Chapter 71 A Steady Flow
"Mom, are you done?"
Little Lingxiao stood on tiptoe, his little head almost touching the stove, staring longingly at the pot.
On the stove next to it, a small aluminum pot was bubbling away, emitting the unique fragrance of mung beans and the rich sweetness of brown sugar, which filled the air with the steam rising from the pot. Just smelling it made one's appetite whetted.
Cheng Cheng calmly took the iron spoon, lifted the pot lid, and immediately steam billowed out.
The mung beans in the pot had already split open, revealing pale yellow bean paste, which melted together with the rice grains into a thick and creamy paste.
She slowly stirred the pot with an iron spoon, then dropped in two pieces of brown sugar. Soon, the deep red color of the brown sugar blended with the mung bean paste, creating an incredibly soft, sweet, and fragrant dish.
"Hmm, it should be ready by now." Cheng Cheng turned down the fire on the stove a little, scooped up a spoonful of the thick red bean paste with an iron ladle, and let it flow down.
She first ladled out three bowls and left them to cool on the table, intending to drink them later. Then she poured the remaining mung bean paste from the pot into several wide-mouthed enamel bowls, filling each bowl only about seven or eight-tenths full.
Seeing this, Xiao Lingxiao immediately ran off to get chopsticks.
"Let's go turn them into popsicles!"
The mother and daughter carefully pushed open the door, carrying several bowls of steaming hot mung bean soup.
Cheng Cheng placed the bowls of mung bean paste on the snow. The top layer of mung bean paste quickly solidified into a hard shell at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Little Lingxiao, quickly put the chopsticks in!"
“Okay, Mom.” Little Lingxiao immediately stretched out his little hand, which was wearing thick gloves, and inserted the chopsticks into the center of the mung bean paste.
"Alright, let's go in."
Xiao Lingxiao looked back every few steps, reluctantly following his mother back into the house.
About half an hour later, the mother and daughter came outside again, fully armed.
Little Lingxiao immediately squatted down in front of her bowl of mung bean soup, touched the chopsticks sticking out with his little hand, and pushed them hard, but the chopsticks did not budge and remained standing straight on the mung bean soup.
The little girl looked up at her mother, her eyes sparkling: "Mommy, it's done!"
Cheng Cheng smiled faintly, squatted down, tapped the rim of the bowl with her fingers, making a thud, and announced with a laugh, "We succeeded!"
After bringing the freshly made mung bean popsicles back inside, Cheng Cheng poured hot water onto the inside of the bowl, then easily removed the deep red mung bean popsicles with chopsticks.
Little Lingxiao excitedly held up the homemade mung bean popsicle in front of his eyes with chopsticks, and couldn't wait to stick out his pink little tongue and lick it.
The next second, her big eyes filled with panic as she cried out to her mother for help, "Mom... Waaah... I can't get my tongue off!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Cheng looked up, paused for a moment, and then saw her daughter's tongue stuck to the popsicle. She couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Mother……"
She quickly suppressed a laugh and stepped forward to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Mommy will help you get it off right away."
She poured a little warm water from the thermos and had Xiao Lingxiao squat down. She carefully dripped it onto the spot where his tongue and popsicle were stuck together, and the temperature of the hot water quickly melted the thin layer of ice.
Xiao Lingxiao felt that his tongue could move freely, so he immediately pulled it back and covered his mouth with his hand, still feeling lingering fear.
Just then, the door was pushed open.
Zhou Yue came home from get off work. He took off his heavy military overcoat and immediately saw his daughter covering her mouth with slightly red eyes, while his wife stood beside him holding a water glass with a smile she couldn't help but smile.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Yue asked with a smile.
Cheng Cheng picked up a finished mung bean popsicle and shook it, then recounted how her daughter's tongue had gotten stuck while eating the popsicle.
Zhou Yue listened and smiled, looking at his daughter with gentle eyes.
Little Lingxiao put her hand down, her voice still carrying a hint of aggrieved tears, but mostly filled with curiosity. She looked up and asked, "Daddy, why is my tongue stuck to the mung bean popsicle?"
“Because it’s too cold.” Zhou Yue patted his daughter’s head and explained, “Our tongues have a lot of moisture and are warmer than an ice pop, right? When you lick such a cold ice pop with your warm tongue, the ice pop will absorb the heat from your tongue, and the moisture will freeze into ice, sticking your tongue to the ice pop.”
Xiao Lingxiao understood the explanation, but her little mind quickly generated new questions, and she immediately asked, "Then why doesn't your tongue get stuck when you eat popsicles in the summer?"
