Chapter 96 End of text
One day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, watermelon will call daddy.
That morning when Ji Congzhe opened his eyes, he found that the little thing had woken up, with its small body nestled in his arms. When Ji Congzhe woke up, his eyes immediately bent up, revealing four small teeth.
Ji Congzhe teased his chin with his fingers, "You wake up so early? It's earlier than a rooster."
"Baba...baba..." Suddenly Watermelon opened his mouth and uttered a few syllables.
I just woke up and my mind is still a little confused. With this sudden sound, Ji Congzhe suddenly had the illusion of attaining immortality, and was shocked on the bed for several seconds.
Until his son looked at him again and softly called out "Baba..."
Although the pronunciation was quite irregular, it was a thunderbolt. Ji Congzhe suddenly woke up and immediately pushed Lin Zhen beside him crazily.
"Lin Zhen! Hurry up! Watermelon..."
Lin Zhen thought something had happened. He was so frightened that he suddenly opened his eyes and asked, "What's wrong with Watermelon?"
At this time, Watermelon couldn't stop screaming, "Ba Ba... Ba."
Lin Zhen was so emotional that his eyes instantly turned red as Watermelon's childish voice sounded.
Ji Congzhe complained funnyly, "Hey, are you mistaken? I, the one who gave birth to him, didn't even cry!"
"leave me alone."
The young couple's reaction on the spot seemed to be encouraging to Xigua, and then he kept "bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah, bah".
The two fathers were moved to death at first, but later they were also annoyed to death.
In October, the rice in the fields is ready to be harvested, and all farmers are busy, including the young couple.
We have to harvest rice and there is no one to take care of the children. There are families with children in Gaoshan Village. The older children go to the fields with their parents, and the younger children are also taken there and left beside the field edges.
Liangliang can walk, so Chen Hu and the others naturally take him to the fields. As there was no one to take care of Xigua, Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen could only bite the bullet and prepare to take him there.
In the weather in October, the sun is still scorching during the day, but the temperature is a bit low in the morning and evening. So today Xigua is wearing soft cotton autumn clothes. The autumn clothes are a set with small blue floral flowers on a white background. If you look closely, you can see that they are not small floral flowers but small fishes.
After Ji Congzhe put on his little cloth shoes, he put on a light blue blouse. In this way, he would not catch a cold sooner or later. If it was too hot, just take off the blouse.
Put a trumpet hat on him to save Tasaka from getting tanned by the sun.
After cleaning up, Lin Zhen picked up the child. Ji Congzhe took two sickles and a basket.
The basket contained two water bottles, two lunch boxes, a bottle full of milk, a small bag of biscuits, a few golden oranges and a clean diaper.
Chen Hu and his wife walked through the door with Liang Liang. When they saw the young couple packing up and walking out of the house, they smiled and teased Xigua, "Watermelon, go to the fields with dad to cut rice! Watermelon is amazing!"
As long as Watermelon can go out and play, that would be great. When Wang Xiaoyan said this, she almost jumped up in Lin Zhen's arms.
Walking through the boundless golden fields, every acre of the field is busy with work. Some people are immersed in cutting rice, and some people have already cut half of the rice and are threshing the rice.
In an instant, there were the sounds of chatter, the sound of the rice thresher, the sound of the sickle cutting the rice stalks, and the sound of the tea cup lid closing, all of which were the lively scenes of farmers busy.
When the young couple arrived at the field, Lin Zhen took off his coat and spread it on the ridge of the field, letting the watermelon sit on it.
Ji Congzhe rolled up his sleeves, took out an orange from the basket and peeled it. He put the orange segment into his son's hand and said to him, "Watermelon, sit down and don't crawl around, you know? Your dad and I are now It's time to harvest the rice, please be obedient."
Watermelon grabbed the orange segment and stuffed it into his mouth. He nodded after hearing Ji Congzhe's instructions.
Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen went to cut the rice with sickles.
In the beginning, the rice was cut at the edge of the field, so the young couple did not have to worry too much. When the rice was cut further and further, the two of them had to turn their heads from time to time to see if their son was sitting there obediently.
The main concern is that he will crawl around. Although the ditch next to it is dry, if he falls in, he will still have to wear off a layer of skin.
