"Stinky daddy, you only bully Yanyan!"
"Stinky daddy, bad daddy, Yanyan won't talk to you anymore."
The little one pouted and squatted in the corner to play by herself, ignoring everyone. She mumbled to herself. Even though her pitiful little appearance couldn't be seen, her old father's heart was melting.
Seeing Chen Yang's wavering resolve, Shen Xue shot him a glare.
"When I was little, just having enough to eat was good enough. This little one drinks milk every day, can pick and choose rice and noodles, and has vegetables and meat. She's not being wronged."
"Look at her teeth, they're almost black. If they get cavities, she'll be the one crying."
"No matter what, she's not having any candy today."
Hearing Shen Xue's stern words, Chen Yang flinched slightly.
Alright, his wife had given a strict order.
But seeing the little one's wronged look, he felt even more heartache.
"You're so heartless, our daughter is usually so well-behaved."
"I'll go coax her. I promise she won't have any candy."
Chen Yang muttered a few words. She was his little warm cotton-padded jacket, the apple of his eye. Seeing the tiny figure sulking in the corner, how could he not feel pity?
"Go on, go on. I'm the bad guy, and you're the good guy, alright?"
Shen Xue said grumpily. Not letting the child eat candy was for her own good. If all her teeth rotted later, what would she do?
She didn't want to be so strict with her daughter either. She was flesh and blood from her own body; she felt more heartache than anyone.
"My dear wife, aren't storytellers always singing about one playing the bad cop and the other the good cop? Next time, I'll scold her, and you can coax her, okay?"
Chen Yang secretly took out a gold necklace from his chest and put it on Shen Xue's neck when she wasn't paying attention.
After going all the way to Hong Kong and meeting Old Zhou, how could Chen Yang come back empty-handed?
Not buying his wife a gift when going out was practically asking to be lectured upon return!
Shen Xue looked at the man who had gone to coax their daughter, then at the glittering gold necklace on her neck. She had no more anger. A smile couldn't help but spread across her face.
"Ee, ga ga."
Unexpectedly, a small chubby hand suddenly waved from her embrace, reaching for the necklace on her neck. Shen Xue looked at her awake little son and didn't stop him.
The tiny little person couldn't even lift his hands, only wiggle them. He wasn't afraid of him grabbing the necklace on her neck at all.
"Good baby, are you hungry? Do you want to eat milk?"
Shen Xue teased the little one. The little one didn't cry or fuss, just tilted his little eyes to look at the necklace on Shen Xue's neck.
Don't think that babies a few months old only know how to eat and sleep. They are also very familiar with their mothers who hold them every day. If there is any slight change in Shen Xue, he will notice.
"Ya ya."
The little one couldn't speak yet, only letting out a soft, milky hum from his mouth.
"Baby likes daddy's necklace too? When baby grows up, daddy will buy one for you, okay?"
Shen Xue picked up the little Chen Peng, preparing to go back to the room to breastfeed. Unlike other village wives who would breastfeed in public without shame, Shen Xue was too shy.
Chen Yang looked at his milky baby muttering to himself. He couldn't help but chuckle. He tiptoed over, scooped the milky baby into his arms, and then placed him on his neck.
"Yanyan, if you speak ill of daddy, daddy won't buy you good food anymore when he comes back."
"Let's not eat candy. Can daddy make you delicious squirrel fish later?"
Startled by Chen Yang's sudden attack, the little one wasn't scared at all. She skillfully grabbed Chen Yang's ear. The milky baby loved playing horse riding with daddy.
"Daddy, you promised. Don't lie to me."
The little one recalled the taste of the squirrel fish Chen Yang used to make for her. Back then, their family was still poor. Chen Yang had just been reborn and caught a fish, making her squirrel fish. She had eaten it so deliciously.
The squirrel fish was drizzled with a tomato paste made from tomatoes. Compared to industrial tomato sauce produced later, it was naturally a lot worse, but for that era, it was already very good.
It was sour and sweet, and no less appealing to the milky baby than milk candy.
"Daddy, I want to eat too."
As soon as he heard Chen Yang was going to make squirrel fish, Chen Hao also poked his little head out of the room. Although he hadn't eaten squirrel fish, since daddy made it for his sister, it must be delicious. He wanted to eat it too.
"Yes, yes. Daddy will make one for each of you, and I guarantee you'll both eat your fill."
It was the fishing season. Although the Willow River had been heavily fished last year, fish would surely come in from other river basins this year, so fish were not lacking.
However, overfishing should also be avoided, otherwise, all the fish would be eaten up. Next, Chen Yang planned to get some fish fry and appropriately supplement the Willow River with fish eggs and fry, so that they wouldn't be completely depleted.
As for whether it would work, to be honest, he wasn't sure. After all, the river was flowing, and it wasn't like his own fish pond where everything thrown in would stay put.
"I want to eat too."
Just as Chen Yang was promising his son, Shen Xue, who was nursing the baby inside, also said something.
After giving birth, their daughter had become a bit like a young girl. She wouldn't act so coquettishly with Chen Yang before.
"Yes, yes, everyone will have some. Today is a fish feast. One squirrel fish each, and a basin of fish head tofu soup, to feast you all.
If there was steamed fish soy sauce, I'd steam a perch, and that would be perfect."
Chen Yang would naturally not refuse Shen Xue's request. His wife was rarely acting so coquettishly with him. Today, for the squirrel fish, he had to give it his all.
"Yanyan, Haohao, let's go to the vegetable garden with daddy to pick tomatoes. Wukang, Dabiao, you two go buy fish. One two-jin carp per person, and a big silver carp, and three jin of firm tofu."
Every household was living well this year. Everyone saw that Chen Yang's factory was operating without any problems, and their minds also became active. In front of and behind the houses, many people were now clearing wasteland to use as vegetable gardens for planting vegetables.
Chen Yang's mother-in-law was also a restless person. She burned down a patch of wasteland behind the mountain in the afternoon and turned it into a vegetable garden. Now, the vegetables they ate at home basically came from the vegetable garden. Sudan Fiction Network
It was October, and there were still a few late-ripening small tomatoes in the vegetable garden. Any later, after the frost, these things would be hard to grow.
Because they wanted to eat squirrel fish, the two little ones were very enthusiastic. They flapped their short legs and ran towards the vegetable garden. Little Chen Hao also remembered to bring a small vegetable basket.
These were things they learned from Liu Chunmei. When Liu Chunmei worked in the vegetable garden, these two little rascals often followed her to make trouble.
"Daddy, daddy, hurry up! Let's pick all the tomatoes and make lots and lots of squirrel fish. Yanyan will eat them."
The milky baby giggled, completely different from her sulking alone in the corner just now. This made Chen Yang, the old father, both amused and exasperated.