"Xue, try on the trench coat again. Although it’s for spring or autumn, it looks nice. See if you like it."
Li Xue excitedly ran upstairs and put on the trench coat before coming down.
Lu Fengzhen laughed, "This coat looks great. Makes Xue’er look taller."
Guodong also nodded with a smile, "Beautiful, really beautiful."
Li Xue felt embarrassed under Guodong’s gaze.
"Guodong, your Uncle Li and big brother and sister-in-law are about to arrive ho. Have dinner at our place."
"Thank you, Aunt Lu."
"No need to be so polite."
Li Xue went upstairs, changed out of her clothes, and sat in the living room.
"Guodong, how are the preparations coming along? If anything’s missing, co ho and get it."
"Everything’s ready. We’re missing cigarettes, lon seeds, but those have been bought."
"What about tables and chairs?"
"Master Shang went to the scrap yard to buy them. He doesn’t know the neighbors, and new ones can’t be bought. He said he’d buy old ones, clean them up, and they’d be usable. But not sure about the stools; we have a few at ho."
"Alright, if there aren’t enough stools, people can just stand while eating. Tomorrow there won’t be any outsiders, just family, nobody will mind."
"Aunt Lu, everyone’s coming to have dinner at my place tonight. Preparations are already underway."
"Alright, let your Uncle Li know when you get ho."
Today’s lunch is dumplings. In the cold of winter, dumplings are the most comforting. There may not be much at, but there is so, and aren’t they white flour dumplings, after all?
When Li Honglin and his wife returned, dumplings were begun to be cooked. Li Yunqiao wasn’t working this afternoon, so he ntioned he’d be back shortly, not exceeding ten minutes, before leaving for work in the morning, so this is perfect timing for cooking dumplings.
"Guodong is here?"
"Sister-in-law, brother."
"Your brother isn’t working this afternoon, if there’s anything to do, let him help."
"Sister-in-law, everything’s arranged. We have two aunts cooking at ho, and Aunt Jiang’s family is coming over in the afternoon."
Zheng Lihong said a word and went inside to feed the child. At just over two months old, the little one is so endearing.
When Li Yunqiao arrived ho, the dumplings were already cooked.
Lv Guodong stood up respectfully to greet him.
"Sit down, it’s ti to eat soon. Where’s your dad?"
"Uncle Li, my dad is at ho with the two aunts preparing things."
"Go call your dad to co over for dinner."
"Uncle Li, there’s no need. My dad said he won’t co over; he wants to keep the house warm."
Li Yunqiao didn’t insist, feeling there’s no need for formalities over small matters.
Lu Fengzhen poured a cup of warm water for Li Yunqiao, fearing that eating right away would upset his stomach since he just got ho.
As he ate, Li Yunqiao inquired about the preparations. Guodong thodically detailed everything, even explaining the dishes.
Li Yunqiao was pleased, sensing the importance placed on his daughter, knowing that his second and fourth brothers’ families were coming tomorrow by tractor eased his mind.
"Uncle Li, Uncle Wei said everyone’s coming for dinner at our place tonight."
"Alright, no problem."
"I’m going to buy a watch with Xue this afternoon. I’ll lead you all back later."
Li Yunqiao nodded with a smile, while Zheng Lihong was surprised, as she thought the Lv family were rely regular laborers, yet they unexpectedly gifted a watch for the engagent. Quite extravagant indeed.
After lunch, everyone sat in the living room for tea.
"Uncle Li, Xue’er and I are heading to the departnt store."
"Go ahead, Fengzhen, find the watch ticket for Guodong."
"Uncle Li, Aunt Jiang already prepared a watch ticket for ; I have it with ."
Li Yunqiao knew Wei Kaiyun and his wife were resourceful, surprised they also had tickets in abundance.
Li Xue returned to the room to change clothes, and the couple left sweetly.
Li Honglin rode a bike to take his wife to work. He returned to the room and laid beside his son, quickly falling asleep.
Li Yunqiao cuddled up with Lu Fengzhen on the bed.
"The Lv family holds Xue’er in high regard. Guodong brought over two sets of clothes this morning too. Never thought Mr. Lv was just a worker, yet had so much money."
"He probably earned it elsewhere. He and Xiao Jiang went to Russia, surely they made money."
Li Yunqiao’s hand slipped into his wife’s clothes, gently stroking her belly. He actually wanted a daughter, but seeing his daughter’s performance and his wife’s desire for a son, he kept this thought to himself.
"This kid is quite mischievous, huh?"
"It’s alright, not always. More often, he’s calm."
Lu Fengzhen was filled with happiness.
She knew Li Yunqiao loved her, so she felt very joyful. Also slightly smug, never thought she’d find love like this.
Li Yunqiao’s hands turned more mischievous, but Lu Fengzhen didn’t resist, allowing the couple to be together.
Li Yunqiao never expected to be like this in broad daylight, but this was his reality now.
Holding his wife, stroking her smooth back, he realized this was the life he yearned for.
Guodong and Li Xue took their ti reaching the departnt store.
Choosing a watch stirred disagreent. Lv Beiguang had given Guodong 300 yuan, telling him to cover whatever is lacking and repay him later. So, Guodong wanted to buy a better one for his wife, but Li Xue felt money was tight and preferred the 240 yuan plum blossom watch.
"Xue, buy this one for 340. It’s high quality and looks good."
"But it’s too expensive."
"Not expensive, not expensive at all. How could buying sothing for you be expensive? We’ll take this watch."
The salesperson envied Li Xue, having such a good-looking fiancé treating her so well. Truly envious.
Guodong smiled as he asked the salesperson to take out the watch and put it on Li Xue.
"It looks great, we’ll take this one. In the future, when I have more money, I’ll buy you the most expensive one."
Li Xue shyly nodded; she liked this watch, yet 340 was too costly.
Guodong requested the salesperson to shorten the strap, making it look even better on Li Xue’s wrist.
He stopped her from taking it off, "Wear it. It’s ant to be yours and that’s what watches are for, right?"
The couple walked away from the counter. Guodong whispered, "My dad brought over the Swiss fabric for you. If you want to make clothes, we should buy buttons and thread too. Let’s get them today."
The young couple wandered around the departnt store, buying lots of little trinkets.
Seeing it was already 3:30, they headed ho, knowing they needed to be ho for dinner.
Yang Zhongyi and his friends went straight to the restaurant from their house. Today’s nu includes sauerkraut stuffed dumplings, and sauerkraut stuffed vegetable pancakes.
"Shi Jing, Jianbin, what do you two want to eat?
Jing Chu, what do you want to eat?"
Lv Jingchu generously looked at the board displaying the day’s specials. "I’ll have the sauerkraut stuffed vegetable pancakes. And a bowl of egg soup."
Shi Jing and Jianbin were quite disappointed, neither liked these two options. But having arrived here, they can’t go back ho to eat, and since Sister Jing Chu already ordered, they decided to make do with the al here.
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