Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 333 - 321: Chinese New Year

With the arrival of Qin Shouren and Yang Huan, the New Year was bustling with excitement. Xiong Youxin was particularly fond of the twins, almost running to see the children as soon as he washed up after waking up.

Li Xianglu remembered reading in books that children always like those who are a little older than themselves, and indeed the twins also liked Xiong Youxin very much; the three of them often sat together with their bowls and ate together.

Xiong Youxin would also share tasty treats with the two little ones, so much so that Li Xianglu once found that Xiong Youxin even gave them peanuts with shells to eat.

Ba Yi and Ba Er had grown teeth at five months, and now they had seven or eight teeth each. Li Xianglu saw the two toddlers struggling to bite the peanut shells and hurriedly fished them all out of their mouths, scared.

When Ba Er’s food was taken away, he started crying loudly, and Li Xianglu was exasperated. Ba Er was biting so quickly that he even chewed through the shell, his mouth full of crumbs.

Frightened, Li Xianglu quickly explained to the naughty kid that the twins were different from her, and fortunately the child was obedient in this respect, not intentionally giving them anything else they couldn’t eat.

On the third day of the New Year, Mr. Qin and Yang Huan packed up and went back first, while the naughty kid, reluctant to leave the twins, stayed over. Besides, after going back home, there would be tidying up to do, and she wouldn’t be of much help, so she might as well stay and wait until everything was settled.

On the seventh day, Li Jianqing and Leng Qing came back with large and small bundles of items.

Leng Qing originally had a short bob cut, and she looked quite aloof. This time, she returned wearing the red coat that Li Xianglu had bought for her, with a mysterious and shy smile on her face, as if she had become a different person.

They didn’t ask Li Xianglu and the others to pick them up, but rather took a tricycle from the train station back home.

While moving things inside, Li Xianglu saw with her own eyes that two quilts were unexpectedly brought back, which left her slightly stunned.

Li Jianqing took out some millet, red dates, and a cloth bag of yellow mo’mo (steamed buns with red dates), which Li Xianglu took over and opened to find there were more than thirty of them, rather large in size, each stuffed with a red date.

Li Jianqing smiled and said, "These were brought from home for everyone to taste."

Li Xianglu thought it must have been Li Erfu who asked them to bring it.

Li Jianqing then took out two sets of cotton clothes for the children from another cloth bag, pure cotton with small floral patterns but quite thin. He said with a smile, "These are the jacket linings Grandma made for Ba Yi and Ba Er, to be worn in the spring."

Li Xianglu handed them to Su Yan, who took them over for a careful look and nodded, "The craftsmanship is good, and the stitches are fine."

Li Jianqing also took out eight pairs of cloth shoes and placed them on the machine, saying, "These were made by Wu Chunhua, and everyone has a share."

Li Xianglu raised an eyebrow, picked up a pair of women’s big red shoes to look them over, and thought they were well made. This Wu Chunhua was capable.

The old master, looking pleased, tried a pair on the spot and asked Su Yan to do the same. The two of them stepped around on the floor and said with satisfaction, "Not bad, these are good cloth shoes."

Seeing that the old master was pleased, Li Jianqing also breathed a sigh of relief. Over the years, he had owed the old master too much, perhaps a lifetime debt, and always wanted to make the elderly happy. So seeing his contentment, Li Jianqing was happy as well.

Although all these were humble rural goods, everyone was clearly very happy.

Li Xianglu had already cleaned up the room Leng Qing was staying in. The two had already held their wedding and it was proper for them to live together.

In the afternoon, Li Xianglu took out the baby cuttlefish and soaked them in water, along with some large prawns, each one painstakingly deveined and prepared.

Then, she brought out the kerosene stove for the newly arrived Xu Wu to set up on the dining table in the living room.

She quickly prepared a pot base with butter and chunks of chili pepper, and made a large pot of spicy hot pot. She didn’t add any side dishes, planning to cook some other dishes.

With the spicy hot pot ready, she also prepared stewed cabbage with pork, home-style tofu, smashed greenhouse cucumbers, and finished with a seaweed egg drop soup. Once the rice was done, the meal was complete.

The spicy hot pot had a generous serving, a large bowl of it. Together with the other dishes, everyone ate until their bellies bulged before narrowly finishing everything.

Li Xianglu patted her belly and sighed, "At times like this, I especially miss Qin Zhen."

Li Jianqing also nodded in agreement, "Yeah, when he’s here, we have to rush to eat enough. Now that he’s not, we’ve finally overeaten."

The elderly gentleman helplessly shook his head seeing the younger ones acting cute and then got up with Su Yan to join the twins for tea.

Aunt Ma wouldn’t be back until the 15th, so once again the two little ones slept with their parents.

Li Xianglu firmly stuck to her routine of being ready for bed by 8 o’clock, washing up and then doing all she could to lull the little ones to sleep.

But the kids weren’t used to it at first; as long as mom was there, there was no need to sleep - even if they were exhausted, they’d fight to stay awake just to watch her.

Fortunately, Qin Xi was now a master at comforting children. She simply took one child in her arms and patted them to sleep.

However, it was always Qin Xi holding Ba’er, and Li Xianglu holding Ba Yi. Li Xianglu just couldn’t handle Ba’er; the kid had a cheeky face, you’d pat him and he’d think you were playing with him, giggling away. This would cause Ba Yi to crawl over from Qin Xi’s side to see what mom and little brother were playing, and then neither of them would sleep.

But after a week of this, the little ones got used to it. It was strange – even without breastfeeding anymore, they still needed to touch Li Xianglu’s chest to fall asleep. Sometimes just a quick suckle just to satisfy them worked; initially Li Xianglu felt embarrassed because Qin Xi would be watching intently. Later, realizing that the kids would fall asleep faster this way, she let them be.

However, the consequences were serious; after the kids were done, Qin Xi couldn’t hold back any longer.

Three months after giving birth to the twins, Li Xianglu went back to the hospital for an IUD, out of sheer necessity. The community workers actually visited several times to inquire about her IUD status.

It was quite embarrassing for her, but with the family planning campaign in full swing, she had no choice but to comply. After getting the IUD, she still had to submit proof from the hospital to the community office, where they would record it. This ensured that no one would constantly be scrutinizing her belly.

But she and Qin Xi had no plans to have a second child in the next few years. Firstly, it’s best to have at least a five-year gap between children for her uterus to recover. Moreover, an important point was her allergy to anesthesia. Since her first delivery was a cesarean, there was an 80% likelihood that the second would be as well, and she couldn’t bear the thought of undergoing surgery without anesthesia again – just thinking about it reminded her of her own bravery.

On the morning of the ninth day of the new year, Li Jianqing and his wife moved to the new yard they’d bought. Most of the furniture was set up, so moving in was not an issue.

Li Jianqing also added some new appliances and curtains for the house. On the twelfth day, they invited everyone over for a meal cooked by Leng Qing himself.

This was also the twins’ first time traveling far from home. Xu Wu came early with his car to pick them up.