"Oh, I'll go out first,'
Gu Chen said, and walked out with her head down. She even made a point of closing the door behind her.
Standing in the courtyard, breathing in the fresh air, she could see that everything was still the same, but for some reason it looked better.
Her lips were soft, and her warm breath had a hint of sweetness to it.
Gu Chen couldn't get enough of the memory.
At that moment, Auntie Zhang returned from mowing the lawn with her grandson.
The two of them walked hand in hand towards the house, reciting the Three Character Classic.
Seeing that their house was open, the little boy let go of his auntie's hand and ran towards the house, without reciting the Three Character Classic.
Auntie Zhang was afraid the child might fall, so she hurried after him.
'Slow down, slow down,' she said.
As soon as the little one entered the courtyard, he stuck his head out and looked around, and saw his father standing right in front of his mother's door.
His dark eyes widened instantly, and his eyes were full of surprise.
'Daddy!!!'
Auntie Zhang stood in the courtyard and smiled at Gu Chen.
'Tangtang missed his mommy and kept saying so all morning,'
Tang Tang shouted, excitedly pounced towards Gu Chen, and then the whole little body plunged into Gu Chen's arms.
Hugging Gu Chen firmly, Tang Tang then started to pout, 'Daddy, Tang Tang missed you so much,' she said in a baby voice.
After she finished speaking, her little head was reluctant to part from Gu Chen's arms, and she kept rubbing against them. She really missed her father.
Gu Chen looked at her well-behaved daughter and couldn't help but kiss her on the cheek.
Smiling tenderly, he said, 'Daddy misses you too.'
'Where's mommy?' The little girl poked her head out and looked into Ji Pianran's room, 'Has mommy come back yet?'
She missed her mommy too.
Gu Chen nodded, 'Mommy is changing inside, she'll be out in a little while.'
Tang Tang didn't care, she wanted her mommy.
The little girl pushed open the door and walked in.
'Mommy, mommy,'
Gu Chen reached out and closed Ji Pianran's door before walking over to Auntie Zhang.
She smiled and said, 'Thank you.'
Upon hearing this, Auntie Zhang waved her hand.
'No need to thank me. By the way, where are the groceries you bought? I'll wash the vegetables. More people means faster cooking.'
Shen Cuilan had originally gone out to the bathroom, but when she saw Gu Chen's door open and Auntie Zhang talking to Gu Chen in the courtyard,
She turned her head and shouted into her own courtyard.
'Boss, Chenzi is back, come out and work!'
Tian Laosi had been nagging all night, saying that he must come and help the Gu family today.
He had heard enough to get calluses on his ears.
Now that he saw that the Gu family had returned, he couldn't even go to the toilet, and the first thing he did was call Tian Laosi out.
Tian Laosi was lying on the bed, resting his eyes, when he heard that Gu Chen had returned. He got up in a hurry, put on his old cloth shoes and went out the door.
'Oh, I'm coming,' he called out the door.
After taking a few steps, Tian Laosi seemed to remember something and turned his head into the kitchen. He took a large, shiny kitchen knife and then entered the Gu Chen's house.
Tian Laosi held the knife in his hand and smiled at Gu Chen.
'Chenzi, I'm here,'
he said, impatient to help Gu Chen.
The knife was shiny in the sun and a little bigger than an ordinary kitchen knife, so it looked like it was meant for butchering pigs.
Gu Chen was startled and looked surprised.
'Fourth Brother, what are you doing?'
TIAN Laosi hurriedly explained, seeing that GU Chen was staring intently at the knife in his hand.
'Oh, I was afraid that there would be too much to cut and one knife would not be enough, so I brought my own. Don't worry, it'll be quick.'
On hearing this, SHEN Cuilan gave him a dirty look.
'You've got some nerve, sitting in the yard in the middle of the night for an entire hour sharpening a knife. It's creepy!'
Upon hearing this, Auntie Zhang was the first to laugh.
No wonder the knife was so shiny, gleaming with silver light. It had only been sharpened last night, so of course it was shiny.
'Alright, let's get started, it's getting late, people will be here soon.'
Auntie Zhang said, and walked over to the pile of plastic bags with vegetables that Gu Chen had placed in the yard.
She reached in and felt around, and couldn't help but sigh.
'My, this is a real bargain. Such big roosters, and there are three of them!'
Her family was not badly off, but they only bought a chicken every two weeks. Gu Chen had bought three at once, as well as a lot of pig's trotters and beef.
She was really generous.
Gu Chen gave a generous smile, 'It's rare that I treat everyone to a meal, so I can't be stingy, can I?'
The few people talked as they did not delay, taking the vegetables and fetching the water.
They laughed and got to work.
Shen Cuilan and Auntie Zhang took out all the dishes and sat in the courtyard to wash them.
Gu Chen and Tian Laosi, the two men, went into the kitchen and started cutting the meat.
Ji Pianran changed into some trousers and came out of the house carrying Tantan.
He smiled apologetically at Shen Cuilan and Auntie Zhang.
He explained, 'I just changed clothes and it took a little while. I'll help too.'
After saying that, he put down Tantan and made it look like he was going to work.
Seeing that Ji Pianran wanted to help, Auntie Zhang hurriedly stopped her, saying, 'That's enough. Go back to your room and lie down. There will be plenty of work in the future, so there's no rush for one or two days.'
Shen Cuilan chimed in, 'That's right. You and Auntie Zhang are enough. Go back and rest.'
After all, Ji Pianran had just had an operation, albeit a minor one, and something had been cut out of her body, so she was still in pain.
After spending this time together, she realised that she had had a lot of prejudices and misunderstandings about Ji Pianran over the years.
The person she was now was completely different from the original, with a completely different attitude.
After Shen Cuilan finished speaking, she couldn't help but think of the dates her cousin had sent her from XJ a few days ago.
It is said that dates replenish blood and Qi, and Ji Pianran had definitely injured her blood and Qi after the surgery.
Thinking about this, she immediately stood up, wiped her hands and ran towards home.
She kept saying, 'Wait for me, I'll be right back!'
She had to bring the dates to Ji Pianran to help her recover!
Auntie Zhang looked at her plump body and smiled helplessly, 'This woman, she's crazy all day long.'
Ji Pianran took a small stool, sat next to Auntie Zhang, and reached out to help her with the vegetables.
Auntie Zhang looked at her fondly and sighed.
'You child, I told you to rest, but you wouldn't listen.'
Ji Piran smiled, 'There's no reason for the guest to work while the host rests.'
'That's right, judging by the calendar, you're about to get your period, I'll do the washing up in a bit, but you need to take care of yourself, you need to slowly recover from the illness you caught during your period, and avoid catching a cold if you can,' Zhang Sheng casually said.
Afterwards, she placed the leaves she had picked in the basin nearby and picked up another one.
'I'll ask around to find out what good remedies there are and mix up a good concoction.'
Ji Pianran suffered from painful menstruation, and the pain was really frightening.
Several times she fainted from the pain, and in the middle of winter she just lay motionless in the courtyard. If it weren't for Auntie Zhang, who heard the commotion and rushed over, she would have frozen to death.
Speaking of which, Ji Pianran's brow twitched, and her hand slowed down.
Just now, she was thinking about this very thing.
Usually, whenever she had her period, there were signs, and that was abdominal pain, which would start a few days in advance.
But this time, she didn't feel a thing.