1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 293 (Bonus Chapter 1): The Babies' Growth Diary

The babies are 1 months old.

In the bright and sunny spring season, Lin Xiyu planted a long row of loofahs and pumpkins along the west wall of the old house.

When the babies saw their mother planting vegetables, they all perked up and eagerly wanted to help.

Da Bao and Ping Ping were the most enthusiastic, digging and shoveling haphazardly with their small shovels, sending dirt flying everywhere.

"Pingping, are you sure you're helping, or are you making things worse?"

Lin Xiyu was both annoyed and amused when her son threw a mouthful of dirt at her, so she slapped his little bottom.

Pingping was stripped of the pleasure of continuing to make things worse by her mother, who used her mother's supreme privilege as the mother.

Lin Xiyu took the small shovel from his hand and handed it to An'an.

An'an is much smarter and more obedient.

He first used a small bucket to draw water from the fishpond and poured it on the ground. After the soil became moist and soft, he used a small shovel to dig a hole.

This way, dust won't be stirred up, and the soil will become softer and easier to dig, making each shovelful twice as effective.

"An'an is clever, much better than Pingping."

"This kid is cunning; he's even capable of selling his brother."

"Hahaha"

Grandma Gu and the nannies watched with amusement, their mouths never stopping as they made fun of the children.

happy Xi, seeing this, was envious and wanted to dig a hole too, so she went up to An An and tried to snatch the little shovel.

An'an prefers quiet to movement and didn't really want to do any work. When she saw that her younger sister wanted it, she pretended to resist for less than a second before letting go and giving her the small shovel.

Xixi thought she was strong and had won against her brother, so she waved her little shovel and chuckled to herself.

"This girl, just like the eldest brother, isn't very bright. She doesn't even realize when her brother is being lenient with her."

"Kids don't have that many tricks up their sleeves. Xixi has a great personality; if she likes something, she'll take it without compromising herself."

"When I grow up and fall in love with a boy, I'll snatch him away and make him your great-grandson-in-law."

"I think it's a good idea. As long as the children like it, I wholeheartedly support it."

Grandma Gu and the nannies weren't satisfied with just watching the fun, so they continued to chat and joke.

-

Lele is delicate and frail, so Lin Xiyu and Gu Bin take extra care of their daughter and never let her engage in strenuous exercise.

Digging holes with a small shovel is a physically demanding task, so whenever their precious daughter shows even the slightest interest in trying it, the couple quickly changes the subject to divert her attention.

"Lele, come on, help Mom sow the seeds."

Xixi dug a hole in front of her, while Lin Xiyu smiled and taught Lele how to sow seeds.

With her chubby little hands, Lele picked up the sesame-sized seeds one by one and scattered them into the small holes that had already been dug.

It may seem boring, but it's full of fun for little ones who are just starting to explore new things.

Two sisters worked together seamlessly, spending the entire morning sowing all the seeds into the holes.

The last step, filling in the soil, was a difficult task. Pingping, who had been feeling down all morning, finally got her wish with her father's support and snatched the little shovel back from her sister.

This time he learned his lesson and stopped acting recklessly. He followed his father's instructions and filled the pit with a thin layer of fine soil.

Lin Xiyu then asked Xixi to water the seeds with an appropriate amount of water, thus concluding the wonderful experience of the children's first vegetable planting, in which they participated personally.

-

Before long, the vegetable seeds sprouted from the soil, nourished by the spring drizzle.

"Mummy, Mummy"

"The seedlings are sprouting."

Xixi was the first to spot the seedlings, and she was incredibly excited, her delicate little voice ringing out.

"Really? It grew so quickly?"

Lin Xiyu was sitting under the pomegranate tree cutting paper when she saw her daughter running over excitedly, insisting on pulling her over to watch. So she gave in to her daughter's wishes and let her little hand pull her to the base of the wall.

The seedlings have just sprouted tiny buds from the soil; they are barely visible unless you squat down and examine them closely.

It's quite remarkable that the little girl has such good eyesight; she noticed the traces from such a tiny sprout.

"Xixi is great."

Lin Xiyu affectionately pinched her daughter's cheek and praised her with a smile: "You were the first to spot the seedlings, your eyesight is better than your two older brothers."

"whee."

Xixi was so happy that her eyes crinkled into crescent moons with laughter.

-

With the seedlings, the babies have a new source of fun, spending all their time playing around them.

The watering can became a hot commodity, with the three babies, except for An'an, vying to water the plants.

Having no other choice, Gu Bin bought four small water bottles of the same model but different colors, one for each baby, to fulfill their beautiful wish to become little gardeners.

The seedlings are growing strong and healthy under the careful care of the babies.

