Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 400 Only when you raise a child do you realize the kindness of your parents.

The next morning, Xiaowei got up and ran around the yard a few times to stretch his legs before going to the kitchen to help his mother prepare breakfast. There were two pregnant women in the family, so breakfast required some thought.

Steamed egg custard, mini dumplings, fried bread slices, tofu soup, white rice porridge, fried pickled vegetables, pickled radish cubes, pickled garlic, and a few chopped apples and oranges simmered in sugar water and cooled. Xiaowei's mom fried a few eggs, and Xiaowei sliced ​​some bread. Anyway, a mix of Chinese and Western dishes worked well, and the table was full of food.

Xiaowei's mother said, "Alright, go call someone, it'll get cold in a bit."

Xiao Wei ran back to his room after coming out. Xiao Hong was washing her face when Xiao Wei came over and kissed her on the face. Then she ran out to call the other four.

Xia Maosheng and Geng Hui were probably a little startled by the sudden change of sleeping place. In addition, Geng Hui was very shy. The couple had already gotten up and washed their faces. Geng Hui was combing her hair. Xia Maosheng opened the window and leaned on the windowsill to look at the scenery. Xiao Wei came over and said, "Time to eat." Then he went to knock on Chen Hui's window.

After knocking a few times, Chen Xiao answered, and Xiao Wei said, "Get up and eat."

A few minutes later, Xia Maosheng and Geng Hui came out. Chen Xiao, with her hair down and wearing pajamas, came out as well. She had washed her face. Xiao Wei asked, "Where's Xiao Hui?"

Chen Xiao ran his hand through his hair and said, "He's still sleeping, let's ignore him." The five of them went to the restaurant for dinner.

Xiao Wei's parents, Xiao Bing, and the other two filled the table. Geng Hui looked at the table and said, "Thank you, Auntie, this is a feast."

Xiaowei's mother smiled and said, "Sit down and eat. There's no need to be so polite among family. This girl is so thin, eat more. You won't be able to handle it when you're seven or eight months pregnant. You're eating for two people." She pulled Geng Hui to sit down, brought her a bowl of wontons, and added a fried egg.

Geng Hui started eating, and Xiao Wei's mother turned to Chen Xiao and said, "Don't eat that plain porridge, eat wontons instead. If you don't like steamed buns, eat bread. Have one fried egg. You two must finish a bowl of that sponge cake, understand? Just order some pickled vegetables to go with your rice."

Chen Xiao crunched on a piece of fried bread and said, "I love this. Auntie, you should eat too. Don't worry about us. I'd gain a lot of weight if I stayed here every day. You're much better than my mom. All my mom knows is millet porridge and boiled eggs. I'm practically in my early postpartum period, so I have to eat."

Xiaowei's mother laughed and said, "That's right, it's just like being in postpartum confinement. Xiaohui, what a lazybones. Go back and tell your mother that eating like that won't work. When you're in postpartum confinement, you'll get tired of it and won't be able to eat anymore. Everyone will suffer then. Right now, just eat something fresh and make sure you get enough nutrition. Try to change things up a bit."

After chewing a slice of steamed bun, drinking a few sips of soup, Chen Xiao picked up another slice of steamed bun and said, "I don't need to wait until I'm in confinement. I'm already so sick of millet porridge. I feel like throwing up just looking at it. Maybe I should just come here to do my confinement."

Xiaowei's mom patted Chen Xiao with a smile and said, "Silly child, it's just a possibility, what would that be? Eat more these few days, and when you leave I'll write you a list so your mom can make it for you when you get back. There's everything downstairs where you live, you can buy whatever you want to eat."

Chen Xiao thought for a moment, shook his head, sighed, and asked Geng Hui, "What do you usually eat at home?"

Geng Hui said, "I live in the company dormitory and eat in the canteen. I don't know what will happen when I go back." She had only known Xia Maosheng's parents for a few days and had only met them three times. When this matter was mentioned, Geng Hui suddenly felt a little more certain and turned to look at Xia Maosheng.

