Chapter 430: Guiding Xiaohua (Page 1/2)
Around 11 o'clock the next morning, Deng Xiaoyong came again with Xiao Hua.
Deng Xiaoyong was carrying a urea bag, which was bulging with various local specialties, while Xiao Hua was carrying a bag of clothes.
When Xiao Hua and the others came over yesterday, Huo Li was not at home, so he naturally had not seen these two people, but he guessed who they were.
Deng Xiaoyong put down the woven bag and said to Huo Li respectfully, "Hello, Mr. Huo! I am Xiaohua's uncle, Deng Xiaoyong."
"Hello, please sit down!"
"You're welcome, old man. I have to go back to work now. The things in this bag are some local specialties prepared by Xiaohua's parents. It's a little token of their appreciation."
Deng Xiaoyong said to Xiao Hua, "Xiao Hua, work hard at Chief Huo's house. Your uncle will come to see you when he has time."
"I understand, uncle."
Seeing that Deng Xiaoyong brought such a big bag, Lin Man naturally didn't want to let him go back empty-handed, so she went to the room and brought out a net bag of lychees.
"Comrade Deng, this is a small gift from us, please accept it!"
Seeing that the bag of lychees weighed at least two or three pounds, Deng Xiaoyong felt a little embarrassed and said, "Mrs. Huo, you don't have to be so polite."
Lin Man stuffed the lychees into Deng Xiaoyong's arms without saying a word. No matter who prepared the snakeskin bag of local specialties on the ground, since it was Deng Xiaoyong who brought it, the return gift must be given to Deng Xiaoyong.
Deng Xiaoyong accepted the litchi, thanked Lin Man, and gave Xiao Hua some advice, asking her to be more diligent and to find him in the military district cafeteria if she had any problems.
After Deng Xiaoyong left, Lin Man asked Xiao Hua to put the luggage away first, and then carry the snakeskin bag to the backyard.
When they returned to the backyard, Xiao Hua poured out all the local specialties. Lin Man found that there were more than ten pounds of sweet potatoes, four or five pounds of wet peanuts, and a bag of dried ground vegetables. The rest were all fresh eggplants, beans and water spinach.
"Xiaohua, you can cook, right? Then you can cook the lunch!" Lin Man said, pointing at the meat dishes on the table.
She had actually been prepared for a long time, but at this moment Deng Xiaoyong walked in with Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua seemed a little nervous. Although she started learning to cook at the age of six, this was her first time cooking for others outside.
What's more, the employer's kitchen is now filled with all kinds of seasonings, which dazzled her and she has no idea where to start.
After all, at home, there are only a few simple seasonings in the kitchen - table salt, soy sauce, MSG and chili powder.
Seeing Xiao Hua didn't move, Lin Man couldn't help but ask: "Can't you cook?"
Xiao Hua replied shyly, "Yes, but I don't know what Auntie and Grandpa like."
Hearing this, Lin Man laughed: "Haha, it's okay, I'm pregnant now, and grandpa is old, so we should try to eat a lighter diet.
But when the child’s father comes home in the evening, you can make him one or two spicy dishes.”
"Uncle Huo, do you like spicy food?"
"I like to eat it, and later he got used to it."
Xiao Hua smiled, then washed her hands and started to get busy. She took out a few big crucian carps from the wooden basin, put them on the chopping board and slapped them. For those that were not dead, she slapped them a few more times with the back of a knife.
Once the fish is dead, quickly remove the scales, take out the gills, and then gut it.
Seeing Xiao Hua's skillful movements, Lin Man guessed that she had killed many fish in the countryside. She wondered what this fish would taste like.
When frying the crucian carp, Lin Man saw that her hands were shaking, and she seemed reluctant to add oil, so she encouraged her, "Xiaohua, add more oil. If you use so little oil, the fish will easily stick to the pan.
Don't be reluctant to use oil. We still have more than ten pounds of oil at home. If you run out, your uncle will go buy more."
Xiao Hua took the oil bottle and poured some more oil into the pot. When the oil in the pot was red, she quickly threw a few slices of ginger and a few cloves of garlic into the pot, and then put the killed crucian carp in one by one.
When all the crucian carps were fried until golden brown on both sides, Xiao Hua began to add water into the pot to stew the crucian carp soup.
However, Lin Man suddenly said, "If you want the fish soup to be whiter, you can add boiling water. If you use cold water, it will take longer to boil."
Hearing this, Xiao Hua quickly responded: "Oh, I see."
Then, Xiao Hua continued to concentrate on cooking, while Lin Man stood by and gave guidance.
