As they were eating, Yibao suddenly remembered something from the night before.

He asked, “Mom, did you have a nightmare last night?”

“Huh?” Ning Shu thought carefully.

Did she have a nightmare last night? She couldn’t remember. “I don’t know. Did I dream? I don’t think so.”

Erbao said, “Last night we heard you crying really hard, and Dad was comforting you. Brother said you must have had a nightmare and cried because of it, but since Dad was there, we didn’t worry.”

“Uh…”

Ning Shu choked on the pickled fish she was eating.

Lin Guodong was also taken aback by Erbao’s words.

He instinctively glanced at Ning Shu and saw her face turning red.

He quickly said, “Your mom had a nightmare last night, but it’s okay now. Don’t mention it again, or she might remember the nightmare and start crying. Do you want that?”

The three children shook their heads and immediately stopped asking.

What if they really made Mom cry?

At the same time, they thought to themselves, Mom cries just like a little girl when she has nightmares, but they never cry when they have nightmares.

Dad was right.

Although Mom is Mom, she is also a woman who needs protection from them, these comrades.

Ning Shu gave Lin Guodong a glare.

This was her first time encountering such a situation; it was so embarrassing.

Lin Guodong dared not look at her.

They had a long argument yesterday, mainly because it had been too long since they had been intimate.

Towards the end, she couldn’t take it anymore, but he hadn’t stopped.

Originally everything was fine; she even bought herself an ice cream stick.

But now, after her son mentioned it, she probably wouldn’t be in a good mood for a few days.

This won’t do.

After this incident, it might be difficult in the future.

He needed to behave well.

How to behave?

Suddenly, Lin Guodong had an idea.

Their family quarters had three rooms: the dining room on the far left, and their rooms in the middle and on the far right for the three children.

But if they moved the dining room to the middle and the children’s rooms to the far left, then even if there was some noise at night in the future, the dining room would act as a buffer, and the three children wouldn’t hear anything.

After thinking it through, Lin Guodong finally felt relieved.

When Ning Shu finished eating and went to the kitchen to put away the dishes, Lin Guodong quickly finished the remaining food in two or three bites and hurried after her. “Wife, I was wrong. I apologize.”

To live happily ever after, regardless of fault, an apology should be routine.

Ning Shu gave him a look. “Go away, don’t talk to me for the next few days.”

Seeing him reminded her of the embarrassing incident just now.

Lin Guodong bowed to Ning Shu. “Comrade Ning Shu, not only do I apologize, but I’ve also come up with a solution. This sort of thing will never happen again.”

A solution?

When Ning Shu heard this, she couldn’t help but ask, “You won’t do that sort of thing again in the future?”

She asked herself, but she didn’t believe it either.

Lin Guodong chuckled. “…Can you control yourself?”

Ning Shu rolled her eyes. “So what’s your solution?”

Lin Guodong replied, “After we wash the dishes, I’ll swap the rooms of the three kids with the dining room. That way, with the dining room in between, even if we make some noise, they won’t hear.”

Ning Shu was stunned.

She hadn’t expected such a solution.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to praise Lin Guodong for being smart or bieng dumb.

Men really do think fast when it comes to certain things.

However, when Lin Guodong returned with the three kids to wash the dishes and mentioned swapping their rooms, all three of them were puzzled.

“Dad, why do we need to swap rooms?” asked by Yibao

Erbao and Sanbao also looked at their dad.

Lin Guodong said, “Recently, your mom has been quite tired. She can’t sleep well at night and wakes up easily. As soon as you start sleep talking, she gets disturbed. If we swap your rooms with the dining room, even if you talk in your sleep, it won’t disturb your mom.”

He was clearly making up excuses with his eyes wide open.

Ning Shu heard his excuse and secretly gave him a thumbs up.

When it came to speaking, it had to be Lin Guodong; he could say such things so seriously.

Upon hearing their dad’s words, the three kids were puzzled again.

“Dad, do we really talk in our sleep?” Erbao asked first. “I’ve never heard myself doing that.”

Yibao was also curious, “Dad, what’s sleep talking?”

