"Dad Chu, can I learn to drive?" Wang Yueyue asked, somewhat intrigued.
"Sure, why not? I'll teach you when I have some free time. You're very easy to learn. Once you've learned, I'll get you a license so you can drive to work by yourself."
"Hehe, thank you, Dad Chu."
"Ah ah"
"Oh, my little rascal wants to learn too? How about you learn when you're older? Grandpa will teach you himself then."
"oh oh"
The little rascal sat in his mother's lap, his bottom bobbing up and down, clapping his little hands happily. It was hard to tell whether he understood what she was saying.
...
It was late at night. When Ding Qiunan finished showering and entered the bedroom, the child was already asleep on the small bed next to the kang (a heated brick bed), and her husband was leaning against the headboard, flipping through a book in his hands.
"Honey, I heard from my sister that Qin Huairu came over to see you at noon?"
"Yes, she was waiting for me at the alley entrance when I came back." Li Chu closed the book and put it on the bedside table, then picked up his wife who was sitting on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
"She wanted me to bring some money to Xiaodang, but I refused. I told her to take care of herself first."
When will she and He Yuzhu leave?
"They should be on the southbound train by now." Li Chu glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already past nine o'clock.
"Sigh~" Ding Qiunan sighed and snuggled into her husband's arms: "I hope they can both be alright. After all, they were old neighbors. Now that they've gone south, it might be difficult to see each other again."
Li Chu didn't say anything, but simply tightened his grip on his wife's arm slightly.
Although he disliked the way those two acted, it was just what his wife had said. After all, they were old neighbors of many years and were not young anymore. This parting might really be the last time they would see each other.
His arrival brought about significant changes in the lives of everyone in that courtyard.
For Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong's families, as well as the other families who originally lived in that courtyard, life was indeed getting better and better, and it might get even better in the future.
But for the elderly couple who are no longer with us, as well as Qin Huairu's family and He Yuzhu, it really wasn't a very good situation.
"Honey, could you sing me another song?" Ding Qiunan asked, lifting her head from her man's embrace.
What song would you like to hear?
"Whatever, I'll listen to anything you sing."
"Okay, let me think about it."
I want to sing this song for you, while we're still young and beautiful.
Let the flowers bloom freely, adorning your years and my branches.
Who can replace you? Love to the fullest while you're young.
My dearest one, let's stay together even though the journey is long.
I'll sing this song for you, and give me your innocent smile.
…………
Ding Qiunan lay there, gazing intently at her man, quietly listening to him sing.
"You're still young, while I'm already an old lady," she said with a radiant smile as the song ended.
Li Chu didn't say anything, but simply leaned over and kissed his wife's forehead.
"Don't move, lean back." Ding Qiunan seemed to have noticed something, and sat up straight.
"What's wrong?"
"I just noticed, you even have gray hairs! Let me pluck them for you."
"What's so surprising about that? I'm fifty-two years old, it's normal to have gray hair."
"Only fifty-one, where is the fifty-two?" Ding Qiunan muttered discontentedly as she searched for the white hairs.
"Yes, you're right."
"Honey, do you think I might wake up one day with a face full of wrinkles?"
"How could that be? Even if wrinkles are going to appear, they won't appear suddenly; there's always a process involved."
Why do people have to get old? It would be so much better to stay young forever.
"Haha, what a joke, if that were the case, the Earth would be overcrowded and explode."
"Oh, I mean I'll always have this youthful appearance, even when I'm seventy or eighty, until my bodily functions decline and I die of old age. I don't mean I won't die."
"Aren't these things that various countries are currently researching? The wrinkle-removing formula I developed is also for this purpose."
"Oh, that seems so."
"How many gray hairs are there?" Li Chu felt like he had plucked them two or three times.
When he washes up and combs his hair in the morning, he has never actually noticed whether he has any gray hairs.
The Fairy Tree Romance
"Don't rush, I've pulled out two, let me see if there are any more."
After a while, Ding Qiunan gave up the idea of continuing the search and stretched out her left hand, displaying it like a precious treasure in front of her man.
“Look, they’re silvery white. I only found these two. Give me the book, and I’ll put them inside.”
"Why are you holding this? Just throw it away. There will be more and more of these in the future."
"Hey, hurry up and give it to me. I'm going to see how many hairs I can pluck before you grow a lot of gray hair."
"Don't you dare pluck my hair out one day."
"What are you saying? Am I really that unreliable? Give me the book right now."
"But I flip through this book from time to time, and it might fall out one day if you leave it in there."
"That's right. Then take out that notebook with the rubber band from the bedside table drawer."
Li Chu reached into the drawer, pulled it open, and took out a notebook with a blue plastic cover.
After Ding Qiunan took the hairs, she tucked the two white hairs into the cover, then put the hair tie back on and put it back in the drawer. She then snuggled back into her man's arms.
What's written in this notebook?
"Haven't you looked at our household income and daily expenses?"
"Why would I need to look at what you've memorized?"
"By the way, honey, what about the cars you mentioned giving to Yueyue and Wenhui? How will we fill them up with gas later?"
These days, you can't just buy gas; without gas coupons, your car is just sitting there unused.
He can just drive his car directly to the military's fuel depot to refuel; he doesn't need fuel tickets at all, just a signature.
However, the other two vehicles will require fuel coupons in the future.
"It's alright, I'll figure something out later."
Ding Qiunan was just asking casually. She never had to worry about the tickets or other such things the family needed; her husband always managed to find ways to get all sorts of unusual tickets.
"When you teach Yueyue to drive, teach me to drive too."
"Hmm? You want to learn it now? Didn't you say you weren't going to?"
“I used to have a driver, so I was too lazy to learn how to drive.”
"Sure, it's easy to learn if you want to. You can learn it in two days. But if you want to become proficient, you'll have to practice slowly."
"Then I can just drive to work from now on."
"Okay, from now on I'll be in charge of taking the bus!"
"Okay, I'll be your personal driver from now on!"
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