He Hongtu returned home at seven o'clock.
Tian Zhenzhen was in the kitchen, holding the kettle to fill it up, preparing to boil some water.
As soon as He Hongtu stepped through the door, he saw Tian Zhenzhen through the window and hurried into the kitchen with his things, saying, "Let me do it!"
Tian Zhenzhen didn't compete with He Hongtu, and handed over the half-filled kettle to her husband.
"Did you go to Aunt Xu's place?" As a wife, and also a partner in business, Tian Zhenzhen understood her husband too well.
Because if it were her, she would also drop by a potential client's home while out shopping for groceries.
"Yes, I delivered a watermelon."
He Hongtu casually replied, "Also, I went to Uncle Chen's place on South Street. He has a new caretaker, and it doesn't look like she's up to the job!"
"Uncle Chen? Doesn't his son strongly oppose him interacting with us?" Tian Zhenzhen leaned on the kitchen doorway, watching her husband boil water, wash vegetables, and cook.
"But his son doesn't live with the old man. Moreover, that son of his is really something; the old man is allergic to peanuts, and even I, an outsider, know that. He didn't even properly inform the new caretaker. I don't know if he forgot or really didn't know!"
He Hongtu curled his lip, somewhat disdainfully commenting.
"Oh? Did you remind the caretaker face-to-face? The old man must not be in a good mood!"
"Yes, elderly people don't expect much return from their children, but it's disheartening for them when their kids are so careless."
He Hongtu swiftly chopped and arranged everything as he chatted with his wife. By the time their conversation was over, the water had boiled, the bone soup was brewing, and two dishes—one meat and one vegetarian—had been fried.
During the cooking, he also started rice in the rice cooker.
In the large soup pot, the bone soup was boiling. He Hongtu turned down the heat to simmer, aiming to extract the marrow.
Finally, the dishes were ready.
He Hongtu then cleared the table, served the dishes, and scooped rice for both his wife and himself.
Tian Zhenzhen was responsible for getting the chopsticks.
"Ah, you shouldn't trouble yourself, take a good rest!"
He Hongtu was so fond of his wife, he hardly wanted her to do any chores, "You're still in your confinement period. Don't get overtired!"
"Ah, it's my fault for not having an elder in the house, and I can't always be at home to take care of you, it's almost eight and only now you can eat!" He Hongtu genuinely felt sorry for his wife.
Looking at his wife's plight, she could have married into a family that could give her strong support.
But she chose him—a man with neither father nor mother, who had nothing, not even a dowry, yet she somehow managed to extract a marriage portion from her own father!
For that alone, He Hongtu felt that he should treat his wife well for his entire life!
"What's there to talk about? I married you because I wanted to! Besides, I'm not some pampered, spoiling young lady!"
Tian Zhenzhen knew her husband cared for her, but she truly believed in his reliability, "When I was seven, my stepmother entered our house. The next month, I learned to cook, do laundry!"
"The following winter, my stepmother had a son. During the severe cold, I was squatting in the yard washing diapers, even my hands were damaged by the frost, and I still suffer from chilblains every winter!"
As a child brought up under a stepmother, Tian Zhenzhen felt her current life was already very good—even without elders or family support, she and her husband had each other.
Two people, poor and supporting each other, loving each other, no matter how hard or bitter life got, she was willing!
Besides, their life now wasn't so harsh.
Her husband could earn money and was tender-hearted towards her. So what if there were no elders to help take care of her confinement? Conversely, there was nobody around to cause trouble either.
Tian Zhenzhen would rather be a bit tired to live a peaceful life!
Now they had a daughter too, a real blood connection, and life in the future could only get better.
"...When I left, did our daughter wake up? Did she fuss?"
He Hongtu served a piece of meat to his wife and asked softly.
"You just left and she woke up, pooped once, and I changed her diaper and fed her milk. She hummed and played for a bit then fell asleep again!"
Tian Zhenzhen also put a piece of the omelet on her husband's plate, "She's still so small, just eating and sleeping, eating and sleeping, just like a little piglet!"
Despite it being Tian Zhenzhen's first time as a mom, she knew clear about raising children.
After all, her younger half-brother, who was eight years younger, had been raised by her since he was little.
"Leave those used diapers there; I'll wash them later. You're still in confinement, you mustn't touch cold water!"
He Hongtu, though also a first-time dad, knew all the dos and don'ts of childbirth and postpartum care.
Ever since his wife got pregnant, he hadn't stopped asking those old men and women for advice and had secretly bought some childcare books too.
Old traditions and scientific parenting, He Hongtu had certainly managed to complement and perfect both.
"I know, I've kept them all here. It's strange, when I was washing Tian Xiaobao's diapers back in the day, just looking at them made me nauseous. But now, changing our daughter's diapers and washing her butt, I don't feel it's dirty at all!"
"Tian Xiaobao and our daughter are different. Our daughter is our own flesh and blood! By the way, speaking of pooping, I have to tell you, Uncle Chen pooped his pants today, the smell was so bad, I smelt it the moment I walked in, and his caregiver just pretended not to notice…"
He Hongtu suddenly said with some sympathy, "Old age really is pitiful. Uncle Chen isn't paralyzed; he just broke his leg and temporarily can't move around, yet he has to suffer like this!"
"Did you help him clean up?" Tian Zhenzhen didn't feel disgusted discussing this while eating.
Everyone had been through hardships. Who's too fussy about such things?
Back when she secretly worked as a nanny in the city to earn tuition fees, she had taken care of an old lady paralyzed by a stroke. She had experienced all sorts of dirty and smelly situations.
"Yeah, since I was there, I had to lend a hand!" He Hongtu said it as if he was a role model for doing good deeds.
Tian Zhenzhen, however, looked pleased, "Yeah, and about the end of this month, the gathering at Navy Hotel, Uncle Chen might be able to go!"
Not only would he likely attend, but he might also contribute some money.
After all, He Hongtu's efforts were in place; it was time for some return.
"Eight or nine out of ten, these next few days I'll go over to his place more, keep him company, have some chats!"
When He Hongtu left the Chen Family, he could clearly feel the old man's reluctance.
He Hongtu was experienced and knew the timing was just right, only needing a final push.
"Oh, and the company sent out a message this afternoon; a new batch of products has arrived. I'll take them over to Teacher Zhou tomorrow, he should keep quite a bit!"
"If we talk about cherishing life, Teacher Zhou is definitely at the top among all our big clients!"
He Hongtu chuckled.
Upon hearing Teacher Zhou's name, Tian Zhenzhen also laughed: "Exactly. Whenever there are new products, he cares more than we do."
"But it's understandable. After all, his partner passed away from late-stage esophageal cancer a couple of years ago. The doctor did tell her to 'eat whatever she wanted,' but even the best food she couldn't swallow!"
"When she passed away, she was just a skeleton. It was heartbreaking to see—"
Seeing his own partner die so miserably, the old man must have been deeply affected.
That's why, since then, Teacher Zhou has been especially afraid of dying.
He seemed to have come to terms with it too, enjoying whatever good food and products there were without regard to the cost.
If his pension wasn't enough, he'd just ask his children for money. If the kids didn't give him any, he'd go around complaining about them being unfilial.
The amount he spent on health products each month was about three or four thousand yuan, which was significant in a county where the average wage was less than five hundred yuan.
Three or four thousand yuan a month was absolutely not a small sum for average families!
He Tiantian, who had just woken up from a full sleep, heard her parents talking.
…So, her hunch had been right; her parents were indeed those despised by many children, the type they called "scammers"—salespersons of health products.