Chapter 12

After finishing the letter and putting it away, Xu Xiangjuan got ready to make dinner.

Guagua had gone to sleep right after eating the jujube and still hadn’t woken up.

Going out had been tiring, so Xu Xiangjuan opted for convenience and decided to make hand-pulled noodles. As for her husband’s lunch tomorrow, she figured she’d wake up early and make vegetable fried rice with two sunny-side-up eggs.

Since Guagua wasn’t around for once, Zhou Chengning, as if possessed by a strange impulse, blocked Xu Xiangjuan just as she was about to head into the pantry to grab the noodles.

Xu Xiangjuan said: “Why are you standing there like a blockhead, getting in my way? Move.”

Zhou Chengning’s face turned red with embarrassment, but he still mustered the courage to bend down and hug Xu Xiangjuan tightly. “Juan, thank you. Thank you for letting me see Grandpa. You’re really good to me.”

This husband of hers was so easily moved by the smallest things. Xu Xiangjuan had just been about to say there was no need for thanks between husband and wife when she was kissed. The words at her lips changed to: “You’re a grown man. What if Guagua sees us?”

“Guagua is sound asleep. She can’t see anything.” Since his wife wasn’t scolding him, Zhou Chengning grew bolder and kissed Xu Xiangjuan’s cheek a few more times.

Xu Xiangjuan’s cheeks flushed red. Embarrassed and annoyed, she reached out and pinched Zhou Chengning’s waist lightly. “You’re acting more and more like a kid. You’re already the father of two children and still so immature… Move out of the way!”

But after pinching him, she felt bad—his waist had no fat at all. Xu Xiangjuan thought she’d better make sure he ate well from now on so he wouldn’t go hungry.

Zhou Chengning blushed even harder than Xu Xiangjuan, who had been kissed. But this time, he finally stepped aside. Once he did, he followed behind Xu Xiangjuan.

Xu Xiangjuan tried to shoo him away, but he kept tailing her, and she really had no way to deal with him.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

That night, they had hand-pulled noodles. Recently, Guagua had been going on and on about wanting “cluck-cluck eggs.” Xu Xiangjuan knew she meant egg pancakes, but she didn’t feel like making any today. She took the easy way out and just fried sunny-side-up eggs—two big ones, one small.

With sunny-side-up eggs on the table, Guagua naturally stopped asking for pancakes.

Taking everyone’s tastes into account, Xu Xiangjuan made a light noodle soup, stir-fried some green vegetables, sliced some dried radish and pickled cucumbers, and arranged them all on one plate. Zhou Chengning had chili sauce and ate two big bowls of noodles. Guagua had the less sour pickled cucumbers and a sunny-side-up egg, and she also managed to finish a small bowl of noodles.

That night in bed, Zhou Chengning started getting ideas. He wanted to return to sleeping in the family’s shared bed, feeling like having a bed to himself meant he’d been abandoned by the whole family.

But Guagua had taken a nap in the afternoon and was now wide awake, restless and constantly disturbing her parents. With their daughter still awake, Zhou Chengning felt too awkward to suggest sharing the bed again.

“I have to go to the county town early the day after tomorrow. Let’s steam some buns tomorrow so you can take them for lunch.” Xu Xiangjuan remembered and said to Zhou Chengning, who was still sitting on the bed and hadn’t yet lain down.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengning said: “Why are you going to the county town? I’ll take the day off and go with you.”

“To send a letter and package, and while I’m there, stop by the department store to buy a few things, maybe ask about bicycle prices. You don’t need to take time off and go with me. Guagua and Niuniu will be staying at their maternal grandmother’s home, so I don’t have to worry about them.”

Zhou Chengning responded anxiously: “I’ll take time off and go with you. I can help carry things.”

Xu Xiangjuan didn’t understand why Zhou Chengning was being so insistent about going with her and making things harder for himself. But after thinking about it, she agreed.

Once they finished talking, Xu Xiangjuan went to extinguish the kerosene lamp. The room was plunged into darkness. The thought Zhou Chengning had about sharing the bed had already been wiped away by Guagua’s restlessness and his wife’s talk about the county town.

He lay in bed, his mind full of thoughts about the upcoming trip.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

Xu Xiangjuan got up early, preparing rice in one pot and egg pancakes for breakfast in another.

