Chapter 100.1

Gu Qinghan came back quite late, and Wen Nuan had just finished preparing dinner.

After Gu Qinghan washed his hands, he planned to go to the kitchen to help, but when he saw that Wen Nuan had already cooked the dishes, he just washed the pot.

During dinner, Gu Qinghan asked about Lele’s situation at kindergarten, wondering if she had made any new friends today.

Lele, holding a spoonful of rice, looked at Gu Qinghan and nodded, “Yes, I met a little friend named Huahua. She sits next to me.”

Gu Qinghan picked up a string of beans for her and then asked, “Did you have fun at kindergarten today?”

While busy in the kitchen earlier, Wen Nuan had mentioned to him what happened when the child finished school. It seemed Lele didn’t realize that her academic journey still had a long way to go.

The whole day she just thought about going with her mom to the farm behind the Kitchen Unit.

Lele nodded without hesitation, “Yes, I had a lot of fun. The teacher played games with us today.”

Gu Qinghan smiled and asked, “What game did you play, Lele?”

Lele tilted her little head, recalling for a moment, then answered in a soft voice, “I played ‘Eagle Catching Chicks’ with the kindergarten kids. It was so much fun!”

“Since so many children played games with Lele, should I take you to kindergarten again tomorrow?” Gu Qinghan smiled at Wen Nuan, then asked her, “Besides playing games, what else did you do at kindergarten?”

Lele replied, “The teacher taught us how to sing.”

Gu Qinghan asked, “Did you learn any songs?”

Lele shook her head, “Not yet.”

Gu Qinghan patted the child’s small head and smiled, “It’s okay. Tomorrow you can go to kindergarten again, and then you can learn to sing with the teacher.”

Lele furrowed her brows, and with a clever sigh, she said, “But I want to go to work. I want to work at the Kitchen Unit.”

Wen Nuan was both amused and helpless, adding a piece of braised tofu to her bowl and laughing, “You’re still a little kid, who wants you to go to work?”

Although the little one had previously said she wanted to go with Wen Nuan to work, every time she went to the Kitchen Unit, she ended up playing with the older kids or the younger soldiers from the kitchen crew.

Especially Little Zhu, who often took her to pick eggs and gather vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers, which were practically edible right off the plant.

In the summer, there was also an orchard on the farm, with fruits like apricots and peaches. The Kitchen Unit would arrange for someone to look after it, and those on duty were allowed to pick some fruit to eat.

Every time Lele saw someone going to guard the orchard, she eagerly followed along.

There was food and fun, so it was no wonder Lele wanted to go “work” at the Kitchen Unit.

Lele huffed, feeling discontent, and said, “But I’ve already been to school. I want to go to work!”

Wen Nuan smiled and shook her head, replying to the child, “You just started kindergarten today. Look at your older sisters, Xiao Dong and Xiao Mei. They still have to go to elementary school, and later they’ll have to go to middle school.”

Lele probably had fun at kindergarten, but it was just that she wasn’t quite used to it yet. After a little while, she would probably beg to go every day.

Upon hearing Wen Nuan’s words, Lele’s eyes widened, and her expression seemed on the verge of tears. She lowered her head and continued eating.

After dinner, Gu Qinghan brought some fruit over.

Knowing it was Lele’s first day at kindergarten, she came over to check on the child and also to bring some fresh fruit for Wen Nuan.

Originally, Lele hadn’t been able to feel happy because she had to go to school again the next day, but after Gu Qinghan arrived, the thoughts of kindergarten seemed to slip away.

Lele liked her a lot. Around 8 o’clock, she kept pestering Gu Qinghan to help her take a bath. By 9, she was pulling her back to the little room to play.

Wen Nuan didn’t need to worry about her anymore. Hearing Gu Qinghan playing with the child in the room, she asked him to bring water to help with the bath.

“Be careful, it’s slippery. Walk slowly,” Gu Qinghan said as he carried two buckets of water into the bathroom and checked the floor for any moss or slippery spots.

Wen Nuan smiled at him, “I know, after I’m done, you should also take a bath and go to sleep early. Tomorrow we need to take Lele to kindergarten.”

Although the child was a bit unwilling to go, Wen Nuan wouldn’t soften. When it was time for school, she would go; when it was vacation, she could play as she liked.

The winter in the North was long, and by then, except for children in full-day care, most kids wouldn’t go to school anymore.

