Chapter 17

Hu Xiu is a particular person.

Nowadays, the environment is bad, there is a lack of clothes and it is cold, so throughout the winter, most villagers only take a bath on the eve of the Spring Festival.

If you can't bear it, at most you can wipe it with a hot towel.

Of course, there are some individuals who are very clean. They can’t wash their hair every day, but at least they wash it once every three to five days.

Hu Xiu is one of them.

For this purpose, the Huo family also set up a bathroom of two to three square meters in the kitchen.

I also found an experienced craftsman to make a bathtub.

After Ruiting came, she was extremely afraid of the cold, so she moved her toiletries in for the convenience of brushing her teeth and washing her face.

Look, I’ve finished eating the noodles.

Ruiting took the kerosene lamp and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth again.

Normally, she would just rinse her mouth.

But today, I was about to share a bed with...a strange husband, and I subconsciously started to talk about it.

Just as she finished brushing her teeth, she realized belatedly what she was doing and smacked her head in frustration.

Be reserved! Be reserved!

After a long while, Ruting calmed down, patted his face, made sure his cheeks were no longer hot, and then walked out of the bathroom with a calm face.

But when he passed by the iron stove boiling water next to the stove, he hesitated for a few seconds, then bent down and moved the stove and the kettle into the bathroom.

It is really cold at this time. If the stove is not placed in the bathroom for heating in advance, even an iron man will not be able to bear it.

So, when Huo Xiao packed his bag, took the clothes his wife had made for him, went to the bathroom and opened the door, warmth hit his face.

Huo Xiao quickly closed the door and hung up the clean clothes before he noticed the iron stove in the corner.

The stove was still burning, and on top of it was a large kettle with steam rising from it.

Without a doubt, Huo Xiao knew that this was prepared by his wife.

Thinking of the new clothes he had just received from his wife, a good mood instantly spread to his eyebrows.

Took a hot bath.

After washing off the dust, Huo Xiao felt relieved.

When he returned to the main room, he first looked towards the west room where his mother was.

I found that the lights were off inside, guessed that the other party must have gone to bed, and went straight to the east room.

But when he reached the door, worried that his wife might not be used to his sudden appearance, Huo Xiao hesitated for a few moments before knocking on the door to remind her.

Then he stood there and waited for a few seconds before pushing the door open and entering.

There were kerosene lamps burning in the house.

To Huo Xiao's surprise, he thought he would see his wife being nervous, embarrassed, or shy.

But in reality, she was already asleep.

Her cheeks were puffy from sleep.

Huo Xiao sat down gently on the bed and looked at his wife with a somewhat amusing and helpless look.

Fortunately, she remembered to save a seat for herself.

"You're quite careless." After a while, Huo Xiao stretched out his slender fingers and gently touched his wife's brow, then blew out the light and lay down outside the kang.

The next day.

Half past five in the morning.

After sleeping for only about three hours, Ting was awakened by a knock on the door.

Half asleep and half awake, she turned over in annoyance.

A deep and hoarse male voice came from beside me: "Go back to sleep, I'll go out and take a look."

The voice was very soft, even gentle, but she woke up immediately.

She sat up with a groan, and only when she saw the man sitting on the kang and getting ready to put on his shoes did she murmur, "Yes, I'm married."

Huo Xiao...

Huo Xiao coughed lightly, swallowing the smile that had spread to his throat, and reached out to press the man back to lie down, and covered him with the quilt, and then said: "Don't freeze, it's only a little after five o'clock, go back to sleep."

Ruting pulled the quilt up awkwardly, revealing only a pair of eyes: "Go and open the door."

Huo Xiao did not leave in a hurry. He pulled the quilt down again and waited until his wife's mouth and nose were completely exposed before he got up and went out.

In this room, after hearing the sound of the door closing, Ruting, who had been stiff, rubbed his temples in annoyance.

Last night, she was extremely nervous while lying in bed, tossing and turning, not knowing what to do.

It's true that the two of them are legal, but as a virgin single, there's really no way for Ruting to go straight to the last step. The thought of it makes my scalp tingle.

It's not her fault that she is conservative; it's just that her parents were too strict with her since she was a child.

I still remember going to my female classmate's house to play when I was in junior high school.

Unfortunately it rained and my classmate's mother stayed with me overnight.

