao Hei as compensation.
Holding the can of food, Li Chu squatted down in front of Xiao Hei, gesturing for it to eat. Xiao Hei looked at the can of food in front of it, but didn't rush to eat. Instead, it first rubbed its head against Li Chu's hand and barked softly twice. When Li Chu gestured for it to eat again, it finally started to eat.
Li Chu watched the little guy's actions, smiled and shook his head, thinking that it probably thought he didn't want it anymore. He scratched Xiao Hei's head a couple more times before standing up and going out to take care of his personal hygiene.
He wandered around outside before coming back. It was the Lunar New Year holiday, and it was still early, so there weren't many people around.
After returning, Li Chu took apart the mattress he had just taken down, draped the inner mesh cover over the back of the chair, and placed it next to the stove to dry. He then took the outer cover and the bed sheet into the bathroom, and went upstairs to take down the clothes that he and his wife had been wearing for the past two days.
I was originally planning to take it to the outdoor sink to wash, since it's a bigger place, but after thinking about it, I changed my mind.
These days, household chores like washing and cleaning are mostly done by women. A grown man washing clothes outside early in the morning might not seem like a problem to him, but others would just think Li Chu married a lazy woman. To avoid embarrassing his wife, he'd better wash them in the bathroom.
Li Chu was washing himself with great effort when he suddenly felt a heavy weight pressing down on his back. Immediately afterward, he heard his wife say, "Li Chu, why didn't you wait for me to get up and wash?"
"I woke up early and had nothing to do, so I just washed it. I'm almost done. Go put on your cotton-padded coat, and I'll rinse it with clean water again. Then you can hang it out to dry on the line outside."
Ding Qiunan leaned over his back, kissed his cheek, and then got up to put on her cotton-padded coat.
The two of them stayed home all day, cooking when they were hungry, and reading or playing chess when they were full. What might seem like a boring life to others, they enjoyed immensely and loved this kind of life.
That evening, Li Chu sat on the sofa listening to the radio, while Ding Qiunan rested her head on his lap reading a book. Suddenly, there was a rapid knocking at the door: "Dr. Li, Dr. Li..."
Ding Qiunan sat up abruptly. Li Chu got up and went to open the door. Standing outside was Wang, the medical officer from the hospital's medical office.
"Dr. Li, Vice President Zhang asked me to come and call you to the hospital immediately. It's important," Officer Wang said quickly upon seeing Li Chu.
When Li Chu saw Officer Wang, he knew something must have happened at the hospital. After listening to him, he didn't waste any words and said, "Okay, I'll be right there."
"Dr. Li, please hurry, I'll go call the others." Officer Wang turned around, picked up the bicycle that had fallen in the middle of the yard, and walked out.
Li Chu didn't delay and turned around to go upstairs to get his cotton-padded coat, only to see that Ding Qiunan had already brought it down.
"Qiu Nan, there's an emergency patient at the hospital. It'll be late, so go to sleep first. Don't wait for me. Make sure the door is locked. Xiao Hei is downstairs, so don't worry," Li Chu instructed as he put on his clothes. Then, looking at Xiao Hei, he added, "Xiao Hei, I won't be home, so make sure you keep an eye on the door, okay?"
Little Black crawled out of its den and barked at Li Chu.
Seeing that Li Chu had finished dressing and changing his shoes, Ding Qiunan handed him a flashlight: "Take this flashlight and be careful on the road."
"I understand. Okay, I'm leaving." After saying that, Li Chu walked out without letting Ding Qiunan come out, and closed the door behind him.
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