The mother of the era is reborn to support her cannon fodder children!

Chapter 161 "Many Superstitious Cultural Figures"

"How did they come up with the idea of ​​giving me a gift? Did you suggest it to them?" Lin Zhao picked up the handkerchief, her movements gentle and cautious.

This is a birthday gift her son prepared for her; it's the most precious thing in the world, something she wouldn't trade for a fortune.

“I didn’t say it; they came up with it themselves,” Gu Chenghuai said.

A smile flickered in his eyes, all of which showed his satisfaction with the twins. "I was quite surprised when they came to me about it."

"They love you very much."

These words brought tears to Lin Zhao's eyes.

She closed her eyes, suppressing the urge to cry. "When did they contact you?"

Gu Chenghuai put his arm around his wife's shoulder to soothe her, "When buying train tickets..."

“My son is so thoughtful,” Lin Zhao said.

She's not a good mother; she's never celebrated her twins' birthdays.

Gu Chenghuai casually changed the subject: "Whose birthday celebration isn't just about boiling an egg? Didn't you promise too much? If we really celebrate like that, those two kids will be bragging about it all over the world."

Lin Zhao slowly said, "Let them show off, as long as they're happy."

Not wanting Zhaozhao to get into a bad mood, Gu Chenghuai frowned, looking stumped. "The twins' birthdays are coming up soon. What should I get them? Zhaozhao, do you have any suggestions?"

Lin Zhao's attention was diverted. After thinking for a moment, she seriously suggested, "They would like something made from bullet casings."

"What a coincidence, I happen to have some. I've made two-thirds of it, and I should be able to finish it before their birthday," Gu Chenghuai told his wife.

"What is it?" Before he could finish the question, Lin Zhao reached out and covered his mouth again. "Don't tell me, keep it a secret for now, I'm afraid I might accidentally let it slip."

Gu Chenghuai kissed her palm, and was glared at, but his eyes were smiling. "I don't mind."

“I mind.” Lin Zhao was very principled. “That’s your way of showing your love for the children; you have to give it to them yourself.”

Thinking that the man would be in the army on the twins' birthdays, she thought, "If you can't come home, send the letter and gifts back."

“I feel guilty that the twins haven’t celebrated their birthdays for the past few years.”

“Who said we didn’t?” Gu Chenghuai just wanted to see Zhaozhao happy. He said seriously, “No matter which younger member of the family has a birthday, Mother will cook red eggs for them.”

So even though Zhaozhao didn't pay much attention, the twins weren't ignored.

Knowing that his father-in-law's family attaches great importance to the birthdays of family members and that longevity noodles are a must, he added, "In the village, it's considered good to have red eggs to eat on a birthday."

Lin Zhao also knew, "Mother is so thoughtful."

She took out a comb, smoothed her hair, and tied it into a low ponytail with a handkerchief her son had bought.

"Does it look good?"

Gu Chenghuai's eyes darkened slightly, a restless glint in them. "Beautiful."

His voice was slightly hoarse.

"This color suits you very well, it has an intellectual beauty, very... elegant." Gu Chenghuai loves reading and is well-read, so praising people is not difficult for him.

especially.

In front of Zhao Zhao.

He doesn't need any tricks; he speaks entirely spontaneously.

“Red makes your skin look fairer.” Lin Zhao looked at herself in the round mirror and smiled, her eyes crinkling. “This scarf is really pretty. Yu Bao and Heng Bao made a good choice. They have good taste, just like you. I plan to wear it every day.”

Gu Chenghuai thought his wife was the most beautiful. "You're very fair-skinned, you don't need to be compared to her."

"I don't go out in the sun, but I still take good care of my skin." Actually, even if Lin Zhao doesn't take care of her skin, her skin is still very good. She is naturally not prone to tanning, and she doesn't get pimples or blemishes. Her skin is fair and delicate, just like Lin Heling's.

Gu Chenghuai only knew about face cream and nothing else. "I'll buy more when I run out."

