Chapter 50
From the first day Jiang Zhen and Tao Su came, the old lady began to think about what they should take back when they left. There were not many local specialties, so she could only take out the dried cabbage and winter melon that she had dried at the end of last year and packed a big bag for them to take back.
What she actually wanted to give the most was bacon, which would appear generous. Unfortunately, the bacon was eaten up soon after the spring began because it could not be stored for a long time or it would go bad.
As for Jiang Yao, after hearing that Tao Su was pregnant, she made small clothes and diapers for her future nephew (daughter) for several nights in a row. She also sorted out the clothes that Chang Chang and Xiao Lu had worn before and were in good condition, and took them back to them.
"My dried cabbage and winter melon are not worth much, but if you add some to the bone soup, the soup will be especially delicious. I hope you don't mind." The old lady handed the package to Tao Su and added, "Both cabbage and winter melon are cold in nature. You shouldn't eat them since you're pregnant. But you can make some for Jiang Zhen. Young people have a lot of blood and energy, so it can help him cool down."
"..." Tao Su didn't know if she was overthinking it, but she always felt that the old lady's words "vigorous blood" had a special meaning. But whether it was or not, she pretended not to know, took the package and said: "Thank you, grandma, these are all good things, we are over there, there is no place to buy them if we want."
After the old lady delivered the things, it was Jiang Yao's turn. She handed the bag of clothes to Jiang Zhen and said, "These are all clothes prepared for the baby. There are new ones, and some that Changchang and Xiaolu wore before. Children grow up quickly, so you just have to make do with them."
"Okay." Jiang Zhen took the bag with a smile. Tao Su said on the side, "I'm really not good at manual work. Fortunately, you prepared it for me."
"These are for wearing within six months of age. After the baby is born, I will pack up some clothes that Changchang and the others don't have enough to wear, and make some new ones and send them to him. Sister-in-law, you don't have to worry about these." Jiang Yao said.
"This is too much trouble for you." Tao Su said a little embarrassedly: "I will learn from others and try to do it myself when the time comes."
"It's not a problem. I have a sewing machine. As long as I have the cloth, I can make it quickly." Jiang Yao actually felt sorry for Tao Su. She had no parents-in-law, and her relationship with her mother's family was probably not very good. When the child was born in the future, she would basically have to rely on herself for everything.
Jiang Zhen is a soldier. When he is not on a mission, he can help out. When he is on a mission, he may be away from home for half a year or several months. This is not easy for military wives, but from the moment they marry a soldier, they must be mentally prepared for this.
"This is Yaoyao's sincere kindness, so don't refuse." Jiang Zhen was not polite to his sister. He felt sorry for Tao Su and didn't want her to have too much hardship in the future.
"Then I will respectfully obey your command." Tao Su said with a smile.
"That's right, that's the attitude we want." Jiang Yao pointed at the bag and said, "Brother and sister-in-law are getting married, Lu Che and I don't have much to say, so let's just keep it simple and give you a red envelope. Put it in the bag, remember to put it away."
"Yaoyao, why don't you receive the red envelope yet?" Tao Su said in surprise.
"That's right, it's outrageous." Jiang Zhen was about to open the bag, but the old lady stopped him, "This is to please the gods, just keep it, but don't change it back, it's unlucky."
After hearing what the old lady said, Jiang Zhen lost his temper and could only put his hand down.
"Okay, it's getting late." Lu Che said, "Brother, sister-in-law, Yaoyao and I will take you to the bus station."
"Okay." Considering that Tao Su is pregnant now, Jiang Zhen did not refuse. Because Lu Che borrowed Zhang Dong's bicycle, they can ride the bicycle to the station, which can save some energy.
When they arrived at the station, there was still some time before the bus departed, so Jiang Yao pulled Jiang Zhen aside and said, "Brother, you don't have to give me money and tickets when you send me letters in the future. Lu Che and I are both working now. In addition to our salaries, we also receive tickets. Plus his other work, we make at least 170 or 180 yuan a month. You really don't have to worry about us."
