Chen Ji stood up, draped the wrung-out diapers in the yard, emptied the water from the large iron basin, and rinsed all the basins again.
After finishing all that, he carried his baby upstairs, followed by his suddenly clingy wife.
Perhaps it was because Xu Ruantang had delicate skin that the mosquitoes always avoided Chen Ji and instead targeted her.
Every day when Chen Ji gets home, the first thing he does is close the doors and windows of his room, fumigate the mosquitoes with mosquito coils, and then leave the screen windows open for ventilation.
He was still worried, so he put mosquito nets on their bed as well.
Ever since my godmother and Aunt Liu went to the courtyard near Xifo Temple, they haven't come back at night except on weekends.
They said that if you stay there, you can eat together and enjoy the food, and in the evening you can go to the roundabout fountain to cool off.
There's only one child and two adults at home now, so we go to bed early if there's nothing else to do.
Between the two lay their chubby little baby. The child was getting restless and slept in circles all night.
It's very possible that the child was in the same direction as the adults before going to sleep, but after a nap, they turned around.
Chen Ji continued to shield the mother and daughter from the fan with his body, while holding a fan in his hand.
What was different today was that Xu Ruantang was holding his other hand.
Her gaze lingered on him, and it took her a long time to speak before she finally said, "Chen Ji, tell me about your previous leg injury."
Chen Ji looked over, and Xu Ruantang added, "I won't listen to things you can't say. Tell me what you were thinking at the time, and how you convinced yourself to leave the army and stay in the countryside for the rest of your life."
Xu Ruantang could think of the sources of his psychological trauma, besides the sacrifice of his second brother Chen Rong, as well as the mission in which Gao Baoliang went missing and he himself was seriously injured.
Chen Ji looked intently at her, "Wife, are you afraid I'll develop psychological problems?"
He was always smart, so Xu Ruantang was not surprised. She nodded and said, "Yes, war is very cruel. It is normal for people to be left with psychological trauma. If there is a problem, we should actively treat it. It is neither shameful nor strange."
Chen Ji, don't think that men are omnipotent. No, we're all just mortals. Physical and emotional illnesses are perfectly normal. It's simply a matter of treating the symptoms, like a cold.
Often, the smarter and more ambitious a person is, the less they can accept having a "severe cold".
They would think, "With my strong constitution, do I really need medicine for a little 'cold'?" That would be an insult to my dignity.
Xu Ruantang chose to try her best to persuade Chen Ji.
Chen Ji knew that if he didn't tell her, Xu Ruantang would worry so much that she wouldn't be able to sleep, but he couldn't prove to her that he was perfectly mentally healthy.
I don't know what she heard somewhere, but she seemed completely off when she came back today.
After thinking for a moment, he told Xu Ruantang about his first time on the battlefield, and his feelings when he saw his comrades sacrifice themselves during each mission.
It tells how he repeatedly tore down and rebuilt his inner fortress.
During this process, Xu Ruantang held his hand tightly, her tears falling silently onto the pillow.
Chen Ji talked for a long, long time, and finally sighed, reaching out his large hand to wipe away her tears, saying, "Wife, if you keep crying, we and Xiao Bao will all be swept away by the flood."
I never realized before that his wife cried so much.
Xu Ruantang was amused by him and stopped crying and laughed. "I don't want this buckwheat pillow anymore. It'll sprout tomorrow morning."
Chen Ji handed over his own pillow and took away the buckwheat pillow that was soaked with her tears.
He went downstairs to get a wet towel, wiped Xu Ruantang's face, and gently patted her back with one hand. His deep, magnetic voice slowly rang out: "Sleep well, be good."
Xu Ruantang was dizzy and mumbled in her sleep, "Husband, you've worked hard."
This in-depth exchange wasn't entirely useless; at least they reached an agreement that they would confide in each other first when they have something on their minds, and would never keep it bottled up inside.
The two act as each other's psychological counselors, and they try to resolve issues internally before discussing them.
Xu Ruantang also asked Chen Ji to help check if Wang Xiuxiu had any problems, and to let her know as soon as possible if there were no problems.
When Chen Ji asked why, Xu Ruantang said, "I'm going to be working in the same place as her soon, and we'll be seeing each other every day. Your identity is special, so just to be on the safe side, I'm investigating you."
Huan Yuanliang's shop has officially entered the final preparation stage.
Xu Ruantang and Wang Xiuxiu had arranged to go to work together, and the two of them took the bus there early in the morning.
The buses in Beijing in the morning were even more crowded than Xu Ruantang had imagined. Especially in the middle of summer, the smell inside the buses was particularly strong.
It's amazing that so many people don't open their windows.
Upon arriving at the shop, Xu Ruantang naturally headed straight for the production area. Shops run by wealthy people are indeed different; all kinds of materials are readily available.
Huan Yuanliang introduced them one by one, saying, "I specially went to Shenzhen to buy these. There are many novelties from the port city there."
It's really novel; they even have large egg beaters.
After signing the contract, Wang Xiuxiu was in charge of the front of the kitchen, while Xu Ruantang was only responsible for the kitchen preparations.
She was accompanied by two master craftsmen and three apprentices. At first, the master craftsmen looked down on Xu Ruantang, thinking that a twenty-year-old girl could not possibly have any real skills.
Xu Ruantang didn't care and proved it with her actions.
With her background in painting, her cake decorating skills are naturally fearless.
What a joke! At the very least, her mentor was a pastry chef in later generations.
In less than a day, Xu Ruantang and several chefs in the kitchen had finalized the opening menu.
The desserts are mainly Western-style, differentiating them from traditional pastry shops on the market, and we try to promote and sell more cake series.
Depending on the different holidays, additional holiday-specific restrictions may be added.
Huan Yuanliang can contact a printing factory to produce gift box packaging, and Xu Ruantang also plans to design it herself.
Wang Xiuxiu was also very busy. In addition to training employees in basic etiquette, she also taught them a lot of sales techniques.
The two of them left early and returned late, almost constantly busy.
Before the trial operation began, the store also produced promotional leaflets, which combined Xu Ruantang's hand-drawn version with video, and Huan Yuanliang had the printing factory make several thousand copies.
Led by Wang Xiuxiu, the store's employees shuttled back and forth on Qianmen Street with flyers and samples.
The shop's signature dessert, a creamy ice cream bread perfect for summer, was created by Xu Ruantang.
On the first day of the trial operation, the cream ice cream bread was in high demand and many customers preferred to stand outside the store and wait for it to be made rather than leave.
This exhausted the chefs who made the ice cream. They bought the cream ice cream, but only put up the sign after they had sold out.
Huan Yuanliang also came to the store that day and immediately contacted the factory to order another batch of cream ice cream balls.
After working for more than half a month, Wang Xiuxiu and Xu Ruantang finally got a day off.
Seeing that there were no vegetables at home, Xu Ruantang decided to go buy some. When she walked to the road in the courtyard, she felt dizzy and could barely stand. Her vision went black.
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