Lin Damei started to argue with Zhu Fanfan. She always believed that girls need to be pampered. She thought that Old Zhu raised children too roughly. She felt sorry for Yumin's way of raising children. How could anyone keep a child confined in the office without anyone to talk to?
In the end, Zhu Fanfan had to give in because of her small size. Lin Damei proudly peeled sunflower seeds and fed them to Zhu Fanfan. Not only was Zhu Fanfan speechless, but the Fu couple also learned something new. They had never seen anyone get such a sense of accomplishment from feeding sunflower seeds. No wonder Yumin entrusted her child to her; she really loved children.
Time flew by as they chatted and laughed, and before they knew it, it was dark. Especially in winter, it gets dark very early. Da Mei reluctantly went home; her coal stove hadn't been lit yet! It was too cold inside.
Because Zhu Jiabao had already said he wouldn't be coming back for dinner, Tan Fuya only cooked for the two adults and Fanfan. After dinner, Zhu Fanfan made an excuse that he was sleepy and went back to his room. Fu Minghao told Tan Fuya to go back and rest, as he had something to talk to Zhu Jiabao about. Tan Fuya didn't ask anything and went back to her room to rest.
When Zhu Jiabao returned, Fu Minghao had already smoked two packs of cigarettes, and the room was filled with smoke. Zhu Jiabao almost thought the house was on fire.
Fu Minghao immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, I was a bit stressed today and smoked a little too much."
Zhu Jiabao said, "Let's go to the study to talk!"
Fu Minghao had some things he wanted to figure out, so the two went to the study, closed the door, and stayed inside for a long time before coming out. When they came out, both of them were clearly smiling.
The next day was Lunar New Year's Eve. People were on holiday and getting busy. The past few days had been for spring cleaning and buying New Year's goods. Today was the day to put up couplets. The whole courtyard was filled with joy. The supply and marketing cooperative was sold out. People were coming and going on the road, greeting each other. It was very lively.
Zhu Jiabao returned in the afternoon. He had gone to the military base to explain work matters, and his official holiday started that afternoon. Moreover, he would have to go back to work on the third day of the Lunar New Year.
In the evening, everyone started visiting each other's homes and chatting. Zhu Jiabao took Fanfan to visit a few old friends' homes, mainly to show off his granddaughter.
Today, Sister-in-law Fuya braided Fanfan's hair and dressed him in a red Tang suit. She even used ink to put a red dot on Fanfan's forehead, making him look like a doll from a New Year's painting. It was so adorable!
When we went out to visit relatives and friends for the New Year, we had a great harvest. All it took was a sweet greeting like "Grandpa/Grandma," "Uncle/Aunt," or "Grandpa/Grandma," which made everyone very happy. We received so many red envelopes that our hands were sore. They were even freshly made just to make it feel more ceremonial, and each one contained at least one yuan. Zhu Jiabao carried Zhu Fanfan, and Zhu Fanfan happily went home with a pile of red envelopes in his arms.
Once home, Zhu Jiabao's tone immediately changed, becoming very gentle: "Fanfan, you're still a child. I'm afraid you'll lose these red envelopes, so Grandpa will keep them for you."
Zhu Fanfan said seriously, "Grandpa, I'm not a three-year-old, I'm two, but I'm not easily fooled."
This sentence was so familiar that her first reaction upon hearing it was to immediately throw the red envelope into her personal space before replying.
Looking at the vanished red envelopes, Zhu Jiabao sighed that he had made a mistake: "We kept those red envelopes, but we have to return them tomorrow. Fanfan, be a good boy and give them to Grandpa."
When they went today, many of the children weren't there, only the adults were, so naturally they didn't give them anything. They'll definitely come first thing tomorrow morning, so he needs to be prepared.
Zhu Fanfan shook her head: "Buy me something for my birthday. Grandma's not here, and didn't you not hand over your money?"
