Chapter 80.2

After Su Xiaoxiao became pregnant, even she couldn’t figure out her appetite. Han Cheng would ask her what she wanted to eat every day, but sometimes she would suddenly lose her appetite even if Han Cheng brought back the food she requested. Sometimes, the sight and smell of greasy meat made her feel nauseous.

Now, Han Cheng buys fish or poultry most of the time and occasionally some lean pork ribs. He avoids buying fatty meat and gets more fresh vegetables. He dares not to let her eat too much seafood, and if the fish has a strong fishy smell, Su Xiaoxiao can’t eat it either. During this period of Su Xiaoxiao’s pregnancy, Han Cheng has also slimmed down a bit.

He tried to get home on time as much as possible. When Su Xiaoxiao didn’t want to cook, he would cook under Su Xiaoxiao’s guidance. His cooking skills have improved quite a bit.

Now, Su Xiaoxiao sometimes craves pickled and sour dishes like pickled vegetables and pickled green beans. She knows eating too much is not good for her health, but it’s better than having no appetite at all. So today, she plans to make a non-spicy version of sour cabbage fish.

Han Cheng is skilled in cutting fish into very thin butterfly slices, removing all the fish bones. Even Xiao Doubao can eat the fish when it’s prepared this way. She plans to have Han Cheng cut the fish slices when he comes back.

Su Xiaoxiao made a simple anti-smoke mask and wore it on her face. She stir-fried the sour cabbage to remove excess water and set it aside. Then, she fried the fish head, tail, and bones in a pan and added a few slices of ginger to remove the fishy smell. After that, she added hot water to slowly simmer the soup until it turned white before putting the sour cabbage into the pot.

The sour cabbage was put into the pot, and Han Cheng happened to arrive home. He smelled the aroma and knew that Su Xiaoxiao was cooking. He washed his hands and entered the kitchen. Xiao Doubao sat on a small stool, staring at his mom while she cooked. Nowadays, he would voluntarily call Han Cheng “Dad” because Han Cheng had given him a new puzzle last night, and he liked it.

Seeing Su Xiaoxiao wearing a cloth over her face, Han Cheng frowned and said, “Let me handle it. If you can’t stand the smell of fumes, wait for me to come back and cook. It’s okay to eat half an hour later. I’ll bring you two masks tomorrow.”

Su Xiaoxiao rubbed his waist and shook her head, saying, “No need for masks, they are not breathable. You go and slice the fish, as thin as possible. We can start eating when Fantuan and Zhuzi come back.”

“Where have they gone? “Han Cheng asked.

“We went to visit Dun Dun’s house,” Su Xiaoxiao mentioned again about the incident where Fantuan lost a tooth. “Fantuan is too conscious of his appearance. I wonder who he takes after. By the way, don’t children usually start losing teeth at the age of six? Isn’t it a bit early for Fantuan?”

Han Cheng replied, “It’s fine, it’s quite common for children to start losing teeth at five, it’s normal.”

“Aunt Su, we’re back!”

Normally, this sentence would be said by Fantuan, but today it was said by Zhuzi. Zhuzi was also a bit shy when he started changing teeth, but now he seems fine.

Su Xiaoxiao walked out and rubbed the child’s head: “You’re back? What did Grandma Zhang say?”

“Aunt Su, Grandma Zhang said that Hua Hua may want to hatch some eggs, but our eggs won’t hatch into chicks.”

“Hus?” Su Xiaoxiao wondered. “Why?”

Zhuzi added, “Grandma Zhang said we don’t have a rooster at home, so the eggs laid by Hua Hua are not fertilized eggs. If we want to hatch chicks, we need to exchange some fertilized eggs from our home with her.”

Su Xiaoxiao was embarrassed (囧) because she overlooked such an important common-sense question: indeed, without a rooster, how can Hua Hua hatch chicks?

“No exchange!” Xiao Fantuan, who spoke with a lisp, finally spoke up.

Su Xiaoxiao and Zhuzi looked at him in confusion and said, “Why?”
“Because we shouldn’t exchange the eggs that Hua Hua worked so hard to lay!” Fantuan insisted.

Xiao Fantuan, who has lost his teeth and now has a lisp, has also become bad-tempered.

