Erni had no choice but to retract her hand, wipe it with a handkerchief, and stare at the sesame candy with resentment.
Yingbao pretended not to notice and asked, "When are you due?"
"Early March, the beginning of spring." Erni touched her belly: "Xiaoshui said that he would ask for leave in advance to go back."
Erni's husband, Wang Xiaoshui, was the head of the military guard station in the county, and worked under Jiang Sanlang.
Although it is not a formal official position, he can basically do whatever he wants in the county.
With the financial support of his elder brother Wang Dashan, he also bought a house in the county town.
However, his parents were reluctant to leave their hometown, so they continued to live in Dongchen Village with his younger brothers and sisters. Erni also had to take care of her biological mother, Leng, so she returned to Dongchen Village after she became pregnant.
Because Yingbao was coming back, I came here specially from my hometown.
Yingbao checked her pulse and nodded: "You are strong, but you can't ride in a carriage and bump around."
Erni smiled and said, "It's nothing. My mother-in-law has laid out five layers of mattresses in the carriage."
The two chatted for a while and then talked about Chen Zhao and Xu Bao.
Now Xu Bao is thirteen years old and has been studying in the village school. The school has recruited an old scholar to teach and take over Li Xu's job.
"That Xubao has been living with his second sister. He helps his second sister take care of the children after school. You may not know that Chen Shengren has a daughter who is almost three years old."
Erni started talking nonstop, telling Yingbao everything about Dongchen Village: "Mr. Chen Zhao is pretty good, very honest, selling tofu at the market, but her mother-in-law is a big deal, coming to ask her son and daughter-in-law for money from time to time, and every time they make a scene."
"Also, Master Zhang Meng went to Yuzhou, and Chuchu went with her two children. It is said that Master Zhang Meng was recruited into the army by Chu Yan and became the chief instructor. Chuchu's brother Chu Qing also went with him. It is estimated that he will never come back."
Yingbao knew that the imperial court had deployed troops on all four sides, led by Chu Yan, Zhou Fu, and two other generals. Chu Yan took his sister and brother-in-law with him to give them support.
She suddenly thought of her sister Wen Shu, who had been exiled to another place with Li Xu. She wondered if Madam Wen and her husband were with them.
At this time, the second aunt Yan Ru came in with her youngest son and put him next to Wu Yang: "Play well with your brother, and don't go out to pick up firecrackers, or you will get your hands blown up."
Little Jiang Bao is fair and clean, with picturesque eyes and eyebrows, and is as pretty as a little girl.
He blinked and looked at Yingbao, then at Wuyang who was drooling, and picked up the handkerchief his mother had given him to help Wuyang wipe it.
Erni laughed and said, "Look, he loves to be clean, not like a country kid at all. When Huzi was little, he wanted to lie on the ground and roll around. Xiaobaozi has been like a beauty since he was little. He refuses to use his hands to support himself when he falls. He always gets his face bruised. There are still marks on his face now."
Yingbao looked carefully and saw that there were small calluses on Jiang Bao's nose and cheeks where the skin was broken.
"Don't believe her nonsense. Bao'er was standing on a bench and then jumped down and hit his head." Yan Ru glared at Er Ni in a reproachful manner: "You just tease your brother."
Erni covered her mouth and laughed.
Jiang Bao wiped it away without any harm, threw the handkerchief off the kang in disgust, and then spoke to him: "What's your name?"
Wuyang blinked at his little brother and unconsciously put his hands into his mouth.
Jiang Bao took his little hand away and said seriously, "You can't eat your hands. There are bugs in them."
He let out a cry of "I'm fine", waved his little hand, and continued to put the food in his mouth.
Jiang Bao pouted and said with disgust: "You are so sloppy!"
Wuyang took out his hand and slapped Jiang Bao on the shoulder, almost hitting him in the face.
Jiang Bao got angry and pushed Wuyang down.
An Rou, who had been watching from the side, was a little nervous. Just as she was about to come over to hug him, Ying Bao stopped her: "Don't interfere too much when children are playing."
