Chapter 86.1

It snowed again in the North, and the snowfall was much heavier than that in Beijing. After falling throughout the night, a thick layer of snow accumulated in the family compound.

Wen Nuan was still on leave. She had been busy packing late into the night, so the next day, she lingered in bed for a long time.

Lele had also helped her pack last night, and the whole family had gone to bed quite late. At this time, Lele was still sound asleep.

Wen Nuan lay lazily in bed, and the sound of Gu Qinghan shovelling snow reached her ears.

Having been away for a few days, a thick layer of snow had piled up on the roof of the house. The snow could collapse the roof if it wasn’t cleared soon.

Because the house wasn’t very big, Gu Qinghan quickly cleared the snow from the roof and started cleaning the yard.

Unable to stay in bed any longer, Wen Nuan turned over, got dressed, and had just fastened the buttons of her cotton coat when Lele suddenly rolled over in her bed, lying on her stomach and sleepily calling out, “Mom.”

Wen Nuan turned her head and saw the little one with her hair in disarray, looking as if she hadn’t fully woken up. She sat back down and picked her up, saying, “Lele, are you awake? Are you hungry?”

Lele rested her head on her mother’s shoulder, lazily murmuring, “Hmm,” before asking, “Where’s Dad?”

Wen Nuan reached out a hand to the side and grabbed Lele’s down jacket from the nearby rack, putting it on her while responding, “Your dad is shovelling snow in the yard. Do you want to go make a snowman?”

Children are not afraid of the cold when they are playing, and Lele is no exception.

She had rolled around in the snow when it had just snowed for the first time in the North.

If she had a playmate to join her, she would have had even more fun throwing snowballs, building snowmen, and digging holes in the snow piles.

Though the little one initially seemed sleepy, upon hearing Wen Nuan mention that her dad was shovelling snow in the yard, she slid down from her mother’s lap before Wen Nuan could even help her fasten the buttons and then crawled down from the bed on her own.

“Mom, I want to make a snowman!”

Wen Nuan quickly reached out to grab the child who was about to dash out of the room, helping her fasten the last two buttons, saying, “Why the rush? First, tidy up your clothes. Go get a pair of sleeves so you don’t get your sleeves dirty.”

The impatient Lele wouldn’t listen to her advice about wearing gloves. Once Wen Nuan let go of her, she dashed straight outside.

Wen Nuan hurriedly called out, “Be careful, it’s slippery!”

Annoyed, Wen Nuan grabbed the sleeves from the table and followed her outside.

Gu Qinghan likely hadn’t finished clearing the snow in the yard yet, as there were thick piles of snow. Lele had already picked up a shovel to help, but it seemed she was more of a hindrance than a help.

Wen Nuan walked over with the sleeves, pulled her to help her put them on, and said, “After you help Daddy shovel the snow, come back to brush your teeth and drink your milk.”

During their trip to Beijing, Wen Nuan bought two cans of milk powder, which the child now drinks once in the morning and once in the evening.

Lele didn’t lift her head and simply replied, “Oh.”

Seeing that she was enthusiastically shovelling snow, Wen Nuan left her to it and turned to Gu Qinghan, asking him, “Haven’t you eaten yet? What do you want today, noodles or dumplings?”

Gu Qinghan stopped his actions and quickly replied, “Let’s eat noodles.”

For the past few days in Beijing, they had mostly eaten dumplings, and Gu Qinghan had grown a bit tired of them. Now, he craved something soupy.

Wen Nuan smiled and said, “Alright, you and the child wait a moment. I’ll go boil some noodles now, and after breakfast, I’ll help you shovel snow.”

Just as she finished speaking, Gu Qinglan’s figure appeared in the compound, shouting loudly, “Sister-in-law, Lele, I’ve missed you both so much…”

“Please cook an extra portion of noodles!”

Then he turned to Gu Qinghan, saying, “Happy New Year, big brother! Wishing you prosperity and good fortune!”

This time, Gu Qinghan did not criticize his younger sister but instead said, “You can ask your sister-in-law for it later.”

“Here, for you—one is for your big brother, and one is from me.” Wen Nuan had already prepared red envelopes; one for the child and the one for Gu Qinglan was especially large, different from the others.

Gu Qinglan swaggered in, took the two red envelopes from Wen Nuan’s hands, and smiled, “Thank you, sister-in-law! I wish you become more beautiful, earn more money, and be happy every day.”

“You’re just flattering me, but thank you for your wishes,” Wen Nuan replied cheerfully. “I was planning to find you later, but now it’s good; it saves me a trip. I’m going to boil noodles now, so wait a moment.”

Gu Qinglan had arranged to work during the New Year and planned to take time off after the holiday. It seemed that today, he was on holiday.

“I came over specifically because I knew you were back home, so I could come and mooch food and drink. Hahaha…” Then, Gu Qinglan walked over and picked up Lele, who was enthusiastically digging in the snow, showering her with kisses and asking, “Lele, do you miss Auntie?”

Lele was so engrossed in digging that she hardly paid attention to her beloved aunt. She struggled to get down and insisted, “Auntie, let me down! I want to go!”

With a mischievous smile, Gu Qinglan wouldn’t let her down, saying, “You have to answer me first. Do you miss Auntie?”

“I miss Auntie!” The clever little one knew Gu Qinglan wanted to hear nice things. She leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, saying, “Auntie, let’s build a snowman together.”

Gu Qinglan, having worked hard for several days, was now ready to roll up his sleeves and said, “Alright, Auntie is coming to build a snowman with you!”

Seeing his sister play with the child, Gu Qinghan decided to take a break from shovelling snow and walked back to the kitchen to check if his wife needed any help.

When she saw her husband washing his hands, Wen Nuan had just finished brushing her teeth. She asked, “Aren’t you going to shovel snow anymore?”

“Let Qinglan play with Lele for a while before I clear it. There isn’t much left anyway,” Gu Qinghan replied. He walked over to the stove, lifted the large iron pot, grabbed a sponge, quickly scrubbed it clean, and then put it back on the stove.

Wen Nuan watched her husband move swiftly and smiled, “You can start the fire. I’m going to cook noodles.”

These noodles were instant frozen noodles made previously in the cooking class. This meant that even if they wanted to eat them, there was no need to wake up early to prepare the dough; they could simply boil them.

Additionally, she had saved some seasoning packets, which would come in handy now.

After the family finished their noodles, it was already past ten o’clock. Perhaps because they had played for a while in the morning, Lele managed to eat a large bowl of noodles and even finished the soup.

Once they were full and satisfied, they all went outside together to clear the accumulated snow in the yard.

Wen Nuan had already prepared several portions of the food that Grandpa had prepared for them the night before. She planned to send some to Sister Juxiang and Sister Guihua. Although she had said the night before that she was reluctant to share with others, she realized while packing that Grandpa had prepared multiple portions of various items, likely intending for them to share with friends and family.

Gu Qinghan, unable to sit still, saw Wen Nuan getting ready to deliver the items and said, “I’ll go back to the regiment and check in on everyone. I want to wish them a Happy New Year.”

In previous years, Gu Qinghan spent the New Year in the army gathering for meals or participating in the New Year Gala each year. After returning from Beijing this year, he couldn’t sit still.

As Wen Nuan organized the food, she looked at the man putting on his coat and said, “I have a lot of food here. How about I send some to the soldiers in the regiment?”

Gu Qinghan fastened the buttons of his coat and replied, “No need. Many regiment members didn’t go home for the New Year, and there wasn’t enough food to share. I’ll just go back and check on them.”

Hearing him say this, Wen Nuan stopped organizing and picked up a jar of snow cream from the table, walking over to the man. “It’s dry and cold outside; you should apply some before going out.”

Gu Qinghan looked at the fragrant snow cream in Wen Nuan’s hand, frowned slightly, and awkwardly said, “Wife, this is too fragrant…”

On his way back to the North, he stopped at Wangfujing and bought it for her and the child. He thought that winter in the North was long, so he bought several jars.

Wen Nuan sniffed it and agreed that it did smell good. It would be difficult for Gu Qinghan, as a big man, to go back to the regiment with such a strong scent, so she offered him a jar of pearl cream instead. “How about you use this instead?”

Gu Qinghan replied, “This one smells good too…”

Lele smiled cheerfully and grabbed Wen Nuan’s arm with the pearl cream, saying, “Mom, I want to put it on! I want to smell nice!”

Seeing this, Gu Qinghan quickly said, “Then let Lele apply it.”

Wen Nuan realized that he really didn’t want to put any on. If she weren’t concerned about him, she wouldn’t have bothered. She replied, “Fine, do what you want.”

Just when Gu Qinghan sighed in relief, Wen Nuan added, “You’re not putting any on during the day, but you have to use some tonight.”

Gu Qinghan picked up a military cap from the side and gently said, “Alright, I’ll head out first. You and Lele, be careful of the slippery road.”

Seeing her father leave, Lele tugged at Wen Nuan, wanting her to apply some cream. After applying it, she smugly said, “Mmm, it smells nice! Lele is a fragrant baby.”

Wen Nuan had prepared some candies and cookies and took Lele to Sister Guihua’s house.

When they returned to the family compound last night, Sister Guihua came to check on them, but since it was too cold at night, Wen Nuan sent her home early.

Today, as they arrived, Wen Nuan met Sister Guihua’s mother, Aunt Liang. The two women resembled each other; both were tall and plump.

Sister Guihua said that they had gone to Beijing just before the New Year, and her mother had come to the family compound right after them.

Aunt Liang smiled brightly when she saw Wen Nuan and Lele approaching, saying, “This must be Comrade Wen Nuan and Lele!”

“Oh, this little one looks really adorable, just like her mother!”