"But this is the confidence I give you." Jiang Zhen said.
"I'm grown up now, I can earn money to support myself, you don't have to worry about me all the time." Jiang Yao said: "You are going to be a father, raising a child is very expensive. Also, my sister-in-law is your wife, you should give all your future salary to her for safekeeping."
"I gave it to her when we got married, but she didn't want it," Jiang Zhen said with some distress.
"Even if you don't want it, you have to give it to her directly. She can't just throw it away." Jiang Yao reminded: "Talking about money is a bit vulgar, but marriage is so down-to-earth. Don't you say that your sister-in-law is too independent? You have to interweave everything you have together, then she will rely on you."
"I didn't expect that it's your turn to teach your brother a lesson." Jiang Zhen smiled with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course." Jiang Yao raised her chin proudly, "In marriage life, I am your senior, you can't go wrong if you learn from me."
"Okay, I got it." Jiang Zhen touched her head. "Even if you are busy with work, you should take care of your health and keep in touch. After the baby is born, I will take leave and come back to see you."
"Well, you have to be careful too. You are not alone now. You have a wife and children. Remember to think about them when you are risking your life."
Even though they were reluctant, Jiang Zhen and Tao Su set out on the journey back to the military camp.
Jiang Yao and Lu Che watched the car go farther and farther away until it shrank into a small dot and disappeared from their sight, then they rode away on their bicycles.
After Jiang Zhen left, the nursery was officially opened, Jiang Yao took over as the team leader, and Lu Zhaoyang and Lu Zhaoyue also started school for the first time in their lives.
When the nursery started recruiting students, Jiang Yao had already registered them both and paid one month's tuition, which was two dollars and a half per person per month, so five dollars for two.
From 7:30 in the morning to 6:00 in the afternoon, that's nearly eleven hours of care every day, and breakfast and lunch are also provided. If it weren't for the subsidy from the wealthy mechanical and electrical factory, the two dollars and fifty cents would be useless.
The nursery has been very popular because of its low fees and convenience for dual-income families. Looking at the factories across the county, there is no factory that does not envy the mechanical and electrical factory.
When relatives of other factories or employees wanted to enroll in the nursery here, Jiang Yao treated them all equally and rejected them all. This would offend many people, but once a gap was opened, people who came in through the back door could not be stopped.
Director Li also likes Jiang Yao's style of being decisive. When others want to get away from her, she pulls Jiang Yao out as a "shield".
Of course, school enrollment is just the beginning of everything. The challenges begin after the child enters kindergarten.
Jiang Yao divided all infants and young children into three classes according to their age groups: one class for children under one year old, one class for children aged one to two years old, and one class for children aged two to three years old.
Taking care of children under one year old is the most energy-consuming. Jiang Yao arranged ten caregivers to take charge of this class, and five caregivers each for the other two classes.
Changchang and Xiaolu were already one year old when they were assigned to the middle class. Because they followed their mother to work, they did not need to go through any transition and had already adapted to the life in the nursery.
As for other children, they have to face the separation from their parents.
Although children in the small class are difficult to take care of, they are the easiest to take care of at the beginning because they usually don’t look for their parents. Children in the middle and large classes will cry so hard on the first day of school that the entire nursery will turn upside down.
Even though they were mentally prepared, everyone was still a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, most children nowadays are free-range and not as pampered as children in later generations. After a week, everyone had basically integrated into the nursery life.
The nursery school is open six days a week. After this week, Jiang Yao is obviously thinner than before. Lu Che holds her in his arms at night, and he feels so distressed. "If it's too hard, don't do it."
"It's OK. Everything is difficult at the beginning. It shouldn't be so hard after the transition." Jiang Yao said, "I feel very accomplished to be able to run a nursery. Please don't stop me."
She was speaking the truth. Instead of staying at home every day to take care of the children and guarding a small space, it would be better to go out and work hard.
"Okay." Lu Che couldn't stop her, but he couldn't help but sigh, "It's up to you anyway. Don't force it."