Watermelon was quite obedient. He sat there and gnawed on the orange segment, but his mouth with four small teeth made the orange juice drip. However, as long as he was obedient, Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen were free to eat whatever he wanted.
A bird flew in the sky, and the watermelon forgot to bite the orange petals. He stretched out his fingers and shouted "ba...baba."
After Ji Congzhe heard this, he continued to cut the rice quickly in his hands without raising his head and responded, "Hey, watermelon is obedient."
After a while, the little thing yelled "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" again.
Ji Congzhe shouted to Lin Zhen on the other end, "Go quickly, your son is about to pull."
Lin Zhen immediately put down his sickle and walked quickly toward the field ridge. Then he picked up his son from his clothes, ripped off his diaper, and squatted by the ditch, holding his two calves.
The orange segment in Xigua's hand has been pinched into shape. He is peeing and wants to stuff it into his mouth.
Lin Zhen quickly took away the orange segment and threw it aside. "Finish peeing first, and dad will feed it to you later."
The little thing raised his head and looked at Lin Zhen's face, "Ba Ba."
Lin Zhen lowered his head and said softly, "Well, daddy is here, hurry up and pee."
After Xigua finished urinating, Lin Zhen took him back to the edge of the field and stuffed him with a clean diaper. Although Xigua sometimes knew when he went to the toilet, he called Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen. But sometimes I can't hold it in anymore and I pee my pants, so diapers are still essential.
The two men cut it all morning and cut a third of it. We had lunch in the field.
Ji Congzhe saw that his son's hands were extremely sticky from the orange petals, so he took him to a nearby stream to wash his hands, and gave him a good rub with his ten fingers.
After spending the morning in the sun, his little face under the hat was red. Ji Congzhe washed his face again, then took off his shirt and let him sit on the field ridge in his thin autumn clothes.
"You eat first, and I'll feed Watermelon." Lin Zhen handed the lunch box to Ji Congzhe, and he took the bottle to feed his son.
After Ji Congzhe finished eating, Xigua was still drinking milk. He took the bottle and exchanged it for Lin Zhen to eat.
Xigua bit her pacifier and took a few sips, her eyes wandering again.
"Hmm..."
The couple who were eating in the field next door heard the child's voice, and they spoke loudly and teased Xigua, "Little Watermelon, are you eating too? Oh, you are so awesome. After eating, you will have the strength to help your father work."
"Hmm!!" Someone responded to Watermelon, who happily spit out his pacifier and waved his hands in the air.
"Tsk! Eat it quickly -" Ji Congzhe continued to put the pacifier into the watermelon's mouth impatiently. "Do you want to be spanked by me again?"
Watermelon is drinking milk obediently now.
Lin Zhen told the couple in the field next door, "It's very hard for him to eat. It takes him a long time to feed him."
The woman next door joked, "It's not that you guys eat too well. We kids eat whatever we have."
The young couple chatted and laughed with them for a while, and finished drinking the watermelon milk.
After drinking the milk, Watermelon's eyelids started to squirm as soon as the sun was out.
He couldn't sit still on his clothes and opened his hands in a daze for Ji Congzhe to hold him.
Lin Zhen stood on the edge of the field and looked at the cut rice in the field. "Ji Congzhe, let the watermelon go to sleep in the field later. We are cutting too far and can't see him."
"Okay." As soon as Ji Congzhe picked up the watermelon, he buried his face in Ji Congzhe's arms.
Only a slit was still exposed for his eyes, for fear that Ji Congzhe would leave him and disappear.
"Ba..."
"Well, Xigua sleeps, daddy holds you." Ji Congzhe patted his butt.
Xigua felt relieved and fell asleep quickly.
Lin Zhen piled up the straw cut from the field into a large and soft bed, and then spread his clothes on top.
Ji Congzhe walked over and gently placed the watermelon on it, then covered him with a blouse and took off his hat to cover his face to prevent the sun from being too dazzling.
After settling his son, he and Lin Zhen continued to cut the remaining rice.
It was windy at night, so Ji Congzhe stopped going to the fields and stayed at home to take care of his son. And Lin Zhen had to rush to the fields to harvest the rice that had been cut during the day.
