On the morning of New Year's Eve, Gu Qinghan woke up early. There was no morning training arranged by the flight team today, so Gu Qinghan didn't have to get up so early.
It was a winter morning in the north and the house was still a little dark. Gu Qinghan turned his head to look at Wen Nuan and the child who were sleeping inside. They were both sleeping inside.
Wen Nuan leaned slightly to one side, still holding his arm, breathing steadily. The child was also sleeping soundly, with his little hand clenched into a fist and placed next to his face. Because the child was wearing a lot of clothes and covered with a quilt and coat, his face was now flushed from sleep.
The quilt covering them had a big bulge. You could tell that it was the little feet of the kids, which were definitely resting on their warm waists.
Wen Nuan told him several times that the little guy's sleeping posture was getting worse and worse. Gu Qinghan woke up easily, and sometimes he had to go to the end of the bed to retrieve the child even in the middle of the night.
Gu Qinghan looked at the cute face of the little guy. Wen Nuan always laughed and said that the child and he looked like a pair. Li Daxiang and the others also said that the child looked like him when they came over.
However, Gu Qinghan felt that the child looked more like Wen Nuan, especially those big black eyes, which were also sparkling.
And her temper is actually quite similar to Wen Nuan. Sometimes when things don’t go her way, she gets angry and refuses to let people hug her. She just turns her little face away and ignores people.
Wen Nuan sometimes had a bad temper, especially when she was taking Chinese medicine. Many times he insisted on watching her finish the medicine. When Wen Nuan went to sleep, she deliberately turned her body to Lele's side and faced him with the back of her head.
But now that she was asleep, the woman was hugging his arm with one foot stretched between his calves. Her long hair covered the side of her face, making it a little messy.
Gu Qinghan reached out and helped her push the fallen hair back behind her head. Maybe it felt a little itchy, but Wen Nuan's tightly closed eyes trembled slightly, and the hand that was originally holding his arm also had the consciousness to pull away.
Gu Qinghan simply moved towards her, hoping that she could sleep more peacefully, but the woman turned sideways, turned over, hugged the child and continued to sleep.
*
When Wen Nuan woke up, Gu Qinghan was no longer asleep. According to a man's biological clock, he must have gotten up before dawn.
Seeing that the child was still sleeping, Wen Nuan got up and washed up, but when she came out to the living room, she didn't see Gu Qinghan. However, there were a few steamed buns heating on the stove, and the snow in the yard had been cleared.
She looked out of the glass window. Maybe because it was still early, the weather outside seemed a little gloomy. However, the weather was similar yesterday, just a little gloomy in the morning. By noon, the sun would probably come out.
Maybe because it was New Year's Eve, the comrades in the family compound woke up relatively early, and now they could hear the sound of children talking outside.
After washing up, Wen Nuan was planning to have breakfast and then boil water to kill a chicken. The pig stomach that she had received from the kitchen on the 28th of the lunar year had been cleaned in advance. After killing the chicken, she had to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner early.
Although they are from the south, they should follow the local customs. Wen Nuan agreed with Gu Qinghan last night to make some dumplings together in the afternoon. Thinking of so many things to do, Wen Nuan felt that she could not delay any longer and had to start getting busy.
Just as she walked into the kitchen, she heard the footsteps of Gu Qinghan coming back. She saw the man holding two frozen buckets of water and placing them in the yard.
Wen Nuan looked at the two buckets curiously, then walked over and asked him, "Why did you bring back two buckets of ice?"
The outdoor areas of North City are natural refrigerators. Anything thrown outside in the yard will freeze on its own, and there is no need to worry about the food spoiling.
Ever since the ideological education class, no children in the family compound dared to steal anymore. Everyone just put the meat in their own yard without having to hide it back home.
Moreover, coal is still in short supply these days, and everyone is eager to save more for use during the late spring cold snap.
Who still brings ice home? Isn’t that a waste of coal
"I just went to the group and saw everyone was making ice lanterns, so I brought two back as well." Gu Qinghan walked into the living room, opened the chest of drawers, took out some tools, then moved a stool, put it in the yard, and prepared to start working.
