Chapter 23.2

When Li Xiao and Zhou Jian arrived at a nearby restaurant, Li Xiao told Zhou Jian about his plans to sell braised pork intestines in the city.

Although Uncle Wang’s injury would eventually heal, the future remained uncertain. The money they earned by selling in the county was just decent, but if they were to sell in the city, where there were more people, their earnings would certainly be higher.

Zhou Jian trusted Li Xiao 100%, so, after hearing this, he agreed without hesitation: “Okay, I’ll listen to you, Boss.”

Li Xiao nodded. “You go rent a tricycle today and bring it to my house. I’ll make some modifications over the next few days. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the pig farm in town to secure the ingredients.”

“Let’s not go big right away; we’ll start small and see how it goes. If it works out well, then we can consider expanding.”

Zhou Jian agreed, “Alright, I’ll go rent a tricycle later.”

He liked working with his big brother. Last time, when they handled the transportation business, they made quite a bit of money, and that money helped clear their family’s debts.

While they ate and talked, they considered various aspects of the plan.

Over the next few days, Li Xiao pushed aside some furniture orders, quickly finished the tasks he had taken on before, and split the money—half to Jiang Rou and half to add to the costs.

Jiang Rou watched as he ran around every day and bought a large pot, converting the space previously used for a table in the kitchen into a new stove. He also got a folding table for himself and a box for cutting boards and knives for convenience.

When she asked him, Li Xiao did not hide his plans and told her that he and Zhou Jian planned to sell braised pork intestines in the city.

When Jiang Rou heard this, she suggested that he should add more to the menu, like crispy chicken feet, braised pig ears, and pig tongues.

Li Xiao took this to heart and bought additional items when he went out with Zhou Jian to stock up.

Both he and Zhou Jian were diligent, and within a few days, they got things up and running. Since Jiang Rou was still in confinement, Li Xiao took on the responsibility of braising at home, while Zhou Jian went to the city to sell the food.

Zhou Jian’s girlfriend also temporarily set aside her tasks and went to the city to help.

As Li Xiao had thought, the city was crowded, and with this number of people, there were indeed many more willing to buy their food. Zhou Jian just randomly found a spot at the market entrance to sell his food, and there were many people coming to buy it. By the end of the morning, everything was sold out.

When they came back in the afternoon and calculated, after deducting costs, each person made nearly a hundred yuan, and that was just the first day.

Li Xiao and Zhou Jian were very motivated and decided to do more.

Jiang Rou’s confinement ended on the 22nd day of November. She was worried that her physical condition was too poor, so she stayed in confinement for a few more days. On the day she ended her confinement, she took a good bath and washed her hair, and when she came out of the bathroom, she felt a few pounds lighter.

She wasn’t done with just her own bath; she also planned to bathe An An. Recently, the weather had turned much colder, and Jiang Rou and Li Xiao worried about An An being too young, had not dared to bathe the child, and had only been using a towel to clean her up.

For this bath, Li Xiao especially went out to buy a type of plastic tent that Jiang Rou had never seen before. It seemed to be unique to this era, similar to the princess mosquito nets of ancient Europe, with a small top and a large, long bottom that could drag on the floor when hung from the ceiling.

This one was made of plastic. In winter, people in that area hung these up to bathe inside and avoid the cold.

In this era, not many people had installed bathrooms in their homes, and Li Xiao didn’t know about the existence of a heater in the bathroom when he did the renovation.

Li Xiao tied a rope to the top and then nailed a hook into the ceiling of the bathroom. The other end of the rope was tied to the hook.

Li Xiao took out the small bath basin for her daughter and filled it with hot water.

They both got into the plastic bath tent. Jiang Rou held An An, and Li Xiao used his hand to test the temperature. He squatted down, with towels and clothes on the small bench next to him.

Neither of them was very experienced in bathing a baby. Jiang Rou held the child’s body and asked Li Xiao, who was standing opposite, to wash the child’s hair. 

He was probably afraid that the soap would hurt An An’s skin, so he wet his hands first, then rubbed the soap to create foam before gently massaging An An’s hair. His movements were a bit awkward but very gentle.

After the child’s head was covered with bubbles, he carefully used a towel to rinse and clean it thoroughly.

Jiang Rou was afraid that the child would cry because his nephew used to abuse him when he washed his hair, crying so hard that his head exploded.

But to her surprise, An An not only didn’t cry but also squinted his eyes, looking comfortable and about to fall asleep. After

After washing his hair, Li Xiao poured out the water in the basin, rinsed the basin with a shower head, and then refilled it with clean, hot water.

