Chapter 133
In the winter when Jindou turned two, after several years, Qiu Henian and Qingyan finally went hunting in the mountains again.
Their household didn’t lack for meat during the New Year’s celebrations. As Jindou grew older, one time when he went to Hunter Liu’s house to play with his granddaughter who was about five or six years old, he saw a whole piece of gray wolf fur, which he found fascinating.
Moreover, the granddaughter vividly recounted stories of going up the mountain with her grandfather, leaving Jindou mesmerized and incredibly envious.
When he returned home, he declared that he wanted to go hunting too.
He had been talking about this from autumn until winter, and with the New Year approaching, Qiu Henian and Qingyan both had some free time, so they decided to fulfill the child’s wish.
Aunt Li had been at home recently, and yesterday Jindou ran over to the neighbor’s house, leaving his pet lamb with her.
This lamb was Jindou’s nursing lamb. After he stopped drinking milk, Qingyan took good care of the lamb. Together with Xiaozao, they lived in the stable built in the yard. In winter, they even made fires for them so they wouldn’t be cold.
In spring, summer, and autumn, they took them out daily for walks, letting them graze by the river. They always had plenty of hay for winter, and Qingyan often bought greens and carrots specially for them to supplement their nutrition.
When Jindou became a bit more sensible, Qingyan told him that he must treat this nursing lamb well. Although it had given birth to its own lamb, it had nursed Jindou instead. In the future, Jindou must take care of it in its old age.
Jindou didn’t fully understand, but he loved animals by nature and was very close to Ah Miao. He treated this lamb well, often imitating adults by feeding it carrots. He even gave it a name, “Yang Miaomiao.”
Since they were going up the mountain, Yang Miaomiao couldn’t come along. After thinking it over, Jindou solemnly entrusted it to Grandma Li, who loved him the most.
He handed the rope of Yang Miaomiao to Grandma Li with a serious expression.
Using words he wasn’t quite familiar with, he imitated the way adults would coax him and said in a childish voice, “Grandma, listen to me, Jindou will bring back a big fat rabbit for you.”
Aunt Li laughed heartily, petting Jindou’s head affectionately, “Alright, Grandma will take good care of Yang Miaomiao for you.”
…
The next morning, while it was still dark outside, Qiu Henian and Qingyan were already up.
The fire in the stove had gone out early, and the room was a bit chilly.
Qiu Henian went to light the fire, heated water for the water bag and the soup pot.
Qingyan checked once again to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything they needed to bring. Seeing everything was in order, he prepared to wake Jindou.
But as soon as he entered the room, instead of finding Jindou, who usually liked to sleep in, he saw the boy sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
Seeing Dad coming in, he stretched out his little hands to be picked up.
Qingyan walked to the bedside and lifted Jindou into his arms, then sat on the edge of the bed and kissed the child’s soft and tender cheek.
After kissing him, he lowered his head and saw that Jindou had already put on his socks by himself, although he had mixed up the left and right sides. He had actually been awake for quite a while.
Qingyan couldn’t help but laugh.
Teasingly, he said, “Looks like the big fat rabbit from the mountain really worked. Our Jindou can’t even sleep properly when he’s thinking about it.”
He took off the child’s socks and put them on correctly, then dressed him in his little cotton pants and jacket. After helping him use the chamber pot, wash his face and hands, brush his teeth, and apply fragrance, he made sure everything was clean and fragrant.
There was a sound at the inner room door, and Qiu Henian came in. Seeing that they were almost ready, he took Jindou’s little snow boots and helped him put them on.
Qingyan wore a fur coat over the child’s jacket, with a fluffy rabbit ear hat that Xiaoniu had woven, and a knitted scarf made by Qiu Henian. He was bundled up and snugly, with only a pair of round eyes peeking out.
Qingyan also put on his fur coat, and Qiu Henian approached to straighten his collar, then helped him put on his hat and scarf.
The white fur on the hat made Qingyan’s cheeks appear even fairer and more tender. Qiu Henian glanced over at Jindou, who was busy looking for Ah Miao and not paying attention to them. He reached around Qingyan’s waist with one hand, leaned closer, and Qingyan obediently tilted his head back to let the man kiss his cheek.
After kissing his cheek, still not satisfied, the man kissed Qingyan’s eyebrows, eyes, and lips several times until Jindou finally hugged Ah Miao, then let go of the man.
Qingyan pursed his lips and smiled, holding Jindou and Ah Miao in his arms together. The family was ready to leave.
Liu’s daughter-in-law came to the house yesterday for a visit, saying they should go to her house for a meal before going up the mountain this morning.
