In winter, evening comes early and it is dark around four o'clock.
Chen Xingling was tidying the room while Gu Qi was packing the suitcase he had brought with him. Little Tiger was running around in the room, his naughty laughter could be heard from time to time.
Gu Qi looked at his son, whose features were very similar to his own but whose personality was completely different from his own, and couldn't help but feel secretly puzzled.
"Has Yinmo always been so active?"
The opportunity to study abroad came suddenly, and he only had ten days to prepare.
The factory director helped run in and out to process various documents. Fortunately, it was a precious quota provided by the province, and the superior leader made it convenient for him, and he was soon ready to go.
During those days, she always glanced at him secretly and then shed tears quietly.
He knew she was reluctant to let him leave, but she had to support him.
Thinking that they were newlyweds and she was pregnant, he felt very sorry for her.
The night before leaving, the two stayed up all night.
At dawn, he broke the silence and whispered that the child should be born at the end of the year. That year happened to be the Year of the Tiger. If it was a boy, he would be named "Gu Yinmo" and his nickname would be "Yiyi"; if it was a girl, she would be named "Gu Yixin".
Unexpectedly, the child's nickname became "Little Tiger", and he was very naughty with a fierce face.
Chen Xingling burst out laughing: "Yeah! When he was pregnant with me, he loved jumping around and was very active."
Gu Qi still couldn't figure it out, and whispered: "Your personality is not like mine, nor like yours."
Chen Xingling stared at him with amusement and asked, "How do you know he's not like me? My parents said I was very naughty when I was little. I climbed up the roof, dug up trees, robbed bird nests, and went to the sea to tease turtles and chase dolphins. I did all kinds of naughty things."
Gu Qi raised his eyebrows and then smiled softly.
"So, he looks like me, but he has a personality like you. That's good, one person is more like the other, it's fair."
He couldn't help imagining her big belly and asked in a low voice, "It must have been very hard back then, right?"
Her husband was not around and her parents' home was thousands of miles away in the south. She had to adapt to the unfamiliar environment with a big belly and deal with the naughty little baby in her belly. However, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law did not like her.
Chen Xingling was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "No matter how hard it is, it will all pass. As a person, you have to look forward, right?"
I’m so glad that she has successfully avoided the most difficult part of being pregnant and raising a baby, otherwise she would definitely give up!
Gu Qi nodded slightly, his handsome face still cold and indifferent, but he felt in his heart that what she said was very well said.
"Mom! I want to take a bath!" The little guy stood on tiptoe and raised his chubby and dirty hands high up: "Look! I'm all dirty!"
Chen Xingling is a typical southerner who likes to take a bath every day. Influenced by her ideas and habits, Xiaohuzi also loves to take a bath.
"Ah?" Chen Xingling hesitated and thought for a moment: "Then I have to boil some hot water first."
You have to pay to take a bath in the bathhouse, 5 or 4 sen for adults, but it is a little cheaper for children, sometimes only 2 sen.
The Gu family is a large family with a separate courtyard and a separate house. The house is large. In addition to the toilet in the backyard, there is also a bathroom that was converted from a former greenhouse. Therefore, the family members do not have to go to the bathhouse and pay for a bath.
Despite this, the mother-in-law still did not agree with Chen Xingling and her son taking a bath every few days in the winter, because it required firewood or coal briquettes to boil hot water, which was a waste of money.
Chen Xingling loves cleanliness. When she is working in the kitchen, she will boil some warm water before the stove is turned off, put more or less water into the thermos, and then take Xiaohu to the bathroom to wash.
Gu Qi stood up and said calmly, "You rest in the room, I'll go boil some water. You've been running around for a few days and your body is very dirty, I'll take him to wash together."
"...You wash him?" Chen Xingling couldn't believe it: "Can you do it?"
Gu Qi was very confident. He said, "Pack his clothes for changing," and then turned and left.
Chen Xingling prepared clean clothes for the little one, but was still a little worried, so he ran to the next room to heat up the kang, and put the father and son's sweaters and tights on the kang to warm them up.