After wiping her face, Lin Zhao walked out unhurriedly.

Lifting the bamboo curtain, the twins stood outside the door.

The two boys were overjoyed to see the accessories in their mother's hair.

"Mom, do you like the gifts Hengbao and I gave you?" Yubao asked on behalf of her.

"I love it! I love it so much!" Lin Zhao said three times.

She looked down at her two sons intently, expressing her delight, "I will wear it every day from now on."

"This is the best gift I've ever received."

one.

The two handsome little boys had upturned smiles on their lips, which they couldn't suppress no matter how hard they tried.

Mom really loves the gifts they gave her.

Yu Bao blushed with excitement, "Mom, I'll buy you a new one next year, a different color, so you can wear them interchangeably."

Hengbao raised her right hand, "I'll give all my allowance to my brother."

Lin Zhaoxin felt as if she were soaking in lukewarm water.

She bent down and hugged the two babies.

She kissed her two sons' little faces.

"Thank you, my darlings! You two are so well-behaved. Hmm? Is there anything you want as a gift?"

Yu Bao felt elated, as if he had drunk a few sips of fake alcohol.

He put his arm around Lin Zhao's waist and said, "We don't need any gifts. When it's my and Hengbao's birthday, we want to eat longevity noodles made by Mom."

"There must be a fried egg too!" Hengbao added.

Lin Zhao naturally granted her son's small wish.

“Okay,” she said. “Do you remember what I said before? Starting this year, you will celebrate your birthdays according to that.”

Hengbao is a little village bull; he can even chat with the earthworms on the ground, and the whole village has his good friends.

Thinking about how he could invite his friends over for his and his brother's birthdays, he jumped up and down excitedly.

"Mommy, will there be soda?" Hengbao wanted to drink soda and licked his red lips.

Hengbao ate a little too much chili, and her lips looked like she had lipstick on, bright red.

"Yes. You can have anything you want." Lin Zhao smiled.

Hengbao is even more excited.

He stretched out his little hand and started counting on his fingers.

She gave a thumbs-up and looked up at Lin Zhao, "Mom, what month is it now?"

Lin Zhao didn't think much of it; it was normal for a child not to know what month it was. "August."

"Nine, ten, eleven..." Hengbao held up three fingers, "In two more months, in the third month it will be my brother's and my birthday?"

The "la" sound at the end rises with a slight wave-like quality, which is very cute.

"Yes, it'll be soon," Lin Zhao said softly.

This is the first year she's celebrated her twins' birthdays, so she needs to think carefully about what gifts to give them.

Yu Bao's eyes were expectant.

"Where are Qianbao and Yaobao? Are they inside?" Lin Zhao asked, noticing that she hadn't seen the two little ones for a while.

“Li Bao is playing with them,” Yu Bao replied.

Lin Zhao took his hand and then reached out to Hengbao. The restless Hengbao ran over happily, put his face in Lin Zhao's palm, tilted his head and smiled, looking silly.

Lin Zhao was charmed by her son's cuteness, pinched Hengbao's soft little face, and took his hand into the children's room.

It was getting dark.

Gu Chenghuai lit the kerosene lamp and casually placed it on the table.

Li Bao and the twins were on the low bed, while Yao Bao was fast asleep, her fair little belly covered with a blanket.

The remaining two children were not asleep; they were lying on the bed, looking through picture books.

"The room is so dark, how can you read? And you're lying down like that, don't you want to hurt your eyes?" Lin Zhao's lips curled into a smile.

She frowned slightly, walked over and confiscated the picture book, handed it to Gu Chenghuai, and massaged Li Bao and Qian Bao's eyes.

"Children need to use their eyes healthily. They shouldn't read in bright light or in dim light, or their eyes will be damaged. Please be careful in the future, okay?"

Li Bao nodded obediently.

"understood."

Qianbao gave his mother an adorable smile, stood up from the bed, opened his arms to Lin Zhao, and asked for a hug.

