Chapter 194: My Name is Shen Lan, We Are Neighbors Now

The weather on Haidao is unpredictable; for two days in a row, it has been windy.

Si Rong and Hu Qian, the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, did not go out, staying inside to play with the children.

Jiang Sinian has a mind of his own; he held onto the wall, shuffled slowly to the table, and began studying the table leg without a sound.

Xiao Juzi, who is two pounds heavier than her brother, cannot walk yet, but her mouth never stops, calling out "baba" incessantly.

The two women were chatting when they saw Fang Ting walk in wearing a raincoat and holding her child.

"What happened?" Si Rong hurried over to take Jiang Yue, noticing that Fang Ting's eyes were red.

Fang Ting took off her raincoat, her emotions nearly breaking, "I went to the nursery to see Yue'er just now and found her face covered by half a diaper; she was being smothered until her face was red."

"It's alright, it's alright," Si Rong said, holding Jiang Yue tenderly and rocking her gently, "It's okay now."

Jiang Yue is more than two months younger than Si Yu and Si Nian, only seven months old; she certainly isn't cared for as thoroughly at the nursery as she would be by her own family.

"How about this, you go to work and leave Yueyue with us first," Hu Qian said after thinking for a moment, "The nursery staff are just too careless."

Fang Ting was very grateful, "Thank you, Auntie, thank you both."

"It's no trouble; tending one lamb is the same as tending a whole flock."

Hu Qian knew well that it is hardest for a woman when her children are small; children are a mother's soft spot.

They are both women; if she can help, she will.

Jiang Yue was a well-behaved child; after Fang Ting fed her, she just lay there quietly.

From time to time, she would roll over, looking at her little sister Xiao Juzi with an inquisitive expression.

She seemed very puzzled as to why a person's mouth would constantly make sounds.

On rainy days, diapers wouldn't dry, but fortunately, both children could be prompted to relieve themselves now, so they only used them at night.

"Should I go start a fire and toast the diapers?"

Si Rong remembered the choking smoke that filled the room when her mother-in-law lit the fire, "Mom, you watch the children, I'll go."

She thought that if she were careful, it wouldn't happen.

But when Si Rong put the firewood into the stove, she discovered she couldn't even get the fire started.

She had almost used up a whole box of matches.

Uh:...

Is starting a fire really this hard?

At this moment, Hu Qian, holding Jiang Yue, walked to the kitchen door and looked at her daughter-in-law, who was at a loss before the stove.

"Rongrong, you can't light firewood directly with matches; you have to use something flammable first, like soft straw or paper, to get it going."

Si Rong:...

No wonder she had been trying to light the arm-thick firewood with matches for so long to no avail.

The key was that she had never used this kind of stove growing up; she hadn't even seen one.

As far back as she could remember, Wang Ma had always used a coal stove to cook.

"Forget it," Si Rong shook her sore wrists and looked at the sky outside the window, "Maybe it will clear up tomorrow."

Better not make such a big fuss.

Fortunately, just as Si Rong had hoped, the weather on Haidao cleared up the next day.

Hu Qian hung the two babies' little quilts out in the yard on the steel wire Jiang Cheng had nailed up.

Si Rong looked through the cabinet at the vegetable seeds they had brought from Huaiyang.

It was inconvenient to eat at the cafeteria, and as the two children grew older, they would eventually need to cook for themselves.

Although neither she nor her mother-in-law were good cooks, they would learn slowly.

She planned to grow some greens in the yard; otherwise, if the weather was bad and ships couldn't reach the island, they would only be able to eat stale radishes and cabbage at the cafeteria.

After Jiang Cheng learned of her plan to grow vegetables, he worked overtime last night to clear the land on both sides of the small yard.

Si Rong sprinkled some spinach seeds, baby bok choy seeds, and carrot seeds.

Hu Qian used a rake to level the soil.

