Chapter 172: Xu Yang Takes His Wife to the City

Ever since Xu Yang arrived here, he had been going to work almost every day. He would only take Li Na into the mountains for a stroll when Xu An was on leave.

When Xu An returned home from work, Xu Yang and Li Na were playing with the little ones in the house.

Xu Ning called Xiao An into the kitchen and whispered, “Is it busy at the factory right now? If it’s not too hectic, can you take a couple of days off?

Big Brother and Sister-in-law have been here for several days, and Big Brother goes to work in the fields every day without taking Sister-in-law out to explore. He wants to earn us more work points so we can get more food later, but it’s Sister-in-law’s first time here. We can’t just have her staying at home taking care of the kids every day.”

Xu An smiled and replied, “Sister, I was just thinking about telling you. I’ve taken three days off, so I won’t be going to work tomorrow. I’ll head back after Big Brother leaves. Tomorrow, I’ll let Big Brother take Sister-in-law to the city for a visit.”

The siblings exchanged smiles, both having the same thought.

In the evening, while Xu Yang was washing up outside, Xu Ning gathered some money, cloth tickets, and meat and grain coupons, and handed them to him.

“Brother, Xiao An has three days off from the factory and won’t be going back to work tomorrow. Take this money and these coupons; tomorrow, take Sister-in-law to the city to buy a couple of outfits. Have a nice stroll around and then treat her to a meal at a state-run restaurant.”

Xu Yang glanced at her, then at the money and tickets in his hand. With a smile, he said, “This is because I go to work every day and don’t stay home with your sister-in-law, right? Alright, I’ll take it. Tomorrow, I’ll head to the city and buy your sister-in-law some new clothes.”

Seeing him come in with such joy, Li Na curiously asked, “What’s going on? Why are you so happy?”

He raised the various tickets in his hand and chuckled, “My sister gave these to me, asking me to take you to the city tomorrow to buy new clothes and eat at a state-run restaurant.”

He couldn’t help but laugh again.

Li Na looked at him, speechless. “Are you silly? How can you take Xiao Ning’s money? It’s not easy for her to take care of three kids. There will be plenty of places to spend money in the future.”

“Are you still the big brother? How come you’re not using your brain? No wonder Xiao Mo says that about you. I think he’s right; why don’t you just give the money to Xiao Ning?”

Xu Yang felt that he couldn’t stay there any longer. His wife had only met Xiao Mo a few times, yet her tone was just like when Xiao Mo criticized him.

He put the money in his pocket and said with a smile, “Why should I give it to her? My sister is the type that if you spend the money, she’ll be happy, but if you give it to her, she’ll definitely scold me.

She wants us to go to the city to have some fun tomorrow, so let’s just go for the day. You’ve been here for so long; what’s the point of just staying at home every day?

Tomorrow, Xiao An won’t be working; he’ll be going to work in the fields. I don’t have anything to do at home, so it’s just right for me to take you out for a stroll.”

Li Na looked at him, both amused and exasperated, as he stuffed the money into his pocket and rambled on with his nonsensical reasoning.

The next day, after having breakfast, the two of them headed into the city. Xu Ning placed the three little ones on the small bed and took out the wooden guns and animals that Lu Xiaotang had sent earlier for them to play with.

She settled nearby with some books—junior high and high school textbooks that she had reviewed several times over the past few years. She hoped that when the college entrance exams resumed, she would be able to get into her desired school.

Under her influence, Xu An often took out his textbooks to review as well.

Her older brother was an active-duty soldier, so he probably wouldn’t be taking the college entrance exams. As for her sister-in-law, she was now a radio announcer, and attending university would open up more opportunities for her development. Xu Ning wanted to find a chance to encourage her to study more.

Wei Lanlan saw Xu Yang taking his wife out in front of the youth camp and decided to bring her children to Xu Ning’s place.

She had to manage three kids on her own: her son, Xiao Pang; her daughter, Xiao Yun; and Xiao Ya, the daughter of Yang Xiaomei.

Xu Ning saw Wei Lanlan carrying one child on her back and holding two by the hand. She laughed and asked, “Don’t we look like a couple of kids’ leaders, each with a bunch?”

Wei Lanlan chuckled and sighed, “I’d rather go work in the fields than deal with the kids. From the time I got up this morning until now, it’s either one needing to pee or the other needing to poop. If it’s not one saying they’re thirsty, it’s the other saying they’re hungry. There’s never a moment of peace all day long.”

Xu Ning brought a stool from inside for her to sit on and handed each of the three children a piece of biscuit.

“It’ll be better when the kids get a bit older. But when that time comes, if you tell them to stay home every day, they won’t be happy about it.”

“Exactly! Right now, all I can do is hope they grow up quickly. I’ve agreed with Chen Xiangdong that we won’t have any more kids; we’ll just take care of these two. How about you? Are you planning to have another one?”

Xu Ning shook her head and laughed, “No more! I’ll be content if I can raise these three little troublemakers healthily.”

Wei Lanlan sighed, “It’s only when you become a parent that you realize how simple the requirements for children are; as long as they’re happy and healthy, that’s enough.”