Lu Yang lifted An An out of his arms and put her on the kang (a heated brick bed), then poured her some hot water.
The public bathhouse was built in the new district, which was very inconvenient for the people living in the old district.
The old district was built earlier, and the grain station, supply and marketing station, hospital, and early childhood education classes were all located there. People in the new district were dissatisfied, so later, primary schools, bathhouses, and other facilities were built there.
Overall, the supporting facilities in the old district are more convenient, after all, the leaders' official residences are all located here.
"Drink something."
Lu Yang handed the teacup to Song Qing, who took it and drank several mouthfuls. The hot water warmed her up in no time.
"It's already past March, why is it still so cold?"
"Here it is. Sometimes it snows in April. After a while, the ice in the river will start to melt slowly. After another half month or so, we can eat fish from the thawed river."
Although we still have to wear thick cotton-padded coats, the weather is actually starting to warm up slowly, and food can no longer be stored outdoors.
"Then we have to eat that fish tomorrow."
The two chatted on and on, with Song Qing mentioning her encounter with Zhou Lian at the bathhouse that day.
Her completely different way of doing things shocked Song Qing, who thought that the Zhou Lian she had met before was not the same person as today.
Zhou Lian felt that since her reputation with Song Qing and his wife was already bad, she might as well give up and stop trying to maintain it. But she didn't care about other people; she still wanted a good reputation.
"I need to stay away from her from now on."
Zhou Lian's sudden change of expression was truly shocking, and Song Qing resolved to stay away from her in the future. "You too, stay away from that Wang Minggui."
Song Qing didn't know if Wang Minggui's guilt was genuine. Since he couldn't control Zhou Lian and only apologized to Lu Yang, saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," what was the point?
"I know."
An'an had already collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), still thinking about the unborn gosling, pestering Lu Yang to tell her stories, and specifically requesting to hear the gosling's story.
Lu Yang had no idea about any stories. He simply didn't want to go to school and joined the army right after graduating from junior high. Chinese was his worst subject, so he had no stories in his head at all.
"Dad, tell me the story of the little goose."
"Dad doesn't know this one, can we choose another one?"
Lu Yang racked his brains and could only think of the comic books he had read before, but An An shook her head every time he mentioned a few titles.
Song Qing was looking for the fountain pen she planned to give away when she remembered she had two boxes of unused ink, so she decided to send them over together.
She found it amusing to hear Lu Yang's clumsy attempts to soothe the child; it was time for him to experience what it was like to take care of a child.
Children aren't just cute at times; they can also make you furious.
When An'an was a little over one or two years old, she was at the age that even dogs disliked. At that time, she couldn't dress herself and insisted on dressing herself. She would dawdle for a long time and then cry. Song Qing couldn't bear to see it and wanted to dress her, but she cried too.
She has her own set of rules for everything she does, and she forces her mother to follow them.
Song Qing had never experienced anything like this before. It was giving her a terrible headache. How did such a sweet and obedient child become so annoying?
She tried to correct An'an, but her voice was a little too loud, so Ms. Tian Qiaozhu yelled at her from the side.
"You were even more stubborn than her back then. Besides, she's so young. What's wrong with giving in to her?"
Every child goes through this phase, and sure enough, she became adorable again after that period.
She's starting to develop her own thoughts and brings new surprises every day, which is one of the joys of raising a child.
Having experienced it once, Song Qing cherishes this time in her child's childhood even more.
Lu Yang told several familiar stories, and without exception, they were all met with disdain from An An.
"How about we tell you Journey to the West? The story of Sun Wukong?" Lu Yang had no choice but to recall the story he loved as a child.
An'an likes this. Song Qing told her about it, and she had also heard it on the radio.
Lu Yang talked for an hour until his throat was dry, but An An became more and more energetic as she listened. She not only listened but also asked all sorts of strange questions.
Her father felt he had never been this tired from training. The questions asked by such a small child often left him at a loss, and he had to rack his brains for a long time before he could give her a satisfactory answer.
"It's time for bed."
Song Qing was getting sleepy from listening so much that she quickly came to Lu Yang's rescue. Lu Yang breathed a sigh of relief and took the teacup outside to get some water.
"Don't bully Dad."
An'an laughed twice and fell onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Song Qing grabbed her and patted her bottom twice.
She clearly wanted someone to build a nest for her goslings, but she still deliberately bullied them.
Song Hai used to go out to play chess and chat, and Tian Qiaozhu didn't care about seeing him or being bothered by him. She didn't want to say anything more, and since there was good food at home, she wouldn't wait for him and would let the children eat it all.
However, An'an is good at reading people's expressions. If her maternal grandfather makes her maternal grandmother angry, or if he goes out without her, she will deliberately make trouble for him.
After watching for a while, Song Qing realized that she had used this method on her grandfather before. She had also begged her grandfather to tell her a story, but no matter what story Song Hai told, she was never satisfied.
Once they've found a story they like, they start asking all sorts of strange questions, determined to keep Grandpa talking nonstop.
An'an smiled shyly, and Song Qing stopped talking to her when she saw Lu Yang return.
When Lu Yang returned, he was puzzled as to why Song Qing was suddenly looking at him with that kind of dazed expression, and even his daughter was suddenly smiling at him triumphantly.
"Dad, I need to go to the toilet."
Lu Yang reached out and lifted her down, while Song Qing began to spread out the blankets.
When they came back, the family turned off the lights and went to sleep, just like the night before. An'an slept in the middle and even snuggled into her father's blanket.
Before Lu Yang could even marvel at how clingy his daughter was, she turned back to Song Qing and went to sleep hugging her mother.
"Running around like that, the warmth inside the blankets dissipated."
Song Qing whispered a few words to her, and An'an, clinging to her arm, mumbled a response and fell asleep.
The mother and daughter were sleeping affectionately together, while Lu Yang was alone, unable to sleep.
He looked at Song Qing in the darkness; she had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep. Both mother and daughter were breathing evenly. Lu Yang sighed deeply.
We used to never see each other, but now we're sleeping on the same kang (heated brick bed) and it's still the same as before.
He now needs to drink a lot of cold water before bed every night to fall asleep, and he has to go to the toilet many times in the middle of the night.
The next day, Lu Yang got up and made breakfast and did laundry as usual. Song Qing got up shortly after he left, and when she looked at her watch, it was only a little past seven.
The porridge was still cooking in the pot, and there were three flatbreads on the table. The clothes had also been washed.
Song Qing stared blankly at the clothes that were still dripping wet, while An An let out a howl from inside the house.
"Mom, hurry, I need to go to the toilet."
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