After lunch, the names of the two children haven't been decided yet, and Li Man had no choice but to let them relax because they were afraid that they would mess up again. After all, the children are still too early to be born, and a good name is slowly coming to mind.
After dinner, Li Man went up to the second floor and paced back and forth in the corridor. It was time to take a walk. In the yard, Dahei ran all over the yard with three little black dogs. The small footprints on the string are very cute.
Li Man and Li Xiangcao giggled on the second floor, feeling very happy.
But not long after, two unfamiliar villagers ran over in a panic, whispered something to Li Yan and the others, and then Li Yan and Li Shu hurried away with them.
"What's going on?" Li Man leaned on the railing and asked Li Mo downstairs.
Li Mo raised his head, fearing that Li Man would be worried, he shook his head, "It's nothing, do you want to take a nap at noon?"
"I'm not going to sleep anymore, I'll play." Now the days are short and the nights are long, and I'm afraid I won't be able to fall asleep if I sleep too much, so Li Man sat in the corridor with Li Xiangcao, basking in the sun while watching her sewing Clothes for babies.
In the evening, Li Yan and Li Shu came back, but they were still carrying a stretcher, on which was the injured Zhang Ben.
"What's going on?" Li Man and others surrounded her and asked worriedly.
Zhang Ben was injured in his leg, but everything else is fine, and he is in good spirits. Hearing Li Man's question, he felt a little embarrassed, "Sister and sister, I am causing you trouble."
"Why have you been here for more than a month? How did you get injured?" Li Man asked.
Zhang Ben hesitated, as if he didn't know what to say, but his eyes glanced at Li Xiangcao from time to time, Li Man secretly raised his eyebrows, and didn't ask any more questions, just turned to look at Li Xiangcao beside him, not knowing that she was trying to be calm What is the situation behind the face.
Later, when Li Xiangcao was preparing dinner, Li Yan and Li Shu set up a simple shop for Zhang Ben in a side room. Because he was alone and injured again, the Li family had to take him in to recuperate at home.
It was inconvenient for Zhang Ben to stay at dinner, so Li Yan delivered the well-preserved food to his room.
Li Yan took good care of him, and Li Man felt it was reasonable, but, I don't know what Li Xiangcao meant, this little girl is thin-skinned, and in addition to the fact that Zhang Ben gave him the hairpin, it will take at least a long time. I have to be under the same roof for a period of time, I wonder if she will be awkward
In the evening, Li Man asked Li Yan about Zhang Ben.
"What's the matter, Brother Zhang?"
Li Yan didn't avoid Li Man, put his arms around her, tucked her quilt, and said slowly, "His house collapsed last night, and the beams crushed his legs."
"Oh." There was a heavy snowstorm the day before yesterday, and it is said that the kitchen of the old house in front of her house was also overwhelmed by the snow. Li Man was still thinking about it with fear. Fortunately, she built a new house early and moved here. It is really uninhabitable.
"By the way, Brother Zhang, where did he go these days?" She asked tentatively.
Li Yan shrugged his eyebrows slightly, and said with a smile, "What else can you do? It's the end of the year, and he has to go out to find some work to earn money for the New Year. Besides, he is not young, and the house at home is too old and needs to be rebuilt. "
"Going to make money?" Li Man's eyes lit up suddenly, and she muttered to herself, could it be that this book suddenly enlightened her, and she wanted to save money to marry her sister-in-law? Otherwise, the house has been dilapidated for so many years, so why rush to build it now
"What are you laughing at?" Li Yan traced the corners of her slightly raised lips with two fingers, and his mood became joyful.
"It's nothing." Li Man thought, maybe Zhang Ben's injury this time is not a bad thing, at least he can get in touch with Li Xiangcao more and get to know each other better. If they still can't do it this time, then this matter should be done as soon as possible Let it go.
"Want to match him and sister-in-law?" Li Yan looked into her eyes and guessed her thoughts.
"Yeah." Li Man nodded instinctively, met his playful eyes, and blushed, it was her first time to be a matchmaker, "Don't you think they are a good match?"
The man is unmarried and the woman is unmarried, she thinks it is very good.
"You can't think about it, it's good for them to feel it themselves." Li Yan lay down, let her little head rest on his arm, and touched her belly with the other hand, with the big palm through the fabric, Rubbing gently, "How do you feel today?"