Xia Maosheng said, "I'll take care of you, don't worry. My mom's a good cook, you can have whatever you want to eat."

Chen Xiao curled her lip and said, "Chen Hui's words were even more eloquent than yours, but what happened? I bet he'll starve to death. Xiao Hong is lucky; Xiao Wei is really hardworking, he'll definitely make Xiao Hong very successful."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "You're always looking at what's not yours, always thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Chen Hui is much better; he's like a completely different person now compared to when we first met. I'm from the countryside, what is Xiao Hui? You should just keep your good fortune to yourself."

As he spoke, Chen Hui suddenly pushed open the door and rushed in. He stared blankly around for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief and saying, "You didn't even say you were coming to eat. I opened my eyes and you were gone. I was almost scared out of my wits. Chen Xiao, you're going to scare me to death sooner or later. You never have a moment's peace."

Xiaowei's mother said, "Alright, you can't wake up yourself and you're blaming others. Sit down and eat."

Chen Hui washed his face at the sink, sat down with it still wet, and said, "Auntie, you don't know, ask her what time I went to sleep last night? My back hurts, my legs hurt, my butt hurts, I rubbed this end and that end, and she was sleeping soundly. As soon as I stopped, she groaned and moaned. I kept rubbing her until 1:30 in the morning."

Xiaowei's mother smiled and said, "This is the price of raising children. Generation after generation has gone through this. You don't know the gratitude you owe your parents until you raise children yourself. Now you know how hard it was for your parents, right? Our conditions were even worse back then. I was seven months pregnant with Xiaowei and I was still getting out of bed. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. Sigh, just live your lives well. You have such a good life now."

Chen Xiao touched her belly and said, "Yeah, I don't argue with my mom anymore. I think she must have suffered a lot when she gave birth to me."

Chen Hui said, "Wife, your hands are covered in oil, and your clothes too." Chen Xiao looked down at the oily handprints on her stomach and stuck out her tongue.

Xiaowei's mom said, "It's okay, the weather's warmer now, it'll dry in no time after washing. Did you bring any clothes?"

Chen Xiao said, "I brought it." He took a slice of bread, put a fried egg in it, and handed it to Chen Hui.

Chen Hui said, "What? I want to eat some steamed bun slices."

Xiao Wei's mother said, both amused and exasperated, "These two kids, we have plenty of steamed buns, let's fry some more."

Xiao Hong drank half a bowl of wontons, ate two slices of bread, stuffed the remaining wontons and bread slices into Xiao Wei's hand, and went to drink her steamed egg custard. Xiao Wei didn't say a word, just took the food and ate it. He also ate his own white rice porridge, crunching on the pickled vegetables.

The little soldier remained silent, glancing around nervously before slurping down his porridge with a slice of bread. He then put down his bowl, grabbed his schoolbag, and ran outside, saying, "I'm full."

Geng Hui perked up at the pickled radish cubes and Laba garlic, munching on the pickled vegetables with her white porridge while listening to Chen Xiao and Xiao Wei's mother's crosstalk. By the time Xia Maosheng noticed, she had already eaten almost half a plate. Xia Maosheng hurriedly took the pickled vegetables away, saying, "Wife, are you planning to pickle my son into pickled vegetables?"

Xiao Wei's mother also noticed it, and stood up with a mix of laughter and tears. She scooped a bowl of sweet apple and orange soup and handed it to Geng Hui, saying, "Drink some of this to cut the saltiness. You can't eat too many pickled vegetables. If you want something sour, we have everything."

Geng Hui blushed, took the bowl, and said, "I just think it tastes good, I don't think it's salty."

Xiao Hong laughed again and said, "It would be really interesting if seven or eight pregnant women were together every day."

Xiao Wei said, "Oh no, that'll drive the people serving us crazy."

Chen Hui said, "I feel like a cop catching a thief all day long. This guy is always trying to outsmart you. The more you say something, the more he wants to do it. If you're not careful, he'll do something unexpected. I'm always on edge all day."

(End of this chapter)