Yu Antong was unhappy again. “You dare to hit my son! Is this what you get from watching those parenting programs?”
“…”
Xing Lixuan: “I’m just thinking that if the child isn’t educated well, they will grow crooked. That’s exactly what happened to Judy.”
Judy’s father, Lesley, advocated that children should be free by nature and not restrained at all, and Xing Yin also agreed with this education method at the beginning.
This gave Judy too much freedom to develop into an unrestrained little devil. Both Xing Yin and Lesley regretted it far too late. Now, no matter how strict Xing Yin and Lesley educated her, she didn’t bend. They could only treat the symptoms but not the root cause.
In the final analysis, it was Xing Yin and Lesley’s reluctance to not discipline her at all that gave Judy the impression that her actions would not have any lasting consequences.
After hearing this explanation, Yu Antong said, “After your son is born, you must educate him well.”
Xing Lixuan smiled in return, “How can you be sure it’s a boy?”
“Purely by my intuition. Also, isn’t there the superstition that if the pregnant mom likes to eat sour foods, then she will have a baby boy?” Yu Antong nonchalantly replied.
Both of them didn’t care much about the gender of the baby. Though, Yu Antong would breathe easier if it’s a boy. Boys are physically tougher than girls, so it’s easier to discipline them without both men feeling too strict or too harsh. And as they knew, if they were too reluctant on the discipline part, their daughter would end up like Judy.
Having a boy or a girl was fine, though, just a little bit more worried if it’s a girl.
“No, I have to buy a few more educational books,” Yu Antong immediately opened his online shopping app.
Xing Lixuan snatched his mobile phone. “Do you know how late it is? It’s not too late to buy books tomorrow, go to bed quickly right now.”
Yu Antong lay down reluctantly after his mobile phone was taken away. Suddenly thinking of something, he got up and pushed Xing Lixuan. “Hey, do you want to register for a class?”
“What class?”
Yu Antong: “Parenting class for expectant parents, like how to take care of pregnant women and babies. That kind of class.”
“I’ll have a look at it when I have time,” Xing Lixuan replied with closed eyes, “Now your task is to sleep well, don’t think about anything else.”
“Okay, okay,” Yu Antong relented, lying down again despite not feeling drowsy in the slightest. Then, he closed his eyes and fell asleep after a few short minutes.
Xing Lixuan looked at Yu Antong tenderly for a while, then stroked his stomach.
‘Little rascal, your fathers almost quarreled about your education before you were born, so you must be obedient in the future.’
With the Xing family’s relatives inside the house, it was hard for Yu Antong to sleep in, so he got up early with Xing Lixuan.
After breakfast, the whole family went to post Spring Festival couplets and blessings.
“I want to post it, I want to post it,” Judy whined, “Let me post it, let me post it.”
Xing Yin asked her husband to hold their daughter, and the whole family posted blessing characters together.
Yu Antong wanted to follow Xing Lixuan to paste the Spring Festival couplets outside the gate. About this request, Xing Lixuan said, “Don’t go out, you and Annan can put it on the window grilles on the inside instead.”
“I promise to complete the task,” Yu Antong smiled, obediently doing what Xing Lixuan requested while chatting with Yu Annan. “Did Xiao Nan sleep well last night?”
Yu Annan replied, “Pretty good.” Although she was still a little restrained, she came to this house once when she was young, so she didn’t feel too unfamiliar and awkward.
Yesterday, Mrs. Xing and Xing Yin also took her to make dumplings together. They also carefully picked topics that she might be interested in talking about, and taught her several ways to make dumplings, so that she would not be bored alone.
The obvious kindness released by the Xing family made her feel very warm.
After posting the Spring Festival couplets, Yu Antong remembered the hawthorn that Xing Lixuan bought for him. “Husband, what about my candied haws?”
After being reminded, Xing Lixuan immediately asked the Auntie to make it for him.
Candied haws were very simple to make, as long as they could make caramel. The Auntie quickly cleaned the hawthorns, boiled the sugar until it turned honeyed-brown, dipped the hawthorns on the bamboo sticks into the caramel syrup, and then put them on the tray to dry.
After a while, the syrup solidified, perfectly coating the fruit in crystal-like, sugary goodness.
Yu Antong stared eagerly in the kitchen, picked up the first skewer, and took a bite.
“Crack!” With a loud, crisp sound, the sugar coating shattered, and the perfect marriage between sweetness and sourness danced on his taste buds.
“Ah….” Yu Antong sighed contentedly, “It’s so sour, it’s so satisfying.”
“Xiao Nan, you can eat it too,” Yu Antong picked up a bunch and gave it to Yu Annan.
“I don’t want to eat it,” Yu Annan shook her head, she felt her teeth ache in sourness by just looking at it. She smiled and continued, “Brother, why do you love to eat this like a child?”
Yu Antong huffed disapprovingly. “This kind of dessert is not exclusive to children, adults also love it.”
Xing Lixuan came over and stared at Yu Antong. “Don’t eat too much, it’s not good for you and the baby.”
He read the pregnancy precautions that Director Kong sent him. Hawthorn promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis, which can cause uterine contraction. Hawthorn should not be eaten in large quantities during pregnancy. He clearly remembered it.
Though, he also remembered pregnant people were sensitive and prone to prenatal anxiety. He was afraid that Yu Antong would be in a bad mood, so he would satisfy him with any request and make him be absolutely cherished.
But restrictions were there for a good reason. Xing Lixuan glanced at Yu Antong’s stomach, and Yu Antong understood.
He also read those pregnancy precautions, but because he knew that Xing Lixuan cared about him, he didn’t pay much attention to it, and he forgot most of it after reading it. He only remembered it when Xing Lixuan reminded him.