“That’s a good question.” Zhou Yue nodded approvingly. “It’s because the weather is hot in summer, and the air is hot too. The coldness on the surface of the popsicle is neutralized by the surrounding heat, and it doesn’t have time to freeze the moisture on your tongue.”
"So that's how it is!"
Xiao Lingxiao suddenly realized the underlying principle and his interest soared again.
This time she was mentally prepared and carefully licked the popsicle with her lips.
At this moment, Cheng Cheng took out a mung bean popsicle and naturally offered it to the man's mouth.
Zhou Yue subconsciously took a bite from his wife's hand; the icy, sweet taste made his teeth chatter slightly.
"Mom," Lingxiao suddenly said, his eyes sparkling, "I want to write down everything about making mung bean popsicles and my tongue getting stuck, and tell Brother Niu Niu about it!"
"OK!"
Cheng Cheng readily agreed, but the letter probably wouldn't be able to be sent until spring.
After spring arrives, the ice and snow melt, and the roads become clear.
Cheng Cheng first received a heavy package from the capital. Upon opening it, she found it was a picture book sent by her cousin, titled "Sun Wukong and His Friends," which had just been published.
The book's binding was exquisite for its time. The cover featured a colorful image of Sun Wukong riding the clouds, which she had drawn, while the inner pages were line drawings by her. Each drawing was accompanied by a simple and vivid text story.
The package that came with the book also contained two precious gifts: a box of colorful crayons and a box of watercolor paints.
She excitedly called to her daughter, "Xiaoxiao, look! The book is out! We can start coloring it now!"
There's a little story behind the book's successful publication: the spy incident on the train last year, which has finally had a follow-up.
The other party was deeply entrenched. After Zhou Yue reported the incident, the base did not alert them. Instead, they wrote a letter in her name to contact the other party. Then, by pulling up the radish, they uncovered the mud and conducted a thorough internal investigation. Following the clues, they dug out a small group of infiltrated bad elements.
This incident raised serious concerns among base leaders, particularly regarding the confidentiality education of military dependents. As a result, the base launched a month-long "confidentiality awareness" campaign, and even schools implemented confidentiality education programs.
Cheng Cheng was once again drafted by the propaganda department to draw a set of short comic strips about confidentiality and security, which were then posted on the bulletin board.
"Dad, look! It's a book Mom drew!"
As soon as Zhou Yue got home, Xiao Lingxiao immediately ran over with a book in hand.
Zhou Yue took the book, looked at the title, and vaguely guessed what it was. He carefully flipped through the pages one by one.
After a while, he looked up, his gaze fixed intently on his wife, took her hand, and said with sincere admiration, "Congratulations, Cheng! Our family's great painter!"
Cheng Cheng raised the corners of her eyes slightly and nodded her chin with a reserved air.
This was just the first step. Her cousin discussed with her in a letter that the publishing house planned to continue publishing traditional stories and commissioned her to write more.
Cheng Cheng thought to herself with delight that maybe when she retires in the future, she will not only receive a pension, but also a continuous stream of royalties.
He couldn't help but smile, then turned to look at his daughter who was gazing at them expectantly, and softly suggested, "Xiaoxiao, how about we invite Daddy to help us finish this book?"
"good!"
Xiao Lingxiao immediately cheered, ran over, grabbed his father's hand, and walked towards the desk.
So the family of three squeezed together under the warm lamp at the desk.
When the picture book is opened, it depicts Sun Wukong holding his golden cudgel, riding on his somersault cloud, preparing to fight Erlang Shen. The lines are flowing and vividly portray the expressions of Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen.
"Dad, here's the yellow one!"
"Mom, you use the red one!"
Xiao Lingxiao opened the crayon box and distributed the crayons, saying, "Dad, you draw here, Sun Wukong's golden armor! Mom, you draw the Great Sage's cape!"
Cheng Cheng and Zhou Yue exchanged a smile: "Okay, we'll listen to the little painter!"
The warm yellow light gently enveloped the small space of the desk. Outside the window was the chilly night of early spring in the northwest, but inside the room was quiet and cozy.
The shadows of the family of three overlapped on the wall, and time seemed to flow exceptionally slowly at that moment.
Looking at her lover and daughter beside her, Cheng Cheng felt a sense of profound peace filling her heart.
There are no dramatic events; most of the time, life is just peaceful and uneventful, day after day, with three meals a day and four seasons, like a gentle stream flowing by.
That's good enough.
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Author's note: Goodnight
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