After the family had put up the couplets, Wen Nuan blanched the thawed pork belly with rice wine, ginger and scallions, cleaned it and cut it into slices, stir-fried it with ginger and peppercorns, and finally added water and some Codonopsis pilosula, lotus seeds and red dates to stew it.
After stewing the pig's stomach, Wen Nuan waved to Gu Qinghan, who was holding her child and watching the ice lanterns, and said, "Qinghan, help me chop half a chicken and save the other half to cook on the second day of the New Year."
"Okay, wait a moment." Gu Qinghan put the little guy back into the truck bed. Before he let go, the little guy made a crying expression, as if he was very aggrieved.
Wen Nuan glanced at the child and gave her a rattle that Gu Qinghan had bought earlier. "Play with it first. Your dad will play with you later."
Who would have thought that the little guy would take the rattle, look at it, and then throw it directly to the ground. It seemed that he had a bad temper.
But Wen Nuan didn't tolerate her temper, so she stuffed the rattle back into her hands and pinched her nose: "Stingy."
Gu Qinghan had strong hands and chopped the chicken in no time. Then he asked, "Do we pour the chicken directly into the pot?"
"No, I'll do it later. Put the remaining half of the chicken outside in the yard to freeze it, and we'll eat it on the second day of the New Year." The soup hadn't turned into a milky white color yet, and the pig's stomach was tougher, so it took a little longer to cook than the chicken.
Wen Nuan planned to save half of the chicken and see how Gu Qinghan wanted to eat it later, because half a chicken plus a whole pig's stomach was enough for a big pot. There were only three of them, and Lele was still young and couldn't eat much, so it seemed a bit of a waste to use all of it to make soup.
Gu Qinghan had no objection when he heard this. He took the remaining half chicken and walked out of the yard, then hid the things.
Although there is no petty theft anymore, you still have to be careful about small animals that may dirty the place.
At eleven o'clock, Wen Nuan cooked some pork ribs and egg noodles, and the family ate a little.
After finishing the noodles, Wen Nuan and Gu Qinghan started making dumplings. Since they were given a few extra pounds of pork, Wen Nuan simply asked Gu Qinghan to chop some more meat. They planned to make several different fillings, including cabbage and pork, sauerkraut and pork, and radish and pork, and finally make one with egg and vegetarian filling.
Gu Qinghan was responsible for rolling the dough, while Wen Nuan was responsible for pinching it. The two of them worked together and were able to wrap the dumplings quite quickly.
The little girl usually took a nap at noon every day, but when she saw Wen Nuan and Gu Qinghan making dumplings, she didn't feel sleepy at all and insisted on coming over to join in the fun.
Gu Qinghan gave her some dough and let her play with it by herself. After Lele got the dough, she clumsily started to pinch it with her little hands and had a lot of fun playing by herself.
It was past two o'clock before they finished wrapping all the dumplings.
Thinking that Lele hadn't taken a nap yet, Wen Nuan glanced at the child who was struggling with the dough, and said to Gu Qinghan, "I'm going to take care of the pig intestines that Sister Juxiang brought over later. You can take care of the child to sleep today."
Wen Nuan also has the habit of taking a nap, but just now Gu Qinghan came back from a meeting and said that there would be a Spring Festival Gala performance in the auditorium tonight. Sisters Guihua and Juxiang have already made an appointment with her to go there early tonight, so Wen Nuan does not plan to take a nap.
She had to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner early and go to the show after dinner.
"No problem. I'll carry Lele on my back for a while, and then put her in the bathroom after she falls asleep. I'll help too." After Gu Qinghan finished speaking, he handed the baby carrier to Wen Nuan and asked her to help carry Lele on his back.
The little one has always liked to be carried on someone's back, but since the addition of complementary food, Lele has become heavier, so Wen Nuan doesn't like to carry her very much, and will only carry her on someone's back when it is inconvenient to do her daily work.
At this moment, the little guy saw Gu Qinghan taking the babysitter, kicked his feet excitedly a few times, and laughed happily.
Wen Nuan put the child on Gu Qinghan's back and adjusted the baby carrier: "You may want to carry her for a walk, otherwise this little guy won't want to sleep."