She didn't want Wuyang to become spoiled.
An Rou had no choice but to step back and watch the two children.
Wuyang didn't cry when he was pushed down. He turned over and sat up again, looking at Jiang Bao, as if thinking about something.
Jiang Bao was a little embarrassed at this time, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his sister and mother didn't say anything to him. Then he said to Wuyang sincerely: "I'm sorry, I'm your brother, I shouldn't have pushed you."
Wuyang blinked and suddenly called out, "Brother!"
"Hey." Jiang Bao was very happy and came over and said, "Brother, let me teach you how to count to nine nines."
Then he clapped his hands and sang: "Nineteen twenty-nine, we can't touch each other when we are called;
Thirty-nine twenty-seven, playing the flute at the fence;
Forty-nine thirty-six, sleeping at night is like sleeping outdoors;
5945, every family has a salt tiger
Sixty-nine fifty-four, warm air comes out of the mouth;
Seventy-nine sixty-three, pedestrians carry their clothes;
Eighty-nine-seventy-two, cats and dogs seek shade;
Ninety-nine eighty-one, the poor man has suffered enough, and now he wants to stretch his legs and sleep, and there are mosquitoes, gnats and fleas everywhere! "
Wu Yang looked confused, but that didn't stop him from imitating Jiang Bao by clapping his hands and mumbling happily.
Seeing this, An Rou finally felt relieved.
After finishing their meal in Meihua Lane, Yingbao and Wei Zhan said goodbye and returned to the specialty shop.
Wuyang was held in An Rou's arms. As soon as he walked out of the yard, he suddenly burst into tears and pointed his little hand at Jiang Bao.
Yingbao coaxed, "Can we come back next time?"
Wuyang shook his head like a rattle and called his brother repeatedly.
Yan Ru smiled and said, "Then why don't you go home with your brother?"
Wuyang nodded repeatedly.
"Oh my, this child can understand what I say." Yan Ru exclaimed: "Is he already one year old?"
Yingbao: “Just turned one year old.” Actually, not really. Wuyang should be around eleven months old.
Seeing Wuyang desperately reaching out his hand to Yanru, she had no choice but to say to her second aunt, "Why don't you and Jiang Bao come with me to play? We have to go to my aunt's place tomorrow anyway, so it's a good opportunity to go together."
Yan Ru nodded: "That's fine. I'll go call my little sister over."
Not long after, Jiang Xiaomei arrived, followed by Jiang Cheng's little daughter Jiang Shan.
Several children squeezed into Yingbao's carriage. Wuyang was so happy that he tried his best to jump between Jiang Bao and Jiang Xiaomei.
Yingbao couldn't persuade him, so she had to stuff him in with the other children.
When they got home, Yingbao simply put the children on the kang to play, and then she lay down beside them to rest.
Jiang Xiaomei is only six or seven years old this year. She is very good at coaxing children. In a short while, she coaxed both Jiang Bao and Jiang Shan to sleep, and she herself fell asleep beside them.
An Rou covered the children with quilts and then put a blanket on the princess.
They slept until the evening and woke up in the evening. Mudan, Anrou and others washed and fed the children.
Wuyang was very happy. He held Jiang Bao with one hand and Jiang Shan with the other, muttering something to himself.
Chunniang and Yanru walked in, and seeing the children playing harmoniously, they stopped paying attention to them and told Yingbao about going to their aunt's house.
"We're going to your aunt's house tomorrow, so don't bring the children with you." Chun Niang said, "Zhang Yukun's family also has several children, and if they start making a fuss, it will be hard to handle."
Yingbao: "I didn't intend to take them with me. I originally planned to let Anrou and Xinghua look after them at home."
"That's good. Bao'er, you don't know that Zhang Yukun not only moved his family to your aunt's house, but also brought his concubine and her daughter with him. Alas, I don't know what he was thinking." Chun Niang said angrily, "Your aunt can't do anything about them."