Chapter 87: Fright.
One day in May, He Susu took some glutinous rice balls with her to bask in the sun in the yard after breakfast. When she returned to her room, she was almost scared to death.
I saw a long and narrow black line appearing in the lower right corner of the bed, dividing the sheet into two pieces. This oblique line was made up of ants crawling hard, and it was conservatively estimated that there were more than twenty of them.
He was apparently fine when he woke up in the morning, but became like this not long after he had breakfast. He didn't know where these ants came from, and He Susu was so scared that she kept calling for her mother.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" He's mother was startled when she heard her daughter's cry and hurried in.
He Susu pointed at the bed sheet and said, "There are so many ants on the bed!"
He's mother looked over and was almost driven crazy by the ants. She kept muttering, "Oh, why are there so many ants? It's really scary. If this person were lying on it, they would have to move him away!"
She walked over and took down the bed sheet, rolling up the nest of ants and trying to take it out.
He Susu patted Tangyuan's back gently to comfort him. The child was frightened by his own uncontrollable scream and kept burying his head in her shoulder. Although he was not crying, the clothes on her shoulders were soaked.
She coaxed him softly, "Be good, Tangyuan. I'm sorry for scaring you just now. It's okay now. Grandma has come to take the sheets away. Don't be afraid."
He Susu didn't even bother to check Tangyuan's face to see if he was still crying. She just kept patting his back gently to comfort him and coaxing him softly.
Perhaps feeling the mother's gentle emotions, baby Tangyuan's heart calmed down. He raised his little head from his mother's shoulder and rubbed his mother's cheek, as if to comfort her, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
He Susu's heart softened when she understood what he meant. She smiled and said, "Tangyuan is so good. Mom is not afraid anymore. Thank you for staying with me."
She took the opportunity to look at Tangyuan's face. Although there were still traces of tears, at least her wet eyes were no longer shedding tears, and there was a comfortable smile on her face. She was no longer afraid of being frightened.
He Susu then ran out with Tangyuan in her arms, and saw her mother hanging the bed sheet on a bamboo pole to dry in the sun.
He's mother: "I swatted and crushed all the ants. Let's dry the sheets in the sun to kill the viruses. I'll wash them later. You also need to take down all the quilt covers and pillowcases in your room and wash them. I see you have replacements in your closet. You can replace them later. It won't delay you."
He Susu nodded and said, "Mom, you are really good at doing things."
He's mother was wondering: "You said you don't usually eat in your room, and I don't know where these ants came from."
He Susu has indeed not eaten in the room since she came out of confinement. Even when she was in confinement, she ate while sitting at the desk.
Besides, with Tangyuan around, even if she used the diaper pad bought from the shopping system, she would still dirty the sheets if she peed occasionally. The sheets and quilt covers in her room had to be changed once a month at most, and sometimes only once every half a month.
In the time it took to have breakfast, there were so many ants crawling on the sheets. Now when I think back to that scene, I can't help but feel scared. He Susu shook her head: "I don't know how they came about. It's really strange. Fortunately, I woke up early today and stayed in the living room with Tangyuan for a while before going in. Otherwise, I can't imagine how it would feel to have ants crawling on my body."
It was terrifying when it crawled on her, and it was even more terrifying when it crawled on Tangyuan. The bite of this ant is very painful.
He's mother was also thankful: "Yeah, luckily it just scares people and doesn't bite. I'll go out and ask if anyone has ant medicine. I have to borrow some and apply the medicine to your room. Otherwise, you won't feel safe living here."
He Susu nodded in agreement, and said that they had to put some ant poison around the bed in the room.
After her mother went out, she sat on a chair in the living room holding Tangyuan, and also called up the shopping system screen to check the ant medicine.
There is a kind of ant medicine in the shopping system. According to the detailed introduction, two grams of ant medicine can be diluted and melted with 500 milliliters of water and then sprayed. Ants will die within five seconds. Ants that have not touched the ant medicine but passed by will also carry the medicinal properties. If they return to the ant nest, they will be killed in one fell swoop.
The effect of this medicine was said to be miraculous. He Susu immediately spent 2 diligence points to exchange for 500 milliliters of water, which was equivalent to the water in a military kettle.
