In the blink of an eye, Tangtang has grown a month. She can sit up and play by herself. If she sees a small toy in front of her, she will lie down and try her best to reach for it.
"Tangtang, look what this is?" Angie held up a rattle drum, trying to get Tangtang to look at him.
Tangtang grinned, revealing a tiny baby tooth that had just sprouted a couple of days ago.
"Mommy, look, Tangtang is smiling at me!" Angie smiled happily, revealing his two little tiger teeth.
Yuan Doudou was doing the accounting. Business at the store gradually improved, and after a month, the account book was filled with a thick volume.
She looked at Tangtang; the little one's face was round and chubby, fair and tender, and looked so soft and juicy that you could almost squeeze water out of it.
The siblings have a good relationship, which makes their mother very happy. Anji is currently studying at a private school and comes home once a month. Every time he comes home, he doesn't look at anyone else but his sister first. Only when he sees Tangtang will he have the mind to look at his father and mother.
"Anji, are you adapting well to studying at the academy?" Yuan Doudou asked with concern.
It must be said that scholars in ancient times had to be able to endure hardship from a young age. Once they entered a private school, they could not expect to be able to go home every day. Most academies were not located close to home, and some were in the suburbs, in very remote locations, making it inconvenient to go home every day.
Besides the inconvenience of traveling back and forth, another important reason for not going home is that the private school does not recommend that students go home every day, arguing that it will distract students from their studies and prevent them from concentrating on their learning, thus affecting their learning outcomes.
Yuan Doudou recalled that when she was in junior high school, half of her classmates had to live at school because their families lived in the countryside. However, her home was just across the street from the school gate. At that time, she envied those who could live at school like her classmates, with seven or eight people living in one dormitory, chatting and laughing, eating in the cafeteria together, not being controlled by their parents, and going home once a week.
Looking back now, her idea was actually just asking for trouble. Compared to living at school, being able to go home every day was a blessing.
Now Anji can only live at the school. The academy is not close to the tavern, and it is inconvenient to need someone to pick him up when he comes back. Now he comes back once a month, and Anrong rents a carriage to take him there.
Angie replied without hesitation, "I feel okay. Compared to my classmates, I'm very resilient."
He used the word "strong" not because the teachers in the private school would make them suffer, but because at night, most of the people in the dormitory would cry because they missed home, and he also missed home, but he could hold back his tears. On the contrary, he would comfort other crying classmates.
I can go home in a month, and if I study hard every day, time will pass quickly.
“Anji, you really surprised your mother. I thought you would cry and tell me that you would never go to school again.” Yuan Doudou teased him on purpose. Only a year has passed, and Anji is already like a little adult.
Now that he's an older brother, he's become more sensible.
Angie laughed and said, "How could that be? I'm the older brother, I can't let Tangtang laugh at me, right, Tangtang?" Angie pouted and looked at his younger sister with great pride.
Tangtang giggled, as if she were talking about her brother.
Anji clapped his hands excitedly: "Mommy, Tangtang can talk!"
"She's smiling, happy to have a hardworking older brother." Yuan Doudou finished calculating the accounts and put away the ledger.
"Let's go, let's go have dinner." Yuan Doudou picked up Tangtang and walked towards the front hall.
It wasn't dinnertime yet, and only a few people were scattered around the tavern. An Rong was busy in the kitchen, preparing dinner for Yuan Doudou and the others.
"Tonight's dinner is noodles with soybean paste," An Rong said with a smile, knowing that Dou Dou liked it.
Angie clapped along behind, saying, "Great! I love Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste)!"
After eating in the cafeteria for a month, except for the first day when I thought the food tasted good, every day after that was tasteless and bland.
Compared to their parents' cooking skills, the cooks in the private school were exceptionally bad; some jokingly called the canteen food "pig slop."
Seeing his son cheering, An Rong couldn't help but feel sorry for him, thinking that he must not have been eating well outside.
"I like to eat more later."
He made the Zhajiangmian strictly according to the recipe given by DouDou, with more pork and plenty of soybean paste.
"Wow, the smell alone makes my mouth water." I wish I could eat home-cooked meals every day.
Anji wanted to speak but held back, afraid that his parents would feel bad if they heard it. They worked very hard running the shop and also had to take care of his younger sister. As the eldest brother in the family, he couldn't cause his parents any more trouble, otherwise he would feel guilty.
Yuan Doudou put Tangtang on the rocking bed, gave her a rattle, and rocked it herself.
"Here, let Mommy serve you some."
Yuan Doudou took a large blue-rimmed bowl, first using chopsticks to pick up a large clump of cooked noodles, then scooping on a large spoonful of fried sauce, along with shredded carrots, shredded cucumbers, and some crispy fried peas.
A decent bowl of Zhajiangmian (noodles with soybean paste) is ready.
"Eat up." The first bowl was given to Anji, since he was the only student in the family.
Anji held the big bowl, his mouth watering uncontrollably, and his stomach was rumbling loudly.
But since everyone else hadn't eaten yet, he just stared at the noodles without touching them. It wasn't until everyone sat down and had their bowls of rice in their hands that he started to eat.
"It seems that Anji has learned a lot of manners at the private school," Yuan Doudou praised.
She was the only child in her family and was always the first to sit down at the table. She would eat as soon as she saw the food, regardless of whether her parents had sat down at the table or not.
The first time she did this was when her mother told her to eat first if she was hungry.
She implicitly agreed that children could start eating first, only to realize later that it was very impolite.
People from all countries have their own table manners, and waiting for everyone to arrive before starting to eat is a basic form of table manners.
She thought of a scene from a TV series: during a holiday, her mother was busy in the kitchen while the family sat at the table eating, drinking, chatting and laughing. No one called her mother to the table to eat or waited for her to come to the table before eating.
They seem to take their mother's efforts for granted. They eat whatever food is available, and as long as someone is cooking, they can eat with peace of mind and wait for new dishes to be served.
When the most tired person sits down at the table, she can only eat a table full of leftovers, and in the end, she still has to clean up the table full of leftovers, wash the dishes, and mop the floor.
When Yuan Doudou came here, the happiest thing was seeing the family sit down, say thank you to the person who cooked, and then everyone pick up their chopsticks together to happily enjoy the food.
"Thank you, Daddy, for making me this fried sauce noodles," Anji said sincerely before eating.
Yuan Doudou also expressed her gratitude, saying that she wanted to see and acknowledge her partner's contributions.
This is the most basic respect you can show to your partner.
"You're welcome, eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold." An Rong's face was filled with a happy smile.
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