"Okay, help me put Lele's blanket on the back, I'll take her out for a walk." Gu Qinghan had never carried Lele on his back, so he could only ask Wen Nuan to help adjust the straps.
Wen Nuan stood in front of him. Because Gu Qinghan was too tall, it was a little difficult for Han to adjust the straps, so she said, "Come down a little bit, it's hard for me to do it."
Gu Qinghan smiled, then lowered his head a little, so that his line of sight was almost level with Wen Nuan, but still a little higher than hers.
He saw the flour on Wen Nuan's face and stretched out his thumb to help her wipe it clean: "Can you do it? Otherwise, I'll try it myself."
Wen Nuan twisted the strap twice, then stuffed the remaining part in and locked it, and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's done. If the little one doesn't want to sleep, bring her back. I'll fix the pig intestines and coax her to sleep for a while."
After thinking for a while, Wen Nuan asked again: "By the way, do you want to invite Da Xiang and Er Hu to come over for dinner tonight? We've made so many dumplings anyway."
"No need. The comrades in the kitchen have already prepared a New Year's Eve dinner for everyone. Don't worry, we've hunted enough wild boars this year and they will be able to eat and drink well." Gu Qinghan was very happy that Wen Nuan treated his subordinates like family members and did not complain that they ate too much.
I still remember when I had just joined the army and was still a rookie, I was ignorant and took other people's polite words as an invitation, so I had lunch at a sister-in-law's house. Later, I accidentally heard the sister-in-law say that he had eaten up all the food at home and would not be able to cook for the next week.
Although he was ignorant at that time, Gu Qinghan also knew that every household was short of food. He ate two steamed buns that time, but he didn't know that this would make others unable to cook for a week.
Or maybe the other person doesn't really like you eating at their house.
However, Gu Qinghan knew that Wen Nuan was not just being polite. During the winter solstice, she not only invited Daxiang, Erhu and others to come over for dinner, but also Daxiang helped to collect dry firewood and gave him some snacks to take back to the dormitory.
Wen Nuan never mentioned these things afterwards. She was sincerely grateful for their help, and she also felt sorry for the soldiers who couldn't go home to reunite with their families during the holidays, so she invited them to come over for dinner.
Gu Qinghan thought for a moment and said, "Since we have made so many dumplings, we can send some to the comrades in our regiment who are staying in the army for the New Year, and let the comrades in the kitchen team give them some extra food."
Wen Nuan smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll get you a basin so you don't have to squash the dumplings."
Having said that, he turned back to the chest of drawers to find a larger bowl, then took out some dumplings with various fillings, filling the whole bowl.
Wen Nuan put the bowl on the table and smiled: "You have flight crew meals anyway, and the food at home is enough for Lele and me. Let your comrades have a good meal during the New Year."
Gu Qinghan suddenly stretched out his hand and hugged Wen Nuan into his arms, "Thank you."
"Warm, thank you."
Wen Nuan looked at the other person and smiled, "I'm your wife, why are you being so polite to me?"
Afterwards, Wen Nuan went back to the room, took out the scarf she had knitted for him before, and walked up to him, raised her toes, and wrapped the scarf around him twice. "I forgot to ask you to put on your coat first. You are only wearing a cotton-padded jacket now, and I don't know if it's warm enough. Put on the scarf."
"Okay, then I'll take it first." Gu Qinghan looked down at the scarf, and the corners of his lips curved slightly into a beautiful arc.
"Well, go and come back quickly, don't catch a cold."
Wen Nuan looked at Le Le lying on Gu Qinghan's back again, tidied her blanket, and said to her, "Go to bed quickly. If you don't take a nap at noon, you won't be able to see the performance tonight."
The little guy smiled, stared at his feet excitedly, and said "ah--", and it was unclear whether he wanted to sleep or not.
Watching the man carrying the child out, Wen Nuan was not idle either. She quickly took the pig intestines that Sister Juxiang had brought over and prepared to make a dry pot pig intestines.
However, this pair of pig intestines is very long. After washing it several times, I plan to chop it in half for braising. The braising sauce can also be mixed with rice, which is very delicious.
*
Gu Qinghan over there carried the little guy on his back and led the regiment forward. Many military comrades in the regiment saw this scene and thought they had seen it wrong.