Wen Nuan saw someone making ice lanterns in the staff quarters yesterday, and she thought about telling Gu Qinghan about it when she got home, but she went to bed early last night and forgot about it.
"That's fine. Hanging a lantern at home will make it more festive. I saw that people have colorful ones, which look very beautiful." Wen Nuan took a steamed bun, tore off a small piece and put it into her mouth. She also tore off a little piece for the man and handed it to his mouth.
Gu Qinghan had already eaten breakfast, but when his wife fed him, he opened his mouth and ate the steamed buns: "I don't think we can make this in other colors."
Since Gu Qinghan joined the army, he has celebrated the New Year with his comrades in the army every year. However, the grown men celebrated it rather roughly. In the past, they would go to see a performance or a movie on New Year's Eve, and everyone would gather in the cafeteria or at the homes of family members and celebrate the holiday.
But just now I saw my comrades in the regiment making ice lanterns. A group of young men in their teens and early twenties were all very happy. Gu Qinghan saw the anticipation for the New Year on their faces.
Thinking that this was their family's first New Year together in North City, he asked Erhu and the others for two ice buckets, intending to hang two ice lanterns at home.
He thought Wen Nuan would definitely like this thing.
Warmth is not that high a pursuit, this transparent ice lamp looks very beautiful, so he smiled and said: "This is also very beautiful, when you are done, we will light a lamp and try it out."
But Wen Nuan thought about it and said, "But now it's daytime, I don't think we can see any effect, so we should light it tonight instead of wasting the candles."
"You can order it anytime you like." Gu Qinghan focused on the ice bucket in his hand and looked around carefully to see if the ice lantern inside had taken shape.
Wen Nuan finished the steamed bun in her hand and planned to do some work while Le Le was still asleep, so she asked, "By the way, is this ice lantern difficult? Do you need help?"
Gu Qinghan didn't even raise his head: "No, it will be done soon, you have breakfast first, and I will kill the chicken after I fix this lamp."
"Then I'll prepare the fillings for the dumplings this afternoon. If you need help, just call me." Wen Nuan took two steamed buns and stuffed one of them into Gu Qinghan's mouth.
*
Gu Qinghan quickly finished making the ice lantern, and the water that was warm on the stove was almost boiling.
Because the chicken had never been killed before, she was responsible for holding the chicken's feet and wings so that Gu Qinghan would not have to move around when cutting the chicken's neck. The chicken blood was placed in a large bowl with a little salt in it, but the weather in North City was so cold that the chicken blood solidified in an instant.
After slaughtering the chicken, Gu Qinghan put it directly into a wooden barrel, and then plucked the chicken feathers in a few seconds with hot water.
The big, white and tender fat chicken was prepared. It had been a long time since I had tasted the warmth of chicken, and I had completely forgotten the fear of killing the chicken just now. Now all I had left was the anticipation for the chicken.
Then Wen Nuan chopped the dumpling stuffing, and Gu Qinghan was in charge of kneading the dough. When Gu Qinghan came back in the afternoon, they were ready to make dumplings.
Gu Qinghan is a regimental-level cadre. Today he has to attend a meeting in the political commissar's office. It is estimated that the meeting is to discuss arranging programs for those soldiers who did not go home for the New Year. In the past, Gu Qinghan basically had no time to go home during the New Year.
I heard from Zhao Wuzhu before that when Gu Qinghan was in the army of G Province, he would have a lot of tasks to do during the Chinese New Year. However, there are no arrangements this year. It may be because the flights in North City depend on the weather, and the weather has been sometimes good and sometimes bad recently, so he has nothing to do during the Chinese New Year.
Before Gu Qinghan left, he swept the house inside and out. Wen Nuan said that after pasting window paper-cuts, they could no longer sweep the floor, and had to wait until the second day of the new year to sweep the floor, because sweeping the floor has the bad meaning of "sweeping away wealth". However, feudal superstitions were prohibited in recent years, so Wen Nuan gave a subtle reminder.
