Sheng Xinhua is only two and a half years old. A child this young doesn't have a very strong memory.
Whether it was because he hadn't seen his mother for so long and had become estranged, or because he resented that his mother had left him for so long and hadn't come back, the child clung to his grandmother's leg, looking at Zhou Qinglan with tears in his eyes.
"Xinhua, it's me, Mom! Don't you recognize me?"
When Zhou Qinglan saw her son like this, she felt as if her heart was being torn apart. Her son hadn't seen her for a long time and didn't even dare to recognize her anymore.
“Come here, let Mommy hug you. Mommy missed you so much.” Zhou Qinglan squatted down and reached out to her son.
Sheng Xinhua tilted his head and looked Zhou Qinglan up and down, but did not step forward, still holding Zhang Shuzhen's leg.
"The child is young, and if you leave for four or five months, he won't remember you. It's okay, you can coax him when you get back."
Seeing this, Zhang Shuzhen could only offer a few words of advice to Zhou Qinglan. "Come on, let's go inside and sit down to talk slowly."
With tears in her eyes, Zhou Qinglan picked up Sheng Xinyu, and Sheng Xi'an and Sheng Yunfang, carrying large and small bags, went inside and sat down.
"Hey, why does the second child look so dark and thin? Girl, you've lost weight too. What's wrong, is the food at school not good?"
Zhang Shuzhen looked at her eldest daughter-in-law and second son, who were both anxious, and said with heartache.
Zhou Qinglan has indeed lost some weight, mainly because she gained a lot of weight during her second pregnancy and postpartum period when Zhang Shuzhen took meticulous care of her.
After she went out to study and weaned Sheng Xinyu, and because the school food was indeed not as good as at home, and she was busy and studied hard, she naturally lost weight.
As for Sheng Xi'an, they exercise and run every day at school, so it's normal for them to get thinner and darker over time.
"Mom, the food at school is alright. The cafeteria has everything, including meat and vegetables."
"The main problem is the stress of studying. Everyone is studying like crazy, trying to make up for the years we missed. We're studying until really late every day," Zhou Qinglan explained.
Indeed, the oldest of those who were admitted to university after the resumption of the college entrance examination are almost thirty years old.
After years of participating in labor, they finally looked forward to university life. Many people studied like crazy, trying to make up for lost time.
No one was playing or fooling around at school; they were almost always reading books.
The passion these people have for knowledge and learning is something that others cannot understand.
"Yeah, it's the same at our school. Everyone studies with their partners. After lights out at night, they hide under the covers and read with a flashlight."
Sheng Xi'an nodded, this is a common phenomenon, almost every university is like this.
"Oh dear, you can't just focus on studying and neglect your health!" Zhang Shuzhen said, feeling extremely distressed.
"Fang'er, quick, here's some money. Go to the store and see if they have any meat left. If they do, buy some fatty meat so we can make dumplings this afternoon."
Zhang Shuzhen suddenly remembered something, quickly took out some money, and sent Sheng Yunfang to buy meat.
These days, Sheng Xiping has been transferred to the hunting grounds, working from dawn till dusk every day, and has no time to go hunting in the mountains.
Hua Hua hadn't brought any meat home for a while, so Zhang Shuzhen suggested that Sheng Yunfang go and buy some.
A little train is coming up today; it'll probably bring some meat or something to the shops. As for whether we can get any, who knows?
"Okay, Mom." Sheng Yunfang took the money and meat coupons and ran out in a flash.
Zhou Qinglan then remembered that she had brought some things back with her, so she quickly opened her bag and took things out.
She pulled out a whole bunch of things, including candy, snacks, milk powder, malted milk powder, clothes, shoes, hair accessories, stationery, and so on, that she had bought from the provincial capital.
University students receive a subsidy of 24 yuan per month, and the food in the school cafeteria is not expensive. Zhou Qinglan has a small appetite, so she can save a lot of money each month.
In addition, Sheng Xiping, Zhou Mingyuan, and Zhou Qingyang send Zhou Qinglan some money every month, so Zhou Qinglan is quite well-off.
She doesn't spend much money; she saves what she has to buy things for her family.
"Xinhua, come here, Mom has some candy, come quickly."
Zhou Qinglan took out a few pieces of candy from the paper bag and gave them to Chen Feng, Chen Yue, and Sheng Xitai, then waved to Sheng Xinhua.
Sheng Xinhua was sitting next to his grandmother. When he saw the candy, the little guy's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at his grandmother.
When Zhang Shuzhen saw her grandson like this, she knew he was craving something delicious, so she reached out and patted Xinhua's little head.
"Go ahead, won't you take the good food your mom offers?"
They're just kids after all, and they can't resist the temptation of candy.
Sheng Xinhua walked up to Zhou Qinglan, stood next to her, and called her "Mom" somewhat shyly.
"Oh, my precious son."
Zhou Qinglan picked up the child, placed him on her lap, grabbed a handful of candy from the bag, and stuffed it into Sheng Xinhua's pocket.
"Good son, call me 'Mom' again."
When Zhou Qinglan was away studying, her biggest worry was her two children at home.
When Zhou Qinglan entered the room, Sheng Xinhua didn't recognize her, and she felt extremely upset.
"Mom." Sheng Xinhua, clutching two pieces of candy in his hand, looked up and called out again, then kissed Zhou Qinglan on the cheek.
Zhou Qinglan was so excited that she hugged Sheng Xinhua tightly and quickly gave him two more cookies.
Sitting next to Zhou Qinglan was Sheng Xinyu. The little guy was already ten months old and could sometimes stand up while holding onto things.
Seeing that his mother gave his older brother candy, the little guy opened his mouth, drooled, and crawled to his brother on all fours, calling out to him.
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