67 Snowman
Children are undoubtedly the happiest during holidays.
While eating breakfast, Gu Sinan would occasionally turn her head to look at the thick snow in the yard.
"Nannan, are the egg dumplings delicious?" Kong Shuyun asked, putting down her chopsticks as he turned his head for the third time.
The child sat up straight reflexively, then looked down at the egg dumplings on the plate and nodded, "Grandma, the egg dumplings are delicious."
"Then focus on eating." Kong Shuyun put another piece on his plate, and was only satisfied when she saw that he stopped fidgeting.
The child ate a few bites quietly, then found the egg dumplings tasteless.
Ye Zhenzhen takes care of her child in a very free and easy way. He had been used to the freedom at Mantingfang for the past six months, and now that he suddenly remembered the rules at his grandmother's place, he felt a little uncomfortable.
Suddenly, another cheese shrimp ball appeared on the plate. He looked up and saw his mother winking at him.
"If you want to play in the snow, you have to eat your fill first, otherwise you'll freeze in the snow in no time."
Gu Sinan smiled immediately after hearing this, nodded emphatically, picked up a shrimp ball and put it in her mouth. She took a bite and the crispy shell and tender shrimp meat, along with the rich cheese flavor, burst in her mouth.
"It's so cold outside, be careful of frostbite." Kong Shuyun frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Besides, this snow looks white, but it's actually quite dirty..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Sinan visibly wilted, but still obediently ate her meal, her docility heartbreaking.
Gu Tingshen tightened his grip on the chopsticks. He watched this scene as if it were a replay of his own childhood.
Kong Ciyun is extremely controlling, rigid, and has obsessive-compulsive disorder.
From a young age, the words he heard most often from his mother, besides etiquette and rules, were "Don't... Don't..."
Wanting, girls should be quiet and composed, not jump around.
Ting Shen, don't talk to your sister while eating. One should not speak while eating or sleeping.
No playing in the sand, it's too dirty.
You are not allowed to keep cats or dogs; they are parasites and shed fur.
...
The atmosphere at the dinner table froze instantly.
Kong Shuyun was somewhat at a loss, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything in front of the younger generation.
Gu Henian looked at his wife, then at his son and grandson who were sitting opposite him with their heads down in silence, and sighed.
The mother and son were both stubborn and alike. As a result, their similarities made it impossible for them to get along harmoniously.
"Mom, don't worry, I bought Nan Nan a special hat and gloves for playing in the snow." Ye Zhenzhen seemed oblivious to the strange atmosphere, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said with a smile, "It's rare for it to snow so heavily, Ting Shen and I will take him to play, so don't worry."
"Furthermore, I recently read a doctor's popular science article, which said that the reason why children nowadays have low immunity and are prone to illness and allergies is because their living environment is too clean and they have not been exposed to microorganisms in nature, so they lack antibodies. In addition, they have been living in air-conditioned rooms with constant temperature since childhood and have not experienced hot and cold, so they are prone to getting sick when the temperature changes slightly."
"Children should spend more time in nature. They should pay attention to hygiene while playing and wash their hands afterward."
She spoke with a smile, her tone relaxed and gentle, making her words sound particularly reasonable.
Kong Shuyun's expression softened, but she still had some doubts. "Is this really what the doctor said?"
This theory was so different from what she had been taught since childhood that she couldn't accept it at first. "Isn't it said that illness enters through the mouth and that you can get sick less often by avoiding contact with dirty things?"
"Really, that doctor is a top pediatrician and a professor at Medical University in City A. I'll send you the link later; he explains things very well."
“Okay, I’ll listen to what the professor has to say.” Kong Shuyun said, looking at Gu Henian with a sigh, “Our Zhenzhen has grown up. She speaks eloquently and is very reliable.”
Gu Tingshen stopped chewing, his expression somewhat indescribable.
She's even more playful than Nan Nan, so how do you know she's reliable?
"Alright, let's eat first," Kong Shuyun said, her heart softening as she looked at Gu Sinan's expectant face. "When we go to play in the snow later, you have to listen to your parents."