The furniture and roof windows in the house had been cleaned when they came to North City. Wen Nuan also wiped the windows with Gu Qinghan on the 28th day of the lunar year, so the house was relatively clean now.
"Then I'll wait for you to come back before pasting the window paper-cuts." Wen Nuan hadn't started cutting yet. She planned to go to Sister Guihua to ask for advice before cutting.
Gu Qinghan took the military coat and cap and nodded, "Okay, if it's inconvenient to bring Lele with you, you can wait until I come back."
The little guy is much more sensible now. When he saw Gu Qinghan wearing a coat and a military cap, little Radar immediately knew that he was going out. He quickly stretched out his little arms towards Gu Qinghan, shouting "Ah ah", and wanted to go out and play with him.
Because today is New Year's Eve, Wen Nuan just washed the child, tied two small pigtails on her hair, and pinned two small red clips on her hair. She also wore a festive red floral cotton jacket, which made her round face even cuter.
Gu Qinghan saw that the child wanted to go out with him again, but there was no way to take her with him at the moment, so he reached out and poked her little face: "Wait until Dad is done with his work, I will take you out to play."
The little girl could only pick out certain words to listen to. Maybe when she heard the word "play", she excitedly reached out to Gu Qinghan, and Wen Nuan almost couldn't hold her anymore.
Wen Nuan patted the child's butt and said, "Your father is busy with work and is not going to take you out to play. I will take you to Sister Guihua's place to cut paper-cuts later."
Wen Nuan stood at the door holding Lele, who had just eaten a bun, and waved to Gu Qinghan, then went back to the living room.
*
Not long after Gu Qinghan left, Wen Nuan went to Sister Guihua's house with red paper.
The person who opened the door was Zhang Guihua's mother-in-law Wang Xiaoxia. Wang Xiaoxia had met Wen Nuan several times, but they had never chatted much.
Wen Nuan looked at her and smiled: "Aunt, I want to ask Sister Guihua for advice on cutting window paper-cuts. Is she home?"
Seeing that she was holding Lele, Wang Xiaoxia was also very polite and said with a smile: "Yes, yes, she is inside. We are also preparing to cut paper-cuts, so we can do it together."
Sister Guihua was sitting on the kang in the room. When she saw Wen Nuan coming, she got off the kang and went to greet her: "Little Sister Nuan, you are here?"
She saw the little one in her warm embrace and loved him so much, "Le Le is here too? She is so cute today. Is this little cotton-padded jacket new? It's so pretty."
Lele also liked Sister Guihua very much. When he saw her wanting to hug him, he quickly stretched out his hands for a hug.
Sister Guihua held the heavy Lele in her arms, and her expression changed. She smiled and said, "This little guy has become heavier. Look how well your mother takes care of you."
Wang Xiaoxia was pouring tea over there. When she heard the words, she turned her head to look at the chubby child and curled her lips.
It was also the first time that Wang Xiaoxia saw such a white and chubby little girl. She looked just like the little girl raised by a landlord in the past. One could tell at a glance how carefully she was raised. It was such a waste to give her a new cotton-padded jacket at such a young age!
Wang Xiaoxia didn't show any emotion, handed Wen Nuan a cup of tea, and said, "Yes, I can tell you've taken good care of your daughter. She must still be breastfeeding, right?"
Since they were all women, Wen Nuan was not embarrassed at all. She nodded and took the enamel cup: "Thank you, auntie."
Sister Guihua put Lele on her kang and let her play by herself. Then they took out red paper and started cutting paper.
Wen Nuan had never cut these things before. In later times, window decorations and couplets can be bought for a few dollars, so she bought ready-made ones every year.
But it is quite interesting to learn how to cut paper-cuts from Sister Guihua and Wang Xiaoxia. Although Lele sometimes comes to make trouble, the little girl will be much more obedient if you give her the cut scraps to play with.
But Wen Nuan also had to be on guard against the little guy putting red paper into his mouth.
Wang Xiaoxia looked at Wen Nuan's nervous look and smiled, "Hey sister, are you planning to give your child another brother? This little kid is quite lonely, and having more companions will make the house more lively. Look at our house, it's so cold and deserted during the Chinese New Year, not even a single person talking, it's really uncomfortable. A house needs more people to be lively, and I really like lively things."
