"Daddy, hug."
The little child, with her bare, tender feet, hopped around on the bed.
She had just taken a bath and was sleepy. When Chen Yang returned, Shen Xue hadn't even had time to put her shoes on before carrying her out.
Now, Shen Xue was applying medicine to Chen Yang and had placed her back on the bed.
"Okay, Daddy will hug you."
Chen Yang opened his arms and finally held his little cotton-padded jacket in his embrace.
The little one nestled in his arms like a kitten, not moving, so well-behaved.
"You have no idea, your little cotton-padded jacket has been waiting for you at the village entrance every day, and couldn't be persuaded to come back."
Shen Xue looked at Chen Yang with a hint of sourness. Her daughter was close to her, but not as much as Chen Yang. This little girl went to the village entrance every day, rain or shine, to wait for her daddy.
Hearing Shen Xue's words, the little child lowered her head bashfully.
"Yanyan, do you miss Daddy that much?"
Chen Yang pinched his daughter's little nose. The little one shook her head and tried to wriggle free from his playful grasp.
"I miss Daddy. Yanyan loves Daddy the most."
Hearing these heartwarming words from his little cotton-padded jacket, all the fatigue of the past half-month vanished. The elder man immediately lifted her high.
The little child's silvery laughter soon filled the entire room. Watching the father and daughter playing so happily, Shen Xue also smiled.
With him here, the family was complete. The children were so happy.
"Daddy, I want a hug too."
At this moment, Chen Hao, having finished his candied hawthorn, also entered the room. Seeing Chen Yang playing happily with his sister, he also wanted a hug from his dad.
Children are like that; they want to snatch everything.
"Okay, hugs for everyone."
"Let's go eat. Daddy brought roast chicken back."
Chen Yang, carrying both children in his arms, walked out of the room. Fortunately, only a small piece of skin was scraped, so it didn't hinder him from holding the children.
Shen Xue looked at the two little ones held by her man, both making funny faces at him. She couldn't help but laugh and cry.
"Have a drink?"
The father-in-law looked at the roast chicken and the cold pig's head salad with fennel, glancing at Chen Yang. His elder son-in-law had become successful; his business had even reached Feishi.
Just a few days ago, he had heard Director Liu from the commune say that his son-in-law had been featured in the Anhui Provincial Daily, a newspaper distributed throughout the entire province. His own father, in his prime, hadn't had such an honor. How could he not be successful?
"Dad, Chen Yang just got home. Let him rest well tonight. No drinks today."
The old man's first batch of rice wine had been brewed and he was showing it off everywhere. Seeing his son-in-law return, he wanted to have a drink with him and let him taste it.
"It's okay, Dad is happy. A little bit."
Chen Yang knew Shen Xue was concerned about his scraped skin and that's why she didn't want him to drink. This small scratch wouldn't matter; it would scab over in a few days.
"Alas, a daughter who marries out is like spilled water."
"A grown daughter no longer belongs to her father."
Shen Futang took a sip by himself. Why did the old father feel like the wine tasted a bit sour?
"Daddy, what does 'a grown daughter no longer belongs to her father' mean?"
The little child, gnawing on the large chicken leg Liu Chunmei had given her, asked Chen Yang.
"Cough, cough. This, your grandpa is telling you. From now on, no matter what, you must side with Daddy. Otherwise, Daddy will be sad, understand?"
Chen Yang wiped the chicken grease from his daughter's chubby cheek. Seeing his little cotton-padded jacket eating so heartily, he felt happier than if he had eaten it himself.
"Daddy, I will always love Daddy the most."
The little child said without hesitation, still gnawing on the large chicken leg. Hearing his daughter's words, Chen Yang felt overjoyed. He was glad he had held up the brown paper bag containing the roast chicken, otherwise, if it fell and got dirty, his little cotton-padded jacket wouldn't have anything to eat.
Once the wine flowed, conversations opened up.
The father-in-law boasted about how delicious his homemade wine was, how many men in the village had come to buy it from him, and bragged about it all.
If it weren't for today, Chen Yang wouldn't have known that his father-in-law was actually quite a proud person at heart.
The money earned from selling wine was actually less than half a day's earnings Chen Yang made from giving him the fish-buying business.
But there was no way; it was an ancestral skill, and the old man was passionate about it. When people praised his brewing, he was happier than making money.
In the end, Chen Yang drank two liang of wine, and the father-in-law got himself drunk.
"Is Dad still bothered by that matter?"
The mother-in-law had already helped the father-in-law into the room to rest. Chen Yang secretly pulled Shen Xue, who was clearing the dishes, and asked.
"He's much better. He can brew at home, and I'm learning too. Dad is much more at ease than before."
"Besides, these two little ones are even more enthusiastic than I am. They're barely as tall as the wine vats, but they always run over to join the fun."
Shen Xue looked at the little one clinging to Chen Yang like a kangaroo, unable to let go. She couldn't help but laugh and cry. But thinking about it, if it weren't for these two little ones, her father wouldn't be so happy.
Most elderly people are very stubborn and stick to their own views. Young people can't change their deeply ingrained ideas; if you push too hard, they'll just scold you.
Sons and daughters can't control them, but grandchildren can!
If nothing else, Shen Futang had been smoking a water pipe for decades. With the two little ones around, he had managed to suppress his smoking habit.
"Have the two little ones had their baths?"
Chen Yang, head-to-head with his daughter, asked Shen Xue. In this hot weather, the children needed baths every day, otherwise, sweating would easily lead to prickly heat.
In those days, there was no floral water or talcum powder. Getting a rash of prickly heat was extremely uncomfortable.
"Both have had their baths. Haohao has eaten, and Dad had already coaxed him to sleep. Yanyan hasn't eaten, but I just gave her a bath too."
Shen Xue glanced at her son's round belly, lifted him from the table, and let him stroll around the yard for a while.
You can't sleep immediately after eating; you need to walk around to aid digestion, lest you choke later.
"Alright, I'll play with the kids for a bit. You finish cleaning the dishes and go take a bath too."
The man gave his wife a look that spoke volumes without words. Shen Xue's face immediately flushed.
This guy, in front of the children!
But Shen Xue's heart also burned with passion. Her husband had been away for over half a month, and she missed him.
Even the speed at which Shen Xue cleared the dishes quickened. Chen Yang led the two little ones for a stroll in their yard.
His wife and mother-in-law were very diligent. Some vegetables had already been planted in the small yard, row after row, neatly arranged.
After strolling for half an hour, estimating that Shen Xue should have finished her bath, Chen Yang carried the two little ones back to the room to coax them to sleep.
When Shen Xue entered, she saw her daughter asleep, hanging around Chen Yang's neck, and was a bit stunned.
When did her man become so skilled at putting the baby to sleep?
"Shh, don't wake her. I put in a lot of effort to coax our daughter to sleep."
Chen Yang carefully placed the little one in the small bed in the adjoining room. Compared to this clingy little cotton-padded jacket, their son was much better behaved and was already sleeping soundly.
Chen Yang turned around, and the couple's eyes met.
The temperature in the air seemed to instantly rise by a few degrees.
"Mmm."
Shen Xue felt herself being lifted by the waist, and before she could exclaim, her lips were already sealed.
Instantly, the longing between them ignited.
This collision was like dry firewood meeting a raging fire, like a long drought meeting sweet rain.
Then, the next day, neither of them got out of bed.