This deputy commander Gu, who usually looks so cold that he can freeze the Chunhua River outside the troops, is now carrying a baby on his back
Everyone was almost shocked, thinking that they were seeing things, but after rubbing their eyes hard, they realized that they were not seeing things.
The deputy captain, Gu, who usually scolded them, was carrying a baby on his back.
Someone said: "I don't know if it's an illusion, but I feel like there's a strange sense of kindness on Deputy Head Gu's face..."
"Maybe... fatherly love?"
"I don't believe it. Deputy Captain Gu has no love at all..."
Moreover, the little baby was very well-behaved. She wrapped her whole body in a big red blanket, leaving only her chubby, white and tender face exposed. Her big black eyes were curiously looking at the soldier comrades who were also looking at her.
Sometimes she would giggle at these soldiers, which was so cute that people couldn't help but look at her a few more times.
Li Daxiang saw this and ran forward and asked, "Deputy Captain Gu, is there something you want to deal with? You can just call me. Why did you carry Lele over here in such a cold weather?"
Compared to the curiosity of others, he was no longer surprised after seeing Gu Qinghan feeding the child and cutting his nails. Now he was more worried about whether there was any emergency.
Gu Qinghan had already noticed the surprised expressions of his subordinates, but he didn't want to pay attention to them, so he handed the bowl of dumplings to Li Daxiang: "Your sister-in-law made them, and she said they were for you to have as a snack."
Li Daxiang was slightly stunned, then took the basin and said, "Well, on behalf of the brothers of the 74th Regiment, I would like to thank my sister-in-law."
Then he added: "Thank you, Deputy Head Gu as well."
"Yeah." Gu Qinghan paused, "You guys have worked hard too."
Li Daxiang smiled and said sincerely: "It's not hard, it's not hard. Deputy Head Gu, please also say hello to my sister-in-law for us and wish her a happy Spring Festival."
The two chatted awkwardly for a few sentences, then Gu Qinghan leaned over, glanced at the little guy behind him, and asked Li Daxiang: "Please help me check if the child is asleep."
Li Daxiang looked at the child behind Gu Qinghan. Lele opened his big black eyes, met Li Daxiang's eyes, laughed, and shouted "Ah".
Gu Qinghan: “…”
"Okay, you guys should eat early today. There's a performance in the auditorium tonight. Let's go watch it together, brothers."
Li Daxiang nodded: "Okay, got it."
As soon as Gu Qinghan left, his comrades in the regiment gathered around and looked at the dumplings Li Daxiang was holding. "Did Deputy Regiment Commander Gu send this?"
Li Daxiang nodded: "Deputy Captain Gu and his sister-in-law gave it to us."
"Was that really our Deputy Captain Gu?"
Li Daxiang kicked him and said, "You stinky boy, are you blind?"
Everyone laughed out loud, but they still couldn't believe it.
*
Over there in the warmth of home, the pork tripe and chicken soup has been prepared, and the pig intestines to be braised are also being cooked. The soft pig intestines have been soaked and cooked into a rich brown color. The soup is thick and fragrant, and with a few dried chilies, it is even more fragrant.
While the braised pork intestines were cooking, Wen Nuan took out some sauerkraut, intending to make the remaining half into dry-pot pork intestines later.
After getting the sauerkraut, Wen Nuan remembered that Gu Qinghan had brought back lamb chops before. However, it seemed that there were enough dishes tonight. In addition to dumplings, there were also braised spare ribs, a pot of pork tripe and chicken soup, braised pork intestines and dry pot pork intestines. It seemed that she could not eat so much.
It’s better to save the precious meat and eat it slowly.
By the time Gu Qinghan returned home, Wen Nuan had already cooked the rice. She would just stir-fry the dry-pot pork intestines and cabbage and they would be ready to eat.
Gu Qinghan watched Wen Nuan busy in the kitchen. She would lift the lid of the pot to take a look, and then add firewood to watch the fire. The steaming heat and the busy figure in the kitchen added a bit of homely atmosphere to the home.
Looking at the warm figure, Gu Qinghan unconsciously curled the corners of his lips and smiled.
"Are you back?" Wen Nuan saw him coming back, looked at the child behind him, and asked in a low voice: "Is Le Le asleep?"