Yu Antong carefully bit off the biggest one, and then gave Xing Lixuan the unfinished bunch, “Take it away, don’t let me see it.”
“Good boy,” Xing Lixuan kissed him at the corner of his mouth, tasting the sugar residue left there from biting the candied haws.
Xing Lixuan was not interested in these kinds of sugary goods. He took the remaining candied haws to the kitchen, and brought out a plate.
“You can eat this instead.”
The plate contained strawberries, grapes, and oranges, which were covered with a layer of thin, honeyed-brown caramel.
They were all relatively sour fruits, so they tasted good when eaten this way. Yu Antong liked them very much. His blood sugar was not high, so he could eat sugary stuff like this in moderation.
Yu Annan waited for Xing Lixuan to leave before sitting next to Yu Antong, her mind filled with questions. “Ge, why can’t you eat hawthorn?”
He fed a strawberry to his younger sister, and said calmly, “Because I’m pregnant.”
“Cough cough!!”
Yu Annan almost choked on the fruit, and she coughed up the strawberry out until it rolled on the ground.
Yu Annan frowned and said, “Ge, don’t lie to me.”
“I really didn’t lie to you.” Yu Antong took out his phone, “I’ll show you the baby’s B-ultrasound video.”
Ten minutes later, Yu Annan finally believed that men can get pregnant too. It was something that overturned her scientific cognition.
“Ge, you are too good!” Yu Annan looked at her brother with admiration.
Her brother was handsome, kind, good at cooking, love, and career. He could even get pregnant. Who can be better than her brother!
Yu Antong: “…”
‘I suddenly felt that my sister was a bit too silly.’
He didn’t expect Yu Annan to immediately accept this and said, “My Ge is amazing!!”. It made him laugh happily for a long time.
The Xing family had a regular schedule, even during the Chinese New Year. The New Year’s Eve dinner on the 30th night was still at the usual dinner time, and they would not wait until twelve o’clock in the evening.
The Auntie brought the last steaming sweet and sour carp and sat down with the Xing family.
Mr. Xing, as the head of the family, stood up and spoke, “In the past year, our family has had tears and laughter. Some relatives have left us, but Antong has also joined our family. In the near future, we will get new family members too.”
“Saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new year, I wish our family continues to be harmonious and beautiful, and everyone is in good health!”
Xing Yin continued, “I wish everyone’s wishes come true and everything goes well! Cheers!”
She had already heard from Mrs. Xing about Yu Antong’s pregnancy, so she was not surprised by Mr. Xing’s congratulatory speech. She told Yu Antong that she would help him pay attention to the fact that there were no cases of cisgendered male births in the United States.
With smiles on their faces, the whole family stood up and clinked glasses, while Yu Antong and the children drank fruit juice.
After everyone sat down, Mrs. Xing said, “Eat the vegetables, dears. A-Yin, you haven’t tasted Tongtong’s cooking, right? His cooking skills are very good.”
Xing Yin raised her eyebrows, “Really? Then I have to taste it.”
Yu Antong’s morning sickness reaction was not very strong, but Xing Lixuan still forbade him to cook. As for today’s New Year’s Eve dinner, Yu Antong planned to cook only a few vegetarian dishes by himself.
Unable to hold back for a while, he even made meat dishes with the help of the Auntie. He wondered if the little guy in his belly knew that the Chinese New Year was coming. Today, Yu Antong made a few meat dishes without any feelings of nausea.
Xing Yin paid attention to maintaining her figure, and rarely ate heavy meat dishes. During the Chinese New Year, most of the dinner tables were full of big fish and meat. She didn’t want to spoil the fun and asked them to only serve vegetarian dishes. She said she wanted to taste Yu Antong’s cooking, so she picked up her chopsticks to pinch a bit of the sweet and sour fish.
After all, she couldn’t bear to eat this kind of high-sugar and high-fat food, so she only pinch a small piece of fish meat the size of a knuckle.
Slowly putting it into her mouth, she could taste it all. The fish meat had been deep-fried at high temperature, the skin was crispy, while the fish meat inside was delicate and delicious. Mixed with sweet and sour sauce, it really whetted her appetite.
A small mouthful of fish meat was swallowed in an instant, and Xing Yin recalled the excellent taste. Without hesitation, she stretched out her hand full of guilt to grab a large piece of fish belly.
The bright sweet and sour sauce makes her both love it and hate it.
Xing Yin’s husband, Lesley, swallowed the fatty braised pork in his mouth, and exclaimed sincerely, “Delicious! It’s so delicious!”
These Chinese foods seemed to have magical powers, so he couldn’t stop eating at all!
Xing Yin looked at her husband, who was enjoying the dinner with palpable happiness.
‘I will indulge myself only this once!!’ Xing Yin promised herself, and promptly forgot about her low-sugar and low-fat diet. She continued eating with gusto just like her husband.
Mr. Xing pointed to a plate of sausage. “This sausage has been dried in the sun for a long time, and it is marinated perfectly. I like this the most.”
“Meat, eat meat!” Judy happily exclaimed with a full mouth.
Yu Antong shed tears from the hot boiled meat slices. The paper towel was on Xing Lixuan’s side, so he patted Xing Lixuan and said between gasps, “Give me a tissue.”
Xing Lixuan handed the tissue to him. “Eat this less, too spicy.”
Yu Antong shook his head defiantly, “I will eat this even if it makes me cry.” After taking another painfully delicious bite, he continued, “Who said sour and spicy? What if I like spicy food?”
Xing Lixuan smiled, and whispered next to Yu Antong, “Baby, are you implying to me that you want to give me two babies1another Chinese superstition saying that loving to eat spicy foods means you’re pregnant with twins. Fun fact: my Mom went crazy with spicy food when she’s pregnant with me, but my country doesn’t have this superstition.?”
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