Chapter 99: The baby is not growing tall

Long tables were lined up. On each table, there were a variety of dishes, and the aroma was wafting. Specialties from each household were presented one after another. Aunt Zhang's braised pork was bright red, trembling on the plate, and each piece was wrapped in thick sauce. The aroma went straight into people's noses, making people drool. The sweet and sour fish from Wang Daye next door was no less delicious. The fish was fried golden and crispy, and the sweet and sour sauce was poured on it, making it shiny. The perfect blend of sour and sweet floated in the air, causing the children to drool at the table. There was also Sister Li's mapo tofu, which was full of red oil, and the spicy aroma floated with the heat, stimulating people's taste buds.

In the corner, a large pot was set up steadily. Under the pot, firewood was burning with a crackling sound, and the red flames licked the bottom of the pot happily. The dumplings carefully made by each family were in different shapes, some were small and exquisite, and some were plump and round. They were poured into the pot, and with the rolling of the hot water, they flipped up and down. The white dumpling skin gradually became transparent in the water, and the fresh filling inside could be faintly seen.

There are not so many rules in the village. When you arrive, you just sit down at a place you like. Then you start eating. You bring your own bowls and chopsticks.

There is no rush for the dumplings, they will be served when they are cooked, so everyone sits down and eats the dishes first. Several greedy children stand beside the big pot with bowls and chopsticks in their hands, staring at the dumplings in the pot, their eyes full of eagerness and joy.

“I also made dumplings this time!”

"I packed it too. That one was mine! Ah! It's gone."

"I want to find mine too!"

"Whose skin is this?"

"It's not mine!"

"It's not mine either!"

Yan Yan thought about what happened in the morning and it had no effect on him. He was eating happily. The red-roasted meat was attractive in color, square and firm, with a soft and glutinous texture, and the meat was fragrant and fat but not greasy.

Yanyan ate the big fish and meat in the bowl: it was a little salty.

Xie Luoshu also took a bite. He was short of rice. But the dumplings would be here soon. If he ate rice, he would not be able to eat dumplings. So he had a drink.

The village chief prepared corn juice, which was made from freshly picked corn. The squeezed corn juice was warm and light yellow. A strong and refreshing sweet aroma of corn hit my nose. Because it was filtered twice, it tasted very good. After taking a sip, I could feel the delicate taste sliding through my throat like silk, first with a light fragrance, and then with a mellow sweet aftertaste.

Unlike the corn juice in some restaurants, which needs sugar to be added to make it sweet, otherwise it is bland and tasteless.

The dumplings were served. Yanyan had already started to learn how to use chopsticks. But the dumplings were slippery. He couldn't pick them up.

Yanyan: Disgusting dumplings! Humph!

Then Yanyan saw Lulu beside her pick up a dumpling with a chopstick.

Yanyan suddenly realized something. That's how it is! Yanyan tried to pick it up with chopsticks. The dumpling was like a naughty elf, dodging left and right in the bowl. Yanyan's chopsticks could only slide past its round body every time, making a "tick-tick" sound on the edge.

Lulu stretched out a chopstick to block the dumpling's escape route. Yanyan succeeded with a little effort.

"Look, a string of dumplings!" Xia Xia raised her chopsticks high.

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"What's the big deal? I can do that too!"

"Look! I have dumplings too."

For a moment, the children stopped eating and were all stringing dumplings together. They even competed with each other.

“I strung four!”

“I have five~”

“…”

"Hey!" Yanyan was not willing to be outdone and was also working hard to skewer the dumplings.

"Baby, eat all the food on the skewers." Xie Luoshu didn't mind Yanyan doing this, but he couldn't waste food.

Yanyan just skewered one, and when she counted, there were four! They were all picked by Lulu for Yanyan. Lulu specially picked a full, complete, and beautiful big dumpling for Yanyan.

Yanyan's appetite is not bad, but there are too many dishes in the banquet. If you eat too many dumplings, you won't be able to eat other dishes!

Lulu asked caringly: "Yanyan, do you still want it?"

"No~" Yanyan shook his head. Then, he grabbed the dumpling string, opened his mouth, and tried to bite the dumpling at the bottom.

"Baby, like this." Xie Luoshu saw it and adjusted Yanyan's posture to make it easier for Yanyan to eat.

"Ashu. Eat this."

Xie Luoshu looked down and saw a small dumpling with an irregular shape and crooked wrinkles. It looked familiar, and most importantly, the filling was still there.

Gu Yejin reminded: "Yan Yan packed it for you."

"Oh~" He remembered that it was Yanyan who was angry after he said she was last, so he made it for him. The boy was lucky. It was made like this, but the filling was still there.

Xie Luoshu picked it up and took a bite. The unique fresh aroma of mustard greens filled his face. The mustard greens in the stuffing were chopped finely, but still retained a slightly crispy and tender texture. When rubbed gently between teeth, it made a slight "crunching" sound. It was cleverly paired with pork.

Gu Yejin seemed to be very interested in picking up dishes. After seeing Xie Luoshu finish eating, Gu Yejin picked up some dishes for him. Xie Luoshu did not refuse, because he found that the dishes Gu Yejin picked up for him were all his favorites. Some dishes were far away, so he had to get up and walk back and forth several times, which was time-consuming.