After saying that, he walked over and took a look. The little guy was lying on Gu Qinghan's back with his head tilted to one side, his pink little mouth slightly open, and he had fallen asleep.
"Are you asleep? He was still awake when I went to the group just now." Gu Qinghan subconsciously looked behind him, but could not see the little guy's face.
"She's asleep. Put her to bed." Wen Nuan continued, "Sister Guihua just sent some more dumplings over. Please help me send the chicken soup to Sister Guihua and Sister Juxiang later."
"Okay, but there's no need to lower the bed. We'll have dinner soon anyway, so I'll just carry Lele on my back and sleep for a while." Gu Qinghan guessed that the child probably didn't sleep for long, and might wake up easily if he was put down.
Wen Nuan didn't care: "It's up to you."
Wen Nuan was used to patting her child on the back, so she decided to carry him on his back to sleep in the future. However, it should be okay to do it once or twice occasionally.
She then said, "By the way, remember to put some pork belly, chicken, and abalone in the chicken soup..."
Wen Nuan said a few words tirelessly, but she was still worried, so she filled two lunch boxes and handed them to Gu Qinghan: "Go ahead, come back and eat after you deliver the food, I'll just cook some dishes."
However, Wen Nuan's worry seemed a little unnecessary. Gu Qinghan was not the kind of person who liked to chat with others. He would probably come back immediately after delivering the gift.
Gu Qinghan went out again carrying two lunch boxes. Because he was carrying Lele on his back, many people looked at him when he walked in the family compound.
However, Gu Qinghan did not think too much about it. He wanted to deliver the things as soon as possible and then go home for dinner.
After delivering the chicken soup to Sister Juxiang, Sister Juxiang returned the lunch box to him and stuffed some sweet and sour pork and frozen pears into it for him to take home.
Gu Qinghan didn't know whether it was a good idea or not, but he couldn't refuse such a kind invitation. He felt that Sister Juxiang was not being polite, so after thanking her, Gu Qinghan went home.
Zhao Yongfu looked at the pork tripe and chicken soup that Gu Qinghan brought. He felt a warm feeling coming over him when he smelled it. He looked at the chicken and pork tripe inside and asked, "Why give us so much meat?"
"What a delicious meat! Dad, is this chicken? I want to eat it!"
"I want one, too!" When the children in the family saw the chicken, they all sat at the table, shouting that they wanted to eat early and go to the party after dinner.
Sister Juxiang looked at the chicken and pork tripe and felt a little annoyed: "I should have put a few more pieces of sweet and sour pork for them."
…
When Gu Qinghan returned home, he could already smell the delicious aroma before he even entered the door.
When I went to the kitchen, I saw Wen Nuan stir-frying a pot of spicy, salty and fragrant pig intestines. The smell was so fragrant that many children in the family compound came over and looked towards their yard.
Wen Nuan saw Gu Qinghan bringing some things back and asked him who gave them to him.
As expected, sister-in-law Juxiang brought them some sweet and sour pork and frozen pears. After Wen Nuan put the dry pot pig intestines on the plate, she asked him, "Can we set off firecrackers in the family compound?"
It's only about four o'clock now. Because there are comrades from all over the world in the family compound, the customs of people in each place are different. Some eat early, and some eat dinner at normal time, but Wen Nuan hasn't heard anyone setting off firecrackers yet.
Gu Qinghan walked over to help carry the plates and saw Wen Nuan taking off her cotton jacket, probably because it was hot from cooking.
My heart suddenly tightened: "At five o'clock, the quartermaster office will set off fireworks, but we won't. This year, there may be people setting off fireworks at midnight, but probably not many."
Wen Nuan guessed it, so she smiled and said, "Okay, then you take this dish out, wash your hands and get the rice, I'll stir-fry some vegetables and we'll eat first."
It was quite quick to stir-fry some vegetables. By the time Wen Nuan brought the last dish into the living room, Gu Qinghan had just untied Lele from his back.
The little girl had just woken up and was still a little fussy. Gu Qinghan wanted to wash her hands, but Lele stretched out her arms to Wen Nuan and asked her to hold her.
Gu Qinghan thought that Wen Nuan must be very tired after being busy all afternoon, so he wanted to coax the child.