Last year they had no money, so they borrowed a neighbor's rice thresher. This year, they had money, so they simply bought one themselves.
After dinner, Lin Zhen went out alone with a flashlight and two empty baskets.
Watermelon knows how to call daddy. At first, the young couple was worried about how he would call the two daddies, fearing that he would not be able to figure it out or that the young couple themselves would not be able to tell which daddy the little thing was calling.
But after listening for a few days, the three of them actually understood each other quite well. Especially Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen, they can actually tell which son is calling him daddy.
The weather is getting colder and the bed is covered with soft quilts. Ji Congzhe and his son were lying warm in bed, while Lin Zhen should be sweating while working.
Xigua opened his dark eyes and turned his head to look at the place next to him that originally belonged to Lin Zhen in confusion.
"Baba..."
Ji Congzhe said softly, "Dad is working in the fields. Xigua and dad will go to bed first. Your dad will be back later."
After hearing this, Xigua squirmed into Ji Congzhe's arms like a small insect, "Bah, bah..."
Ji Congzhe stretched out his hand to wrap around his little body, "Dad is here, Xigua, go to sleep..."
When Lin Zhen returned home around eleven o'clock, Xigua had already fallen asleep. Ji Congzhe opened his eyes when he heard someone coming upstairs and reached out to turn on the light.
"Came back?"
"Yes." Lin Zhen walked over and looked at Ji Congzhe and his son first. He lowered his body and kissed Xigua's bulging cheek.
Ji Congzhe shook his head and sighed, "This little thing has been waiting for you for a long time before he wants to sleep."
Lin Zhen was quite surprised, but there was uncontrollable surprise on his face. "Really? How did he wait for me?"
"Daddy kept calling me. I told him you were working in the fields and you would come back later, and he refused to sleep."
After hearing this, the tenderness in Lin Zhen's eyes overflowed to the corners of her mouth.
"If I had known, I should have gone to the fields to harvest rice, so that I could also experience the feeling of being remembered by my son."
Lin Zhen smiled and said, "Then I probably won't be able to keep him for half the night. He must be making noises and going to the fields."
Ji Congzhe felt a little embarrassed after hearing this, "That's true."
"You continue to sleep, and I will carry the grains to the new house. When the sun comes out tomorrow, they will be dried in the yard."
Ji Congzhe: "Okay, don't forget to take a shower, otherwise the quilt will be covered with chaff and it will be so itchy."
"Ok, I know."
The next day, the young couple raked the golden millet directly on the cement floor of the small courtyard. The spacious small courtyard didn't even need a mat to dry on the ground. When it got dark, they shoveled it directly into the basket without any debris.
Lin Zhen grabbed a grain of millet, peeled off the shell, and said with emotion, "This year's yield seems to be higher than last year."
Ji Congzhe said, "Last year, we both had half a bucket of water. We have experience this year. If the output does not increase, we will have done so much farm work in vain."
"Ji Congzhe, let's go to the village workshop to make some rice cakes this year, otherwise there will be insects in the rice if it is left uneaten for a long time."
"Okay, let's get two baskets of rice cakes!"
The rice is harvested, the millet is dried, and then the rice is ground. As the weather gets cooler and the autumn breeze blows, the annual festival has arrived.
In the evening, the young couple discussed in the house what they needed to buy at the market tomorrow.
There were a lot of things that needed to be purchased on this trip, so Lin Zhen went to get a pen and notebook.
Ji Congzhe said, Lin Zhenji.
"One window for the master bedroom, one for the watermelon room, one for the guest room and kitchen, and one for the living room..."
Lin Zhen interrupted him, "Our living room has two doors and no windows."
Ji Congzhe thought for a while and asked, "How long does it take to make so many curtains?"
Lin Zhen couldn't tell. "Let's ask the boss then. Do you think there is anything else that needs to be decorated in the new house?"
"You can buy a few more quilt sheets. If friends or other people come to your home in the future, you can change some of them. Oh, and there are also dishes and chopsticks..."
Lin Zhen wrote down, "Since you mentioned quilt top sheets, let's go to the workshop to make a few more quilts this year. When the watermelon gets bigger, it will be useful to sleep in separate rooms."
"Okay." Ji Congzhe suddenly thought of something and slapped the table, almost disturbing his son who was sleeping in his arms.
Xigua suddenly trembled, his eyes were still closed, and his mouth was deflated. Ji Congzhe was so frightened that he patted his chest and coaxed softly, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, dad scared Xigua... Xigua continues to sleep."
Watermelon gradually calmed down.
Lin Zhen asked, "What did you think of? You are so excited."
Ji Congzhe shouted in a low voice, "The sofa cushions haven't been made yet!"
Originally, I planned to put soft cushions on the wooden sofa in the living room, otherwise my butt would hurt if I sat on it for a long time.
After I bought the fabric and cotton, I asked Ji Ma to sew it.
As a result, I never thought that Ji's mother was gone.
"Then let's buy the fabric for the sofa first. We can sew it ourselves." After Lin Zhen finished speaking, he wrote down the sofa cushion in his notebook.
Ji Congzhe shrugged, "That's it. I can't think of anything else right now. Let's go shopping tomorrow."
Early the next morning, the family of three got dressed and washed before going out. Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen still planned to go to town for breakfast, while Xigua breastfed at home.
He didn't know how long he would be shopping today, so Ji Congzhe put the bottles and diapers in the cloth bag. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold everything today, so he brought two more cloth bags.
Because it was a big market, Yan Cen's tractor was very crowded today. In addition to a bunch of people on the tractor, there were still many people who couldn't squeeze in at the entrance of the village. They had to wait for the next one, and Yan Cen estimated that he would arrive in one day today. I'm going back and forth between Shuangcai Town and Gaoshan Village at night. Maybe I can pick up some people from other villages on the way.
The tractor was so crowded that you couldn't even insert a pin into it, so naturally there were no seats, so everyone had to stand.
Lin Zhen hugged Watermelon and squeezed into the middle. He didn't even need to be supported. Just a bunch of people squeezed him firmly.
It was the first time Xigua saw so many people. From his perspective, all the villagers could see were their backs. He suddenly became a little nervous and held Lin Zhen's clothes tightly with both hands.
Ji Congzhe helped him put on his hat that was tilted to one side, and touched his face to help him relieve some tension.
The tractor arrived at Shuangcai Town after driving for an hour, emitting black smoke.
After getting off the car, Xigua immediately opened his eyes. This is more people than on a tractor, and the crowds of people on the street are slowly surging. Various sounds filled his ears, and the gadgets on the street caught Xigua's eyes tightly.
Colorful plastic windmills, brightly red candied haws, and a dazzling array of goods, including watermelons, were all in sight.
He opened his fingers and screamed.
Lin Zhen said to him, "We will buy it later. Let's go have breakfast with dad first."
The young couple followed the crowd to the middle of the street, squeezed out with their child in their arms, and entered a wonton shop.
The drawers of steamed dumplings were stacked half as high as a person, steaming white mist on the stove. The couple who owned the wonton shop were so busy that they quickly took out a bowl of wontons from the iron pot with a big spoon.
The small shop was full of people, and Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen waited for a while before they saw two seats vacated.
Lin Zhen sat on her lap with her son in her arms, while Ji Congzhe ordered two bowls of wontons and a drawer of steamed buns.
When the wontons with the fresh fragrance of green onion were brought over, Xigua stretched out his fingers.
The wontons have thin skin and are cooked soft, and the watermelon is edible.
Ji Congzhe took a small plate on the table, spooned a small wonton and soup into the small plate.
The wontons in the small plate quickly became cold. Before Ji Congzhe could bring the spoon to his mouth, the child sitting on Lin Zhen's lap had already opened his mouth.
"Baba, ah..."
The spoon was bigger than his mouth, and the watermelon could only take small bites of the wonton wrapper. It tasted so delicious that he started dancing.
After eating one, I still want it. Ji Congzhe could only continue to put wontons on the small plate to dry.
Taking advantage of this time, he and Lin Zhen took the time to have breakfast.
When I walked out of the wonton shop, Xigua's belly was bulging. It seemed that I didn't need to drink any more milk today.
Originally, I first found a fabric stall to pull the curtain fabric, but unexpectedly, along the way, I had already bought several Xigua toys before I found the stall.
A green plastic frog with a spring on its butt. If you pinch it and turn it, the frog will jump out on the ground.
The orange stuffed puppy flipped a switch under its belly and crawled all over the floor while barking.
The toy stall's business was extremely good, and it was crowded with adults and children.
Xigua wanted whatever he saw, and in the end Lin Zhen could only hug him and quickly squeeze into the crowd. If he didn't walk on the edge, Xigua wouldn't be able to see the stalls along the street. He could only see countless people's heads, and the commotion gradually stopped.
The young couple spread out several feet of cloth. The curtain cloth and the quilt and bed sheet were made of different materials. The fabric of the quilt and bed sheet needed to be thick, otherwise it would wear out in a few days.
You can buy curtain fabrics that are light and transparent. Anyway, rural people get up early and don't need too much shading.
The curtain fabrics of this era were almost all light-colored or white, with patterns printed on them. The stall owner strongly recommended one, with a white base and green bamboo printed on it, saying it was the best-selling one this year.
Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen didn't choose. They paid for it after seeing that the other items were similar.
After buying the fabric, he filled the big bag with it. Ji Congzhe almost had to carry it away. After buying another set of bowls and chopsticks, he could hardly move in the crowded market. So they went to the street corner and asked Yan Cen to help them take their things back to Gaoshan Village and store them at the canteen.
After giving away a large bag, Ji Congzhe felt much more relaxed. The most important things in the new house were bought, and then they could buy other things in peace.
When Xigua was full moon, all her friends and relatives sent her were spring and autumn shirts. Seeing that winter was about to come, she bought two pairs of cotton jackets and trousers for Xigua. The sweater Congzhe knitted last year couldn't be worn as the child's body grew rapidly. , so I bought a few sweaters, a few pairs of woolen trousers, and two pairs of warm cotton shoes.
After a large gathering, almost all of them were children's clothes, but Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen only bought a cotton-padded jacket each.
But this winter, no matter how heavy the snow falls or how cold the weather is, there is no need to be afraid.
They have spacious and bright new houses with airtight rooms on all sides and thick winter coats.
I originally planned to move in right after catching up with the big show, but when it was time to actually prepare to move, I found that there were a lot of trivial matters.
As a result, it took a long time to move into the new house until December.
The full-moon banquet hosted by Watermelon had exhausted the young couple, so after discussing with Lin Zhen, Ji Congzhe decided that the housewarming banquet should be abandoned, but a few close neighborhood friends still had to have a meal together.
So the young couple called Mr. Yang, Mr. and Mrs. Chen Hu, Mr. and Mrs. Yan Cen, and Yu Hai's family of four.
In addition, someone was asked to go to Xiaohe Village to call for Ji's mother's family.
However, only Ji's parents came, not the brothers. Ji's mother smiled and said, "They will have plenty of opportunities in the future. If you move today, you won't have time to cook."
Yan Cen's parents didn't come either, probably because the young couple had a lot to do today, so they only asked Yan Cen to come with his sister Yan Qing.
We only had dinner in the evening, but other people arrived after lunch, and they all came early to help the young couple decorate their new house.
Yu Hai and his wife were installing curtains on the windows one by one. Since the doors and windows of each room opened to the courtyard, and desks were placed under the windows, the curtains were only cut half a meter long, just enough to pass through. Desktop line.
After the curtains with green bamboo on a white background were hung up, they were gently pulled, and the white walls made them look particularly refreshing, with a strong pastoral style.
A sunbathing mat was laid out in the small courtyard under the sun, and Mother Ji and Aunt Yang and Wang Xiaoyan were sewing covers for several newly made quilts, as well as the cushions for the sofa.
And Yan Qing led a group of children to take off their shoes and roll around on the warm and soft quilts that had been sewn.
Xigua was the youngest and couldn't keep up with the other brothers and sisters. His round little body wrapped in winter clothes stumbled on the quilt, and he suddenly made a fuss in a hurry.
Ji's mother looked at him and grabbed him, "Look at you, you're like a radish and you're still playing so crazy. Look at you, you're sweating profusely."
Aunt Yang smiled and said, "This character and temper must have followed Xiao Ji, and he is very noisy."
After hearing this, Ji's mother smiled brightly. Although she was complaining about her grandson, her tone was uncontrollably doting, "I hope Xigua's character is like Lin Zhen, steady and sensible."
Just as they were talking, Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen had already walked in from the courtyard door carrying a small pear tree. When they saw a group of adults and children sitting on the patio in the small courtyard, Ji Congzhe asked them to clear up the place.
"Hurry up, we need to plant trees!"
Ji Ma quickly picked up Xigua and put on her shoes. Wang Xiaoyan also pulled Liangliang aside, and Aunt Yang rolled up the sun mat and the quilt inside into a large strip and moved it to the side first, making it easier for Ji Congzhe and the others to plant trees.
When they heard that a tree was to be planted, all the men in the house came out to help. After a while, the little pear tree was firmly buried deep in the soil.
Lin Zhen went to the creek and moved a basket of pebbles and spread them on the damp soil beside the tree trunk.
Dad Ji looked at the bare pear tree and said, "Whether it will survive depends on whether it will sprout next spring."
By about three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone was helping to prepare dinner. There was no problem for a dozen or so people standing in the spacious kitchen. Steamed hairy crabs and red-boiled shrimps were already placed on the large round table.
The fish was a large grass carp from Yan Cen's own pond. It had been scaled and cleaned and was ready to be put into the pot.
Outside the yard, Dad Ji was sitting on a bench, grabbing a chicken foot, putting it into a footbath filled with boiling water and plucking the feathers.
The young couple raised their own native chickens, which were fat and strong, and yellow and oily.
Ji Ma is the chef today. She is wearing an apron and holding a spatula while cooking while chatting about home cooking with Aunt Yang who is burning firewood behind the stove.
Several children were still playing wildly in the yard, and their childish chirping sounds filled the entire courtyard.
Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen spread the bedding Ji Ma and the others had just sewn in the master bedroom, and then spread it on the beds in Xigua and the guest room.
Ji's parents and Yu Hai's family will sleep here tonight.
The last time they went to the big market, they bought a lot of children's toys, and even gave watermelon to Watermelon, who couldn't even walk, in advance. They put a small lamp and alarm clock on the desk.
And the photo of a family of three that they couldn't bear to look at was framed and placed on the side of the desk.
The small bed was covered with thick quilts, and the wardrobe was filled with Xigua's clothes.
Standing in this room, both Ji Congzhe and Lin Zhen seemed to be able to see Xigua sitting at the desk in the future doing homework seriously. However, at this moment, through the window, they saw Xigua sitting on the cement floor in the courtyard and dropped a Orange toy puppy.
Lin Zhen couldn't help laughing.
Ji Congzhe glanced at him, "Why are you laughing?"
Lin Zhen looked back at him, with a look in his eyes that was filled with peace of mind and even the light of enjoying the beautiful life at the moment.
"I feel very accomplished."
Ji Congzhe raised his eyebrows, "What kind of sense of accomplishment?"
Lin Zhen narrowed his eyes and thought about the wording, "A sense of accomplishment... that we have created... a life."
"Yes." Ji Congzhe nodded with great satisfaction, "Not bad, Lin Xiaoniu, you are great."
Lin Zhen seemed to snort arrogantly, but the smile at the corner of his mouth never dissipated.
"Hey, then why don't you continue to work harder to achieve your sense of accomplishment? To take your life to the next level?"
"Huh?" Lin Zhen was confused.
"Aren't you going to build that tea frying machine? Now that we have some free time, why don't you hurry up and research the invention?"
Lin Zhen smiled and said, "Don't worry, we will still have a lot of time in the future. Even in this small town and mountain village, there will be opportunities for us to shine."
Ji Congzhe suddenly recalled what Lin Zhen said to him before.
Lin Zhen said that he does not have to go through big storms and achieve success to feel that life is complete, and that a family's ordinary life is also complete.
But at this moment, Ji Congzhe felt that he could still make a difference in ordinary life, and that dreams and life could both be fulfilled at the same time.
This is probably the best version of life.