A smooth wooden board was placed diagonally in the basin, and a towel was placed on it. Jiang Rou took off the child’s clothes and gently put them on. Li Xiao took the shower head and sprayed water on her belly and calves. The water temperature was just right.

The little girl left her mother’s arms, her confused eyes widened a little, and her body twisted subconsciously. Jiang Rou asked Li Xiao to hold her down and wash herself.

Li Xiao’s hands had calluses, and he was worried he might hurt An An’s skin.

Jiang Rou took the soap, lathered it into fine foam just as Li Xiao had done, and then began to gently rub An An starting from the neck, smiling at An An as she did, “Look how comfortable you are. We’re both here to take care of you.”

Li Xiao was still worried about An An getting cold, so he kept rinsing his little body with hot water.

An An seemed genuinely comfortable, not moving around and waving her hands, making “ah ah” sounds as if responding to Jiang Rou.

Probably because she hadn’t washed for too long, Jiang Rou rubbed a little dirt on the little girl’s arms. Li Xiao laughed directly. “Why are they so long?”

Jiang Rou couldn’t help but laugh too: “I’ll serve it up as dinner for you.”

Li Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, “Alright, add a spoonful of sauce.”

Jiang Rou burst into laughter.

She couldn’t outwit him; the more they joked, the more disgusting it seemed.

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The next day, Li Xiao and Zhou Jian took a break from work to prepare for Zhu Qiang’s wedding.

Early in the morning, Zhou Jian came to look for Li Xiao; he then went to ask how much was appropriate for the wedding gift.

In the past, Li Xiao would have been generous, but recently their family expenses have increased. Jiang Rou needed to eat well to breastfeed An An, with every meal including a balanced mix of meat and vegetables.

Since An An was born, Li Xiao hasn’t smoked a single cigarette. Sometimes, when he was really craving something, he would just nibble on snacks that Jiang Rou bought.

Moreover, An An changed daily, and Jiang Rou had already started stockpiling clothes and shoes for An An for the coming year.

Li Xiao tore off a piece of red paper from the door couplets and put 30 yuan inside.

When Zhou Jian found out how much Li Xiao would give, he also put 30 yuan in a red envelope. He was actually preparing to give 100 yuan, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it.

He had children to support, just like Li Xiao, and with his own wedding coming up soon, he needed to save money.

Jiang Rou invited Zhou Jian to have breakfast with them, but Zhou Jian declined, saying he had already eaten at home.

When Jiang Rou heard this, she didn’t insist. She and Li Xiao sat down at the table to eat while the little one lay in the crib, staring at the wind chime above with wide eyes.

This wind chime was also made by Li Xiao. It wasn’t very loud; it was made of wood and shaped like small animals, strung together in five or six strands with tiny bells hanging below. When touched, it would sway and make a sound.

An An loved it and could stare at it all day.

Jiang Rou would reach out to give it a gentle nudge every few bites, and An An would turn her eyes to follow it. It was so easy to keep her entertained.

Zhou Jian was eager to see An An and couldn’t resist leaning over the cradle, smiling as he watched her. The last time he had seen her in the hospital, she was still a little red monkey, but now she had completely transformed. Her skin was fair and delicate; her face was round like a bun with plump cheeks, large, bright black eyes, and curly eyelashes.

An An’s hair had grown a bit long, with two tiny colorful hair clips in the front.

She really could melt people’s hearts with her adorable appearance.

He suddenly felt that his son was not so good. Just look at Wang Tao’s son; he is dark and fat, like a fat piglet, not like his brother’s daughter, who looks like a fairy in the sky. He

He couldn’t help but look at Li Xiao with envy and say, “Boss, if I have a son in the future, let’s be in-laws.”

Although he had a stepson, he thought that the child’s looks didn’t match up to An’s, so he preferred to have his own biological child marry An’an instead. He thought he looked pretty good, so his future son should turn out fine.

Li Xiao didn’t even look up, simply saying, “Get lost.”

Zhou Jian was not angry and continued to smile at An An in the crib. “An An, An An, do you recognize me? I’m your godfather.”

Jiang Rou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Do you have any free time this weekend? Bring your girlfriend over for a meal.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jian instinctively raised his head and looked at Jiang Rou. After all this time, he had thought his sister-in-law had forgotten, but he hadn’t expected that she had always kept it in her heart.

“Hehe.”

He grinned foolishly and said, “Then I’ll trouble my sister-in-law.”

Jiang Rou gave him a mock stern look and said, “No need to be so polite with me.”

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