But Wen Nuan smiled and took the child over: "It's okay, I'm not tired. Please help me get another pair of chopsticks, I'll pick up some chicken for Lele to eat."
The little guy returned to Wen Nuan's side, immediately stretched out his arms and hugged her neck, rested his little head on her shoulder, and yawned again, obviously not awake yet.
Wen Nuan bent down and kissed her forehead, then took the chopsticks handed to her by Gu Qinghan, picked up a piece of stewed chicken and put it to the little guy's mouth.
The little guy was a little drowsy at first, but after smelling the aroma of meat, he seemed to become a little more alert, and then he opened his little mouth and bit it with his tiny teeth.
Seeing that the child had stopped making a fuss, Gu Qinghan turned to the kitchen, got another bowl, filled it with chicken soup for Wen Nuan, and placed it next to her.
"This soup is still very hot, drink it later." After Gu Qinghan put down the chicken soup, he sat back in his seat.
Because it was still early, Wen Nuan ate the New Year's Eve dinner slowly and without any rush, because the Spring Festival Gala would not start until seven o'clock anyway.
Gu Qinghan had already prepared a chair that was almost as high as the octagonal table. Lele also sat there to be fed yesterday, but maybe he was a little sleepy today, and he was acting coquettishly and asking for a warm hug during the meal.
When they were halfway through the meal, Gu Qinghan suddenly said, "This pig intestine is really delicious. Do you have any more?"
Wen Nuan smiled, then looked towards the kitchen and said, "There's still a pot of stew. Let's save it for tomorrow."
"Yeah, okay." Gu Qinghan picked up a piece of chicken wing and braised spareribs for Wen Nuan, and then he buried his head in eating the dry pot pig intestines. He almost finished the whole plate.
The little guy didn't have a good appetite, but he ate a lot of shredded chicken and drank half a bowl of chicken soup, but he didn't eat much rice.
After dinner, it was almost six o'clock, and Sister Guihua came over and said, "Xiao Nuan, have you finished your meal? Let's go to the auditorium to watch the performance together later."
"Okay, we just need to wash the dishes." Wen Nuan walked to the door holding the child.
Sister Guihua teased Lele for a while before saying, "Don't worry. Oh, I brought some melon seeds. Let's sit together and crack some seeds later."
When Wen Nuan heard this, she would not have eaten so much if she had known about the New Year's Eve dinner. She drank two bowls of chicken soup and ate a lot of braised spare ribs right after the meal. Now she urgently needed to take a walk to relax.
But when she went out, Wen Nuan also grabbed a handful of raisins and pistachios to share with the children.
*
When he went out, Lele had become a vigorous little kid again, and was clamoring to be held by Gu Qinghan.
Wen Nuan was afraid that her child would not have a long nap today, so she brought a baby carrier and a blanket with her. After the party, she could carry her child home even if she fell asleep.
Wen Nuan was afraid that it would be cold at night, so she put a woolen hat on the child. However, Lele seemed not used to wearing hats. He pulled it off as soon as he put it on, and his hair was made a little messy.
Thinking that there might be more wind later, Wen Nuan put the hat on her again. After trying a few times, the little one finally compromised and did not take off the hat again.
Wen Nuan carried a small stool and walked in front with Sister Guihua, while Gu Qinghan carried the child and walked behind with Zhou Jianshe. The two men seemed to be mutes, occasionally talking about military matters, and the rest of the time they just followed the two women who were chatting in silence.
When they were halfway there, Gu Qinghan handed her the child's woolen hat and said, "It's been torn off again. You keep it first. It's not cold now. You can put it on her when we get home."
Wen Nuan couldn't help but pat the little guy's butt: "You're naughty again. You'll know you're wrong when you catch a cold."
The little girl didn't care about her that much and kept laughing. She thought Wen Nuan was going to put a hat on her again, so she kept hiding her little head in Gu Qinghan's shoulder and refused to wear it.
Wen Nuan thought they had set out quite early, but when they arrived at the auditorium, there were so many people that it was packed. Thinking that many people would be heading this way from behind, Wen Nuan and Sister Guihua went to the front. Even if they were not going to do anything, they brought small stools with them so they could squeeze in.
However, when they walked to the front, they met Li Daxiang and Erhu.
Li Daxiang waved to them and raised his voice: "Deputy Captain Gu, sister-in-law, Lele, there is a seat here."