Lele’s vacation had already been long enough.

Gu Qinghan nodded with a smile, “Alright, but no need to rush, take your time.”

Then he looked at his wife’s beautiful profile and smiled, “Do you want me to help you with the bath?”

Wen Nuan, hearing this, immediately pushed him out, saying, “Go, go, go, stop messing around.”

Gu Qinghan turned to the side, took his wife’s hand, and kissed her fingers, “In the later stages of pregnancy, it might be hard to bend over and lift things. If you need any help, just let me know. Your husband is here.”

He knew Wen Nuan felt a bit embarrassed, but he had consulted with two doctors. By the later stages, bending down and reaching up could become quite difficult.

Wen Nuan smiled at the man, hanging her clothes on a hook, and said, “Well, we’ve been married for so long now, I’m sure I’ll need your help when the time comes.”

“Alright, I’ll go out now. You take your time with the bath, or the water will get cold.” Gu Qinghan pulled the curtain closed, grabbed a small stool by the door, and sat outside in the yard, waiting.

After they had both finished their baths, they were about to take Lele back to her room to sleep.

However, Qinglan said, “Sister-in-law, Lele is already asleep. Let her sleep with me tonight to avoid having to carry her back and forth.”

It seemed that Lele had been tired from playing at kindergarten, so she fell asleep unusually quickly that night.

The next day, Wen Nuan prepared Lele’s little backpack as usual. Lele threw a small tantrum, but she still went into the kindergarten.

Not long after they entered the kindergarten, Gu Qinghan and Wen Nuan, who were still waiting at the gate, heard the sound of the child crying again. However, this time, the kindergarten teacher closed the iron gate.

They waited for a while but did not see Lele.

For several consecutive days, Lele would cause a fuss when going to school, but when they came to pick her up in the afternoon, she was always very happy.

She even told Wen Nuan that she would come to kindergarten again the next day.

About half a month later, Lele had finally adjusted to kindergarten life. Every day before entering the classroom, she would wave goodbye to Wen Nuan, and on the way home after school, she would talk about the fun things that happened at kindergarten.

…

At the beginning of June, General Lu arranged for Aunt Chen to come to the North to take care of Wen Nuan.

Aunt Chen was the wife of Uncle Zhao, who had been General Lu’s life assistant. Wen Nuan had met her briefly when she left Beijing, and they hadn’t had much time to speak.

General Lu had said that both Uncle Zhao and Aunt Chen were straightforward people, and the two families had known each other for many years and were very familiar with one another.

One day, when Wen Nuan was picking Lele up, Gu Qinghan happened to return home at the same time.

Seeing his wife with a big belly, Gu Qinghan quickly poured water into her enamel cup and handed it to her, saying, “Drink slowly.”

Wen Nuan gulped down a large mouthful of water and then pulled off her coat, saying, “Why is it so hot?”

Before she left the house, Sister Guihua had been reminding her to put on an extra coat, as the North was not officially into summer yet in June.

However, Wen Nuan guessed she was wrong. Now that she was pregnant, her body temperature was higher than before, and she rarely felt cold.

Normally, Gu Qinghan would often cover her with a blanket at night, but every time he did, Wen Nuan would wake up from the heat soon after.

Seeing the light sweat on her forehead, Gu Qinghan said, “I was planning to go with you to pick up Lele from school, but when we got to the Kitchen Unit, Quartermaster Luo said you had already left.”

Over the past month, Wen Nuan had been returning to the Kitchen Unit for work. She had heard that several nearby military units had placed orders for dried seafood and dried vegetables.

The next few months were going to be the busiest time at the factory, so Wen Nuan wanted to take advantage of the time she could still move around to visit occasionally.

“Next time, you don’t need to go. I’ll go pick her up,” Wen Nuan said after taking a short break and drinking a little water. She then grabbed Lele, who had just put down her backpack, and made her drink some water before letting her turn on the radio.

Recently, Gu Qinghan had also been very busy, almost having night training every day. It was said that it was to prepare for the National Day military parade where the leaders would come to review the troops.

Gu Qinghan’s test flight duties were temporarily taken over by the students from the aviation school, the twelve reserve pilots who had been selected from the army.

However, Gu Qinghan still went to Shenyang once a month, though not as often as before. In the past, he would stay for a month, but now he usually came back after just a week.