"Um!"
The atmosphere at the dining table became lively again.
Kong Shuyun broke with convention and quietly exchanged parenting tips with Ye Zhenzhen.
Gu Tingshen remained silent as always, but his melancholy had lessened.
Gu Henian saw this and felt comforted, even more grateful that he had agreed to the marriage in the first place.
Zhenzhen is indeed a reliable and good child.
After dinner, the three of them changed into their outdoor clothes.
Gu Sinan, dressed in a red ski suit, looked exquisite and festive, highlighting her beautiful features with her red lips and white teeth.
Ye Zhenzhen was dressed in white, with round almond-shaped eyes that were full of longing to go out and play.
As soon as Gu Tingshen opened the door, the two people beside him, one big and one small, darted out like two rabbits.
"Wow, such thick snow!" This is Little Red Rabbit, Gu Sinan.
"Wow, so white!!" This is the big white rabbit, Ye Zhenzhen.
"Slow down! Don't slip!" This was Kong Shuyun, who saw the scene from inside the house and called out anxiously.
Gu Tingshen thought to himself, "Do you think she's still reliable?"
"It's okay! Our shoes are non-slip!" Ye Zhenzhen called out in a moment, then continued running forward, urging the slow-moving man behind her, "Ting Shen, hurry up, hurry up!"
"Slow down, kid..." Kong Shuyun sighed, watching the two run further and further away. She put her hand down and told her son, who hadn't yet left the house, "Tingshen, keep an eye on them. Be careful, don't let them fall..."
Gu Tingshen smiled unconsciously, nodded to his mother to reassure her, then closed the door and walked towards the two children frolicking in the yard.
Kong Shuyun remained stunned for a long time after he left.
As I watched a family of three having a snowball fight in the distance, my vision gradually blurred.
She hadn't seen Ting Shen like this in a long time.
It's been so long since the old house has been this lively.
Gu Henian walked to her side, put his arm around his wife's shoulder, and looked out the window with her.
---
The snow was very thick, and it crunched underfoot.
"Nannan, do you know how to have a snowball fight?" Ye Zhenzhen pulled Gu Sinan, who was engrossed in stomping in the snow, and after seeing the little girl nod, she lowered her voice and said, "Dad is coming soon, let's make a few more snowballs and sneak up on him later!"
The well-behaved child hesitated for a moment, then became excited. "Then let's throw it at Daddy, that way it won't hurt."
“Let’s do it this way!” Ye Zhenzhen said, bowing her head and kneading her hands. “Make a lot more. When he retaliates, the two of us probably won’t be able to beat him.”
Gu Tingshen saw Ye Zhenzhen glance in his direction from afar, then she and Nannan put their heads together and whispered something to each other before squatting down and getting busy.
He tightened the Velcro straps on his cuffs, knowing that Ye Zhenzhen was up to something again.
Sure enough, before he even got close, the two of them turned around and started firing at him.
Two snowballs flew straight at him; one hit his ski suit, and the other flew past him to his left.
"Oh dear, I aimed right, how come I missed!" Ye Zhenzhen sighed in frustration.
Gu Tingshen raised an eyebrow, cracked his knuckles, and thought, "With this kind of aim, you think you can launch a sneak attack?"
He pointed at the mischievous white rabbit in the distance, then bent down to grab snow.
"Nannan, run!" The big white rabbit sensed the danger, grabbed the snowball she had rolled up on the ground, and ran away as fast as she could.
"Mommy, wait for me!" Little Red Rabbit hurriedly followed.
"You idiot, we need to split up!" Ye Zhenzhen turned around and quickly directed him to run in another direction, "Let's find a place to hide!"
Are you all just running away and waiting to be wiped out in one fell swoop?!
However, it turned out that running them separately was not very effective.
Once they ran out of snowballs, it became a one-sided battle where one side was being dominated.
Hiding behind rocks as cover is no good either; you'll be instantly killed as soon as you peek out.