She would see if her mother could borrow some ant medicine later. If she did, she would wait until the medicine took effect and then use it to make up for the loss. If she didn't, she would pretend that she didn't know when she bought it but forgot, and would accidentally find it and use it.
Seeing that her mother had not returned yet, He Susu got up and went to the yard with Tangyuan in her arms, then walked to the vegetable garden and took a closer look.
Although there are sometimes ants in the vegetable garden, there are not many of them. Cheng Shi had previously applied ant-killing medicine and sprinkled it around the vegetable garden. Generally, ants would not crawl into the house, let alone run into her room and climb onto the bed.
It's really strange, I can't figure it out no matter how hard I try.
He Susu simply went back to her room. Seeing that no new ants had appeared on the mattress, she breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to the living room.
Tangyuan just thought that his mother was holding him and playing with him. He giggled and was very happy every time he arrived at a new place.
Okay, seeing that the little guy had forgotten the fear she had just brought him and was now happy, He Susu also breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.
At this time, He's mother came back with ant medicine wrapped in paper in her hand: "I went out to ask the two families, and Chen Cui'er lent me some ant medicine. Wait until I mop your room clean before applying the medicine."
She said she was borrowing medicine, and she took five eggs with her when she went out to exchange them, so she didn't owe anyone anything.
As for sweeping the room first, it is also because we are afraid that there is something in some corner, especially under the bed, that has attracted ants. After sweeping it clean, applying ant medicine will make it easier to eradicate the problem completely.
He Susu nodded and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."
"Stop being so polite. I've got to get busy first." He's mother was a very active person. Besides, her daughter had to sleep in her room at noon.
She took a broom and swept her daughter's room first, then took a mop, dipped it in water, wrung it out, and mopped it inside and out. Then she took ant medicine and sprinkled it on the four corners of the bed, around the table, behind the door, and in the corners of the wall.
She came out and said, "Susu, put the sheets in your room on at noon and observe whether there are any ants coming out. If Tangyuan wants to sleep, you can put him in the crib or in my room."
He Susu responded: "I understand, mother."
Tangyuan was a rare energetic kid, sitting comfortably in his mother's arms, and refused to lie down in the crib. Ever since he could sit up, he loved being held like this and didn't want to lie down.
He couldn't sit alone yet and had to rely on adults, otherwise He Susu suspected that this guy would push his mother away without hesitation.
Since there was nothing to do anyway, He Susu decided to just play with Tangyuan for a while.
It was almost noon when He's mother went to the kitchen to make lunch. After she came out, she went to her daughter's room first and said happily, "There are no ants on your bed, so it should be safe. You can put down new sheets later. Keep the ant medicine for a few days. You and Cheng Shi should pay attention to it later. Also, don't let Tangyuan touch it."
He Susu nodded: "Don't worry, mother, Tangyuan can't touch the places where you put the drugs, there is no chance for him to touch them."
One advantage of having a young child is that he can only lie in bed at most and cannot roll over or crawl yet, so you don't have to worry about him rolling over and falling or touching anything.
When Cheng Shi came back, He Susu told him about the ants in the morning.
Cheng Shi frowned and said, "This is indeed strange. How could so many ants suddenly appear in such a short time?"
There is no solution to this problem. Fortunately, my mother-in-law has borrowed some ant medicine and applied it to the ants, which can more or less exterminate the ants. The effect of the medicine is still very good.
Cheng Shi said, "I'll make the bed after we finish eating. You've been sleeping too deeply these past two days. I'm afraid ants will suddenly appear again."
He Susu nodded: "Okay, I get it. Don't be too nervous. It should be fine after applying the ant poison."
The family was having dinner together, and Tang Yuan was placed in the crib. After Cheng Shi had made the bed and changed the quilt and pillowcase, He Susu took Tang Yuan back to her room and went to bed.
This nap was never so restful. Usually He Susu would take a longer nap, but today she woke up almost as soon as Cheng Shi woke up.
Cheng Shi knew what she was worried about, and smiled and pinched her cheek: "Don't worry, just sleep a little longer if you feel sleepy."
He Susu shook her head: "It's okay, I'm not that sleepy, I might as well get up and write an article."