Lin Zhao was both surprised and delighted. Her youngest son was very quiet, not clingy, and preferred to do things by himself, such as reading books or squatting in a corner watching ants. He didn't find it boring and could spend an entire afternoon doing so.

She picked up Qianbao and asked gently, "What's wrong?"

Qianbao buried her head in Lin Zhao's neck without saying a word.

Lin Zhao gently patted his back, and the little dumpling yawned and closed his eyes.

I'm sleepy.

No wonder she's so clingy.

She smiled and patted even more gently.

The little one fell asleep quickly.

Li Bao covered her mouth and laughed, "Qian Bao fell asleep so quickly."

“Your younger brother is still small and needs more sleep than you do. Sleeping helps him grow better. You all fall asleep as soon as your heads hit the pillow at this age.” Lin Zhao’s voice was gentle.

Hengbao covered her mouth, her voice muffled, "I won't bother them."

"Hengbao is a good older brother who loves and cares for his younger siblings," Lin Zhao praised.

After lulling the four children to sleep, the kerosene lamp in the room was blown out, plunging the room into darkness. The curtains were not fully drawn, and moonlight crept onto the desk, as if a thin layer of silver frost had fallen.

Lin Zhao and Gu Chenghuai returned to the house by moonlight. The latter lit a lamp, as he felt it was really inconvenient not having an electric light, and that it was easy to bump into things when going out at night.

"We need a flashlight at home," Gu Chenghuai said.

"Didn't you say the power would be on soon?" Lin Zhao looked at him in surprise. "If there's a plan to get the power on, then there's no need to buy it, right? Even if we buy it, we won't have a chance to use it."

Gu Chenghuai put the lamp away and wiped the mat with a clean towel, saying, "How could we not have a chance to use it? It'll be useful when we go out at night."

"Power on but no streetlights?" Lin Zhao asked.

“It’s highly unlikely we’ll install them.” Gu Chenghuai glanced at her, his eyes clear and bright. “Electricity costs money, and installing streetlights costs even more. The village has no other sources of income, so there are few ways to make money, and the villagers are reluctant to spend it.”

“Some households may still refuse to have electricity.”

Soldiers are all about efficiency, and they work incredibly fast. He quickly wiped the mat, washed the towel, wrung it out, and hung it up.

Lin Zhao also knew that for some people in the village, spending money was tantamount to taking her life.

A hint of helplessness flashed in her eyes as she said, "No matter what others do, our family has to be on the right track."

Gu Chenghuai had no objections; he couldn't wait to get through to them.

Lin Zhao was exhausted by this point. She took off her shoes, lay down on the bed, yawned, and her dark eyes welled up with tears, her eyes clear and bright as if washed by water.

Gu Chenghuai pulled her into his arms and whispered, "Sleep."

Lin Zhao was physically tired but mentally excited, probably because she had just moved into her new home.

"Can't sleep? Talk to me for a while."

Gu Chenghuai's long, slender fingers, like bamboo, gently and patiently massaged his wife's black hair.

"what you want to say?"

Lin Zhao was thinking about hosting a dinner party tomorrow, "I'll invite my eldest sister's family over tomorrow too."

"it is good."

"What kind of thank-you gift should we give to the people who helped build our house?" Lin Zhao's sleepiness lessened a bit at this question. "How about half a pound of brown sugar for each family?"

This is a very generous gift!
Everyone knows that sugar coupons are hard to come by, and brown sugar can be stored for a long time. When relatives come to visit during the New Year, adding some brown sugar to the water is a very prestigious thing to do.

In family matters, Gu Chenghuai always listens to his wife.

He nodded: "Okay, I'll go buy it."

"Do we have enough candy coupons at home?" Lin Zhao asked. She wanted to try her luck in the lottery, but her husband was very perceptive and could detect even the slightest mistake, so she decided against it.

“That’s enough,” Gu Chenghuai said. “Before I came back, I exchanged a lot of sugar coupons with my comrades and bought sugar for the four kids. There are still quite a few left, so that’s enough.”