Lin Guodong explained, “Sleep talking is when you talk while sleeping. When you’re asleep, you don’t know that you’re talking. But some people sleep so deeply that they don’t hear others talking in their sleep. People like your mom, who have trouble sleeping, can hear it.”

Yibao said, “Okay then, let’s swap rooms.”

As obedient children, the three kids certainly didn’t want to disturb their mom.

Lin Guodong had indeed taken advantage of their filial piety to pass the blame onto them.

He was bullying them because they were young and naive.

So, Ning Shu went to take a nap, while Lin Guodong took the three kids to swap rooms.

There were quite a few things to move, and it took them the entire lunch break.

By the time they finished swapping rooms, Lin Guodong’s nap was also over, and the exhausted three kids, covered in mud, didn’t even think about napping.

When Ning Shu woke up, she woke the three kids up too, started checking their sugarcane observation diaries, circled areas where they needed improvement, and taught them how to write diaries.

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In the blink of an eye, the afternoon was almost over.

Suddenly, there was movement at the door.

A soldier was pushing a wheelchair, with a pale-faced man sitting in it.

Following behind them was Wang Yuhong.

When Wang Yuhong passed by Lin’s house, she stopped and, seeing someone at the door, called out, “Is Sister-in-law here?”

Ning Shu came out from the dining room, “Yes?”

Upon seeing Ning Shu, Wang Yuhong brought up the matter from earlier in the morning, “…You weren’t there this morning when I came. I’m not at ease with giving money to the kids. Can you give me the IOU ( I Owe You ) now?”

Her voice was still gentle, like a delicate flower, but her words were more straightforward now.

Ning Shu replied, “Wait a moment…”

She went back to her room to get the IOU, brought it to Wang Yuhong at the door, and then took the money for the bucket and tub from Wang Yuhong’s hands.

After taking back the IOU, Wang Yuhong breathed a sigh of relief. “Sister-in-law, I really appreciate your help yesterday with buying the bucket and tub. When I’m free, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

“Nonsense, I didn’t do much. It was harder for my husband to go out and buy things under the noon sun, and the kids helped you clean up,” Ning Shu replied, throwing in a sarcastic remark about the children who had helped with the cleaning.

She didn’t say much more to Wang Yuhong after that.

Some people, when conversations don’t click, don’t say more than half a sentence.

Wang Yuhong didn’t dare to say much either.

She had experienced Ning Shu’s toughness and carefully understood Ning Shu’s situation.

Ning Shu’s husband was a company commander; where would she dare to offend again? She quickly retreated.

The Next Day

Ning Shu woke up early, taking advantage of the morning sun before it got too hot, bringing her passbook and all her industrial coupons to go look at refrigerators today.

Although both refrigerators and bicycles were limited editions, bicycles sold well while refrigerators did not.

Buying a refrigerator these days was not only much more expensive than buying a bicycle but also came with additional expenses, particularly high electricity bills.

So not many people were buying refrigerators.

Therefore, Ning Shu was lucky.

When she arrived at the department store, they had refrigerators in stock.

“Comrade, are you interested in buying this refrigerator?” The salesperson was quite surprised to hear Ning Shu’s request—not because they looked down on her, but because refrigerators in this era were very expensive and hardly sold throughout the year.

She was genuinely taken aback. “This one costs 18 industrial coupons and 1300 yuan.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Can you deliver it to my home?” Ning Shu confirmed.

She had 22 industrial coupons with her, accumulated over the past two years—some from her work after the nursery issued them, some from Lin Guodong, and others exchanged with her by family members like Sun Li for different tickets.

The salesperson confirmed her request and replied, “Yes, we can deliver home appliances like refrigerators and televisions.”

My goodness, what kind of family is this woman from, actually coming to buy a refrigerator.

Ning Shu felt reassured knowing they could deliver it home.

However, upon hearing about televisions, she asked again, “Can I use industrial coupons for a television?”

The salesperson said, “Yes, you can. It would require 24 coupons.”

Ning Shu didn’t have 24 coupons, so she would have to go back and ask.

“When can you deliver the refrigerator? If I pay now, would it be convenient for delivery?” Ning Shu asked again.

If they could deliver now, she could ride back with them.