"I understand." Jiang Yao didn't want him to continue nagging, so she said, "My shoulders are so sore, help me massage them quickly."
"Okay." Lu Che accepted the order.
I have to say that Boss Lu's massage technique is really good. After Jiang Yao was massaged by him for a while, her fatigue from the whole day was almost gone.
"Okay, stop pressing, let's go to sleep." Jiang Yao said.
"Aren't you tired anymore?" Lu Che asked.
"I'm not tired anymore, let's go to sleep." Jiang Yao said without thinking. The next moment, her waist was gently brushed and she woke up with a start.
She realized later that someone was trying to trick her, but it was too late because Lu Che had already pressed on and said, "Since you're not tired, let's do some exercise."
"You're just saying you feel sorry for me? You have to go to work tomorrow, go to bed."
"Wife, tomorrow is Sunday, a day off. You can sleep in as late as you like. I'll take care of the child. You don't have to worry about him."
“…”
After two months, the operation of the nursery was officially on track, and Zhu Xia was ready to give birth.
She was originally a childcare worker in a small class. When she was on maternity leave, there were still nine childcare workers. Jiang Yao could also lend a hand occasionally, so this was not a big problem.
When Zhu Xia was one week away from her due date, Jiang Yao asked her to go home and prepare for the birth of her baby.
"I'd better continue to work." Zhu Xia said, "My mother-in-law is so eager to have a grandson that I'm afraid to be alone with her at home. I might as well work here. Zhang Dong also works, so if I really get sick, I can ask him to take me to the hospital directly."
"Okay, as long as you don't feel forced." Jiang Yao said with some concern: "Your mother-in-law is so powerful, what if you really give birth to a daughter?"
"I'm not afraid of that. Zhang Dong said that although he wants a son, it doesn't matter if he has a daughter. He can just have one more baby." Zhu Xia said comfortingly, "If my mother-in-law gets angry, our family of three will learn from you and rent a house to move out. I won't need her to take care of me during the confinement period. After the maternity leave, I will take the child to work. Now I think it's good to be a 'nanny' in the nursery. I don't have to worry about no one to take care of the child."
Jiang Yao laughed after hearing this, "I guess I was right about Zhang Dong. He has his own ideas and he won't side with his mother without knowing right from wrong."
"Yes, the old saying is true: men are afraid of choosing the wrong profession and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man." Zhu Xia said quietly: "I have some friendship with Du Yuejia. She has also corresponded with me since she returned to the city. Guess what she told me?"
"What did she say? She's pregnant?" Jiang Yao said.
"She is pregnant, but the pregnancy is still young." Zhu Xia said excitedly, "She said Du Yuejiao gave birth to a baby girl some time ago. Her husband and mother-in-law were unhappy, so she had a quarrel with her husband and ran back to her parents' home. Although it is wrong for me to gloat over others' misfortunes, she was so arrogant before, and now seeing her being humiliated, it is hard for me not to be happy."
"That's great." Jiang Yao was even more extreme than Zhu Xia, she smiled so widely that others thought she was having some happy event. "People like Du Yuejiao don't deserve a good ending."
"That's right. She used to act pitiful when she was cutting in line, but she was actually a bad person. She became even worse after she got married. Even before Du Yuejia got married, she bullied her miserably."
In fact, Jiang Yao felt that Du Yuejia's temper could be a little tougher so that she would not be bullied easily. However, temper is hard to explain and is often innate. So she was not in a position to comment and did not respond to Zhu Xia.
Seeing that she didn't respond, Zhu Xia continued, "Du Yuejia also said that Zhao Pengfei's mother didn't mind her having a daughter, and said that having a daughter is good."
"That's good." Jiang Yao said, "Aunt Yang is not as traditional as other parents."
"That's true, but Du Yuejia is also very sad because her mother-in-law said that if she could give birth to a daughter as beautiful as Yaoyao, she would be satisfied."
"...Isn't this just looking for trouble?"