The tofu factory started work early every day, and they were used to having their meals early. When they heard that Qingyan’s family was going up the mountain, they invited them over to eat, so they didn’t have to cook and tidy up in the morning, which would delay them.
The two families had been getting along well for several years, so Qingyan agreed.
Qingyan got into the carriage, Qiu Henian held Jindou in his arms, and they led the horse. The carriage swayed slowly towards Old Liu’s house.
When they arrived, they could already see a child peeking over in their direction.
Jindou saw him and happily wiggled his little butt, calling out, “Zhuangzhuang, Zhuangzhuang!”
Qingyan almost couldn’t hold onto him. Qiu Henian sighed and stopped Xiaozao, Qingyan got off the carriage, put down Jindou, and the child trotted off with his short little legs towards Zhuangzhuang.
Qingyan walked beside Qiu Henian, and the two of them followed behind, leading the horse.
Liu’s daughter-in-law heard the commotion and ran out of the yard, waving at them. She opened both gates of the yard, picked up the two children, and opened the big gate.
The carriage entered the yard and was tied up. Liu’s daughter-in-law said, “Let’s go, the meal is ready, we’re just waiting for you.”
At Old Liu’s house, the atmosphere during meals was livelier than at their own home. This year, Liu’s eldest son had come back home to live. He wasn’t good at studying, so he simply gave up, and at a young age, he helped out at home.
With him back, there were now six people in the house, enough to fill half of the table during meals.
Qingyan and his family arrived, making it exactly ten people, filling up an entire table.
In the morning, those who loved soy milk drank soy milk, and those who wanted tofu pudding had tofu pudding. Liu’s daughter-in-law also made pancakes with pork and green onions, as well as red bean paste filling, stacking them high in two large bowls.
There were also three or four plates of pickled vegetables.
At first, Qingyan thought they had made too much, but after eating for a while, he realized that Ah Da alone could eat almost half a bowl of pancakes.
Jindou and Zhuangzhuang sat next to each other. Both little ones could eat on their own, but the adults had to occasionally help wipe their mouths and clean up the bits and pieces that fell on the table, lest their clothes front and sleeves be covered in stains.
While Zhuangzhuang ate, he still had the small wooden sword his father made for him strapped to his back. Every time he reached for his chopsticks, the tip of the sword would poke his little bottom. No matter how Qi Yinglan tried to persuade him, he refused to take it off.
Saying too much would make Zhuangzhuang unhappy, pursing his lips in anger.
Jindou earnestly told Qi Yinglan next to him, “Zhuangzhuang is a hero, heroes all have swords.”
That meant he couldn’t take it off even while eating.
After arguing with Zhuangzhuang’s father, he went to comfort Zhuangzhuang.
He patted his shoulder with his little hand and said, “We’re not the same as him.”
The adults at the table laughed at this.
Qi Yinglan couldn’t help but smile and said to Qingyan, “Your Jindou has such a sharp tongue. As he grows older, no one will be able to argue with him.”
After finishing the meal, Jindou was ready to leave, but Zhuangzhuang held his hand tightly and wouldn’t let go.
Qi Yinglan and Liu Cai tried to persuade him, but it didn’t work. Liu Cai was impatient by nature, but he was extremely good to his husband and children. Seeing him like this, he wasn’t angry; he just made various promises and slowly comforted him.
But Jindou didn’t care about loyalty at this time. He still wanted to catch fat rabbits in the mountains, so he forcefully pulled Zhuangzhuang’s hand away. With a bang, he ran to his father’s side.
Qingyan lifted him up, comforted Zhuangzhuang for a few words, said goodbye, and then left in the carriage.
Zhuangzhuang cried loudly behind them. Jindou leaned on his father’s shoulder and looked back, feeling a little sad.
He said to his father, “I’m going to bring back fat rabbits for Zhuangzhuang.”
Qingyan patted his head and smiled, “Okay, but you promised Grandma, Auntie San, and the aunts in the shop that you’d bring them fat rabbits. Your father will have to work hard this time!”
Qiu Henian heard this and turned his head to look, reaching out to pinch Jindou’s cheek.
The road out of the village was easy to walk, and Xiaozao walked leisurely.
Qiu Henian listened to the conversation behind him and felt very relaxed.
He occasionally looked back to help pull up the quilt that was slowly sliding off their legs.
The pair, one big and one small, dressed in puffy clothes, nestled together, both exquisite and lovely, very pleasing to the eye.
Every time he glanced at them, the image was imprinted in his mind, but after a while, he couldn’t help but look again, as if he couldn’t get enough of the sight.