But my father didn't allow it. After the rain stopped, he still drove a motorcycle to pick me up.

It was already past ten o'clock in the evening.

He is so strict with his female classmates, let alone getting close to his male classmates.

When I was little, I didn't understand and I often complained that my father was too strict and harsh, which made me lose face in front of my classmates.

When I grew up and became sensible, I finally understood my father's love for him.

But on the other hand, if you are too disciplined, you will become clumsy in love when you grow up.

She also envied girls who were free and unrestrained in their emotions.

But when it comes to myself, I just can't let go. I can only talk about flowers as much as I can.

What happened next?

By the way, she planned to pretend to be asleep later.

But I didn't expect that the person really fell asleep.

I didn't even know when Huo Xiao entered the room.

Thinking of this, Li Ting blushed and buried his head in the quilt out of habit.

"...Why do you like to crawl into the quilt so much?"

Ruting's body froze, and he poked his head out to look at the man. Seeing that he was dressed neatly, he was a little puzzled: "Who knocked on the door? Are you going out?"

Huo Xiao: "It's my second uncle, he's here to call me to go burn paper for the elders."

Ruiting: "Mom went to burn it a few days ago." Although the four olds are being destroyed now, some customs are still carried out in remote rural areas, and generally no one will report it.

Huo Xiao: "It's rare for me to come back, so I should go there. You should go to sleep first." Then, worried that she would feel uncomfortable, he added: "Mom is sleeping too."

Not caring about that, she hesitated: "Do you want me to go?"

Huo Xiao shook his head: "Next time, it's snowing outside, I have to go, my second uncle is waiting."

After watching the man leave, Ruiting suddenly felt a little relieved.

Fortunately, she slept soundly throughout the most difficult and embarrassing first time.

At least after having the experience of sleeping in the same bed last night, I shouldn't be so nervous next time.

Today is New Year's Eve.

Because of Huo Xiao's return.

Several families broke their previous decisions to celebrate the festival.

Second Uncle Huo and Third Uncle Huo brought their wives and children to their eldest sister-in-law's house to make dumplings, filling the spacious main room.

Therefore, she only slept for two hours...

There are too many people making dumplings.

Since it was completely impossible to get in, Ruting just stayed on the kang, watching candy wrappers with the dragon and phoenix twins and a few little cousins.

Yes, just look at the candy paper.

Children these days don’t have many toys, so they especially like to collect candy wrappers, cigarette shells and other things and put them in their notebooks.

Huo Xiao was pulled by his second and third uncles to sit at the end of the kang and talk about everything that could be said in the army.

There were seven or eight young boys sitting around the three of them.

Even though Huo Xiao was not good at speaking and his stories were dull, the boys still looked eager.

Hu Xiu and her sisters-in-law, with the older children, sat around the eight-immortal table, chatting and laughing while making dumplings.

It's really lively and really noisy.

But, this is the Chinese New Year.

Finish eating dumplings.

There is another event.

Every New Year’s Eve, there are performances in the village, mostly watching movies.

This time, the old secretary asked someone to invite a duo singer.

Not to mention the children, even the adults are looking forward to it.

In order to perform the duo act, the men didn't even drink much wine. After eating their dumplings, they dropped their bowls and chopsticks and hurried to the brigade headquarters.

Li Ting looked at her equally anxious mother-in-law and said helplessly, "Zhu Zi and the others will help us get a good seat. There's still more than an hour left. Why are you in such a hurry?"

Hu Xiu was putting on a thick coat. Hearing this, she glared at her daughter-in-law and said, "You're still busy. Hurry up and get dressed too."

Tingting: "What's the matter?"

Hu Xiu: "Go to the brigade headquarters and borrow a scale to weigh the children."

Then there is no need to arrive more than an hour in advance? Although Yaowu 2275'er's father is still puzzled, this time he did not ask, but cooperated and put on clothes.

At this time, Huo Xiao suddenly came in carrying two baskets and a shoulder pole.

Hu Xiu laughed first: "Hey, it's a lot easier to carry it with you. Your idea is good."

Then he went back into the house and got the children's quilts.

She loved cleanliness, so she first laid two layers of cloth in the basket before putting the quilt and the child in.

Seeing the two little creatures clinging to the edge of the basket with great excitement, Tingting was also very happy and gave the man a thumbs up: "Smart!"

Huo Xiao curled his lips.