But Xie Luoshu was embarrassed: "You don't want to eat?"

Gu Yejin: "Eat."

"Then you can eat it yourself." Xie Luoshu bit his chopsticks, "These dishes are enough. I can't finish more."

"Okay." Gu Yejin obediently handed the last dish to Xie Luoshu, and then started eating.

Xie Luoshu breathed a sigh of relief. He thought Gu Yejin would be unhappy... huh? But Gu Yejin seemed to have a good temper. Why did he think Gu Yejin would be unhappy? Hmm... stereotype.

Yanyan likes this place very much. Most of the children can't sit still. I don't know which child suggested that we go play together after dinner. Yanyan also wants to go.

The incident in the morning had just passed, and although the villagers didn't say anything, they were still afraid in their hearts. Before Xie Luoshu could say anything, several aunts pinched their children's ears.

"Where are you going? It's already so late, why are you still going out to play?"

"Go play? Where are you going to play? You don't study hard every day and just want to play."

"Still playing? What's fun? Haven't you had enough fun in such a small place after so many years?"

The last one is even more killer: "Are you still playing? Have you finished your homework? Go back and do your homework!"

"Okay..." The children were all suppressed by their blood. They all stopped fighting.

"Baby has finished writing." Yanyan said proudly! Baby came to play only after finishing his homework.

"You're getting proud." Xie Luoshu pinched Yanyan's nose. Maybe children just don't like doing homework. Yanyan was very interested at first, but later he needed Lulu to accompany him to do his homework.

I guess he feels too lonely doing his homework by himself (?) and he needs someone to accompany him to be motivated.

"You'll still have a lot of homework to do when you get back." These two days are the weekend, but according to the plan, it will be Monday after the recording of this variety show is finished, and it will be Tuesday when I go to kindergarten.

He promised the kindergarten teacher that he would let Yanyan catch up on her missed homework, and Yanyan agreed.

Yanyan lowered her head. She didn't want to listen. Xiaoba was reciting scriptures.

"Yanyan, have you finished your homework?" Lele showed an envious look, "Wow, the kindergarten is so great."

Lele is in the first grade this year. He has a lot of homework all of a sudden. In addition, he likes to play a lot, so he hasn't done much homework on weekends.

Yanyan clenched his fist: "Come on~"

Gu Yejin and Ye Wenliu encountered something serious when they came to Antian Village, so they didn't have a good time to visit Antian Village. Since they had nothing to do, the family decided to walk around the village together.

Xie Luoshu was still frightened, so he kept holding Yanyan's hand.

"Chicken~pig~duck~" Yanyan said word by word, introducing them, "Babies, catch fish."

"Oh~" Ye Wenliu nodded, "Yanyan catches fish here."

After walking all the way, Yanyan was almost speechless. Fortunately, they didn't care. Yanyan was the best kid no matter what he said!

Yanyan: The baby is shy.

It gets dark early in the countryside. When they returned to Lele's house, darkness had already surged in from all directions like a tide. Soon, the sky seemed to be covered by a huge piece of black satin. Looking up, the stars were like bright gems, densely embedded in the satin. It was like fine silver sand flowing.

In the village, the houses were scattered in an orderly manner, with only vague outlines, and occasionally a few dim lights shone through the windows. All around were the occasional barking of dogs and the voices of some parents counseling their children.

Xie Luoshu felt exhausted just by listening to this, and without thinking, he said, "You can help Yanyan with her homework in the future."

"Okay." Gu Yejin was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a smile.

Xie Luoshu finally reacted, but the words were already out, and he just turned his eyes away with a red face.

"There are so many stars~" Yanyan tilted her head back, "Mom and Dad?"

Ye Wenliu's expression changed and his body trembled slightly.

Gu Yejin touched Yanyan's head and said, "Yes, Yanyan's parents are on the stars."

"You won't grow taller." Yanyan grabbed Gu Yejin's hand.

Gu Yejin raised an eyebrow: "Why, you only let the little dad touch it, but not the big dad?"

Ye Wenliu, who was standing by, was amused.

"No." Yanyan blinked, "Lele said, pat your head, you won't grow taller."

It was dinner time, and an adult next to him wanted to touch Lele's head. Lele dodged it, saying that he would not grow taller if he did that.

"No." Gu Yejin explained, "Only if you don't eat well and don't exercise well will you not grow taller."

"Really?" Yanyan looked at Gu Yejin, trying to hear what he was thinking. It seemed that what Dad said was... indeed true.

Oh well.

"So if you want to grow taller, you have to eat well and exercise well." Xie Luoshu was not worried about this.

In terms of eating, Yanyan actually has a good appetite, he is a greedy kid. As for being picky about food, as long as it is cooked well and has no strange taste, he will eat it. He refused to eat before because Yanyan has a strong taste, and Chef Wang cooked very light food for Yanyan. Children do need to eat lighter food, but if it is too light and tasteless, he will not like it.

Second, some of them smell weird. Yanyan has a sensitive nose, so if something smells bad, she doesn't want to eat it.

As for sports, the kindergarten has calisthenics during recess, Yanyan walks the dog every day, and takes swimming lessons on weekends. However, the swimming lessons have been suspended as the weather has turned cold.

After admiring the beautiful night sky in the yard for a while, it was getting late and time to go back to bed.