After Wang Xiaoxia said this, Sister Guihua's expression instantly drooped. Wen Nuan guessed that Wang Xiaoxia must have spoken in such a sarcastic way in front of Sister Guihua many times.
Wen Nuan stopped what she was doing and smiled: "Don't consider it for now. The child is so young now, I can't take care of him."
Then Wen Nuan said to Wang Xiaoxia, "Aunt, there are many military wives and aunts in our family compound, and they all come from all over the country. Aunt, if you like lively places, you can actually go out for a walk and meet many comrades who can chat with you."
Wang Xiaoxia looked unmoved. She snorted and said, "No matter how nice this outsider is to you, he is still an outsider. Your child is not small anymore. If you get pregnant now, by the time the next one is born, this one will be almost two years old and can walk around. Listen to your aunt's advice and have a few more while you are still young. Otherwise, it will be difficult to have more when you are older!"
Seeing Sister Guihua's head lowered, Wen Nuan knew she was upset, so she looked at Wang Xiaoxia and said, "Aunt, what you said is true. Giving birth is not a one-person thing. Not to mention the age, even if the age is young, if one of them has problems, it will be useless."
Wang Xiaoxia felt uncomfortable with Wen Nuan's words. Why did she feel like he was saying that there was something wrong with her son
Thinking that it was New Year's Day, she was in a difficult position to speak, and immediately dropped the scissors in her hand, "You guys cut them, I'll go see if the Chinese medicine is ready."
Seeing Wang Xiaoxia walk out of the living room, Wen Nuan reached out and patted Zhang Guihua's hand, comforting her: "Sister-in-law Guihua, don't listen to your mother-in-law. If there is a problem, let's solve it. Today is New Year's Eve, it's the New Year, be happy."
Sister Guihua turned her face away, wiped her tears with the back of her hand, and muttered, "You don't know how many strange soups and medicines she has made for me since Lao Zhou's mother came to the family compound. I have vomited several times, but she still forced me to drink them. Forget that, she still speaks with thorns all day long, just to say that I am an old hen that can't lay eggs!"
Sister Guihua cursed: "At worst, I can just pack up and go back to my parents' home. I can't stand this!"
Wen Nuan comforted Sister Guihua for a few words, but she didn't know whether Gu Qinghan could ask Doctor Li for help, and it was not easy to give her a definite answer at this time, so she comforted her: "It's okay, maybe it will take a little fate. Don't let your mother-in-law rush to seek medical treatment. You should know how to refuse some medicines that cannot be taken. Don't let your body not be adjusted well by then, and make yourself weak instead."
Wang Xiaoxia had only been here for a few days, and Sister Guihua's appearance and spirit had obviously deteriorated, and she looked much more haggard.
It's really a suffering.
Sister Osmanthus nodded: "Yes, I understand."
Then Sister Guihua got off the bed and ran to the chest of drawers in the room, and took out several kinds of dried seafood, including dried abalone, dried squid, dried shrimp, kelp...
Then he stuffed it into Wen Nuan's hand and said, "This is some specialty that my mother-in-law brought from her hometown. You are so good at cooking, take it back and study how to make it. Anyway, I have been tired of eating it since I was a child. I have no appetite these days, and I don't want to eat these fishy things."
Wen Nuan took the dried seafood that Sister Guihua had packed in the bag and nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, Sister Guihua."
"Why should we thank each other? If you like it, I will ask my elder brother and second brother to send more." Sister Guihua talked to Wen Nuan for a while, and her mood finally improved.
But after sending Wen Nuan and Le Le out, she started to feel depressed again when she thought about being alone with her mother-in-law again.
Wang Xiaoxia looked at Wen Nuan's departing back, curled her lips, and muttered, "It's a pity that you gave birth to a girl, otherwise you could let that fat baby press down on the kang for you and Jianshe, maybe you could get pregnant with a fat boy soon."
Sister Guihua frowned when she heard this. She couldn't help but burst out with the resentment she had been holding for many days: "No, you are also a woman. Do you still look down on girls?"