When the twins were less than one year old, their parents met with an accident. In order to save them, he and the brigade commander sent someone to send them to their mother.

It is precisely because he has never appeared in the lives of the children that even though the little ones know that he is the father, they are not allowed to hug him, so they have to find other ways.

Thinking of this, Huo Xiao looked at his wife beside him again.

She doesn't know yet that Guoguo and Miaomiao are not his children.

Maybe, I should find a chance to tell her...

The last time I came to the brigade headquarters was to eat pig slaughter food, and there were really a lot of people there.

What Ruting didn't expect was that the people who came to weigh themselves were just as many. No wonder her mother-in-law set out an hour earlier.

But what is even more surprising is that the weighing tool is actually a giant beam scale that can bear a weight of 400 kilograms.

Younger children can simply hook their pants around their waists to weigh themselves, while older children can grab the scale hook with their hands and then pull their feet up.

If it is heavier than last year, the adults will smile happily and say that the food is not wasted.

If there is no change in weight or even if you become lighter, you will be patted on the back and have your ears pulled, and be scolded for being a fool who only eats but does not gain weight.

If you don’t know, you might think he was criticizing the little pig.

When it was their dragon-phoenix fetus' turn, seeing Huo Xiao doing it himself, Lu Ting couldn't help but stretch his head to look at the scale on the beam balance.

But before she could figure out the weight, the 11-year-old fourth child, Huo Xiaohai, from her second uncle's family started yelling, "Brother, my eldest cousin's wife wants you to weigh her too!"

Hearing this, Huo Xiao, who was about to put the child down, turned his head to look at his wife and asked, "Want to call?"

Li Ting looked embarrassed: "No, I don't have it." She just wanted to take a closer look at the scale.

Besides, being weighed by her husband in front of so many people, and in that pose, doesn't she have any dignity?

Chen Guilan, who had been talking to her eldest sister-in-law, saw her nephew's wife was embarrassed, so she grabbed her son's ear and scolded him with a smile: "What are you talking about, little brat? I think you are doing it on purpose. Your eldest sister-in-law is a cultured person, she is thin-skinned, you are not allowed to joke with her!"

Huo Xiaohai was squeezed by his mother and screamed: "Hey...be gentle, mother, be gentle, your son is also an educated person, I can even speak foreign languages, we are all educated people, why are you treating me differently?"

Chen Guilan didn't believe it and said jokingly, "Come on! You are the only one who is educated? You can even speak foreign languages?"

Huo Xiaohai didn't like what he heard. He immediately straightened his back and loudly proved, "KISS ME! ​​This is the new foreign language I learned!"

Chen Guilan was suspicious: "What is this?"

Huo Xiaohai took the opportunity to break free from his mother's grip, and quickly got behind his eldest sister-in-law. He then poked his head out and said to his mother, "It's 'KISS ME', which means 'hello'. What do you know?"

Chen Guilan looked at her nephew's wife who was a college student. "Is what Lao Si said true? Does he really know any foreign language?"

1. The...

As an English teacher, Tingting, who was trying to hold back her laughter, felt it necessary to explain things clearly to the children.

But before she could even open her mouth, Huo Xiaohai, who had been doubted by his mother several times, exploded: "How can it not be true? I heard the educated youth wife of the old secretary's family tell her husband that she is a teacher from the city! She told me in person that it means 'hello'!"

As he said that, the little guy put his hands on his hips and looked at Li Ting, and greeted him proudly: "KISS ME, big cousin's wife... Ouch! It hurts, it hurts, big cousin, why are you pulling my ear... It hurts... It hurts so much."

Huo Xiao threw his little cousin to Chen Guilan and said in a cold voice, "Aunt, the situation outside is very tight right now, so you can't speak English casually."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guilan, who was originally joking, didn't know what to react to. She was so frightened that she picked up the carrying pole beside her and hit her son with it.

Huo Xiaohai certainly wouldn't stand there stupidly. He let out an "Ah" and ran away.

Seeing this, Chen Guilan picked up a shoulder pole and chased after them.

And Ting Ting looked at the man beside him suspiciously: "Is the situation outside so serious?"

As far as she knew, there were still many junior high schools offering English courses. How could an 11-year-old kid get into trouble because of a sentence in English?

Huo Xiao said seriously: "It's better to be cautious."

1. The...