Zhu Jiabao then realized that he used to hand over his salary to his wife, who would then go out to help him out. He had been saving his salary!
But she was still unconvinced: "I want to use a red envelope wrapper; I didn't prepare any red paper."
Zhu Fanfan opened the red envelope in her online space, took out the New Year's money, wrapped it in red paper, and gave it to her grandfather.
The red envelopes, clearly devoid of the traditional New Year's money wrappers, could only be described as "slipping away," a warning to the little money-grubber to be careful not to fall into the trap of greed.
Soon, Fu Minghao and his wife, along with Lin Wu, arrived in the living room and began preparing to make dumplings.
No one slept tonight; everyone was waiting for the New Year's bell to ring, staying up all night to welcome the new year.
When the group was making dumplings, they ran into a problem. Fu Minghao had never done housework before, let alone making dumplings, he didn't even know how to roll out dumpling wrappers. Zhu Jiabao and Lin Wu were okay, at least they could roll out the wrappers, but they didn't know how to wrap them. Although Tan Fuya could do everything, they couldn't let her do all the wrapping, could they?
Seeing that the others were eager to try, Tan Fuya quickly urged them to leave: "Don't you dare try! Leave one of you to roll out the dough, I can wrap them all myself. Take Fanfan and go play in the living room!"
Making dumplings is quick, but with two people learning on the job, it's uncertain whether it will be quick. Besides, she doesn't want to eat dumpling porridge during the Lunar New Year.
Lin Wu and Tan Fuya made dumplings together, while Zhu Jiabao and Fu Minghao chatted on the side, mainly to keep each other company.
Zhu Jiabao asked, "Xiao Wuzi, are the melon seeds and peanuts ready for tomorrow?"
His wife used to prepare all these things, and he would prepare anything that was missing. Now that his wife is not here, he has handed everything over to Xiao Wuzi, mainly to avoid tiring himself out.
Lin Wu replied, "I've prepared quite a lot. I didn't buy many melon seeds, but I had the peanuts you gave me roasted, so it's enough. I also bought several kinds of sugar, which are all locked in the storage room so that Fanfan can't access them."
Zhu Fanfan: ...So everyone's on guard against her? She's not a college student, how could she possibly lose her New Year's goods while she's with her?
Upon hearing that there weren't enough sunflower seeds, Zhu Jiabao glanced at Fanfan and realized he'd made another mistake. He'd forgotten to have Fanfan plant some sunflower seeds. He'd have Xiaowu find some sunflower seeds when he had time, which would save him some money. Raising children was indeed a lot of fun.
Sensing her grandfather's ill-intentioned gaze, Zhu Fanfan, who happened to be next to Lin Wu, unconsciously moved closer to Uncle Lin and gave her grandfather a disdainful look.
Zhu Jiabao immediately got angry: "Why are you hiding?"
It's as if he's plotting against her. Is he the kind of person who exploits his juniors?
Zhu Fanfan replied bluntly, "I'm afraid you'll scheme against me."
Her grandfather's eyes clearly told her one thing: they needed labor.
Zhu Jiabao was even more indignant: "Who schemed against whom? Every time it was me who got dragged into this and got scolded by your grandma, who was more unlucky between us?"
Unlucky as it may be, it's true that he schemed against her first. Zhu Fanfan wrinkled her nose and said, "Hmph!"
Zhu Jiabao imitated him: "What else can you do besides humming? Humming monster! Humming!"
Zhu Fanfan immediately stood on the stool to look her grandfather in the eye: "I can also spit!"
Zhu Jiabao retorted, not to be outdone: "I can spit too!"
Zhu Fanfan spat three times in a row, and Zhu Jiabao followed suit with three spits. The two of them kept spitting like that, neither of them stopping first.
Tan Fuya's face darkened: "Go spit over there, we have real white flour here, don't actually spit your saliva up here, you'll have to eat it yourselves later."
Even if the two of them just say "Pui," what if they're not satisfied and actually spit?
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