Although there are occasional minor accidents, such as a particularly naughty child accidentally stepping on it and causing the leaves to fall off, the roots and stems remain, and it continues to grow tenaciously, sprouting new buds.

-

As the weather gets warmer day by day, loofah and pumpkin seedlings have climbed all over the wall.

The delicate flowers swayed in the wind, and bees, attracted by the fragrance, flew around the flowers.

The children were fascinated by bees when they first saw them, staring wide-eyed at them as they busied themselves among the flowers.

"Bees are hardworking little gardeners; without them pollinating flowers, fruits and vegetables cannot bear fruit."

Lin Xiyu gave a live demonstration, explaining the knowledge of pollen fertilization to the babies.

"Wow."

The babies listened attentively, occasionally letting out a soft exclamation.

"Mommy, I want bees."

Da Bao was the most curious, and he stretched out his little hand to try and catch a bee.

"You can't touch the bees."

Lin Xiyu, fearing he would be stung by a bee, hurriedly stopped him, saying, "It has a stinger on its tail, and it hurts a lot when it stings."

She should have kept quiet; her words only piqued the little one's curiosity even more.

While the adults weren't looking, Da Bao sneaked to the wall, stood on tiptoe, grabbed the loofah vine, and tried to pick the flowers.

When bees are in the flowers, the outcome is predictable.

The little one got stung on the head and cried loudly in pain.

Grandma Gu was both annoyed and amused. While coaxing the child, she didn't forget to take out her favorite camera.

"Click."

The camera shutter clicked softly, capturing the little face that was crying pitifully.

This adds another dramatic chapter to Da Bao's countless dark histories.

-

Autumn has arrived, and the courtyard is full of harvest.

The pomegranate trees, persimmon trees, and grapevines were all laden with fruit, their branches bending under the weight.

The loofah vines along the west wall grew rapidly in the wind, covering the entire wall and extending from the top of the wall to the eaves.

Looking west from under the pomegranate tree, as far as the eye can see, the eaves and walls are covered with fresh, tender, and emerald-green loofahs.

The fact that the pumpkin vines are crowded out by the loofahs and there are fewer of them does not mean that the fruits are also small.

On the contrary, several long, large pumpkins were growing exceptionally well; they were not yet fully mature, but had already grown to the size of a washbasin.

"Your pumpkins are growing so well! How much fertilizer did you use? They've grown so big!" Wu Meng came to visit with her beloved daughter and couldn't help but marvel at the huge pumpkins.

Lin Xiyu smiled leisurely: "Our vegetables are purely organic and pollution-free, without a single chemical fertilizer."

"How could it grow this big without chemical fertilizers?"

Wu Meng didn't believe her: "Don't think you can fool me just because I'm not well-educated."

"I really didn't use any chemical fertilizers, I'm not lying to you."

Lin Xiyu smiled with an inscrutable expression.

"Then tell me, how did you grow these vegetables?"

Wu Meng pressed on, unwilling to give up, "I also want to learn some tricks so I can go back and tell all my aunts and uncles in the countryside, so they can grow pumpkins this big without using chemical fertilizers."

Lin Xiyu raised an eyebrow: "You really want to hear it?"

"of course it's true"

Wu Meng urged, "Stop being so mysterious, just tell me already."

"Okay, I'll tell you."

Lin Xiyu covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, teasing her mischievous son in front of her: "Pingping, how do you usually fertilize the pumpkins? Show Aunt Mengmeng a trick."

Da Bao believed it to be true, and with his short legs, he ran happily to the west wall and peed.

Wu Meng: "."

-

Nuannuan is a kind-hearted young lady. Seeing An'an sitting alone in a corner of the mat, not saying a word, as if she were being isolated, she looked a little pitiful.

So, the young woman had an idea: she wanted to secretly comfort the little brother.

When the little brother doesn't talk, the older sister uses toys to coax him and deliberately tries to get him to talk.

The little boy didn't appreciate her efforts and remained silent, so she kept changing his toys and trying to coax him.

An'an was speechless.

He just wanted to sit quietly for a while.

Why not get some sunshine and get some calcium?

Why does this seemingly dim-witted girl have to bother him?!

-

"Little brother, shall we play with the windmill together?"

Nuannuan had no idea what An'an was thinking. She proudly held up the little windmill that her mother had just bought for her and showed it off to her little brother.

She wanted to tease her little brother, so she deliberately blew on the windmill to make it spin faster.

There's a breeze in the yard; just turn the windmill slightly and it will spin faster, so there's no need to blow on it with your mouth!
An'an watched as she puffed out her cheeks and blew with great effort, rolled her eyes helplessly, and then lay down on the mat.

"Little brother, do you want to sleep? I'll stay with you."