Cheng Shi smiled, then went to drink some water, changed his shoes and went out to the army.
My mother was still sleeping in the room. He Susu took out the ant medicine from the storage compartment, found a basin that she usually used to wash vegetables, poured water from a military kettle into it, and then poured the ant medicine in. It dissolved as soon as it entered the water, and she didn't have to find tools to stir it.
But there needed to be something to scoop up the spilled medicine, so He Susu took a spoon and brought a basin of ant medicine into the room.
She scooped up ant medicine with a spoon and sprinkled it next to the place where her mother had sprinkled the medicine in the morning. The amount was not much. After all, if there was too much, it would look like a puddle of water and would be too conspicuous.
Then he sprinkled some medicine at the joints between the walls and the floor along the way from the room to the living room and the other two rooms, and also sprinkled some in the corners of the toilet and kitchen, and even the yard, until all the ant medicine was used up.
The basin and spoon could no longer be used, so He Susu turned on the faucet in the yard to rinse off the medicine on them, to prevent them from being thrown out and picked up by someone and causing trouble.
She first put the same basin and spoon that she had exchanged from the shopping system back into the kitchen, and then, while her mother and Tangyuan were sleeping, she took the basin and spoon that were to be thrown away to the garbage disposal point.
Walking back under the scorching sun, He Susu cursed the damn ants for really causing trouble for her, and quickened her pace to hurry back home.
When He's mother woke up and saw her daughter's room door was open, she knew she had woken up. She went over and looked around but didn't see anyone. She looked anywhere else in the house but didn't see anyone either. She was surprised to find that she had suddenly gone out in the middle of the day.
When he saw her coming back, he couldn't help but ask, "Susu, where did you go just now?"
He Susu said vaguely: "I'm going to throw something away."
He's mother: "What things have to be thrown away in the middle of the day? Just take them away when you take out the garbage at night."
He Susu casually said, "I tore up some manuscripts that were useless, and thought I would take them to the garbage disposal point at noon when there were not many people around, so as to avoid being seen by others."
He's mother made a confused interpretation: "Oh, I understand. These manuscripts should not be seen by others. Even if they are scrapped, they are still the sequel to your serialized story."
"Yes." He Susu replied, and went to the room to see Tangyuan sleeping soundly, so she felt relieved. She checked and found no ants, and felt relieved. She said hello to her mother, poured a glass of water and brought it in, and started writing at the desk.
She looked back at the bed from time to time, fearing that another code would appear and move her fat boy away if she wasn't paying attention.
If she wasn't afraid of waking up Tangyuan and making him unable to sleep, she really wanted to put the child in the crib to sleep. It was a wrong decision at noon.
Shaking her head, He Susu turned around and continued writing.
After two days of observation, He Susu and Cheng Shi finally felt relieved when they saw that no ants appeared again.
Otherwise, I would always worry that ants would suddenly crawl onto my body when I fell asleep one day, and I would be even more worried that Tangyuan would be bitten by ants. Children have tender skin and cannot tolerate this.
It is the end of May, and Tangyuan is nearly seven months old. He has grown a small baby tooth recently, and when he smiles and opens his mouth, the white little tooth is particularly eye-catching.
Maybe it was because of the itch of her baby teeth, Tangyuan always liked to chew something. When she was lying down, she would put her little hands into her mouth and bite them gently when the adults were not paying attention. If her little hands could sweep over something light, she would also want to put it into her mouth and take a bite.
After He Susu found out about this, she naturally couldn't keep any small things next to him, for fear that one day the child would catch it and put it in his mouth, choking him and leaving him in tears.
However, the thin blanket that he usually covers himself with, or the towel that he occasionally uses to wipe his little face, will pull the dumplings into his mouth and stuff them into his mouth if he is not careful, regardless of whether they have taste or can be chewed, he will just stuff them into his mouth.
He's mother suggested that they ask a carpenter to grind a teeth grinding stick when they go to the county town. As long as the small wooden stick is ground smooth and has no barbs so as not to hurt the child's mouth, it can be used for Tangyuan to bite when his teeth itch. She also said that all children use this to grind their teeth, and she did the same at the beginning.
