Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Arrived Home

It was raining heavily and the road was slippery.

The couple took more than an hour to walk the distance that usually took half an hour. Wang Nian's breathing became increasingly rapid, and his arms felt so sore that they didn't feel like his own.

The small body curled up into a ball under the straw raincoat, with its ears just pressed against Wang Nian's neck.

If it weren't for the heat, Wang Nian would even have the illusion that he was holding a doll.

Shi Wan didn't move at all. She was so quiet that she didn't look like a three-year-old child. She didn't even make the slightest movement.

Finally, the family building appeared before our eyes.

Wang Nian walked quickly to the door, put down his luggage bag, pulled off his raincoat with one hand, and finally let out a long breath.

He took out his key to open the door, and took off his rubber shoes at the door before entering. Wang Nian entered the house barefoot.

"Change your shoes before entering the house. The shoes are at the door." Wang Nian turned around and found Shi Xiangming standing in front of his stove, looking up at the sky: "You also noticed that I can't cook when it rains."

The stove is built in the corridor, which is convenient for smoke exhaust. However, when it rains, most of the water will flow down the wall and splash into the pot.

This problem occurs not only on the first floor, but also in several families upstairs. Yesterday, each family used charcoal braziers to cook at home, which resulted in the sound of people coughing being heard all day long.

The water pipes on the first floor are on the dam, and there is the problem of collecting water when it rains.

"Tomorrow I'll go to the factory warehouse to see if there is any old canvas and buy some to make a shed." Shi Xiangming said immediately.

Without Wang Nian's reminder, Shi Xiangming had already thought of a solution.

Maybe... this is the benefit of marriage!

Looking down, he found that Shi Wan had fallen asleep without him knowing when, with her two little hands clenched into fists tightly grasping the ends of Wang Nian's hair.

Shi Xiangming bent down and put Shi Shuwen on the ground, patting his butt: "Why are you standing there? Call someone!"

“…”

Shi Shuwen stared at Wang Nian's soaked trousers and feet, moved his mouth but did not shout. Instead, he suddenly snorted coldly and turned his head away.

"Have you forgotten what your father told you at home?" Shi Xiangming bent down to change his shoes, his tone becoming a little serious.

Shi Shuwen raised his head and said nothing, with a stubborn look on his face.

"Let's talk about it later." Wang Nian took off his hat with one hand and shook his head with a smile: "The children are tired, let them rest first."

Both father and son spoke in a very stiff manner, lacking personal mediation, and if they continued talking they would inevitably get beaten.

And now Wang Nian has clearly become the one who plays the role of mediator.

She didn't care what Shi Shuwen called her, and waved to him, "Come with Auntie, I'll take you to the room."

Shi Shuwen glanced at Shi Xiangming, rubbing his hands on his pants, but still standing at the door without moving.

Shi Xiangming sighed, somewhat helplessly: "This is not my uncle's house, I don't have to consider other people's faces."

Shi Shuwen said "Oh" silently, then turned around and looked at Wang Nian.

"Come on." Wang Nian shook his head and laughed.

The cabin was about 12 or 13 square meters, and a bunk bed took up most of the space, leaving only room for a two-door wardrobe.

There are curtains on both the lower and upper floors, the lower floor has blue and white stripes, and the upper floor has pink plaid.

The moment he saw the bed, Shi Shuwen's eyes suddenly lit up, and his little hands began to rub his pants again.

"Let your sister sleep on your lower bunk for a while, and then she will sleep on the upper bunk and you can sleep on the lower bunk."

Wang Nian smiled, walked over, opened the curtain, and put Shi Wan down, but it took him some effort to free his hair.

Shi Xiangming followed and bent down to take off Shi Wan's shoes.

"Did you buy all the new furniture these days?"

The first time he walked into the house, Shi Xiangming felt as if he had moved into a new house. Not only were there more furniture in the house, but there were also decorations on the bare walls.

The bamboo bookshelf was moved next to the sofa, and a shiny wooden table was next to the desk, with a bunch of wild flowers placed in a broken pottery jar on the table.

The bouquet of wild flowers immediately reminded Shi Xiangming of the faint floral scent in Wang Nian's room.

"I'm just messing around when I have nothing to do."

As he spoke, Wang Nian's gaze fell on Shi Wan's sleeping face.

Shi Wan has a small round face, delicate eyebrows and pink lips. Overall, she is a very pretty girl.

But... she's still thin, and lacks the roundness that a child should have.

“Cough cough cough!”

Shi Shuwen, who was standing behind the two of them, suddenly coughed twice, his childish voice carrying a hint of joy that he himself was not aware of.

"Then can I sleep on the bunk first? I'll let my sister sleep on the bunk when she's six years old."

There was no clear subject, but Shi Xiangming didn't even turn his head and continued to take off Shi Wan's coat.

Wang Nian turned around and found that the awkward child was already standing in the middle of the stairs, looking at her hopefully, obviously asking her.

"Sure, I'll help you change the curtains tonight."

"No, I like pink and my sister likes blue."

After saying that, he climbed up to the upper bunk with thumps, then ran down with thumps, repeating this two or three times. Finally, he sat down at the end of the bed and fiddled with the cabinet drawers.

"The design of the ladder is very thoughtful, and the children can go up and down with peace of mind." Shi Xiangming said: "Is that what you thought? I have never seen this style in state-owned stores."

If Wang Nian pays close attention, he will find discounts in many aspects.

The sharp corners in the children's room were wrapped with rags, and mats were specially laid on the stairs to prevent slipping and to avoid making much noise when walking on them.

