After dinner, Cheng Qiao found a waitress at the state-owned restaurant and spent two yuan to buy four bath tickets from her. In fact, the bath ticket was only 20 cents each, but according to the black market price, it was normal to double the price.
Cheng Qiao took out Li Huan and Xuhui's spare clothes, towels and soap from the backpack, and then took little Cheng Li and Li Le into the women's bathroom.
It was Li Le's first time to take a bath in a public bathhouse. He felt a little embarrassed when he saw everyone bathing naked in the thick fog.
"LeLe, help me get the bathtub over there."
There are several round wooden bathtubs in the bathroom, which are for children. Everyone is very conscious and those who don’t have children will never take them.
Li Le brought the bathtub and saw that Cheng Qiao had taken off all her clothes except for her underwear and shorts, so he had no choice but to take off his clothes as well. The two of them locked their clothes in the cupboard, put the cupboard key on their wrists, and entered the bathhouse.
"You wash first, I'll help Xiao Chengli wash."
Little Cheng Li usually took a bath in Cheng Qiao's large bathroom, and had never been to a bathroom like this before. He was so excited that he was talking and dancing and almost slipped to the ground.
"Don't move. It will hurt if you slip. You will need to go to the hospital for injections and medication."
Cheng Qiao threatened little Cheng Li in a low voice. Little Cheng Li showed his little teeth and smiled foolishly at Cheng Qiao. Cheng Qiao couldn't restrain her inner love for him, so she held his face and kissed him hard.
Little Cheng Li also hugged Cheng Qiao's neck, with his little face intimately pressed against Cheng Qiao's cheek, enjoying the beautiful mother-son relationship.
The two of them stayed together for a while before starting to take a shower, but they didn't notice Li Le standing under the shower, washing her body and shedding tears, feeling lucky that her second brother had married a good wife.
After taking a shower, the five people walked out of the bathroom smelling fragrant. Xuhui held Li Le's hand and kept asking Li Le if there was a bathhouse in the women's bathroom.
Li Le didn't understand and asked what a bathhouse was. Xuhui told him that a bathhouse was a big pool, but there were too many people in it and the water looked greasy.
Li Le trembled all over after hearing this. From what Xuhui said, that bathhouse was even dirtier than the river in Xiangyang Village. Fortunately, there was no such bathhouse in the women's bathroom, otherwise who would dare to go in the water.
After returning to the guesthouse, Cheng Qiao took out the clothes that she had washed in the bathroom and prepared to hang them up. Unexpectedly, Li Huan had also washed their clothes and hung them up with a smile.
"Mom, can't men do laundry?"
Xuhui asked while looking at Cheng Qiao who was hanging clothes.
"Why do you ask that?"
"My father and I were washing clothes in the bathroom, and the man next to us laughed at us for being sissies."
"What do you think?"
"My dad is not a sissy. He can shoot a gun, kill wild boars, and catch bad guys. Those who think they are real men are the real sissies."
"Xuhui, you have grown up, and mom is very happy."
Hearing Cheng Qiao's praise, Xuhui also smiled, and went with Lele to coax little Cheng Li to sleep.
In the end, Li Huan and Cheng Qiao took little Cheng Li to sleep on the put-together beds, while Xuhui and Lele occupied the simple bed.
Early the next morning, Li Huan and his whole family showed up at a state-owned restaurant. Each person had a cup of soy milk, two pancakes, and a large bowl of rice porridge.
Li Huan let Cheng Qiao eat first. He held little Cheng Li and fed him white rice porridge. He put the sugar that Cheng Qiao brought herself into the white rice porridge and stirred it. Little Cheng Li ate it happily.
Afterwards, several people entered the largest department store in the area. Looking at the dazzling array of merchandise, not only Xuhui and Li Le were shocked, but even Li Huan opened his mouth in surprise.
"What a coincidence! I know why this place is called a department store. There must be more than a hundred kinds of goods here."
Cheng Qiao raised the corner of her mouth and waved her little hand, saying, "Buy whatever you like, she'll treat you today."
"oh… "
Xuhui and Li Le both clapped their hands happily. The four eyes of the two people kept looking around. With so many things, which one should they choose
"Mom, can I have this?"
When Xuhui saw a military cap, his eyes lit up. When registering, he saw a student wearing a military cap, looking quite impressive.
"Comrade, help me get a suit for this child, and this hat."
Cheng Qiao saw a small military uniform hanging nearby and asked the salesperson to take it out. The salesperson glanced at Xuhui, took out a slightly larger military uniform and handed it to Cheng Qiao.
"Mom, this..."
Xuhui was shocked. He only wanted a hat but didn't dare to ask for a military uniform. Although he was young, he could recognize a lot of words. That military uniform cost more than thirty dollars and was too expensive.
"We will go to school when we get back. We have to be alert and energetic to attend class, okay?"
After hearing what Cheng Qiao said, Xuhui lowered his head and tried it on obediently, but tears welled up in his eyes. It felt so good to have a mother.
Next, Li Le, little Cheng Li, Li Huan, Li's mother, Ye Jun, and Cheng Liguo each bought a set of clothes. Everyone looked at Cheng Qiao because she was the only one who hadn't bought anything yet.
Cheng Qiao actually didn't want to buy clothes. She had enough clothes, but she only had these two sets of clothes that she wore on a daily basis. It would be a waste to buy more. But she couldn't resist the looks from the three people, so even little Cheng Li joined in.
Li Huan decided to buy Cheng Qiao a beige cashmere coat, but Cheng Qiao was reluctant to buy it because beige cashmere coats are not easy to get dirty and are also very expensive. Just this coat cost him 120 yuan, which is equivalent to the price of a bicycle.
But Li Huan, Lele and Xuhui all said that Cheng Qiao looked good in the coat. Even the salesperson felt that the coat belonged to Cheng Qiao. Her fair face and charming eyes were a perfect match for the coat.
Li Huan directly took out the money from his pocket and handed it over. He knew that his family was rich and that his family could afford not only one hundred and twenty yuan, but even twelve thousand yuan.
Several people returned with bags full of stuff, which made the waiter at the hotel so surprised that his eyes almost dropped to the ground. Cheng Qiao stretched out his hand with a smile, and there were a few White Rabbit milk candies in his palm.
"For me?"
"Thank you."
Yesterday, Cheng Qiao asked for a rag and a broom to clean the house. The waiter was not impatient at all and was very enthusiastic in helping her get the tools, so it was only right that she gave him a few candies to express her gratitude.
"We have to stay one more night tonight and catch the early bus back tomorrow."
Cheng Qiao took out another four dollars, two dollars for rent and two dollars for two beds.
"Two dollars is enough. The cot is one dollar per rental, not one dollar per night."
Cheng Qiao was amazed at the honesty of the waitress and took out two more cakes and handed them to her. The waitress blushed with embarrassment, but she couldn't resist the temptation of the cakes and accepted them awkwardly.
After coaxing little Cheng Li and the others to take a nap, Cheng Qiao asked Li Huan to help look after them while she wanted to go to the grocery store from her previous life to see if she could buy the land.