"Who said it wasn't? I guess Zhao Pengfei's mother only agreed to their marriage on the surface, but she was actually not happy about it deep down, so she tried every way to annoy her."
"...Okay, stop talking. It's not good for your child to hear too much of this dark stuff." Jiang Yao said as she pulled her up. "While you haven't given birth yet, walk more. It will be easier to give birth when the time comes."
"Okay." Zhu Xia was about to get up when she suddenly felt a pain in her stomach and couldn't help but scream out.
Jiang Yao turned her head when she heard the voice and saw that her face was very ugly. She immediately asked, "Zhu Xia, are you going to give birth?"
"Maybe... yes." Zhu Xia uttered a few words with difficulty.
"Don't be afraid, I'll go find Zhang Dong now and ask him to take you to the hospital."
As Jiang Yao spoke, she stood up, ran back to the nursery and called someone to look after Zhu Xia, then she ran to the workshop to find Zhang Dong.
When Zhang Dong heard that Zhu Xia was about to give birth, he was stunned. It was only when Lu Che pushed him out that he reacted and ran to the nursery at the speed of a 100-meter sprint.
Zhu Xia was pregnant with her first child and the labor had just begun, so she wasn't in so much pain that she couldn't walk. Zhang Dong helped her to the bicycle shed and then rode his bicycle to take her to the hospital.
The nursery had not yet finished school, and Jiang Yao could not leave for the time being. After school, she sent the brother and sister home first, and then went to the hospital with food.
The doctor was just asking Zhu Xia to eat to conserve her energy, and this meal was just what came as a timely relief.
After Zhu Xia finished her meal, she would not be able to give birth for a while, so Jiang Yao and Lu Che went home first.
When I got home, it was already dark.
The old lady had already fed Changchang and Xiaolu. She herself had also eaten and was playing with them in the main room. When she saw them come back, she asked them to eat quickly and then asked, "How is Zhuxia?"
"The doctor said it's just the beginning and since it's our first baby, it would be good if we can give birth tomorrow morning," said Jiang Yao.
"All women have to go through this pain when giving birth, but once the babies are born and you see how cute they are, you'll feel that it's all worth it." The old lady said, looking at the brother and sister, "Changchang, Xiaolu, you must be filial to your mother in the future. She gave birth to both of you at once, and she worked twice as hard as others."
As soon as the voice fell, the little deer shouted loudly: "Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad..."
Although the little guy is only one year and two months old, his pronunciation is very clear, and his babyish voice makes people's hearts soften when they listen to it.
When Lu Che heard his daughter calling him, he didn't even bother to eat and picked her up, "My dear little deer, why are you so cute!" Then he said "mua" and kissed the little deer hard on the face.
Chang Chang saw his father hugging his sister, and he also wanted to hug her. He stood up clumsily, stretched out his hands to Lu Che, and then shouted "Yaaaaaaa", but he couldn't pronounce the word "Dad".
They are twins. Xiaolu can call mom and dad at 11 months old, but Changchang still can't. Moreover, the gap between the two siblings in language development is getting bigger and bigger, because Xiaolu can say more and more words, but Changchang has not learned the most basic ones.
Seeing that his son had been shouting for a long time without any utterance, Lu Che became anxious and said, "Why are you so stupid? You still can't call me mom and dad. If you can't call me mom and dad, I won't hold you."
The old lady listened and encouraged Chang Chang, "Little ancestor, call daddy. If you call, daddy will hug you."
Changchang should have understood what the adults said. He tried very hard to pronounce the words, his little face showing great anxiety. But no matter how anxious he was, he just couldn't shout out.
Lu Che's face became uglier and uglier because of his repeated failures. Chang Chang could see that his father was unhappy, and his mouth pursed, almost crying.
Seeing this, Jiang Yao immediately picked him up, held him in her arms, and comforted him in a gentle voice: "Don't worry, Changchang, take your time. If he doesn't call you daddy today, keep working hard tomorrow, and he will call you one day."