Lin Zhao was relieved.

"By the way, didn't we say we were going to invite Comrade Yang and his wife to dinner? When are we going to invite them?"

Having been busy with one thing after another, Gu Chenghuai hesitated for a moment before saying, "How about the day after tomorrow?"

"sure."

Gu Chenghuai: "I'll bring all four kids with me then."

"Ok?"

The man lowered his eyes, then smiled gently again, "Old Yang and his wife have been married for several years but haven't had any children. They heard that we have four kids, all twins, and they're really envious. They want to see the children and have some ideas for themselves."

Lin Zhao: What the heck is "Zhao Zhao"?

"Aren't Comrade Yang and Comrade Jiang both cultured people?"

Gu Chenghuai laughed, "There are plenty of superstitious intellectuals out there."

Lin Zhao did not comment.

Then I remembered something else.

Look up.

"When you buy brown sugar tomorrow, please tell my older sister to cover for me for a few more days. I'm tired and want to take a few days off. As for when I should go back to work, we'll see."

Going to work makes you look haggard.

After the short holiday, I'm starting to feel aversion to going back to work...

"You have no objections, right?" Lin Zhao stared intently at Gu Chenghuai.

The handsome young officer lowered his head and placed a kiss on her forehead.

The tone was clear and gentle.

"It's up to you. You can go if you want, or have someone else take your place if you don't. I've said it before, I just want you to be happy."

Bo'er!

Lin Zhao kissed Gu Chenghuai's smooth chin as a reward for being pleased.

"Gu Chenghuai, you are so kind."

Gu Chenghuai's eyes were filled with tenderness, his lips curled up, and he lowered his head to kiss her, silencing her with a kiss.

Before long, his calm demeanor vanished, replaced by a burning gaze that made one's legs go weak.

...

The next day.

Those who came to build houses for the Gu family's third branch successively received thank-you gifts from Lin Zhao's family.

Everyone was overjoyed to receive half a pound of brown sugar for free, and they praised Lin Zhao endlessly.

"They have to be high school students, that's just being polite."

"My husband is always the first to help the villagers with chores, and this is the first time he's ever received something as a reward! I didn't expect it to be brown sugar, and it looks like quite a lot. It's so thoughtful, thank you so much."

"Hey, you even came all this way to give me a thank-you gift, how kind of you! My husband helped build the house and we get mung bean soup and plum juice, and he even brings back a piece of candy every now and then. You're already so kind, and you still bring brown sugar, it's really..."

……

The women in the village were all very talkative. Lin Zhao smiled politely, and after seeing them off, she quickly led the man and child home.

This whole trip has given me a terrible headache!
The news that the third branch of the Gu family had sent brown sugar quickly spread throughout the village.

Some people laughed heartily, remembering what their wives had said: drinking sweet water at night gives you plenty of energy.

Someone got a complaint from his wife.

"Everyone else went to help, why didn't you? That's half a pound of brown sugar! It's such a waste to lose half a pound of brown sugar! Oh, it breaks my heart!"

The man's face turned cold. "I wanted to go help, but you wouldn't let me. You said helping the villagers was less important than helping your mother's family hoe the fields. If you hadn't made a fuss, I would have gone already. Now you regret it? Where were you before!"

This scene didn't just happen at one place.

The captain was delighted to hear about this.

In an era that values ​​dedication, it's a pity that some people only want to take advantage and are unwilling to put in any effort. They even make excuses when their fellow villagers need help. Now they regret it!
Let's see who cares after that!

The brigade leader was overjoyed at the thought that the atmosphere in the brigade was about to improve, and he walked with a spring in his step.

When Mr. and Mrs. Gu learned about this from the villagers, they were both surprised and happy to hear the praise.

The third son's wife did a great job. (It really hurts, though.)

The old lady walked past her sworn enemy, who had been secretly gossiping about how stingy the third son's family was, her chin held high, feeling utterly satisfied.

(End of this chapter)