Wen Nuan snapped back to reality, looked around their home, and suddenly thought of something. She said, “Grandpa said Aunt Chen will be coming to the North next week. Do you want to tidy up the little room? Since the weather is nice, maybe we can set up a kang (a traditional heated bed).”

That small room was usually where Gu Qinglan stayed occasionally, but Qinglan had been busy learning from Elder Zhao, coming and going early in the morning and late at night. Wen Nuan remembered that bad man who had once followed Qinglan and felt uneasy, so she suggested that Qinglan shouldn’t visit so often.

There wasn’t much to tidy up, just washing the bed covers and sheets and hanging them out to dry.

However, the room didn’t have a kang, and since Wen Nuan’s due date was at the end of September, and the North had long winters, she thought it would be tough without a heated bed.

Plus, Aunt Chen was over fifty, not as resistant to the cold as younger people. She would need to help with the children, and might need to get up a few times at night. It would be better if they had a kang.

That money couldn’t be saved, and making someone sick would be more costly in the end.

“Okay, I’ll apply to buy some bricks and stones tomorrow, and we’ll set up the kang,” Gu Qinghan said after thinking for a moment. Then he added, “When Aunt Chen arrives, I might have to go back to the 112 factory for a while, probably for about two weeks.”

Wen Nuan looked at him, waved her hand, and smiled, “Then go ahead and get to work. Finish the task first. When the baby is born, you need to be here with me.”

Wen Nuan knew Gu Qinghan was busy, but sometimes she wanted to be a little spoiled, not always the strong woman.

When conditions allowed, she still hoped Gu Qinghan would be by her side, especially since she was carrying twins this time. Although Wen Nuan could still go to the Kitchen Unit every day, when she started slowing down, she hoped her husband would show her a little more affection.

As Wen Nuan was thinking, the man beside her suddenly bent down and gave her a passionate kiss on her rosy lips.

Gu Qinghan’s face was so close, only a few centimeters away, his dark, deep eyes staring at her. He said, “I know, I’ll definitely be by your side when the time comes.”

Wen Nuan held his hand, pinching him lightly, and spoke softly, “But the premise is that the mission can’t be delayed, understand?”

As a soldier who protected the country, his responsibilities were much greater, and military orders were as heavy as a mountain. He had to prioritize arranging his work first.

Gu Qinghan said seriously, “Understood, sir.”

After thinking for a moment, he continued, “We have that vegetable patch in the backyard, right? How about I apply with the organization to see if we can build another room there? Then we’ll have three rooms, and we won’t have to worry about not having enough space to sleep. Qinglan could also stay there.”

Wen Nuan thought Gu Qinghan’s idea was good. More rooms would give them more space to store things. They hadn’t felt the house was small before, but after living there, they gradually felt there wasn’t enough room.

However, this was a big project, so it would be better to plan it after the baby was born.

For now, they could just focus on setting up a kang.

Just as the two of them were discussing expanding the house, Lele suddenly came over with a paper bag, looking pitiful as she said, “Mom, I’m hungry. I want to eat peach crisps.”

The peach crisps were bought by Gu Qinglan when he went to the town last week, and almost all of them had been eaten by the little one.

Ever since she started kindergarten, the thing Lele said most often on the way home was, “Mom, I’m hungry.”

The meals at kindergarten weren’t bad, but they weren’t particularly good either. However, the little one was used to snacking at home, so it was easy for her to feel hungry.

Gu Qinghan took the peach crisps from Lele and said, “You can have it later, we’re having dinner soon. Don’t eat snacks anymore.”

Lele pouted and huffed at Gu Qinghan, “How can we eat that fast? You guys haven’t even started cooking yet.”

Since they came back, her mom and dad had been chatting and hadn’t even gone into the kitchen. How could they have dinner ready so quickly?

Lele went over to Wen Nuan, hugged her leg, and buried her face in it. She said, “Mom, feel Lele’s belly.”

Then Lele placed her hand on Wen Nuan’s belly and added, “My tummy is hungry. Mom, listen, the little babies in your belly are hungry too! They want to eat something!”

Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan, narrowed her eyes, and smiled, then asked teasingly, “How about… we give the kids a little something to eat?”

Under the helpless gaze of the man, Wen Nuan again touched her round belly and said, “Actually, I’m hungry too. Can I share a bit with Lele?”

Upon hearing this, Gu Qinghan immediately handed the peach crisp he was holding to his wife and child, then said, “You two eat a little first, I’ll go cook now.”