He Susu felt that wooden teething sticks were not that safe after all, so she took the time to open the shopping system to check.
After flipping through the pages for a while, her eyes lit up. According to the details page, silicone teething sticks are used by infants and young children during their initial teething period. They can be chewed by infants and young children without hurting their teeth and mouths. Silicone is a special material that is soft, flexible and easy to clean.
He Susu was excited and spent 1 diligence point to exchange for 5 silicone teething sticks. When she took them out, they felt really good in her hand. She thought they would be good enough for Tangyuan to chew for a while.
By the way, she also exchanged for a box of baby powder. The weather was getting hotter and hotter. Even though there was an electric fan in the room, she didn't dare to blow it directly for fear that the child would catch a cold. Tangyuan's armpits, calf creases and little butt were all a little red, as if he had prickly heat, so he had to wipe it with the talcum powder.
She went to the mailroom to mail a finished manuscript, and brought back a package that was said to be sent by a classmate in Shanghai.
Although Cheng Shi's family lived in Shanghai, he had been in the army for many years and was not familiar with Shanghai's things. He's mother believed this because Su Su had received a package from a classmate in Shanghai before.
She looked at the five silicone teething sticks her daughter took out and said in surprise: "Oh, your classmate is really thoughtful. These teething sticks look good. They are much softer than those made of wooden sticks. They will definitely be good for making glutinous rice balls."
He Susu smiled and said, "I mentioned to her once in my previous letter that Tangyuan had started to grow teeth. I didn't expect that she would be so thoughtful and actually bought a teething stick and sent it to me. And this box of talcum powder can also cure Tangyuan's prickly heat."
"You have a really good classmate. We'll send her some good things later." He's mother praised. She went to wash the five teething sticks first, thinking that she could use them after the glutinous rice balls woke up.
Tangyuan really likes this teething stick. After waking up and crying for a while, his teeth were itchy and he wanted to chew something. Before he found his target, his grandmother stuffed this teething stick into his mouth.
He now has a high degree of mobility in his hands, and when he drinks from a bottle, he will hold it by himself, without an adult holding the bottle. Now, he is afraid that the soft chewable thing in his mouth will fall, so he holds the teether in both hands and chews it excitedly.
Mother He looked at An Xin and said, "Finally there is something for the child to chew."
He Susu was also happy watching this: "Yes, otherwise I would always have to be on guard against him pulling and biting this and that. But this child is very smart, he couldn't bear to bite after putting his little hand in, so he just licked it. But his hand is not clean, so next time he gets an itch, I'll wash the teething stick and let him bite it."
He's mother smiled and agreed.
When Cheng Shi came back from training, he saw that his son had a new toy. He held the teether in both hands, put it in his mouth, and started chewing and licking it. If you didn't know, you would think he was eating some delicious food. It was quite interesting.
He went to wash his hands and then played with the child. When Tangyuan wasn't paying attention, he took out the teether from his mouth and took a look at it. The material felt strange and he didn't know what it was, but it was quite soft and suitable for children to chew.
Seeing that Tangyuan was pouting and about to cry, Cheng Shi quickly stuffed the silicone teether back into his son's mouth, thus preventing him from crying.
Cheng Shi walked up to Susu and said, "Tangyuan's teething stick looks pretty good."
"Yes, with this teething stick, he won't have to chew anything randomly." He Susu said with a smile. She repeated the previous explanation, and Cheng Shi didn't think much about it. Like He's mother, she said that when there were good things at home, she would send some to her classmate.
Thinking of something, He Susu said, "Tangyuan is older now, so it's okay for him to go out for a whole morning. We can just wait until the next time we go to the county town and take him to take a photo. We can also send it to my parents and my dad. They are looking forward to it. If we wait any longer, it will be really hot and it will be difficult to take Tangyuan out."
Cheng Shi thought about it and realized that he was busy with military affairs and took care of his children and wife at home, so he really forgot about it. He nodded: "Okay, then we will go to the county town together, so we can take a photo together. I have applied for leave in advance, so it should be fine."
When the day came to go to the county town, Cheng Shi carried the backpack and the package, and tied a strap in front to carry the dumplings. He's mother and He Susu went out easily and waited for the bus at a boarding point in the family quarters.
