Chapter 11: Peanut Nougats (1/2)
There are few people gathered in the courtyard, with some heating installed. Chen Suling and her eldest sister were sitting on the sofa chatting with each other and Tang Hongjun was holding his son showing him around the room looking at the decorations on the shelf.
The two sisters hadn't seen each other for too long, and there were endless whispers, but there were some things that they couldn’t talk about in front of Tang Hongjun.
Chen Suling made an excuse and said to her husband: ”Hong Jun, you can help me find Xiaoyu's shoes. He stepped on the snow just now, his shoes must be all wet now. I remember that I brought another pair of shoes and I forgot where I put them, have you seen them anywhere?”
His son’s well being was a big deal to Tang Honjun, after hearing her say this. He immediately put his child down and said, “I’ll look for them, just keep Xiaoyu with you and don’t let him walk around.”
Chen Suling agreed, as she held her son in her arms, turning around and talked to her elder sister as she watched her husband go out, ”Sister, why didn't the second sister-in-law go back to visit her family?”
Without any outsiders present, Chen Suling's eldest sister Chen Qiuguo didn't hide it from her: ”She said that she wanted to be here.”
”What’s up with her?”
”Didn’t she just have a baby? She wanted to come here and please grandpa, to collect more money.”
Chen Suling froze for a while before she burst out laughing, holding the child in her arms and touching her son's little head, and said: ”She can’t bear to lose this chance to earn money! I feel bad for her child, It’s really cold today. He’s only a few months old, I’ve only seen him a couple of times. I always worry that she opens his little jacket when she shows him off to others.”
”Each family has their own way of thinking.” Chen Qiuguo gave some honey cake to her nephew, squeezed his little face, that was as fresh as a little dumpling, the temperature on his face was hotter than her hands. It was clear at first glance how well he was being taken care of.
Chen Suling is the youngest of her family but she also has the hard temper of the Chen family: ”I don't believe that my second brother thinks the same way. Why did my second brother let her?”
Chen Qiuguo smiled helplessly: ”Yes, your second sister-in-law’s is certainly not the brightest.”
The two sisters did not shy away from Tang Jinyu listening from their conversation, thinking that he didn't understand anything.
Tang Jinyu was sitting there while eating a small honey cake and listening to gossip. Next to him was a cup of warm syrup of almonds, with small bite sized cakes.
When the two sisters were chatting, they heard someone coming in, it was Chen Wenqian.
Chen Suling smiled and said, ”Oh, we were just talking about you, why did the second brother come today?” She stood up holding her son, and said quietly, ”Xiaoyu, don't be afraid, this is your uncle.”
Chen Wenqian had an average height and wasn’t tall but he has fair skin that all the Chen family has and his facial features were outstanding. He seemed kind whenever his eyes curved when he smiled. Everyone had said that his nephew was just like his uncle. Tang Jinyu would also smile the same way as his uncle.
Uncle Chen loved his nephew very much. He held him up in the air and after teasing him for a while, he heard ”Uncle” and smiled so wide that each of his teeth were shown.
The reason came over Chen Wenqian was because he wanted to give New Year money for his elder sister and for his younger sister, saying that it was for their children.
The eldest sister laughed at him and said, ”Taking her own money again? Does your wife know?”
”Don't worry about her, she’s been spending money recently and she put some money away. She said that she is keeping the money for the baby but Deyun is still young and Deqing is only a few months old, so it’s not necessary to save up so much money.”
Chen Wenqian muttered, as he held his little nephew and watched as he ate cakes and wiped his mouth for him. “I think she looks down on me for not being able to make a lot money.”
The eldest sister said: ”Having a boy cost a lot of money. In the future, he will have to marry a wife to buy a house.”
Chen Wenqian frowned and said: ”She has already given birth, what can I do?”
Although it looked like Tang Jinyu was focused on eating cake, he was actually listening to everything.
However, he wasn’t able to listen too much. Tang Hongjun came back and the Chen siblings didn't continue with their conversation.
Tang Hongjun took a pair of small shoes and came back with a pair of clean small socks. He went to change his son's shoes for him. Although the pair of sneakers didn't look wet on the outside, Tang Hongjun was afraid that his son's feet would get cold, so he changed both of his shoes and socks.
Chen Wenqian took the opportunity to scratch the soles of his nephew's feet, which made the child laugh, and he smiled with joy.
Tang Hongjun quickly put on his shoes and socks, and did not give his brother-in-law another chance to bully his precious son.
They had a small conversation in the backyard, until someone came in and said dinner was ready.
In the evening, the whole family had dinner together, it was packed so two tables were put together.
There were many young people walking outside. Chen Suling and her husband moved to a small room to eat, after the two elders of the Chen family let them go once they had a few drinks with them.
Grandma Chen didn’t restrain her grandchildren and let them play casually. She only left her little granddaughter and Tang Jinyu by her side. She asked the nanny to move a small chair over and then took a small bowl and scooped half a bowl of chicken soup and waited until it was cooled enough to let him drink.
Tang Jinyu preferred to eat stewed chicken that was served on a small porcelain bowl on the table rather than drink chicken soup. His eyes were brighten every time, Chen Suling fed him with her chopsticks.
Chen Suling smiled and said: ”Greedy little cat, I'll scoop a bowl for you. You are not allowed to eat too much. Do you know that this is a bit salty?”
On the table, a large pot of delicious stewed chicken was slowly scooped away from Tang Jinyu's small bowl. Chen suling made him eat several spoonfuls of soup that he also ate with a few shredded chicken pieces that made it taste more delicious.
Tang Jinyu grasped a small cake in his left hand, slightly dipped it into his small bowl of soup, and then put it in his mouth to bite the cake and immediately broke with a crisp sound, the outer skin was crispy and with the softness of the noodles that were in the chicken soup, no one can possibly imagine how wonderful this feeling was!
Grandma Chen's appetite increased after watching him eat and ate another bowl of porridge.
Tang Jinyu stayed with the Chen family for two days, eating and drinking every day. Before leaving, the two elders of the Chen family brought both large and small gifts to the trunk of the car.
Grandma Chen told her daughter: ”Go back and take good care of yourself, don't tire yourself too much. Don’t worry about making money, just call me and dad if you ever need anything. Also, the photos that we took during the New Year will be sent to you in a few days after they are done developing! If you take any other pictures of Xiaoyu, remember to send a copy to us. Your father and I miss him!
Chen Suling nodded with a smile, and agreed.
It was half the afternoon when he returned to his home. Tang Hongjun was a little tired after driving for seven hours. Chen Suling felt distressed and asked him to rest and she would do the cooking by herself.
Tang Hongjun still wanted to help, ”I'll help you wash the vegetables…”
Chen Suling didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, she pushed him to his side of the bed and said, ”You can help me tomorrow, I already slept on the way back home but you haven’t rested at all, rest for a while.”
Tang Hongjun wanted to still stand up and help but Chen Suling took her son over and put them on the bed together and said, ”Xiaoyu, I want you to do a task for me. You make sure your dad sleeps for a while and then wake up dad after mom is done preparing food.
Tang Jinyu nodded earnestly and sat there as he guarded his father. When Tang Hongjun moved a little, he hugged his father's waist and buried his head in his arms: ”Dad, sleep~”
Tang Hongjun laughed, reached out and patted him on the back, ”Okay.”
After a while, Tang Jinyu fell asleep first in his fathers arms, as drool came out of the corner of his mouth.