Chapter 149: Chapter 148: Homecoming, Fried Eggs, and White Jade Mulberries

When they got home and opened the package, the old couple turned around and glared at their second son. You tried to stop them and gain favor, but ended up receiving even more generous gifts, unbelievable!

The two younger siblings didn’t care about their brother getting the cold shoulder; they excitedly reached for the White Rabbit candies. Only when they picked up the candies did they notice there were two pieces of fabric underneath—one indigo and one floral, clearly prepared for both boys and girls.

The journey back was smooth, and shortly after eight in the evening, Ling Chengyan and Wu Qingyun returned to Huicheng.

While Wu Qingyun parked the car, Ling Chengyan carried the basket and luggage home.

Wang Liansheng was checking the children’s homework. Upon seeing his wife return, he quickly stood up and asked, “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Let me cook for you.”

Xiaoyu went to light the stove and boil some water. It was hot, so the family had bought a firewood-burning kettle specifically for boiling water, which was much faster than a regular stove; it could boil in no more than five minutes.

Ling Chengyan hugged the chubby little boy who was rushing into her arms and called Wang Liansheng: “Just cook a bowl of noodles. I brought back some savory Xiangchun, slice a plate for me.”

Wang Liansheng glanced at the basket in his hand, smiled, and said, “So many good things, did you buy them on the way?”

Ling Chengyan chuckled and shook her head. Even though more farmers were coming to the city to sell things, it still depended on luck, and buying so many types of local specialties wasn’t easy.

“They are gifts from folks. Wash the mulberries and peaches, you and the kids eat them. They won’t keep long, don’t let them spoil.”

Speaking of which, Wang Liansheng laughed and said, “If only we had a refrigerator, we wouldn’t have to worry about things spoiling in the summer.”

Ling Chengyan glanced at him and smiled, shaking her head.

Even TV tickets are hard to get, let alone a refrigerator. It’s unsure if anyone in Huicheng even has one.

The couple chatted casually, which stirred curiosity among the children. Xia Xin blinked her large eyes at Wang Liansheng: “Dad, can the refrigerator make ice cream?”

“Of course,” Wang Liansheng explained, “A refrigerator can freeze anything inside. Put in water, and it becomes ice; add sugar and milk powder, and it becomes ice cream.”

Little Shi Tou was too eager to be close to his mom; he ran over, tugged on his father’s coat, and said: “Dad, let’s buy a refrigerator. I want ice cream.”

As he spoke, remembering the taste of ice cream, he licked his lips.

Wang Liansheng looked over and saw his wife giving him a self-inflicted look as she carried the luggage inside.

Helplessly, Wang Liansheng spread his hands: “We can’t buy a refrigerator here yet… When we can, we’ll get one.”

Xia Xin and Little Shi Tou were a bit disappointed, hanging their heads; Dad made it sound nice, but it turns out they couldn’t buy one. Not happy.

Ling Chengyan came out with her change of clothes, just in time to see the scene, meeting Wang Liansheng’s somewhat awkward and helpless expression, and chuckled.

After showering and changing into fresh clothes, she returned, and Wang Liansheng also came back with cooked noodles. In the small dish, the savory Xiangchun was minced, mixed with a little sesame oil, emanating a faint aroma.

Ling Chengyan ate with gusto, immediately poured the whole dish of Xiangchun mince into the noodles, mixed it, and started eating heartily.

After two bites, her chopsticks paused; only then did she notice that the bottom of the bowl was hiding two poached eggs.

Wang Liansheng was quite skilled at making poached eggs, always cooking them round and plump, perfectly timed, slightly runny yet without any raw egg taste—just right to eat.

Xia Xin peeped at the poached eggs in her mom’s bowl and wanted to ask Dad why he hid them, but just as she was about to speak, Xiaoyu tugged her to stop. The little girl seemed to vaguely understand something, looking at her aunt’s curved eyes, she followed and chuckled too.

Little Shi Tou, the youngest, couldn’t understand why his aunt and sister were laughing, ran over and asked: “Aunt, sister, what are you laughing at? You’re telling jokes behind my back again…”

Of course, Ling Chengyan didn’t miss the children’s little movements, sending one poached egg into her mouth with chopsticks, eating with her eyes down, acting as if she didn’t notice.

The atmosphere was strangely tense at home when Wang Liansheng came in with a plate and basket, cheerfully calling the little ones: “Mulberries and peaches are washed!… The white jade mulberries your mom brought back are rare and delicious, you should try them.”

“Wow, they really are white mulberries.” Xia Xin had seen white mulberries for the first time, curiously pinching one, examined it for a while, and then put it into her mouth, exclaiming: “So delicious! Sweet, not sour at all.”

Back at home, she had eaten purple mulberries. Only when the purple ones turned deeply black and ripe would they be sweet; otherwise, they were sour. Sometimes, impatient children couldn’t wait for the mulberries to fully mature, picking and eating them when red, very sour, making their teeth ache after eating a few.

Wang Liansheng grabbed a few and put one into his mouth, “Definitely sweet, you should try them too.” As he spoke, he handed the mulberries to Ling Chengyan.

Just taking a bite of noodles, Ling Chengyan suddenly noticed a big hand offering a few jade-white mulberries to her eyes, her movement paused, inexplicably not daring to look at the children’s expressions, she picked one and ate it: “Hmm, quite sweet, you eat, I’m having my meal.”

Seeming untouched, Wang Liansheng replied, ate a few mulberries in his hand, and went inside, then moments later came out with the dirty clothes Ling Chengyan had changed from the trip outside.

After Ling Chengyan finished eating, Xiaoyu grabbed the bowls and chopsticks to wash them; Ling Chengyan then called Xiaoyu and Little Shi Tou to wash up for bed, and waited them to lie down, Wang Liansheng also came in.

Ling Chengyan asked, “Is everything okay with second sister-in-law?”

Wang Liansheng replied, “I saw my second brother at noon, second sister-in-law seems fine.”

Ling Chengyan: “Counting the days, second sister-in-law is full-term at nine months, it’s soon.”

Ever since second cousin married into pregnancy and moved here, Ling Chengyan eagerly awaited the child’s birth, once born, she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

After a moment of silence, Wang Liansheng said, “A new policy just came out, there’s a fine for having more kids. Quite a hefty fine, too.”

Ling Chengyan raised her eyebrows slightly: “How much?”

Wang Liansheng said: “No fixed amount, it’s set locally… The maximum I’ve heard is a thousand yuan.”

“A thousand?” Ling Chengyan was also a bit surprised.

At this time, an ordinary worker’s salary was only about thirty-four yuan; a thousand yuan would be almost three years of a typical worker’s wages—a significant amount.

Wang Liansheng assumed his wife was also shocked by the amount and sighed: “It is quite a bit… My second brother has earned a lot in the past half-year. We can pool with a few families and cover it.”

His salary was relatively high, over eighty yuan; his wife’s subsidy after promotion to deputy company was over sixty yuan, plus the bonus for driving, earning over a hundred yuan a month. Together, the couple made over two hundred yuan monthly, considered a high-income dual-worker family.

Adding in the supplementary salary, the savings at home were estimated to be over three thousand, although Wang Liansheng was somewhat worried about taking out this much money, he feared his wife would be unhappy.

Therefore, after mentioning pooling funds, he kept watching his wife’s expression.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep