Chapter 64 

Today’s morning exercise is not just about running. After going to bed, waking up early, and running for a while, the children’s physical fitness has actually improved a lot.

Zhao Xianfeng laughed very unkindly when he heard that Fantuan and Zhuzi had been beaten.

“When Comrade Han Cheng was young, he was the one who always ended up beating others, so it was only right for you, as his son, to also receive beatings.”

Xiao Fantuan blinked his sparkling big eyes and looked at Han Cheng disbelievingly, “Dad, you used to beat people a lot when you were a child, so why didn’t you let me beat them up?”

Han Cheng: “Dad didn’t often beat people when I was young, I only beat your Uncle Zhao.”

The Master of Logic, Fantuan is online: “So, Uncle Zhao, I can also beat up Xiao Yu, right?”

Zhao Xianfeng: “…” That’s definitely not what I meant. How can he not find words to refute Fantuan?

Xiao Fantuan then continued: “The three of us are sworn brothers, so we’re not willing to beat our own brother. What do you think, Xiao Yu?”

When Xiao Yu just heard that Xiao Fantuan was going to beat him, Xiao Yu felt like he had become a lifeless fish. Now, he suddenly came back to life and hugged Xiao Fantuan and Xiao Zhuzi, and said: “Yes, we, brothers, won’t fight each other!”

Three children gathered in circles and said, “Good brother! No fighting! Good brother! No fighting!”

Han Cheng and Zhao Xianfeng: “…” It seems that the brotherly bond between them is weak.

The martial arts Fantuan wants to learn are quite different from what Uncle Zhao is teaching him. He has seen martial arts in comic books among his classmates, where it involves performing flips and kicking people away with powerful kicks or using divine palm strikes to send someone flying. However, Uncle Zhao didn’t teach him any of that. Instead, he had them squat in horse stance all morning!

Dad has already run several laps, but they are still squatting in horse stance!

Fantuan couldn’t bear it anymore and stood up straight, “Uncle Zhao, when are you going to teach us martial arts? I’m going to die of exhaustion!”
Zhao Xianfeng proudly pointed at Fantuan and looked at Han Cheng: “Director Han, your son is not good. Look at my son and little Zhuzi. They have mastered the horse stance perfectly.”

Han Cheng doesn’t understand why he feels the need to compare everything with him. Fantuan may be a little delicate, but he is definitely a resilient and persistent child. When he sets his heart on learning something, he won’t be any less capable than other children.

Han Cheng: “Now we are laying the foundation. You complain about being tired after holding the horse stance for a short while. If you can’t even handle that, there’s no point in learning any martial arts. The road ahead will be more tiring. If you don’t want to learn, join me for a run tomorrow.”

Fantuan puffed up his cheeks and said, “I will learn! I never want to be held down and beaten by others again!”

………

When the morning exercise team returned home, Su Xiaoxiao had already prepared breakfast. As the weather was getting colder, it was more comfortable to have a warm meal in the morning.

Southerners prefer Congee in the morning, but Congee is not enough, after an hour or two, they will be hungry. Su Xiaoxiao cooked a pot of sweet potato congee and also made a few simple vegetable pancakes.

Su Xiaoxiao shredded Chinese cabbage and daikon radish into thin strips, added a little salt to extract the moisture, and then drained the liquid. She stir-fried them in a hot oil pan for a moment, then poured a well-seasoned thin batter over them. Fry one side until cooked, then flip and fry the other side until both sides are slightly golden brown. Once both sides were slightly crispy, she removed them from the pan.

It would be better to put two eggs into the batter, but unfortunately, there are no more eggs at home.

The combination of foods truly delighted the kids. Today, Su Xiaoxiao had a special craving for vinegar, so she poured some aged vinegar into a small dish, intending to dip the pancakes in it and enjoy.

Fantuan was curious and dipped some of his cake in it, causing him to shiver. “Mom, this is too sour.”

Su Xiaoxiao took a bite and said, “It’s not sour, it’s quite delicious.”

Fantuan couldn’t help but shake his head: “It’s too sour!”
Han Cheng saw Su Xiaoxiao calmly finishing a bowl of vinegar. After all, he was already the father of two children, and although he wasn’t an obstetrician, he had basic common sense.

He avoided mentioning it in front of the children and waited until they were doing the dishes before saying, “You’ve had quite significant changes in your taste preferences lately. It’s safer to go to the hospital for a check-up.”

Su Xiaoxiao simply felt a bit uncomfortable with oily food in the past few days. She wasn’t sure if it was because she ate too much during the Mid-Autumn Festival or if her body was becoming intolerant. Personally, she feels fine, but Han Cheng repeated reminders made her start to consider that possibility.

Su Xiaoxiao said: “We’ve only been together for a short while, right? Even if there is something, it wouldn’t be detectable so soon. Let’s wait and see. We don’t want to make a fuss at the hospital unnecessarily,”

Han Cheng calculated the days and realized that Su Xiaoxiao had a point.

He put the last bowl into the drain basket and said: “Be careful not to work too hard these days. Don’t tire yourself out. How about I bring food back from the cafeteria every day?”

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head and said: “We can make do with the food in the cafeteria, but it’s not good for the cubs. They’re in a crucial period of growth. I’m not that delicate, so don’t treat me like a fragile doll. How about this? When you come back from morning exercise, you can also buy groceries so that I don’t have to go to the market.”

