Hard work after winning the lottery

Hua Yun looked at his silly expression, smiled slyly, and pulled his hand to cover her stomach: "President Zhou, congratulations, your year-end bonus may double again."

Zhou Yanjin was struck dumb, frozen in place.

Is he going to be a dad again?

This time... could it be three again?

Half an hour later, at the dining table in the main room.

Zhou Yanjin helped Hua Yun to the main seat as if she were holding a fragile porcelain vase.

Grandpa Zhou Yinchuan, who had just returned from his morning exercise, was wearing a Tang-style exercise uniform and leaning on his dragon-head cane, looking quite energetic.

Upon entering the room, the old man's stern face instantly broke into a wide smile when he saw his three great-grandchildren hunched over the table, waiting for dinner.

"Oh my, my darlings, you're up so early!"

But when his gaze shifted and he saw Zhou Yanjin pouring warm water for Hua Yun, the old man's face hardened, he slammed his cane on the floor tiles, and snorted:

"Hmph, so you're willing to come back?"

Zhou Yanjin was already used to her grandfather's "differential treatment" and helplessly called out, "Grandpa."

"Hmph, if it weren't for seeing Yunyun and the children, I think you'd just be a money-making machine." Although Zhou Yinchuan was sarcastic, a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes. He walked over and sat down. "Now that you're back, put your work aside and spend more time with Yunyun."

"I understand." Zhou Yanjin nodded, accepting the instruction.

Soon, steaming hot dumplings were served.

The two markets are clearly distinct.

One plate was glistening with oil and exuding a rich aroma of meat; the other was light and refreshing, with a hint of tanginess.

There was a plate of sauerkraut filling in front of Hua Yun.

Before she could even pick up her chopsticks, three pairs of small chopsticks had already eagerly reached into her bowl.

"Mom, eat! This one is big!" This was the eldest son, Si'an, who picked up the biggest dumpling. Although it almost fell on the table halfway through, he still managed to get it into his mother's bowl.

"Mom, eat more. Your little sister needs to grow." The second child, Sile, said something that stunned all the adults at the table.

"You knew it was your sister?" Li Guifen asked in surprise.

Sile calmly took a bite of the dumpling: "That's how it's portrayed on TV, Mommy's tummy must be full of a little sister."

Everyone was amused by his mature demeanor.

Even Si Tao scooped up a dumpling with a spoon and held it to Zhou Yanjin's lips: "Dad...eat."

Zhou Yanjin felt a surge of warmth in her heart and opened her mouth to catch her son's feeding.

Although the dumpling skin was a bit thick and the filling was a bit salty, in Zhou Yanjin's opinion, these were absolutely the best dumplings he had ever eaten in his life, without a doubt.

"Okay, Daddy's going to eat. You guys eat too, and when you're full, Daddy's going to build a snowman."

"Yay! Let's build a snowman! I'm going to build a giant monster!"

"I'm going to build a castle!"

Ever since Zhou Yanjin learned that Hua Yun was pregnant that morning, Hua Yun felt that she couldn't live her life anymore.

It's not that she's not doing well, it's that she's doing too "well," so well that she doubts whether she's a disabled person who can take care of herself.

"Leave it there! Don't move it!"

The sound startled Hua Yun so much that she dropped the orange peel from her hand.

Hua An, who was sitting on the threshold, rushed to Hua Yun at the speed of a hundred-meter sprint and snatched the orange that was not yet fully peeled.

"Sis! Is this the kind of heavy physical work you do?" Hua An asked with a serious expression.

Hua Yun's lips twitched: "Peeling an orange...is that considered heavy physical labor?"

"Why doesn't it count?" Hua An argued vehemently as he deftly peeled and removed the skin and fibers. "Stretching with your fingers will affect the muscles in your forearm, which connects to your upper arm, and your upper arm to your shoulder. It's a chain reaction! What if it hurts my unborn niece?"

Hua Yun: "..."

Before she could finish complaining, Hua An had already put a cleanly peeled orange, with not a single white pith left, to her lips, and even removed the seeds.

Open your mouth.

Just as Hua Yun was about to put the orange in her mouth, two more coughs came from the doorway.

"Ahem!"

Zhou Yanjin walked in carrying a thermos, her brows slightly furrowed. She glanced at the orange and said gently, "You haven't drunk the milk you just heated. Eating a cold orange on an empty stomach is bad for your stomach."

Hua An immediately betrayed her, stuffing the orange into his mouth: "Brother-in-law is right! Sis, drink your milk!"

Hua Yun collapsed in despair in the rocking chair.

I can't live like this anymore!

The two old men stopped playing chess and each moved a small stool to sit on either side of Hua Yun, like two guardian generals.

Hua Mutou held a pipe in his hand, but dared not light it. He only dared to smell it, his eyes wide like saucers: "Yunyun, tell me what you want to eat. If you want to eat dragon meat from heaven, I'll have your dad... go and find a way!"

Zhou Yinchuan, on the other hand, exuded righteousness, tapping his cane on the floor tiles with a loud thud: "Hmph, old man Hua, you're just bragging. Yunyun, Grandpa really does have comrades-in-arms in Inner Mongolia, so eating mutton is no problem for him! Oh, I almost forgot, we're raising sheep right now."

"Come on, come on, it's fresh out of the pot!"

Li Guifen burst out of the kitchen carrying a steaming clay pot that was almost as big as a washbasin.

Hua Yun knows the taste without even looking at it.

It's chicken soup again.

This is already the third meal of the day. This morning it was black-boned chicken and red date soup, lunch was old hen stewed with yam, and now it's afternoon tea time, and they even have some!

"Mom..." Hua Yun looked at the oily soup noodles with a bitter face, "I really can't drink anymore. Now, I feel like crowing whenever I smell chicken."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Li Guifen glared at her, ladled out a large bowl, and handed it to her. "This is a free-range chicken I caught in the back mountain. It grows up eating insects, it's very nutritious! You're not eating alone now, there's another one in your belly... no, it might even be a whole brood!"

Grandma Hua, her face crinkling with laughter, said, "That's right, that's right, Yunyun, be a good girl. Pregnancy is like going through hell for a woman, you have to be healthy from the start. Look at how pale you are, Yan Jin is so worried about you."

Mentioning Zhou Yanjin, the man was sitting at an eight-immortal table not far away, with Si Tao on his lap, Sile in his arms, and Si An on his back, telling stories to his three little darlings.

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Yanjin looked up and gave Hua Yun a helpless look that said, "I can't save you either." Then she looked down at Si Tao and said, "Go and make sure Mom drinks the soup."

Sitao immediately obeyed, running over on her short legs, lying on Huayun's lap, and blinking her big eyes that looked just like Huayun's: "Mommy, drink some soup! Drinking soup will make you a superhero!"

Sile also came over and said in her childish voice, "Mommy, little sister is hungry."

have to.

With the whole family pitching in, who could possibly handle that?

Hua Yun finished the bowl of chicken soup with tears in her eyes.

The days flew by amidst the aroma of chicken soup and tender care, and before we knew it, it was the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Little New Year in the north.