She didn't want Xiao Hua to just make a meal casually, as it would not only waste ingredients but also affect her appetite.
After all, she is pregnant with twins and is responsible for feeding three people. The quality of the food is crucial to the health of the fetus.
Fortunately, Xiao Hua was very obedient and followed Lin Man's instructions.
As long as Lin Man told her what to do, she would do it without hesitation. This made Lin Man very satisfied.
After the food was ready, Huo Li tasted all of it and thought it tasted okay, but not as good as his eldest grandson and his granddaughter-in-law.
Lin Man also tasted it and thought that the dish cooked by Xiao Hua was pretty good. After all, she was the one who personally instructed her on how to cook it, so it was naturally good.
After dinner, Xiao Hua quickly cleared the dishes on the table and then went back to the kitchen to clean up.
After she finished all her work, Lin Man asked her to go to her room. "Xiaohua, can you knit a sweater?"
"I know a little bit. My family is poor, so I don't have any extra wool to practice with."
"It's okay. I have a lot of scraps of wool at home. You can use them to knit gloves and practice!"
After Xiao Hua has practiced well, she can knit sweaters with her. After all, she has many children in her family and they grow up fast. The winter in Beijing is cold, so she has to knit new sweaters for her children every year.
Xiao Hua looked at the bag that Lin Man handed over, which was full of colorful balls of yarn.
She became very excited and said, "Auntie, I will never be able to use up all the wool."
"They're all little balls of yarn, in a variety of colors, but there aren't actually that many."
There really wasn't much wool, only enough to knit two or three pairs of gloves at most. Thinking that Xiao Hua would have nothing to do after work, I could let her practice first.
When she learns how to do it, she can help knit a few stitches when she is too busy knitting sweaters for the children.
Although there are many machine-knitted sweaters in the space, there are no woolen trousers. In this day and age, when winter comes, everyone, adults and children, wear woolen trousers, so she always has to prepare two or three pairs for the children.
Lin Man found that Xiao Hua was very hardworking. She would take the initiative to find things to do whenever she had free time. When she had nothing to do, she would play with Huo Yining and Huo Yian and take them out for a walk.
She found that hiring outsiders to do the work was indeed better than hiring acquaintances. In addition to paying her a fixed salary, she would be very grateful if she was given something.
Xiao Hua never takes the fruits and snacks at home on her own initiative. She always has to wait for Lin Man to persuade her before she eats a little.
(This chapter is not yet finished, please click on the next page to continue reading) Chapter 430 Guiding Xiaohua (Page 2/2)
Liao Sijie's daughter was one month old, and the Lin family held a full-month banquet for her. Lin Man did not go, so Huo Qingci took Huo Yining to the banquet.
After the banquet, Huo Qingci took Huo Yining back home. Huo Qingci put the red eggs and sesame cakes on the table and told Lin Man about Liao Sijie and her daughter.
"Manman, do you know? It's been a while since we last met, and Esjie has changed a lot."
Lin Man was a little confused, "What's changed so much?"
"When she was pregnant, wasn't Essie very confident that she could give birth to a son? But after her daughter was born, she started to feel a little depressed.
He speaks carefully now, just like when he first came to our house. He seemed obedient and sensible. My mother said that Sijie has come to terms with things and is a down-to-earth person.
Lin Man understood that Liao Sijie had become much more low-key because she had a daughter, and it was definitely not because she had let go.
The reason why she is low-key is that she doesn't want everyone to focus on her. If she gives birth to a son, she will still be as proud as ever.
The current low profile is just a form of dormancy. Lin Man has seen through Liao Sijie. She only cares about herself and can even use her parents.
Recalling the time when Huo Qingci's aunt's family encountered misfortune, Liao Sijie volunteered to stay with her parents, and Lin Man thought she was very responsible. But later she realized that Liao Sijie may have already anticipated that her mother-in-law and Huo Qingci would definitely ask her grandfather for help.
If she chooses to live with her grandparents' relatives, her quality of life will probably not be comparable to what it is now.
I have to admit that Liao Sijie may seem impulsive, but in fact she has some cleverness. A man of insight is a wise man, so her patience is understandable.
Lin Man didn't believe Liao Sijie would change. She said to Huo Qingci, "Qingci, we know Liao Sijie very well. Mom thinks she's changing, but it's actually because of her expectations of her that she's ignoring her true nature."
She has become cautious and prudent now because she gave birth to a daughter and has no one to protect her.
This isn't a real change, but a coping strategy she's adopted to survive."
Huo Qingci is not stupid. After being betrayed after trusting her once, he naturally won't trust her a second time.