Knowing that he was asking about the child, Li Man smiled sweetly, "Very good." But, the strange thing is, when other people are pregnant, don't they react very violently? I heard from Li Xiangcao that when my mother-in-law was pregnant with Xiao Wu, she would vomit when she drank, which was very miserable, but she could eat and drink, and she didn't have any discomfort other than that. I'm a little worried, maybe Xu Bo made a wrong diagnosis
"That's good, thank you for your hard work, girl." Li Yan exhaled lightly, and whispered against her cheek.
Li Man knew what he meant, she pursed her lips and smiled, "It's good that you know."
"Heh." Li Yan smiled lightly, but in the blink of an eye, he turned sideways and kissed Li Man's lips. His kiss was always passionate and domineering. Li Man was shocked and quickly stretched out her hand to push him.
"Bad guy, I can't!" The lips sealed by him made a pitiful voice vaguely.
Panting for breath, Li Yan tried his best to let go of her. Looking at her blushing cheeks, her breath was even more unstable. He let out a long breath and lay back heavily. Now he finally understood what it meant to be self-inflicted.
Before, when she was not pregnant, he tried hard every day to have a child, and he swore in front of her that he would endure it when he had a child, but... Obviously, he couldn't help it.
I was just trying to reward her with one
Tang's shallow kiss, but he couldn't hold it back, damn it.
Seeing his gulping and gulping breaths, Li Man watched with joy in his heart, feeling a little gloating about his misfortune. She lightly pressed his small hand on his heaving chest, and asked pretendingly, "Oh, what's going on? The heartbeat is so violent. ?”
"Girl, don't make trouble." Li Yan's voice was low and hoarse, he turned his head to look at her, feeling helpless, pushed her hand away from her chest, and held it tightly in his palm.
"Who made a fuss, I'm worried about you." Li Man said innocently, and her other hand innocently reached into the quilt, pinching his most sensitive waist point.
The tiger plucked the hair from his head, and only dared to do so when he didn't dare to touch him. Moreover, Li Man was very proud of what he did, and he had been suppressed and bullied by him all the time. Today, he finally got back.
Sure enough, Li Yan snorted, and looked at her with dark eyes. There seemed to be a man-eating beast hidden in the deep pupils.
"Er—" Li Man was still complacent one moment ago, but the next second, she was frightened by the undercurrent in his eyes, and naturally flashed through her mind every time she was tossed by him in the past, and her scalp couldn't help but tingle for a while. Comfort yourself, what are you afraid of? She has a child now, he dare not do anything to him, he dare not.
"Have you thought about it?" Li Yan's eyes were red, his voice was more like being burned by fire, his warm breath sprayed on his face, Li Man was timid, he wanted to tease him and bully him, but At this moment, seeing him like this, he withdrew his hands in a hopeless way, shook his head, and quietly retreated a little into the bed.
"Are you scared?" Li Yan held her hand tightly, pulled her into his arms, put his other hand on her waist, and lifted her up, so that she was close to him.
Feeling his hot and crazy eyes, Li Man was really scared, but she still said stubbornly, "Don't mess around, I have a child. You promised me before that you will bear it, and you can't do it now, Uncle Xu Said it all."
"Heh, did I tell you what to do to you? Afraid of this?" Li Yan couldn't help laughing at her deer-like innocent eyes. Wasn't she the one who dared to provoke and tease him just now
"Who's afraid? I'm not afraid of you." Li Man was a little unwilling to be bullied by him. She should have the upper hand now, but she couldn't even speak quickly.
"Heh." Li Yan laughed helplessly. In the past, he would have used practical actions to prove the consequences of daring to provoke and tease him, but today...well, let her succeed a little, bear with it.
"Okay, don't be afraid, go to sleep." He relaxed her a little, and only gently hugged her to fall asleep.
Li Man secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he would really know Qin Shou regardless of the situation, hehe, I didn't expect that he would be let off so easily. She snuggled into his arms, touched her belly happily, and said to herself: Son You guys, it's all thanks to you, look, your father is much better now.
She thought it would be like this until dawn, but in the middle of the night, Li Man woke up from hunger. Although she had eaten a lot for dinner, her stomach seemed to be empty at this moment, which made her uncomfortable.
She wanted to eat breakfast until dawn, but the feeling of hunger was too unbearable. She tossed and turned, and couldn't sleep anymore. All kinds of tempting delicacies flashed in her mind unconsciously, and her saliva was drooling when she thought about it. up.
So, even more hungry!
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Li Yan was awakened by her, put his hand on her back, and asked worriedly.
Li Man turned around, looked at him pitifully in the dark, and only hummed softly, "Hungry."