The colorful mattresses look like they were sewn together on purpose or randomly pieced together, which makes the room colorful and interesting.

"As long as you don't mind me spending money recklessly." Wang Nian blinked.

You can see that a lot of things have been added, which of course means a lot of money has been spent.

Every time he saw Wang Nian passing by with something in her arms, Liu Chaoxian would shake his head with emotion, and the word "spendthrift" was almost written on his face.

Shi Xiangming lowered his head slightly, narrowed his eyes and chuckled: "You are the boss in our family, you can spend the money however you want." He reached out his right hand and held Wang Nian's hand.

"good."

They both looked at Shi Shuwen, who had finally had enough of his torture. Perhaps thinking no one was paying attention, he suddenly stood up, took off his pants, and then reached out to open the curtain.

"What are you looking at me for?"

When he turned around, he found that both of them were looking at him, and he hid behind the curtain in embarrassment.

"You are a very clean kid." Wang Nian laughed out loud: "Go to sleep for a while, I will call you when dinner is ready."

“…”

Wang Nian thought the little brat was still feeling awkward, so he didn't want to hear a reply and turned around to leave the house, pulling Shi Xiangming.

"You need to shout louder."

Before the door closed, Shi Shuwen's voice was heard.

Click——

After settling the two children down first, Wang Nian did not forget about Shi Xiangming. She went to the bedroom and took out some clothes for replacement: "Just wash them casually. You're all wet."

Shi Xiangming took the clothes and went into the restroom, and Wang Nian went to get the hot water kettle and pour water.

Through the door, the couple asked casually while one was wiping his body and the other was leaning against the door.

"Did you have a smooth trip?"

"It wasn't going well." Shi Xiangming said in a depressed voice. He thought that this trip home must have been very unpleasant: "I had a big quarrel with my parents, brother and sister-in-law..."

After two days of traveling, I returned to Anhuai. The first thing I saw when I entered the door was two children squatting in front of a large basin washing clothes.

Shi Shuwen was six years old and Shi Wan was only three years old.

Even an adult would take half a day to wash that basin of clothes, let alone two children.

The cold started in Anhuai City earlier than in Wenxi Township. The well water was already freezing cold by the end of September. The two children's hands were red from the cold, and they were still wearing summer plastic sandals.

This was the trigger for Shi Xiangming's anger, and he finally lost his temper because he saw his niece wearing the overalls he bought for her child.

"Thirty yuan a month for living expenses is higher than the monthly salary of an ordinary worker. I was counting on this money to allow my brother and sister-in-law to take good care of our two children, but you also saw it... Alas..."

That sigh contained so much helplessness and sadness. The thirty yuan that could support a family made the two children skinny and hungry.

Wang Nian could even imagine how sad Shi Xiangming must have felt when he saw Shi Shuwen and Shi Wan.

"Give me thirty, and I promise to raise the two kids fat and white." Wang Nian bent his fingers and knocked lightly on the door: "I'll make you fat too."

A low laugh rang out along with the sound of water.

"All our money is with you. The three of us, father and son, are all depending on you."

Wang Nian curled the corners of his lips and turned to look at the rain outside the window which was still pouring.

"You wash first, I'll go to the vegetable stand to see what vegetables are available."

"How about we invite Guiqiang and his family to dinner tonight? Zhang Liye is about the same age as Shuwen, so it would be nice for him to have a companion in the future." Shi Xiangming asked.

"Okay! Let's invite Sister Qiuhong and her family to come and welcome the two children."

"Then I'll go call Brother Zhang and Sister-in-law after I finish my shower."

"They live next door to us. They should be home in the afternoon."

Zhang Guiqiang and Liu Chaoxian were the second family to move into the family building. Ever since they saw the bunk beds customized by Wang Nian, the only child, Zhang Liye, had been making a fuss for several days. Today, he went to find Carpenter Wang.

Although Liu Chaoxian has only one child, he has a mother-in-law at home. The child has always slept with his grandmother and has long wanted to have his own bed.

"Then I'll go call Brother Zhang Liang and the others."

The two of them treated each other to a meal and chatted casually, but they didn't know that every word they said was heard by Shi Shuwen.

After sitting on the train for two days, even if I lie down now, I can still feel the rumble of the train echoing in my ears.

He was very tired, but he was not sleepy at all.

In her little head, she carefully recalled Wang Nian's appearance, with an indescribable feeling in her heart.

After an unknown amount of time, the voices gradually died down and the door creaked again.

"I know you're not asleep."

Shi Shuwen's body, curled up under the quilt, shuddered. After thinking for a while, he sat up and opened the curtain.

The father and son stared at each other, neither of them speaking first, until Shi Xiangming was defeated first, shaking his head and saying, "Dad had a bad attitude today, I apologize to you."

Shi Shuwen's nose was sore, and he nodded hesitantly: "Then I will call her aunt first, and later... later I will call her mom."

Before leaving home, the grandmother next door told me that if I ate something sweet, maybe I could have a full meal and at least I wouldn't get beaten.

His grandmother also said that if there is a stepmother, there will be a stepfather, and he has always kept this in mind.

"So this is your first time meeting Aunt Wang today. What do you think of her?" Shi Xiangming asked again.

Shi Shuwen thought about it seriously, and then felt a little embarrassed: "I'm so strong, it must hurt..."

Normally, my aunt can't even lift a bucket of water, but Wang Nian can hold her sister in one hand and carry a luggage bag in the other hand, and she can do this for a long time without rest.

With that much strength, if I hit him and his sister...

Before returning home, Shi Shuwen was in this fear.