Seeing that An'an had lain down, Nuannuan lay down as well, still holding her beloved little windmill in her hand.

The windmill was spinning slowly because it was going in the wrong direction, but she kept blowing it with all her might.

An'an listened for a while, but couldn't bear it any longer. She opened her eyes and turned the windmill around with her hand.

The windmill rotates in the wind, and its rotational speed increases exponentially.

Wow, the windmill is spinning so fast!

Nuannuan's eyes lit up, and she held up her little windmill, smiling happily.

-

"Xi Yu, how about this?"

Seeing this, Wu Meng secretly had another idea: "We're engaged since we were children, right? I think An'an is perfect. Let's arrange for An'an to marry my Nuannuan."

Lin Xiyu looked surprised: "Why have you suddenly taken a liking to An'an again?"

“I think An’an is quite smart, which is good for improving our family’s genes.”

Wu Meng made no attempt to hide her thoughts: "Liangzi and I combined are not as smart as Gu Bin alone. His son must also be very intelligent. He'll either be average or an anime, definitely like him."

Why didn't you choose Pingping?

Lin Xiyu smiled and asked in return, "Maybe Pingping took after his father, and An'an took after me."

Wu Meng's mind flashed back to the image of Pingping urinating on the pumpkin vine, and two beads of cold sweat dripped down the back of her head: "Let's forget about Pingping. An'an is perfect. We'll choose An'an."

"An'an is a bit cold-hearted."

Lin Xiyu, with her own motherly bias, thought all her sons were great, and offered a fair assessment: "In my opinion, he and Nuannuan aren't a good match. They don't get along. Even if we wanted to bring them together, it would be difficult to cultivate a relationship. On the other hand, Pingping, despite his seemingly carefree nature, is actually a very sweet boy. Lele likes Pingping the most, and Pingping also loves his little sister, always giving her the best things first."

"Both sons have their strengths and weaknesses; it's really hard to choose."

Wu Meng frowned, looking troubled again.

"Isn't it a bit too early for you to be worrying about this now?"

Lin Xiyu found it amusing and poked her forehead with her finger.

"It's getting late."

Wu Meng tilted her head to the side following the force of her hand, and said to herself, "Once when my mother brought Nuannuan to play, didn't Grandma Gu say that she would give Nuannuan a gold bracelet? But when Ruirui came back, the old lady was so happy that she forgot about it."

"You're still thinking about the bracelet?"

Lin Xiyu almost burst out laughing: "It happened so long ago, I can hardly remember."

"Put the bracelet on first."

Wu Meng chuckled, "If we tie her up with a bracelet, An'an won't be able to run away."

"You've really taken a liking to An'an?"

Lin Xiyu hadn't taken it seriously before, but when she heard her mention An'an again, she was genuinely surprised.

"I think Nuannuan's willingness to get close to An'an is fate."

Wu Meng glanced at the two children lying in the direction of the bed again and said calmly, "It's okay that An'an is cold-hearted. My Nuannuan is a little sun. Even the coldest ice can be melted by him."

"What kind of mother are you?"

Lin Xiyu chuckled and teased, "Aren't you afraid your daughter will suffer? I remember very clearly that someone cursed and swore that they would never let your daughter follow in her footsteps again, and that if she dared to actively pursue a man, they would break her legs."

"Uh."

Wu Meng was embarrassed and tried to make amends: "Times have changed. Back then, An'an hadn't been born yet. If I had known you could give birth to such an outstanding son, I definitely wouldn't have said that."

"Okay."

Lin Xiyu genuinely liked Nuannuan from the bottom of her heart, so she fulfilled Nuannuan's little wish, considering it as accumulating good fortune for the children: "If you want to order An'an, then go ahead and order An'an. As for the bracelet, there's no need for the old lady to provide it; I have one here. Let Nuannuan wear it first, so her mother won't keep thinking about it."

"That would be great."

Wu Meng covered her mouth with her hand and laughed, "It's rare for you to be so generous, so I'll thank your mother-in-law on behalf of my Nuannuan."

"The way you call me 'grandma'..."

Lin Xiyu stood up from the stool and teased with a smile, "Even smoother than your daughter."

"Hahaha."

Wu Meng herself found it funny and couldn't stop laughing.

-

True to her word, Lin Xiyu picked out a small gold bracelet of a suitable size from her jewelry box and put it on Nuannuan's wrist.

"whee."

Nuannuan didn't understand the adults' thoughts; she only knew that the gold bracelet looked shiny and beautiful.

Little girls all love to look pretty, and Nuannuan is no exception. She happily swung her wrist and laughed heartily.

"You've already put them on?"

Sister Liu and Sister Xu, being experienced, immediately understood what was going on. Their teasing eyes kept darting towards Nuannuan and An'an.