Wen Nuan reminded Gu Qinghan, and then pulled Sister Guihua towards Li Daxiang: "Daxiang, Erhu, why are you here so early?"
The two young men scratched the back of their heads sheepishly and said with a smile, "We are here early and will have to perform on stage later. These seats are reserved for you."
"Thank you so much. We were afraid there wouldn't be enough seats, so we even brought small stools." Wen Nuan looked and saw that Li Daxiang and Erhu had just taken up two seats for them. Since Gu Qinghan and Zhou Jianshe were both of relatively high rank, they would both sit in the front during the performance, so two seats were just enough.
Then Wen Nuan said to them: "Then you guys should perform well. I am looking forward to seeing your performance. Come on."
Wen Nuan also knew that Gu Qinghan's group had a show, otherwise he probably wouldn't have come to join in the fun, but she didn't expect that it would be Li Daxiang and Erhu who would go up.
Li Daxiang and Erhu nodded at the same time: "Thank you sister-in-law, we will behave well."
On the other side, Liu Meili and Li Qiuyan, who arrived ten minutes earlier than Wen Nuan and his friends, were worried about not being able to find a seat with their children.
Who would have thought that Wen Nuan, who came later than them, would still have a place...
I felt extremely unbalanced at once, and even more jealous when I saw that it was a soldier from the 76th Regiment who helped to occupy the position.
Why doesn't my man ask the soldiers in the regiment to help him save a seat
So angry.
He Dazhuang originally didn't want to come to any party, but Li Qiuyan insisted on dragging him along. Now looking at Gu Qinghan holding the child and the warmth around him, he suddenly remembered the time when he spent the Spring Festival in the army in G Province a few years ago.
Gu Qinghan was not married at that time. Every Chinese New Year he would buy some candies for them and treat them like a family.
But now, Gu Qinghan didn't even look at them.
He Xiaofei, who was beside He Dazhuang, pulled his arm and asked, "Brother, do you think we should go to Uncle Gu to pay New Year's greetings next day? When we were in the southern army, his red envelopes were very big."
He Dazhuang had a gloomy face and shook off He Xiaofei's hand: "If you want to go, go by yourself. I won't go!"
"Why?" He Xiaofei was young at that time and only remembered that Gu Qinghan was a very good person.
He Dazhuang curled his lips and sneered: "Do you think the current Uncle Gu is still the same Uncle Gu as before? Didn't you see the woman next to her?"
Just as He Xiaofei was looking at Wen Nuan, wondering about something, He Dazhuang lowered his voice and leaned close to He Xiaofei's ear and said, "After Li Daxiang caught us in the birch forest last time, I happened to see him talking to Uncle Gu's wife at home. I don't know what they were talking about, but it was definitely not a good thing."
He Dazhuang added: "I suspect that the reason why we were found by Li Daxiang by chance might be because of that woman's complaint. After all, her window just happened to overlook the path leading into the birch forest."
He Xiaofei already had some psychological trauma from the last pork incident. Not only was he beaten to death by his mother, but the political commissar also gave them two weeks of education classes in a row. It was really deeply impressed.
Anyway, He Xiaofei would never dare to do such sneaky things again. Now, when he heard He Dazhuang talking about it, his eyes flickered twice, and then he said, "Brother, we were indeed wrong about that matter. Don't mention it again, otherwise mom will find us and fight again if she hears it."
He Dazhuang glanced at him, said nothing, and threw his sleeves: "Forget it, I don't want to watch the show, I'm going to go ice skating with Daniu..."
*
Wen Nuan and Sister Guihua sat in the reserved seats. The two men who had been chatting awkwardly finally didn't have to rack their brains to find topics to talk about. They went to the front seat to have a small meeting with their comrades.
Wen Nuan hugged Lele and asked Sister Guihua, "Where is your mother-in-law? Didn't she come with you?"
Sister Guihua smiled and said, "No, I threatened her in the afternoon that if she said something superstitious, she would be arrested by the security department. She was absent-minded after dinner and then went for a walk with a fellow villager from our area. I don't know if she came here."
Wen Nuan didn't expect Sister Guihua to play a prank, so she asked, "Did your mother-in-law say when she would return home?"