Changchang felt even more aggrieved when listening to her mother's comfort, and burst into tears.
Lu Che was already unhappy, and now seeing Chang Chang crying, he got angry and scolded her: "Why are you crying? You are stupid, and you still have the right to cry?"
When Changchang heard the sound, she cried even harder!
"Lu Che." Jiang Yao shouted coldly, "Chang Chang is still young. Why are you yelling at him? You'll scare him."
His wife was angry, and no matter how dissatisfied Lu Che was, he could only "cease fire" temporarily.
Upon seeing this, the old lady immediately took on the attitude of protecting her grandson's wife and severely criticized Lu Che.
Chang Chang already felt his father's "hostility" towards him. He didn't even want him to help him take a bath that night. Lu Che was a little helpless because of him. Jiang Yao said coldly, "You deserve it."
“……” Boss Lu felt that he had gotten into big trouble and had offended both his wife and son.
He was basically responsible for the task of bathing the child. Jiang Yao was not skilled and was a little slow in bathing Changchang. When she carried the little guy back to the room in a towel to get dressed, Xiaolu was already lying on the bed drinking malted milk.
"Wife, go take a shower and I'll help Changchang get dressed." Lu Che said flatteringly.
Jiang Yao snorted coldly and said, "I don't need you, otherwise Changchang will do something that makes you unhappy and you will scold him again."
"..." Although his show of goodwill failed, Big Boss Lu was not discouraged. While Jiang Yao was helping Chang Chang get dressed, he quickly made some malted milk. When Chang Chang got dressed in her pajamas, he immediately handed the bottle to her, showing a loving fatherly look and said, "Chang Chang, drink some malted milk."
Changchang is a little foodie who particularly likes to drink malted milk. When he saw the bottle, he seemed to have completely forgotten about his ferocious father. He reached out his hand to Lu Che and said "yeah yeah" that he wanted to drink.
This time, Lu Che didn't dare to take the opportunity to tempt him to call "Dad" again. He quickly stuffed the bottle into his mouth. Changchang raised his hand to hold the bottle and began to drink happily.
"Sugar-coated bullet." Jiang Yao snorted coldly. She did not calm down because of this. She still looked unhappy and went to the bathroom to take a shower with her clothes.
After she left the room, Lu Che said to Chang Chang in a gloomy tone, "Your mother loves you more than she loves me now. I have offended you now, and I have to work hard tonight to make your mother forgive me."
Changchang now only had malted milk in his eyes and mouth. He could no longer hear what his father said.
The brother and sister were both experts at drinking malted milk, and a bottle of 250 ml of malted milk was quickly finished. Lu Che carried them to the crib and began to sing a lullaby to coax them to sleep.
Normally, the brother and sister would fall asleep after he sang two or three lullabies, but today, even after singing the fifth song, they were still full of energy.
Were they deliberately going against him? They knew he had to coax his wife tonight, but they just refused to sleep.
By the time Jiang Yao came back from taking a shower, she took over. Then when he came back from taking a shower, Changchang and Xiaolu were still not sleepy at all.
Lu Che had no choice but to use all his tricks, such as making faces and riding a big horse, until they were tired of playing, and then he would let them go.
"Wife..." After covering the children with quilts, Lu Che turned around and hugged Jiang Yao.
"Go away. I don't want to talk to you now." Jiang Yao reached out to push him away, but he refused to let go and held on tightly.
The gap in power was too great, so Jiang Yao decided to give up, but she didn't say anything to show her resistance.
After Lu Che tried to coax her for a long time without any success, he simply kissed her lips, pried them open little by little, and finally entered her mouth.
At first she resisted desperately, but he was very patient and aggressive, and she was defeated step by step, but finally he succeeded.
Next, it was not just a kiss, but a deeper communication followed.
After waiting for the love affair to end, Jiang Yao was so tired that she couldn't even keep her eyelids open. The only thought that flashed through her confused mind was that it was clearly him who did something wrong, so why was she the one being "punished"?
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