Gu Qi quickly boiled some hot water, picked up some warm clothes, and went to the backyard with his son under his arm.
Chen Xingling was secretly worried and silently prayed for his lovely son.
"Sister-in-law." A voice as calm as water sounded.
Chen Xingling turned around and found Gu Xuan standing in the corridor, with flour all over his body, face and braids, as if he had just stepped out of a pile of flour.
"What's wrong with you? How did you become like this?"
Compared to Gu Miao, who was lazy and looked down on others all day long, Chen Xingling liked Gu Xuan a little more, because although she was cold and indifferent, and even didn't say a word for several days, she had never deliberately targeted him.
Gu Xuan's expressionless face showed embarrassment, and he whispered: "I want to make steamed buns... I don't know how to knead dough."
Chen Xingling laughed softly and followed her to the kitchen.
In the corner of the kitchen, Gu Miao was seen blowing flour angrily, also in a mess.
My mother-in-law might have been really angry and she hid in her room and fell asleep and couldn't get up.
It goes without saying that the two younger sisters were forced by Gu Qi to work in the kitchen, which is why they ended up in such a miserable state.
Gu Miao glared at Chen Xingling, but due to her eldest brother's absolute authority, she dared not say anything. Her eyes almost dug a piece of flesh out of Chen Xingling's body.
Chen Xingling was too lazy to pay attention to her, thinking that it didn't matter since he had the supermarket space. He couldn't let his father and son go hungry while making dinner.
She washed her hands, quickly gathered the flour on the table, poured a little warm water into it, and with a few skillful movements, she kneaded the mess of small lumps into a large dough.
"Gu Xuan, go to the cellar and get a large Chinese cabbage. Cut it in half and wash it."
The winter in the capital city is very long. In late autumn, every household will stock up on long-lasting vegetables and carrots in the cellar to eat slowly, and the Gu family is no exception.
Gu Xuan turned around to leave—but was stopped by Gu Miao.
Gu Miao frowned and snorted: "Why are you going to my sister? What qualifications do you have to order us to work?"
"Do you want to eat dinner?" Chen Xingling kneaded the dough by himself and said leisurely, "If you want to eat, help me, otherwise don't eat. How about I go wash the vegetables and cook, and you guys come and knead the dough and make steamed buns?"
Gu Miao, who was covered in flour, choked immediately!
Chen Xingling raised his eyebrows and said, "I can knead dough and make steamed buns. My job is my qualification, don't you understand?"
Gu Miao was so angry that she stamped her feet and her cheeks were swollen.
Gu Xuan on the side looked at Chen Xingling, pulled his sister's hand away, and hurried to the cellar to pick up a large water spinach.
Chen Xingling wrapped up the dough and said, "I'll take it to the room first. The dough will rise faster in a warmer place. Gu Xuan, wash the cabbage and cut it into small pieces, and put it on the stove."
Gu Xuan nodded.
Chen Xingling went straight back to the room, locked the door and went to the space.
She put the dough in a plastic bag and put it in the big refrigerator, then went to the baking area. She struggled to find the simplest "Big Caterpillar" bread loaf and took it out, then found two strips of bacon in the prepared food area and quickly came out.
Gu Qi bought a bag of southern bacon and brought it home, but it didn't look very good and didn't dry well, so she took it to the kitchen and hung it under the eaves.
Gu Xuan had already cut the vegetables and took his sister back to the house to wash their faces.
Chen Xingling cut the bread into small pieces, put them into a frying pan, and baked them on the honeycomb coal stove at the lowest heat.
Then, she cut the bacon into slices, threw it into the pan and stir-fried it. Soon the rich meat aroma filled the air and lard oozed from the meat.
Chen Xingling threw the chopped cabbage in, quickly stir-fried it with salt, poured a ladle of cold water, then covered the pot and simmered it over low heat.
After a while, Gu Qi came back holding his son.
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