He also knew why his mother felt that Liao Sijie was changing. Wasn't it because of that trace of blood relationship? He hoped that she would change for the better.
"Well, I understand. Anyway, we can just have normal interactions. There's no need to get close to her."
Lin Man asked Huo Qingci, "What's her daughter's name, and who does she look like?"
"Her daughter's name is Lin Li, which has the character 'li' (grass) at the beginning. It sounds like 'smart and clever'."
Lin Man thought that her own name and Ling Fei's name both had something to do with the grass radical, so could this name have been chosen by Liao Sijie?
Lin Man asked Huo Qingci, "Was this name chosen by the child's grandfather, or by Lin Jing and Liao Sijie?"
Huo Qingci pursed his lips and shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. My mom said that Sijie was in a bad mood the day she gave birth, but she probably thought it through after she came back, and she was pretty good to the baby. The little girl weighed 12 kilograms when she was one month old, and her little face was full of flesh."
Lin Man asked again: "Who is helping Sijie take care of the children?"
"Grandma Lin Jing comes to look after her during the day, and Lin Jing helps take care of her at night. But the little girl eats and sleeps, and it saves a lot of trouble if she doesn't cry or make a fuss."
It seems that Liao Sijie is still a lucky person. At least the child is obedient. If he encountered a child who cried for a hundred days and didn't sleep at night, it would be difficult to deal with.
However, Liao Sijie is alone at home, and he has to buy groceries, cook, and take care of the children, so he is really busy. Fortunately, Grandma Lin Jing is considerate.
Knowing that Lin Jing's mother is unreliable, I go over to check on her whenever I have time and help Liao Sijie.
Lin Man took a red egg from the table, peeled it, and handed it to her youngest son Huo Yian.
Then he said to Xiaohua who was not far away, "Xiaohua, come here and eat the red eggs."
Xiao Hua replied awkwardly: "Auntie, leave the red eggs for An An and Ning Ning. I won't eat them."
Seeing her say that, Lin Man let her do as she pleased. Huo Qingci pulled Lin Man to sit down and gently stroked her bulging belly.
"Manman, let's go to the hospital together this afternoon for a pregnancy checkup to see how the two babies in your belly are developing."
Lin Man refused out loud: "It's too sunny in the afternoon. It's easy to get heatstroke if you walk for more than ten minutes."
Huo Qingci thought for a moment and said, "Then we'll go out together tomorrow morning. After you finish the examination, rest in the dormitory for a while. I'll take you back at noon."
"Do you want to go there by bike?" Lin Man asked.
"No, I'm going to borrow a car."
Huo Qingci didn't dare let Lin Man ride his bicycle. There was a bumpy road between home and the hospital. Even if he didn't fall while riding his bicycle, Lin Man couldn't stand a few more bumps.
He didn't dare let Lin Man risk miscarriage by riding his bicycle, after all, she was pregnant with twins.
Lin Man felt that it was not good to ask Huo Qingci to borrow a car all the time, so she pulled Huo Qingci back to the room and took him into the space.
"Manman, why did you pull me into this space?"
"There's a medical station in the space, we can do the checkups ourselves."
Lin Man first asked Xiaozhi to scan her to see how the two children were developing. Xiaozhi said that the two children were developing well.
Then they went to the four-dimensional color ultrasound room to teach Huo Qingci how to use the color ultrasound equipment. When Huo Qingci clearly saw the outlines of the two children, he was very excited.
"Manman, I saw my daughter's face. Her nose is beautiful. The little brat is very greedy and put his fingers in his mouth."
Huo Qingci excitedly told Lin Man about the two children. Lin Man smiled and replied, "You can print out the images."
"Okay, okay, I'll print it out later. If you want to see my daughter in the future, we can go into the space and do a four-dimensional color ultrasound."
Lin Man said angrily, "That's totally unnecessary. You'll be able to see them on National Day. Take another look at the children's hearts. I have to get up. I'll do the blood sugar test tomorrow morning."
Because she was pregnant with twins, Lin Man didn't dare eat high-sugar fruits for fear of getting gestational diabetes.
With Ling Fei's previous experience as a lesson, Lin Man was very cautious in everything she did, fearing that something might happen to her. It wasn't that she was afraid of death.
Anyway, she had died once before, and she was worried that after she died, Huo Qingci would remarry and her two sons would be bullied by the stepmother.
It is said that if there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather. Even if Huo Qingci likes her now, if she really dies one day, he will not be able to stay single for the rest of his life just for her.
When he remarries and has a new wife, he will no longer remember her who passed away. The two sons she left behind will gradually be ignored by their biological father.
For the sake of her two sons, she must live a long and healthy life to support them.
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