Everyone had a bowl of hot water to drink if they felt thirsty.

When the rice was nearly done—no need to wait for it to fully finish steaming—Xu Xiangjuan scooped it out, washed the pot, and used it to fry rice.

After breakfast, Guagua ran off to feed the chickens. Though she was small, she had big ambitions—she wanted to eat eggs every day, so she was very enthusiastic about feeding the chickens, even though she wasn’t even as tall as the fence.

The vegetable fried rice was made with some chili and garlic slices. Its aroma was strong and aggressive, quickly rushing up one’s nose. Even though Zhou Chengning had already eaten two fairly large egg pancakes, he still wanted to have some fried rice.

After packing the lunchbox, there was still half a bowl left. Xu Xiangjuan scooped it into a bowl and handed it to him. “Eat slowly. Don’t choke.”

Before leaving after breakfast, Zhou Chengning reminded her again: “I’ll be asking for leave today so I can go with you to the county town tomorrow.”

Xu Xiangjuan waved him off. “Got it. Hurry up and go to work.”

“As long as you didn’t forget. I’m heading out now.”

“Go, go.” Xu Xiangjuan even walked him to the courtyard gate. She didn’t know why he was dawdling so much today.

Once her husband was out the door, Xu Xiangjuan went to feed the chickens and collect eggs. As for Guagua, she hadn’t actually started feeding the chickens yet and was just chatting with them outside the pen.

After feeding the chickens, Xu Xiangjuan carried Niuniu in her arms, with Guagua tagging along beside her. They headed to her mother’s home to inform them that she would be going to the county town the next day and needed her parents’ help watching the kids.

These days, the village had couriers who would deliver packages and letters every so often, and you could add just a few cents to the postage as a delivery fee. It wasn’t as troublesome as before. Xu Xiangjuan wanted to go to the department store and figured she’d send the parcel herself while she was at it. The bus to the county town only cost one dime per person—forty cents for two people, round trip. Not expensive.

Her parents had a vegetable garden behind their yard and some farmland, though it had been rented out for others to cultivate. But during the autumn harvest, they still had to help collect the grain.

Since it wasn’t harvest time yet, Xu Gensheng and Wu Caifeng were free and mostly spent their time chatting with neighbors. Upon hearing that her daughter wanted to send a package to her eldest son, Wu Caifeng didn’t refuse to help with the kids or deny Xu Xiangjuan’s request for empty canning jars.

The eldest, second, and third children would all send canned fruits home. Wu Caifeng couldn’t bear to throw the jars away and always washed and stored them carefully. Now that her youngest daughter wanted a few to send to her eldest brother, she even thought about sending some things from the second and third siblings as well.

“Mom, I can’t carry that much. I’m going to the department store, and mailing things is just something I’ll do on the side. Next time, just let Xiao Li bring it.” Xiao Li was the young man from town who delivered parcels. He was still quite young—three or four years younger than Xu Xiangjuan, if she remembered correctly. The young man was clever and eventually made a name for himself in the transportation business.

“Alright then. The chili sauce you made is fragrant—your big brother will definitely love it. Let’s send a jar of our pickled cucumbers too.”

“Mom, no need for pickled cucumbers. Just pack some dried chestnuts and mushrooms. He probably already has pickles there. Some mountain goods will do.”

There were wild chestnuts in the mountains these days. Her father had recently been going out with a few other middle-aged men to collect them, and there were already several sacks stored at home. Xu Gensheng was peeling the ones picked earlier whose spiky shells had already softened. He wore gloves while he worked.

Guagua was helping her grandfather, using both hands and feet. She had gloves on too, though they were way too big and got in the way. Still, she didn’t take them off and tried her best to imitate his movements.

Niuniu was awake and wiggled a little in Xu Xiangjuan’s arms, trying to see her older sister and grandfather peeling chestnuts in the yard. Sensing her son’s thoughts, Xu Xiangjuan moved her chair and changed position so she could talk to her mother and let Niuniu see the yard better.

The baby, not even three months old, waved his little arms and smiled. Babies had mysterious laugh triggers, but his smile was genuinely cute.

After everything was decided, Xu Xiangjuan went to make chili sauce and packed three jars.

Two were for her big brother. One was for her aunt.

Of course, the official line was that all three were “for her big brother.”