"Hungry?" Li Yan seemed to be a little overwhelmed. He was inexplicably surprised for a moment, but was immediately repelled by reason, and asked, "Hungry?"
"Yeah." Li Man rubbed her belly pitifully, "I don't know what happened, I was full tonight." Maybe the children were too hungry and greedy.
"Then just wait, I'll go down and see if there's anything to eat." Li Yan was about to get up as he spoke.
But it was cold outside, Li Man felt sorry for him, and put her arms around his waist, "I'm just a little hungry, it's okay, it will be dawn in a while, I'll just eat more breakfast."
"I'm so hungry that I can't fall asleep, and you still say it's okay?" She used to sleep well, as long as he didn't torment her halfway, she would almost sleep through the night, but tonight, she tossed and turned several times, obviously she couldn't bear it. living.
Li Man hugged him hard, not letting him get up, "It's so dark and cold outside, and besides, there's nothing to eat in the kitchen."
"Fool, are you feeling sorry for me?" Li Yan gently kissed her on the forehead, and coaxed softly, "Hey, I'll come back as soon as I go, I won't be cold."
"Can… "
Before Li Man could finish her sentence, Li Yan had already opened her hands, quickly got out of the bed, turned around and tucked in the quilt, and then picked up the cotton-padded jacket and trousers on the bedside table and put them on.
"Li Yan—" Li Man looked at the figure who was eager to tie his clothes in the dark, his nose was sore, but his heart was warm.
"Yeah." Li Yan snorted, and lit the oil lamp. He knew that Li Man was afraid of the dark. When she was in the old house, she didn't even dare to go to the hut in the middle of the night. It would be better to have their brothers by their side.
So, when he was going downstairs to find something to eat for her, the room still had to be lit, otherwise, there was no guarantee that she would not be afraid of the dark.
The lamp was on, and looking at the kang, Li Man only showed a small head, and looked at herself with big eyes, full of affection, Li Yan smiled, "Okay, I'll cook for my son, don't you bother?" Blindly excited."
"I didn't." Li Man turned over and faced
When she got into bed, she admitted that she was very emotional sometimes, but shouldn't she be moved by a man who is willing to cook for you in the middle of the night in the cold
Li Yan opened the door gently and went out, trying not to make a sound, so it seemed that Li Man could not feel that he was gone.
In fact, no matter how lightly he moves, the moment he opens the door, he can still feel the cool breeze intruding.
Li Man turned around again, put her face against Li Yan's pillow, stared at the door anxiously, hoping that he would come back soon.
—
There was nothing left for dinner, and in the kitchen, only a few pieces of snacks and some fruits were found, but after eating this late at night, Li Yan felt that it was too cold, which was not good.
So, he sat down under the stove nimbly, grabbed some hay and lit the fire, then scooped some noodles and made some hot gnocchi.
After filling, put it in a basket, cover it with something, and carry it up like this.
—
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Li Man's eyes became a little sore. Finally, the door opened, and Li Yan came in with a basket.
"What's delicious?" Smelling the warm aroma of noodles, Li Man regained her spirits and sat up with a whoosh.
Li Yan put the basket on the dressing table, hurried over, picked up the padded jacket and put it on her body, "Don't freeze."
"It's not cold." Li Man pursed her lips, watched him take a bowl of gnocchi from the basket, and said with a smile, "You made this right now?"
"Well, there's nothing else I can do at this time, you put the mat first." Li Yan sat on the edge of the kang with a bowl in his hand, and then fed her.
"I'll do it myself." It's always inconvenient to be fed, so Li Man reached out to pick it up.
"It's a little hot." Li Yan said, and continued to feed.
Li Man didn't insist anymore, and while eating the food he fed, she praised him for his good craftsmanship and the delicious gnocchi.
Li Yan smiled, "That's because you're hungry."
"Really? But I really think it's delicious." Li Man said, and drank a big mouthful of hot soup from the bowl, which was so hot in his stomach, "Do you want to eat some too?"
"I'm not hungry." Li Yan only fed her.
"Then drink some soup to warm your body." Li Man stretched out her hand to cover his hand, held the bowl, and raised it to his mouth.
Li Yan smiled, but obediently took a sip, the taste was mediocre, but Li Man also said it was delicious, it seems that she is indeed very hungry, pregnant women are prone to hunger, so in the future, do you have to prepare a special supper for her?
A big bowl of gnocchi, Li Man ate it up quickly, full and very comfortable.
Li Yan put the bowl away, handed her a glass of water to rinse her mouth, and wiped her mouth with a towel, then helped her take off the padded jacket she was wearing, and helped her lie down.