"Shall we keep fighting?" Gu Tingshen asked the two rabbits hiding behind the cover, tossing snowballs up and down.
"I'm not fighting anymore! I surrender, throw away the snow in your hand!" Ye Zhenzhen patted the snow off her head and walked out from behind the rock.
Seeing that Gu Tingshen had actually thrown the snowball in his hand, he was secretly delighted and threw the small snowball he was holding out of his hand.
"Haha, take this!!"
To everyone's surprise, Gu Tingshen dodged it by simply turning to the side, as if he had anticipated it.
"Huh?! You managed to dodge that?" Ye Zhenzhen looked frustrated, deeply regretting that her hand speed wasn't fast enough.
"Dad is so amazing!" Gu Sinan also came out from behind the tree.
"Hmph, I just lack the stamina, otherwise I could definitely beat him..."
Ye Zhenzhen was still a little resentful and decided to eat more meat at noon.
---
Even after playing in the snow, they were still reluctant to go back inside, so they built a snowman by the stone table in the yard.
Gu Sinan, wearing an adorable red knitted hat, ran around rolling snowballs.
Ye Zhenzhen pulled Gu Tingshen to find a shovel to remove the snow for him.
The children even ran back to their room and found a lot of small items to decorate the snowman.
Seeing that they were engrossed in their game, Gu Tingshen brought over a thermos and offered them some hot water.
When I came back, I saw six snowmen of various sizes on the table.
"There's so much piled up?"
"Yes, guess who these are?" Ye Zhenzhen asked him with a smile, her face flushed.
"Is this Grandpa?" Gu Tingshen asked, pointing to the tallest snowman with glasses on his nose.
"Yes!" Gu Sinan's little face was flushed, as if she had applied rouge, making her lips and teeth look even redder and whiter, and she was extremely cute.
"This one in the cape is Grandma, this one with the black bow tie is me, this one with the pink bow tie is Mom, and this one with the little red hat is Nannan," he said, pointing to a row of different snowmen and naming them one by one.
"This is Black Panther."
"Dad guessed right!"
"That's because Nannan has a great grasp of everyone's characteristics!" Ye Zhenzhen praised, patting the ball of yarn on his head. Suddenly remembering something, she squatted down and said to Gu Sinan, "We're still missing one."
Gu Sinan tilted her head and blinked in confusion.
Gu Tingshen, who was behind him, was taken aback upon hearing this.
"We're still missing an aunt."
Two adults and one child squatted together, busy building the last snowman.
"Dad, what's Auntie's favorite color?" Gu Sinan rolled up a small snowball and was looking for decorations when she ran into a dilemma.
Gu Tingshen held a few pebbles in his hand and stuck them on the snowman's belly as buttons. After listening to him finish speaking, he pursed his lips and said softly, "She likes red the most."
“Just like my aunt, I also love red the most.” After Gu Sinan finished speaking, she looked around, then suddenly bent down, took off her scarf, and wrapped it around the snowman’s neck. “Then let my aunt’s snowman wear my red scarf.”
Snow began to fall slowly from the sky again.
Kong Shuyun watched the three of them play in the yard for a long time, and now they went to the backyard. She shook her head helplessly and patted her husband beside her, "Look, it's starting to snow again. Why aren't they back yet?"
"They're bundled up, let them play if they want. It's rare to see such heavy snow." Gu Henian picked up his teacup, looked out the window, and casually advised her, "You've forgotten, Wan Ning loved taking Ting Shen to play in the snow when she was little..."
Kong Shuyun was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, "Yes, Wan Ning also loves playing in the snow, and Nan Nan is most like her..."
Gu Henian felt a dull pain in his chest. He took his wife's hand and said, "Let's go for a walk. We've been cooped up at home all day. My back is stiff."
Kong Shuyun and her husband walked hand in hand slowly toward the stone table. The moment they saw the row of small snowmen on the table, their feet seemed to freeze, and they could not move.
After a long while, she finally reached out her trembling hand, picked up the little snowman wearing a red scarf, stood in the snow, and tears streamed down her face...
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