Wen Nuan smiled back and greeted Aunt Liang, saying, “Happy New Year, Aunt Liang. This is a little something my grandpa prepared for everyone; I’ll leave it here for now.” After saying that, she placed the items on their dining table.

Then, Wen Nuan prompted Lele, saying, “Lele, say Happy New Year.”

Lele looked at Aunt Liang, not recognizing her, but still obediently said, “Happy New Year!”

“Hey, hey, Happy New Year! Happy New Year!” Seeing how much Wen Nuan had brought over, Aunt Liang felt embarrassed and tried to push the items back into her hands, saying, “You really don’t need to be so polite! Just keep these for yourselves!”

Wen Nuan smiled and replied, “Aunt Liang, you don’t have to be so formal with me. Just accept it.”

Sister Guihua interjected, “Mom, go get some brown sugar twists and sesame cakes for Little Nuan to try our local specialties.”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Liang responded with a couple of “ohs” and turned to fetch the items.

Lele hadn’t seen Sister Guihua for several days and immediately ran over to her, happily calling out, “Auntie, Happy New Year!”

Wen Nuan saw the child darting about and reached out to grab her collar, stopping her. She admonished, “I just told you not to run like that! Auntie has a baby in her belly; you could bump into the baby!”

Lele immediately became cautious and slowed her pace as she approached. Then, she handed Sister Guihua a piece of chocolate.

Sister Guihua smiled and ruffled the child’s hair, saying, “Thank you, Lele.”

She then took Lele over to the sofa by the heater and asked her, “Did you have fun during the New Year? Where did you go to play?”

Lele beamed as she began sharing her interesting experiences from celebrating the New Year in Beijing, mentioning the places she visited and how she had played with her great-grandfather with firecrackers. She even went on to talk about the television dramas she had watched.

Sister Guihua listened with a smile as she talked about the interesting things in Beijing. Then, she asked her, “So, do you like your great-grandfather’s place?”

Lele almost answered without thinking, “I like it!”

Sister Guihua said, “Then Lele can visit more often in the future; your great-grandfather will definitely be very happy.”

Soon, Aunt Liang brought out some candies and snacks to entertain them, and she packed a bag of local specialties for them to take home and try.

Wen Nuan did not stand on ceremony with them and accepted Aunt Liang’s specialties.

After sitting at Sister Guihua’s house for a while, Wen Nuan took Lele to Sister Juxiang’s place. Sister Guihua was thinking about going with them, but Aunt Liang said there was a lot of snow outside and was worried that she might slip and fall, so she did not let her go.

Sister Juxiang was still on vacation. When she saw Wen Nuan and the others returning to the North, she greeted them with a smile.

Lele was even happier to be at Sister Juxiang’s place because her favorite thing was to play with Little Dong and Little Mei. She had also prepared some candies and chocolates to share with her older sister and brother.

Wen Nuan chatted with Sister Juxiang while the kids played in various ways.

After talking about family matters, Sister Juxiang asked her, “What will you do with Lele after the New Year? Do you want to send her to the family compound’s kindergarten first?”

Previously, most of the time, Sister Guihua had been helping to take care of Lele. Now that Sister Guihua was pregnant and was considered a high-risk pregnancy, Aunt Liang and Captain Zhou at her home were very cautious, afraid that she might accidentally bump into or hurt herself.

Wen Nuan glanced at Lele, who was playing over there. Although the child was much more sensible now and had some self-care abilities, she was still not yet two years old. She and Gu Qinghan could not bear to send her to kindergarten at such a young age.

The family compound had established kindergartens to take care of busy military personnel and some working family members. In these kindergartens, children could be fully enrolled. Some kids returned home once a week, while others sometimes did not return for a month.

When they were in Beijing, General Lu also asked her if she wanted to send someone to help take care of the child. However, hiring a nanny was a sensitive issue in that era, especially in a military compound.

Wen Nuan had declined, thinking that since the child was now this big, taking her to the cooking class would be fine. At least, it would be okay until the processing factory was built and up and running.

Wen Nuan said, “Let’s take the child to the cooking class for now. I don’t plan to handle kitchen matters anymore. I will just write the menu for the flying team each week and see how the processing factory is doing.”

When Sister Juxiang heard this, she thought that many family members had taken their children to work. “Lele is so well-behaved. She has been taken there before, so it should be fine.”

Moreover, there was a place in the cooking class’s backyard resembling a farm, where vegetables and fruit trees were grown, and some chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs were raised. There were plenty of places for children to play.

Many family members who worked in the cooking class simply tossed their kids into the backyard; as long as they were not stealing chickens or causing trouble, they generally did not pay much attention.

Not knowing if she had overheard the adults’ conversation, Lele came over and hugged Wen Nuan. She stretched out her slightly cold little hand to touch Wen Nuan’s face and said, “Mommy, I will be good.”

Wen Nuan felt her heart melting at the child’s words. She smiled and said, “Okay, but you mustn’t cause any trouble when the time comes.”

Lele nodded and said, “Lele won’t cause any trouble.”