CH 43

Not long after the first snow melted, the second one fell, which was bigger than the previous one.

In the beginning, He Xiaoyun was feeling a little strange(when she saw snow the first time), but she became numb as she watched too much. The weather was getting colder and she, a southerner, had to rely on the stove to continue her life recently. Xiaoyun didn't even dare to open the door.

Wei Jianwei also didn't let her go out. Now, the ingredients at home can only be resupplied when Wei Jianwei goes to the market on his rest day.

He Xiaoyun's daily routine became cooking, reading, knitting every day.

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There are fewer fresh vegetables in the market. Xu Lanxiang said that there are not many farmers selling their vegetables in the market in the suburbs. 

No matter how poor the farmers became, they're not willing to go out to sell their vegetables at this time.

After eating three consecutive meals consisting of radish, He Xiaoyun decided that she would add a few bean sprouts to eat, otherwise, she would soon become a radish.

Xiaoyun's grandfather used to sell bean sprouts in her past life. He will spread the mung beans layer by layer in a large wooden bucket with holes in the bottom, then cover it with bamboo leaves to shade them, he will then water the mung beans every few hours for several days in succession. If the temperature is right, the mung bean sprouts will grow quickly.

At home, naturally, she doesn’t need such a big wooden barrel. He Xiaoyun managed to find a small bamboo barrel. She proceeded to spread a layer of gauze underneath, pour it with water, spreads the mung beans, and cover it with another layer of gauze. Finally, she put the small barrel beside the stove to make sure the temperature is not too low.

The winter temperature now was cold, but inside a house, the cold was lessened. As long as the temperature is higher than two degrees celsius, mung beans can sprout.

Wei Yuanhang followed He Xiaoyun curiously, "Mom, will a plant grow there?"

"It's too early to know," He Xiaoyun said, "You're not allowed to knock down the barrel here, understand?"

The child repeatedly nodded, "I will watch it and won't let Rongrong touch it."

He Xiaoyun tapped his head and smiled, "You still care about Rongrong? You just need to take care of yourself. Where did you stop counting before? You've already counted twenty, so today you will count up to thirty. ."

Wei Yuanhang stretched out two fleshy palms. His ten little fingers were like small carrots. He looked down at his feet and said with a frown, "But mom, my fingers aren't enough."

He Xiaoyun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She got up and went to the kitchen to grab a handful of mung beans and sprinkled them on the table, saying, "It's enough now. You'll count the mung beans and give me thirty of them."

The child sat on the chair, stretched out his chubby hand, and started to count one by one.

Wei Jianwei walked over while taking off his coat, touched the little kid's head, and glanced at the mung beans on the table, "What are you doing?"

"Mom asked me to count beans."

Seeing some snow on Wei Jianwei's shoulders, He Xiaoyun asked, "Don't you have an umbrella?"

Wei Jianwei hung up his clothes, "There's not much snow."

He Xiaoyun curled her lips. "When you catch a cold, you will know what it means not to listen to your elder's words." 

Wei Jianwei walked next to He Xiaoyun, bent his mouth in a smile, and scratched her cheek, "I wonder if the elder is you?" (Jianwei is becoming more smooth in his flirting.)

He Xiaoyun made a gesture to shoot him.

The kettle on the stove was boiling, Wei Jianwei sniffed the air, "What are you boiling?"

"Ginger tea, you can pour a cup yourself and drink it first."

Wei Jianwei nodded, went to the kitchen to get a cup, lifted the kettle, and poured out a cup of tea.

Wei Yuanhang stared at his father's cup with wide eyes. Upon seeing this, Wei Jianwei handed the cup to the child.

The child shook his head repeatedly, "Don't, it's tasted spicy."

Just now, Wei Yuanhang drank two sips under the coercive temptation of He Xiaoyun. The sweet and spicy taste made him feel both enjoyable and tormenting.

Seeing his father gurgling down a whole cup, Wei Yuanhang admired him, "Dad is amazing."

He Xiaoyun glanced at him and said: "Next time you dare to sneak down to play in the snow without wearing a scarf, I will ask your father to fill you up with two cups."

Wei Yuanhang shrank his neck with a guilty expression on his face.

Wei Jianwei pardoned his son and pointed to the small barrel by the stove, he asked, "What is this?"

When the harvesting was about to be completed, it happened that Xu Lanxiang and Huang Lizhen came by and she gave them some.

Although the bean sprouts are thin, they are rare in times of ice and snow. Huang Lizhen is amazed, "I didn't know that Xiaoyun has such an ability."

He Xiaoyun smiled, "It's not difficult, just cover it with a cloth and leave it there. Just remember to water it on time."

"It's quite simple to say, but it's not easy to just water it on time. Who will want to get up in the middle of the night to do that?"

"Since you don't want to get up, don't you know how to move your mouth?" Xu Lanxiang joked, "Just shout for Lao Zhang."

Huang Lizhen deliberately tutted, "It's easy for you to say. I don't have your life where your old king is so obedient. If I dare to wake up Lao Zhang in the middle of the night, won't he beat me?"

"Come on, you," Li Xijin didn't listen, "If Lao Zhang dares to beat you, won't he need to kneel in the washboard for hours?."

Xu Lanxiang happily said, "Listen, this is her showing off. I don’t think Lao Zhang is someone who will beat his wife. Rather, it was her beating up the husband."

Huang Lizhen laughed, then turned around and asked He Xiaoyun, "Your bean sprouts, did you water it at night, or did Lao Wei water it?"