Su Xiaoxiao lovingly patted him and smoothed his hair, saying, “Alright, we don’t need to exchange the eggs laid by Hua Hua. Let’s keep them for ourselves. We can exchange other things with Grandma Zhang or buy them directly from her. Let’s go wash our hands, and we can eat soon.”

Han Cheng sliced the fish into pieces, and Su Xiaoxiao asked him to mix some salt, pepper, and cornstarch. She took the fish soup off the heat and first placed the pickled vegetables on a plate. Then, she neatly arranged the fish slices on top of the soup, sprinkled some sesame seeds and cilantro, and drizzled a small circle of oil. She put it back on the stove until the soup boiled, and then she poured it onto the plate with the pickled vegetables.

The dish of mild and appetizing pickled vegetable fish was ready.

The little ones enjoyed the meal very much, even Fantuan temporarily forgot about losing his tooth. They ate heartily, savoring the soup and food. Su Xiaoxiao had a good appetite today too; she finished a large bowl of rice.

Han Cheng thought to himself that this dish could be served several more times in the future.

Su Xiaoxiao’s appetite has been fluctuating during this period, and her pregnancy and vomiting have also started to worsen. Sometimes, if she doesn’t finish eating her dinner and gets hungry in the middle of the night, Han Cheng gets up to make some noodles or grill a sweet potato for her to eat.

Sometimes she couldn’t sleep at night, would become moody, and shed tears for no apparent reason. Han Cheng would comfort her by holding her in a way as if holding a child, walking around the room until she fell asleep, and then he would gently put her back to bed.

As Su Xiaoxiao’s pregnancy became more challenging, so did Han Cheng’s responsibilities. Their relationship as a couple grew deeper, and Su Xiaoxiao became increasingly childlike, relying more and more on Han Cheng.

The cubs are all very obedient. Fantuan, even after experiencing a few slip-ups while speaking, remained clever and smart. Now, both he and Zhuzi were starting to try washing their own clothes.

Xiao Doubao has now started to speak fluently, and he can already say short sentences, which has made Su Xiaoxiao very happy.

The temperature is getting colder by the day. Their lives continued in a simple and uneventful manner. Su Xiaoxiao endured the most uncomfortable first three months of pregnancy, and now the year’s end was approaching.

Many of the vegetables planted by Li Yufeng have already been harvested under the careful care of her two cubs, including scallions, garlic, and rapeseed.

The vine vegetables had quietly climbed up the walls, unnoticed, and were now waiting to bloom and bear fruit.

Su Xiaoxiao exchanged ten breeding eggs with Grandma Zhang. Grandma Zhang carefully inspected each egg with a flashlight to ensure they were suitable for breeding before agreeing to the exchange. Hua Hua proved to be quite promising and hatched eight baby chicks. Grandma Zhang said that if the weather wasn’t so cold, all ten eggs could have hatched. It’s rare to have hens hatch chicks during the winter, so it takes a stroke of luck to have so many successful hatchings successfully.

Zhou, Fen, Mian, and Fan have grown to the point where gender can be distinguished at first glance; as Li Yufeng said, all four are male and spirited roosters.

Su Xiaoxiao began to worry that the eight chicks hatched by Hua Hua were all roosters; all four of them turned out to be proud and spirited roosters.

Su Xiaoxiao started to worry that all eight of the chicks hatched by Hua Hua might also be roosters. She even began to fret that her baby in the belly might be a little brother.

However, both she and Han Cheng had mentally prepared themselves. Regardless of whether it’s a boy or a girl, they will raise the child well, just like they did with their three kids. After all, having only one healthy child was all that mattered.

There’s a folk belief that one shouldn’t share news of the pregnancy with others during the first three months, fearing it might affect the baby’s temperament. So, after three months passed, Su Xiaoxiao promptly wrote a letter to inform Li Yufeng about the good news.

Fantuan and Zhuzi were learning more and more characters, and they could now write letters to Grandma and Xiao Bao by themselves. Xiao Doubao could use his drawings to communicate with Grandma and his older brother. Han Cheng also contributed to the greetings sent to his parents-in-law and other relatives.

Finally, after half a month, a thick and affectionate family letter full of joy reached Li Yufeng’s hands.