Sister Guihua lowered her voice and whispered into Wen Nuan's ear: "I don't know yet. I guess the purpose of her coming this time is to see me get pregnant. If I can't get pregnant, she will probably ask Lao Zhou to divorce me."
Wen Nuan didn't know what to say. She glanced at Zhou Jianshe who walked in front. Zhou Jianshe looked up at his wife from time to time.
Wen Nuan asked, "What is Captain Zhou's attitude?"
Sister Guihua curled her lips and said, "He doesn't want to divorce, but the palm of his hand is made of flesh, and the back of his hand is also made of flesh. How can I, a person who has no blood relationship with him, compare to his closest relatives? I guess if I can't get pregnant in two years, he will change..."
When she said the last sentence, Sister Osmanthus also sighed.
Wen Nuan patted her arm and comforted her, "Don't think too much. Captain Zhou is not that kind of person."
If Zhou Jianshe really wanted to divorce Sister Guihua, he probably wouldn't have dragged it out for so many years. He must have been in love with her.
Sister Guihua didn't care: "Who knows? When a man wants to change, you can't stop him."
Then Sister Guihua started teasing Lele and played hide-and-seek with her, and the two of them, big and small, were laughing.
Just as Wen Nuan wanted to ask whether Zhou Jianshe had seen a doctor in recent years, a comrade from the Art and Literature Department happened to come on stage to organize discipline, the noise from the speakers was a bit loud, and she couldn't hear clearly what the people in the audience were saying.
The performance began soon. First, the Chief of Staff gave a speech, wishing the soldiers and their families a happy New Year. Then there was a series of positive energy and lively singing and dancing performances.
Although Lele didn't understand much, she was so excited when she saw others jumping around on the stage that she danced with joy.
The entire Spring Festival Gala lasted from seven to ten o'clock. Gu Qinghan said that the power supply would be temporarily irregular during the Spring Festival, so even if you go home late, you don't have to go in the dark.
Until the end of the party, many family members were reluctant to leave and stayed at the venue for quite a long time. I heard that most of the troops in Beicheng are from the north and many of them have the custom of staying up all night during the Spring Festival, so they did not plan to go back so soon.
Wen Nuan was holding the child, so she was not in a hurry to leave. Lele was so sleepy when she saw the last thing on her, and she fell asleep soundly on Wen Nuan's shoulder.
After Gu Qinghan finished the things at hand, he immediately went back to where he was just now to look for someone.
Seeing the child sleeping on his warm shoulder, he reached out and gently took the little guy over, "When did Lele fall asleep?"
Wen Nuan's arms were a little soft in her hug. Sister Guihua and Zhou Jianshe had just returned home, and she was waiting for Gu Qinghan.
"I just slept for a short while, but this little guy seems to have become heavier, and my hands are sore." Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan, deliberately playing the victim.
Gu Qinghan chuckled, took the blanket from her hand, and wrapped the child in it. "Go back and have a good rest. I'll carry her back. I won't carry her on my back."
Wen Nuan thought about how strong he was. He had just carried her all the way from home to the auditorium without changing his expression or even breathing, so she held the strap herself.
They were almost the last to leave, and there weren't many people on the road to the family compound, but one could still hear a lot of noise and the sound of children playing with firecrackers.
Since yesterday, many children in the family compound have been setting off firecrackers in the snow. When the firecrackers explode, the snow also flies up.
But with Gu Qinghan around, Wen Nuan was not afraid and just held on to his arm as they walked home.
When we were almost home, it started snowing lightly.
After returning to the courtyard, Wen Nuan brushed off the snowflakes on Gu Qinghan's body and asked him, "Do you want to go back to the group tomorrow?"
Gu Qinghan also swept the snow off her head and replied, "No, do you have any plans?"
Wen Nuan took out the key and unlocked the door, then pulled the light cord, and the house soon lit up: "I haven't thought about it yet. If it snows again, I guess I can only walk around the family compound."
There is no need to visit relatives in the family compound. The most you can do is to see if there are any activities organized by the army. However, Wen Nuan thought that she had to bring her children with her, so she could not participate even if there were any activities.
The two of them first put the sleeping little one to bed. Probably because he didn't sleep much at noon, he slept soundly even when he was put to bed.