He Xiaoyun hesitated for a while and the three women laughed, "It must be Old Wei. I guess he loves you so much, if not, why is he willing to get up in the middle of the night just to water, right?" (That's true love there bish)

He Xiaoyun blushed and muttered, "I did it once too."

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It was the first night when the bean sprouts sprouted. He Xiaoyun got up at night and carefully crossed Wei Yuanhang and Wei Jianwei from the end of the bed. When she fumbled for shoes on the ground, Wei Jianwei woke up and put on his clothes, and sat up.

"Going to the bathroom? I'll accompany you." As the bathroom is on the corridor outside, Wei Jianwei's afraid that she will be scared alone.

He Xiaoyun hurriedly said: "I'm not going to the bathroom. You can continue lying down, I'm just going to water the bean sprouts."

He Xiaoyun finished watering the sprouts. When she returned to the bed, Wei Jianwei held her hand and squeezed it. The man realized that the hand that he managed to warm under the blanket was now a bit cold, so he frowned and said, "Next time, I'll be the one to dampen it." Jianwei's tone does allow any resistance.

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Xu Lanxiang and the others are still talking and laughing. Li Xijin then said, "I heard from Lao Zhao that Lao Wei asked one of their comrades in Northeast China a while ago and brought a piece of leather to home. I wondered in my heart, 80% is definitely for you, Xiaoyun, right?"

"What kind of leather?" Huang Lizhen asked curiously.

"I don't know, I haven't seen it either, Lao Zhao said, after receiving it, Lao Wei went to the market street to find a tailor."

He Xiaoyun's heart moved slightly. So before, the gloves Wei Jianwei gave her were made of leather? She was also curious about where he bought it, but she didn't expect that it was the leather that he had specially asked a comrade for, he even personally got a tailor!

Xu Lanxiang asked He Xiaoyun: "Such a good thing, take it out and let us open our eyes."

He Xiaoyun was a little bit embarrassed, after the urging of the three women, she drew out the gloves in the drawer.

"This style is beautiful, I haven't seen it in the store yet." Huang Lizhen took it, turned it inside and out, and handed it to the other two women. She couldn't help but shake her head and smile: "In this family building, there is no one more caring than Old Wei."

"No," Xu Lanxiang said, "You two are okay but I live next door. Every day, I see this young couple flirt. Look, my eyes are red(from envy or jealousy.)."

"Let me take a look," Huang Lizhen and Li Xijin roared, "Oh, it's really red. Xiaoyun, can you tell Old Wei to advise our husbands how to be caring and loving? So that you don't make us jealous anymore!"

"You three keep talking nonsense!" He Xiaoyun retorted with a blushing face.

Xu Lanxiang smiled and pointed to Huang Lizhen and said, "Yes, I think you're all talking nonsense. I can’t be like this. I will take Xiaoyuan back home tonight. I let him and Rongrong be in a bed. It's a thank you gift for these bean sprouts, what do you think?" (She means leaving Xiaoyun and Jianwei alone for a night~ as expected, sister xu is a good comrade~)

Huang Lizhen happily said: "Very good, maybe Old Wei has to thank us for this."

He Xiaoyun embarrassedly said: "I don't want your thank you's anymore, return the bean sprouts to me."

"How can  you do that?" Xu Lanxiang laughed. It happened that Wei Jianwei had just come back from the camp. The three women hurriedly picked up their bean sprouts and walked out, saying, "Old Wei, go to bed early at night!"

The room was empty after a huff. Wei Jianwei looked at He Xiaoyun and asked what was going on with his eyes.

He Xiaoyun blushed and ignored him.

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In the evening, Xu Lanxiangguo really came to call Wei Yuanhang, "Xiaoyuan, go to Auntie's to sleep with Rongrong at night."

Wei Yuanhang was very excited. He ran two steps outside, and suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked his mother yet, and turned around to ask, "Mom, can I go?"

Before He Xiaoyun could answer, Xu Lanxiang smiled and dragged the child away, "It's okay, it's okay. Auntie will talk to your mother in the morning."

Xu Lanxiang didn't even wait in the house and left immediately after she came to pick up the kid. He Xiaoyun didn't think of any countermeasures for this surprise attack, so she can only watch as her little shield get dragged away. (Go sister xu!!!)

Turning around, He Xiaoyun met Wei Jianwei's eyes, who was sitting around the table. He Xiaoyun stamped her foot in shame, "Read your book, don't look at me."

He Xiaoyun washed and hid after she finished. It was not as usual when she finished washing. Instead, she sat with him to read a book but went back to the room early. When Wei Jianwei came in after washing up, he saw her facing the inside of the bed and seemed to be asleep.

However, the room was extremely quiet, and he could hear her breathing not so smoothly.

Wei Jianwei also lay down on the bed. The bed for three people became more spacious with the absence of the small child placed in between.

As soon as Wei Jianwei laid down, He Xiaoyun body's tensed, she pricked her ears, and her heart was pounding.

After a while, she felt him lie down in the middle, touching his body with her back, and it was warm.

Knowing that she wasn't asleep, Wei Jianwei held her shoulders, and tried to turn the person over, and said, "Lie down closer, or there will be air leakage in the middle."

He Xiaoyun didn't move, her voice muffled in the quilt, "No, there will be no air leakage."

Seeing this, Wei Jianwei moved to the inside of the bed until his whole body was stuck to her back, one hand hugged her waist, and took her into his arms.

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T/N: Sister Xu is such a good assist!