Wang Xiaoxia was speechless after being criticized, and then she explained guiltily: "I didn't say anything bad about her."
However, Zhang Guihua knew that she favored boys over girls, and couldn't help but scare her, saying, "Also, Mom, what you just said is feudal superstition. Don't say it again outside the family compound. Be careful of being caught by the security department. Then even Old Zhou won't be able to protect you."
When Wang Xiaoxia heard about the security department, she was so scared that she kept looking out the window and couldn't help muttering: "I said I don't like coming to the family compound anymore. There are so many rules. I'm scared! I won't say more..."
Zhang Guihua felt a little relieved when she saw Wang Xiaoxia was so frightened that she couldn't recover for a long time.
But when she smelled the Chinese medicine that was still being boiled at home, she wanted to escape. When would this day end
*
After Wen Nuan returned home, she soaked a few abalones, intending to put some of them into the pork tripe and chicken soup later, which would make the soup richer.
Not long after, Gu Qinghan came back with two couplets: "Political Commissar Li wrote two couplets for us. We will post them together later."
Wen Nuan looked at the two couplets, which were written in black on red paper, in a very beautiful running script. It seemed that the political commissar was a well-educated man, and his handwriting was very beautiful.
Wen Nuan looked outside the yard and said, "We'll put the shorter ones at the entrance to the yard, and the longer one at the gate."
Gu Qinghan looked at the two pairs of couplets in his hand and nodded: "Okay, let's do as you say. Then let's put up the couplets now?"
When the little one sees something colorful, she wants to grab it, but Wen Nuan carried her on her back to make the work easier.
The child was a little drowsy just now, but after hearing Gu Qinghan's voice, he was energetic enough to continue playing for a few hours.
The paper used for the couplets was quite thin. Seeing the little girl trying to grab it, Gu Qinghan said to her, "Don't grab it. I'll let you paste it together later."
Wen Nuan found some paste, applied a thick layer on the back of the couplet, and handed it to Gu Qinghan.
Gu Qinghan was tall, so he didn't even need a stool to paste the couplets.
After pasting it, he took Lele's little hand and pressed hard on the couplet to make the corners of the couplet tighter.
The little guy's hands were pressed on the red paper, and were also stained with a layer of pink, but after being pressed by Gu Qinghan, he was so happy that he wanted to jump up again.
After pasting the two couplets, Wen Nuan took out the window paper-cuts she had received from Sister Guihua, smeared some paste on them, and handed them to Gu Qinghan.
Looking at the window paper-cuts that Wen Nuan handed over, he immediately asked curiously, "Did you learn this from Sister Gui Hua?"
"How do you know?" Wen Nuan didn't say that she had been to Sister Guihua's place.
Gu Qinghan pointed to the abalone soaking in the kitchen and said, "Those things should also be sent by Sister Guihua, right?"
"Yes, there are also some dried shrimps, dried squids and so on. They gave us a big bag." Wen Nuan was saying this when Sister Juxiang came over.
Deng Juxiang saw Wen Nuan and his wife putting up the couplets, and said with a smile: "Your deputy group leader Gu can help with some work, but my old Zhao only knows how to eat!"
Then Deng Juxiang handed the things in her hand to Wen Nuan and said, "By the way, Xiao Nuan, our Lao Zhao got a pair of pig intestines, and my children hated them very much. As soon as Lao Zhao brought them home, he disappeared. I thought that you are a great cook, Xiao Nuan, so I brought them to you."
Wen Nuan was just worrying about not getting the pig intestines, but unexpectedly Sister Juxiang brought them to her. She hurriedly said, "Then I'd like to thank you, Sister Juxiang."
Sister Juxiang smiled and said, "I'm glad you don't mind. Why are you thanking me for anything?"
After Sister Juxiang left, Wen Nuan said to Gu Qinghan, "When we have cooked the chicken soup, we should also send some to Sister Guihua and Sister Juxiang. Otherwise, it would be bad to take other people's things for free."
Gu Qinghan nodded, "It's up to you to decide."