Her daughter-in-law had actually learned to grow vegetables upon coming to Haidao; Hu Qian felt both gratified and pained.

She hurriedly said, "Rongrong, sit down and rest for a while!"

Si Rong wasn't tired; although it was said she was growing vegetables, she was actually only responsible for sprinkling the seeds.

How could she be tired?

But Si Rong still sat obediently beside her mother-in-law, "Mom, when the seedlings grow up, I'll stir-fry them for you!"

She felt that the dishes she stir-fried definitely wouldn't be charred black.

"Alright, Mom will wait!"

Just as the two women were full of expectations for the little seedlings, a sudden commotion came from next door.

Hu Qian rose from her stool in a flash, grabbed a broom and dustpan, and slipped out the door, pretending to sweep the ground at the entrance.

Si Rong:...

Well, it was a bit dull on the island, and she wanted to watch the excitement too.

But there was only one broom in the house, and her mother-in-law had taken it.

At this moment, Si Rong had a sudden flash of inspiration and grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds.

At the doorway, the two women stood—one spitting out sunflower seed shells, the other holding a broom and cleaning up just in time.

This seamless cooperation represented the determination of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to watch the excitement.

The noise was coming from Shen Qingyu's house; Shen Qingyu's mother-in-law had arrived.

She was a thin, frail little old woman wearing a pair of old-fashioned gold earrings.

As soon as she entered, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law began to bicker.

But she still knew to do it behind people's backs, closing the door to nag.

Hu Qian had good ears and managed to hear a bit.

Then she quickly translated it for her daughter-in-law, "They're talking about cooking! Shen Qingyu's mother-in-law isn't a pushover either; we'll have a good show to watch later."

Si Rong:...

"Actually, what is there to argue about regarding cooking? If you want to cook, then cook; if you don't want to, go to the cafeteria to get food. Look at how good the relationship between us mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is!"

Si Rong:...

Isn't it because our cooking skills are lacking that we eat at the cafeteria?

However, she naturally went along with her mother-in-law's words, "Mom is right."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law listened for a while longer, but the excitement was too short-lived and soon died down.

Hu Qian mentioned Huaiyang with some nostalgia, "Do you remember, Zuiyun Pavilion has a dish of steamed taro with pork belly that is made very deliciously."

Si Rong's mouth watered from the dish she mentioned, "I remember, it's delicious."

"Rongrong, let's take a boat out to sea tomorrow and go to a bustling place to eat some good food!" Hu Qian suggested again.

She was craving it.

Si Rong:...

"Taking a boat there and back takes several hours, and what about Si Nian and Juzi?"

Especially Juzi, who is so young and gets seasick.

Hu Qian slapped her forehead, "I got so greedy I almost forgot my grandson and granddaughter. Never mind then, wait until they grow up a bit more and send them to the nursery, then we can go by boat together to eat braised soft-shelled turtle, steamed lamb hooves, coconut chicken, sweet and sour pork..."

Just as the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were enthusiastically imagining delicacies, a group of people walked from the east side of the island to Fang Ting's doorstep.

Leading them was the Guard Xiao Zhang, who first respectfully greeted Si Rong and her mother-in-law.

"Chief of Staff Shen, before you arrived, Battalion Commander Jiang had already spoken to the department in charge of housing in the military. Your two houses are the same size, so they were swapped. I have already helped you clean them in advance."

Xiao Zhang took the key, stepped forward to open the door, and waited for Chief of Staff Shen and the few children to go inside.

"Dad, let's go in!"

The half-grown boy was in the middle of his voice-changing period, his voice hoarse and raspy.

The man nodded, but his gaze fell upon the woman leaning against the doorway next door.

She was wearing a casual long gauze skirt, her long hair casually tied behind her, looking somewhat the same as before and somewhat different.

"Is this Commander Jiang's wife?" The man smiled gently, "Let me introduce myself, my name is Shen Lan. From now on, we are neighbors."