Han Cheng nodded and said, “Sure, I’ll go to the market later, so you don’t have to go. What would you like to eat today?”

Su Xiaoxiao said, “Go ask Fantuan, it’s his turn to buy what he likes to eat today.”

Han Cheng: “You’re spoiling this brat rotten, and he’s becoming unruly.”

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and said, “Our cub is so obedient and not at all unruly, and he won’t do anything out of line. It’s alright to spoil him a bit. On the other hand, Xiao Doubao, I got distracted yesterday by Fantuan and Zhuzi’s fight, and I forgot to tell you that he kicked someone. He even managed to say three words in a row, he is quite fierce.”

Su Xiaoxiao roughly mentioned what happened yesterday.

Han Cheng’s thoughts shifted to another concern. “If you’re really pregnant, you shouldn’t be involved in outdoor activities during this cold winter. Even Xiao Doubao can’t withstand being outside for a few hours. If coordination with Xu Damu doesn’t work out, it would be better for you to go directly to work at the primary school. In any case, we shouldn’t let you get too tired.”

Su Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and nodded:  “You’re right. Even if we let Xiao Doubao stay in the car, he will still feel cold. It’s okay if it’s just for half an hour or so. but if it’s the entire afternoon, he might get sick from the cold. I’m also sensitive to the cold. Moreover, the information boards are everywhere, and the workload is too heavy. It would take at least a week for the whole team to rotate and cover all of them.”

Han Cheng kissed his wife’s cheek and said: “You have no problem working on the design plans at home. They can manage the work in the field every afternoon. Don’t worry, we should be able to confirm the pregnancy within a month. Anyway, for the time being, you should be careful. Once it’s confirmed, you must immediately stop going on field assignments.”

Su Xiaoxiao smiled and kissed Han Cheng back, hugged his waist, and said: “I understand, and I’ll be careful. In fact, I’ve thought about it, and I think it would be good to be pregnant now. In our situation, my mother would definitely come to help. By next year, Xiao Doubao will be over two years old and easier to take care of. And when our little girl is about to start kindergarten, maybe we can move to the capital for our studies. Han Cheng, what do you think about naming our daughter Xiao Tangyuan? Just by hearing the name, it’s clear that she, Doubao, and Fantuan are from the same family, and it symbolizes togetherness and unity,” Su Xiaoxiao said with a smile.

Han Cheng embraced his wife and said, “It sounds lovely. Let’s name her Xiao Tangyuan then.”

Regardless of whether Su Xiaoxiao is pregnant or not, up until this moment, the couple did not have any doubts that they would give birth to a daughter rather than a son. They also didn’t know where their confidence and certainty came from, assuming that if she were pregnant, it would undoubtedly be a daughter.

……….

Xiao Fantuan brought a new shuttlecock to school. The seniors promised to compensate him for the one he lost, but he still doesn’t know when they will fulfill their promise.

Han Cheng fixed the damaged shuttlecock for him last night, and although it still had some flaws, it was still usable.

Fantuan thought that since many classmates in the class enjoyed playing shuttlecock, it would be a good idea to bring another one and divide the class into two teams to play.

“Fantuan, when did you reconcile with Dashu? “Su Xiaoxiao didn’t have time to ask him last night.
“Dashu? We didn’t makeup.” Fantuan and Zhuzi walked ahead with their younger brother, and when Su Xiaoxiao asked him about Dashu, he asked Xiao Doubao to follow Zhuzi. 

Fantuan stopped walking and waited for Su Xiaoxiao, “He’s probably not a bad kid. Maybe he learned some bad behavior after being around bad kids before. But this time, when he saw others attacking us, he didn’t hesitate to come over and help. I was planning to thank him today. If he’s willing to change, we can play shuttlecock together and make peace.”

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed the head of the cub. Fantuan is truly a magnanimous child. He doesn’t hold grudges and has a carefree attitude. Once something is over, he moves on without dwelling on it.

“Fantuan, you did great. Mom thinks you did the right thing. Classmates should be united, friendly, and help each other.”

Fantuan wrinkled his little nose and said, “But Mom, Dashu’s handwriting is really ugly. It’s fine to play together, but after seeing his notebook, I don’t really want to be friends with him anymore. Being acquaintances is enough.”

After saying that, Fantuan hopped away happily to catch up with Zhuzi and Xiao Doubao.

Su Xiaoxiao: “…” Okay, her little ones seem to be a bit stingy and different from others.

………..

Su Xiaoxiao doesn’t know if it’s a psychological effect, but she felt a bit sleepy during class today. After class, when she returned home, the first thing she did was not to study but to catch up on some sleep.

While his mother was sleeping, Xiao Doubao sat obediently on the bed, playing with the puzzle that his father had made for him.

The so-called puzzle was actually created by Han Cheng. He would draw various shapes on white paper, cut them out, mix them up, and then let Xiao Doubao put them back together to form the original image. For example, he would use triangles of different sizes to create a simple pyramid shape.

Han Cheng initially created the puzzle to keep Doubao occupied while accompanying Su Xiaoxiao to work. He didn’t expect a child who was less than two years old to be able to solve it.

However, during Su Xiaoxiao’s less than an hour of sleep, Xiao Doubao had already assembled and reassembled the “puzzle” Han Cheng had given him several times. If Han Cheng were to see it, he would surely once again sigh and wonder what kind of son he had given birth to.