After Gu Qinghan covered the child with a quilt, he went to get a basin of hot water and placed it next to the bed.
"Come and soak your feet. It must be cold after walking all the way here." When Gu Qinghan just walked back, he saw Wen Nuan shrinking her neck, probably because she was cold.
But Wen Nuan likes to be stubborn. If you ask her, she will definitely say that she is not cold. You might as well just get her a basin of water and let her soak her feet.
Hearing this, Wen Nuan took off her shoes and socks, walked back to the bed in slippers, and said with a smile: "Great, how did you know I just wanted to soak my feet? It was really too cold walking outside just now. Fortunately, I brought a blanket with me, otherwise Lele would have fallen asleep and would have caught a cold walking all the way back."
Gu Qinghan's body was still quite warm, so the child probably wouldn't be cold if he brought him back.
Gu Qinghan carried her on his back and replied, "She shouldn't be cold. I just touched her neck and it was warm."
Wen Nuan looked at Gu Qinghan and saw that he was going to find some Chinese medicine again. He must be going to boil some medicine again, so she waved at him and said, "Qinghan, come here, let's soak our feet together."
After hearing this, Gu Qinghan, who was looking for something, raised his head, looked at her, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go wash my hands."
Wen Nuan wanted to see if he had taken the Chinese medicine out, but the man had already walked quickly into the living room, and then the sound of water splashing was heard outside.
Wen Nuan didn't take it seriously and rolled up her trouser legs to rub it as well.
Not long after, Gu Qinghan brought in another bucket. Buckets of this era were relatively large, and it was already half filled with water, still steaming.
"Put it in here. There's more water here." As he said that, Gu Qinghan squatted down and lifted his warm feet from the enamel basin into the bucket.
Wen Nuan felt comfortable, raised her head and looked at him with a smile: "Come on, I've saved a seat for you, sit next to me."
Then Gu Qinghan also sat down beside the bed, took off his shoes and socks, put his feet in the bucket, and placed them directly on the warm instep.
The two of them sat squeezed together, and Wen Nuan was almost pushed off the bed by the tall man, so she had to reach out and hold his arm.
"Shall we keep watch tonight?"
Gu Qinghan looked over and said, "You didn't take a nap today, can you make it through?"
Wen Nuan thought for a moment before answering: "With you by my side, I should be able to do it."
Gu Qinghan looked a little unconvinced, then raised his eyebrows: "If you are tired, just go to sleep. Anyway, we don't have this custom in our hometown."
That’s right, Wen Nuan thinks there’s no need to stay, just go to bed after soaking her feet.
After soaking his feet, Gu Qinghan took the towel and wiped the water off Wen Nuan's feet. Wen Nuan was still a little uncomfortable and took the towel from his hand: "I can do it myself, you go and pour the water."
"Okay, then you lie back down first."
Watching Gu Qinghan go out to get some water, Wen Nuan felt that she could finally escape the need to drink Chinese medicine tonight, so she lay down on the bed happily, turned sideways and kissed Lele on the cheek.
The little guy wasn't affected at all, he didn't move at all, he just sucked with his little mouth, with no intention of waking up.
Just when Wen Nuan was about to have a good sleep, the man's footsteps gradually approached, and he patted her arm gently: "Come here, drink the medicine before going to sleep."
Wen Nuan's face wrinkled like a bitter gourd, but Gu Qinghan said, "It's New Year's Day, be happy, drink it."
She looked at the bowl of dark brown medicine, still not feeling happy, and muttered, "It's New Year's Day, can't I just not drink it?"
"cannot."
"… "
Well, this is quite Gu Qinghan.
No wonder everyone says he is inhuman!
Under the supervision of Deputy Head Gu, Wen Nuan drank the medicine without any hesitation. Then she couldn't help but snorted, "Tomorrow is the first day of the new year. You can't eat bitter food on the first day of the new year. Don't cook this medicine for me tomorrow night. I won't drink it even if you cook it!"
After saying that, she covered her head with the quilt and fell asleep without caring about his expression.
She didn't know if it was her illusion, but she seemed to hear the man say "hmm" in the quilt.
When she pulled back the quilt and wanted to tease Gu Qinghan, he had already turned off the light in the room. She only saw his back as he walked out with the bowl.