"I can do it by myself." Li Man felt a little awkward as she felt like she had a big belly and couldn't move.
Li Yan smiled while taking off his cotton jacket and trousers, "I know you can do it, but we also need to practice more." When she really has mobility problems one day, they will do better.
Li Man huddled under the blanket, watching him smile gently, and when he turned on the light and got into the blanket, she immediately squeezed into his arms and hugged him.
"Don't, my hands are cold." Li Yan wanted to distance the two of them, but Li Man hugged him even tighter, "Don't be afraid, I'm warm."
"Fool." Li Yan hugged her fondly and kissed her deeply.
—
The weather has been good for several days, the sun is warm and bright, the ice and snow have melted, and the Shennvgou is filled with the festiveness of the approaching new year.
The Li family is no exception. Taking advantage of the good weather these few days, the Li family brothers have already started preparing for the New Year.
Because of Zhang Ben's injuries, he had difficulty taking care of himself, and the house at home collapsed and could not be repaired for a while, so the Li family invited him to spend the New Year at Li's house, but this time, Zhang Ben also readily agreed, and helped out if he had nothing to do. It's not bad for Li Xiangcao to pick up the vegetables together.
Of course, what Li Man didn't expect was that it was not Li Mo, the parent who was the busiest, but Li Hua who was the busiest when the Chinese New Year was coming.
From the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, villagers rushed over one after another, took red paper and asked Li Hua to write Spring Festival couplets.
Li Hua is one of the rare scholars in Shennvgou, and his handwriting is quite beautiful, and he is friendly. As long as the villagers ask him to write, he will write it carefully.
Li has a large family, and he doesn't need Li to paint for chores, so most of the time, he just needs to write Spring Festival couplets for the villagers in his room.
Naturally, the Li family also felt that this was a matter of great honor.
Until the New Year's Eve, the number of talents gradually decreased.
Early in the morning, Li Hua wrote his Spring Festival couplets, and then, Li Mo took Xiao Wu to get some, and posted them at the old house, and at the new house, Li Yan and Li Shu were in charge.
Li Hua was finally free, and spent half the morning reading with Li Man in the room.
Maybe it was these days that Li Yan had trained her to become a habit. After reading a few books, Li Man took the initiative to put down the book, and then sat in the fire barrel with Li Hua and chatted.
Spring came into February, and the results of the autumn examination were about to come out, that is to say, it would not be long before Li Hua would be able to know the result whether he passed the exam or not.
Li Man asked him if he wanted to study in the academy with Xiao Wu after he was admitted as a scholar.
Studying in an academy is better than studying at home. There are good teachers there and classmates who study together.
Li Man prepared the tuition fees for both of them, but Li Hua shook her head and said she would not go.
plum
Man thought, is it because he can't bear to bear himself and his family? In addition, since she has a child, he can't bear to leave, right
But what about his future
Li Man was very conflicted. On the one hand, she didn't want him to leave her side, but on the other hand, she felt that if he gave up his bright future for her, wouldn't it be too bad
For Xiao Wu, she can be ruthless and teach him a lesson, and let him study away from home to learn his skills.
But for Li Hua, she didn't know what to do.
"Do you really want me to go to school too?" Seeing her half-closed eyes, entangled in thought, Li Hua raised her face and asked seriously.
Li Man bit her lip and honestly said what was in her heart. She didn't want him to leave, but she also hoped that he could do what he wanted to do. She knew he loved studying.
Li Hua laughed when he heard the words, "Where can't I study?"
"However, the academy is better than home. Besides, if you pass the exam this time as a scholar, what will you have to do next time? Couldn't you succeed without the tutoring of your master?" Li Man asked worriedly.
Li Hua shook his head lightly, "No future, don't you think it's not enough for our family to have a talent?"
"What do you mean?" Li Man was startled, did he not want to continue the exam
Li Hua looked at her seriously, "Man'er, I like studying, but I don't want to take the exam anymore."
"Why?" Li Man was puzzled.
"What else do you want me to take? Scholar? Can't you win a Jinshi or be a champion?" Li Hua asked with a smile.
Li Man nodded, "As long as you think about it, there is nothing wrong with it." Anyway, the family can afford it now.
Li Hua had no choice but to ask, "And then? So what if you have passed these exams? To be an official? One person is under one person and above ten thousand people?"
"..." This, Li Man didn't think about it, she only knew that many literati in ancient times were looking forward to the imperial examination, hoping that the imperial examination could change the fate of their lives, become famous or something else...