He was not afraid of being seen to be considerate and capable. The military wives who were also going to the county town were really surprised to see this. It was rare to see a man willing to carry a child outside, and they were afraid of losing his masculinity. Instead, they secretly admired Cheng Shi when they saw him like this, and looked at He Susu with envy.
Everyone knew that Captain Cheng's wife was lucky to have her mother come to take care of her during the confinement period. Captain Cheng loved his wife very much, but no one expected that she loved him so much that she even carried the child on her back when she went out.
However, Captain Cheng’s wife is also a capable person. She graduated from high school and I heard that she can make money by writing articles at home.
They greeted each other with a smile, and no matter how wildly they were thinking in their hearts, they did not show it on their faces.
Soon the car arrived and a group of people lined up to get on.
Because she hadn't told Su Yu in advance, she only helped to take up a seat. Seeing her mother-in-law and her younger sister's family here, she was surprised and said, "Mom, my younger sister, are you all going to the county town?"
He Susu smiled and nodded: "I was thinking of taking Tangyuan to the county town to take a photo and send it back to his grandparents and our father. It will be difficult to go out if the weather gets any hotter."
Su Yu nodded: "Yes, this matter must be done as soon as possible."
Although her sister-in-law only helped to reserve one seat, fortunately He Susu's family lined up and got on the bus early, which allowed her mother to sit next to her sister-in-law. She and Cheng Shi walked back a step, found a seat and sat down.
Tangyuan lay in his father's arms. Although he was restrained by the back straps, he did not feel uncomfortable. He looked around with his eyes like black grapes, with a curious look on his face.
He looked at everything around him, not forgetting to glance at his mother from time to time, and looking up at his father who was carrying him on his back, as if he was afraid that his parents would disappear if he was not careful in such an unfamiliar environment.
He also loves to listen to adults talk, regardless of whether he can understand it or not. When he hears his parents or grandmother talking at home, his eyes light up and he pricks up his ears to listen.
At this moment, the military wives gathered together in the car and talked. Even if they controlled their voices, everyone in the car could hear them. Everyone was talking very noisily. If it were an ordinary child, he would have cried long ago. However, Tangyuan sat relaxedly in his father's arms, with his ears perked up, listening to the conversations leisurely, and he smiled happily as if he heard heavenly music.
He Susu and Cheng Shi had no idea about their youngest son's hobby. Seeing that he was not crying or making a fuss and looked very happy, they felt relieved and thought that it should not be a problem for him to spend a morning outside.
We soon arrived at the county town and got off at the gate of the supply and marketing cooperative. Even though it was inconvenient to go to the photo studio after buying meat and vegetables, we could only go to the grocery store first because the supply was limited and we would not be able to buy good ones if we went too late.
Cheng Shi was waiting at the door of the store with dumplings on his back. He Susu took the basket from his back and walked inside with her mother, picking up various things.
Finally, I bought two pieces of tofu, three crucian carps, an eggplant, two pounds of lotus root, a loofah, a pound of mushrooms, three tomatoes, three pounds of sweet potatoes and two pounds of potatoes, almost filling up the entire backpack.
The things in the backpack were not heavy but not light either, so Cheng Shi still took it and carried it.
He Susu asked her sister-in-law to buy three pounds of lean meat, two pounds of pork fat, two pounds of pork belly and two ribs when she went to the slaughterhouse to buy meat, and to ask her for them when she came back. Then she took her mother and Cheng Shi to the photo studio.
The old man in the photo studio still remembers this handsome man and beautiful woman. To exaggerate a little, he has witnessed this young couple from dating to getting married and having children. Now they have brought their half-year-old child with them. The child is white and chubby and looks like a happy family. It can be said that their life is perfect.
He smiled and greeted: "What kind of photos do you three want to take today?"
They had discussed it at home earlier. He Susu said, "Hello, we want to take a solo photo of the child, and then take a photo of the three of us holding him, and then a photo of the couple and the child, and a photo of the whole family.
As soon as the old master heard it, he knew that this was a big deal. The couple in front of him were generous, and they would definitely need more than one copy of the photos they took. He smiled and agreed, and started taking photos while entertaining them.
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