Chapter 437

Liang Lao Da, Tao Daqiang, and the others left before it was even dark.

The courtyard suddenly became quiet.

Li Long felt quite tired too. After being tossed about all day, even though his physical strength was much better than the average person's, he felt a bit overwhelmed now.

Gu Xiaoxia was lying on the bed with absolutely no regard for her image, her eyes vacant.

Although the content of the earlier bridal chamber pranks, including the "Zhu Bajie carrying his wife" bit, was mainly Li Long moving while she focused on cooperating, she had been highly nervous about potential mischief. Now that those people had left, she felt completely worn out.

There were still some odd jobs in the courtyard, and some things in the kitchen needed simple processing. If they wanted breakfast tomorrow morning, they would have to make it themselves. There was firewood in the courtyard, but not much...

Li Long ran these things through his mind, then quickly pulled his thoughts back. Today was his own wedding day—the most important thing hadn't been done yet!

He turned his head to look at Gu Xiaoxia lying on the bed and was surprised to find that she had actually fallen asleep!

Asleep!

Already!

Li Long couldn't quite believe it, wondering if this little girl was just shy and pretending to close her eyes. He lowered his head and leaned toward Gu Xiaoxia's face, then heard her steady breathing.

The breathing was thin and long; she was truly asleep.

Li Long called out softly:

"Xiaoxia?"

Gu Xiaoxia had no reaction.

Looks like she was really exhausted.

Li Long gave a bitter smile. Was his wedding night really going to pass like this?

He had been a bit sleepy just a moment ago, but now he wasn't sleepy at all.

Li Long quietly got up and took off his suit jacket, draping it over a chair—it seemed he hadn't prepared enough; there were no hangers. He would have to make one later.

He loosened his tie and threw it on the suit. Li Long felt the indoor temperature was fine, so he didn't cover Gu Xiaoxia with anything and went to the kitchen.

The kitchen still had quite a few things left over from the banquet. Besides the food for one table set aside for tomorrow's thank-you meal, there was still plenty left.

Li Long looked around and found a bundle of dried noodles, as well as some washed kelp and daylilies. He decided to make a bowl of noodles.

Although he had eaten some things in the afternoon, he felt hungry again now. Even though he was still a bit tired, making something to eat right now didn't count as "work"; instead, it made him feel a bit more relaxed.

After the large courtyard house was built and everything was set up, this was the first time he was cooking in his own home. It felt quite good—fresh and very relaxing.

The fire on the outdoor stove hadn't gone out yet, and the temperature was quite high. Li Long set a small pot on it. There was clean water in the bucket by the well; he poured half a pot of water and found some diced potatoes and radishes he had cut earlier, starting to prepare a pot of noodles.

Hand-pulled noodles were too much trouble, otherwise, he would have prepared those.

He took another bottle of tomato sauce; Li Long prepared to make a pot of sour and spicy noodles.

Of course, cold noodles would work too, but he felt that eating those late at night would be a bit heavy on the stomach.

The water boiled, he added the noodles... Li Long wasn't in a hurry. He leisurely finished making the noodles and scooped out a bowl. There was still more than a bowl left, so he scooped it into a small enamel basin. The stove fire was still going; if he left it in the pot, it wouldn't take long before the noodles turned into mush, even if the water didn't dry up.

A dog of unknown origin ran over, looking for bones to eat under the table.

Li Long's courtyard was located at the southernmost end of the residential area; an ordinary dog might not necessarily find it. This dog had a sharp nose. Since it had found its way here, he'd let it eat.

Li Long was being kind, but the dog misunderstood. Seeing Li Long looking at it, it thought the person wanted to snatch its food, so it bared its teeth. Li Long felt a bit unhappy. The dog, seeing Li Long didn't move, thought it hadn't scared him, and actually took two steps forward and opened its mouth.

Hey, it wants to bite me!

Li Long looked at his feet; there was a stone on the paved gravel ground. He kicked the stone, and it zoomed over and hit the dog's leg.

The dog yelped and limped away.

Li Long felt satisfied.

He grabbed his chopsticks and picked up the bowl, ready to eat, but felt it was a bit inappropriate to be outside. It wasn't completely dark yet; what would it look like for a groom to be eating noodles outside? Had he been kicked out?

So, holding the bowl in one hand and the enamel basin in the other, he turned and went into the house. After entering, he hooked the door with his foot and kicked it shut.

He placed the enamel basin on the kitchen counter and left the kitchen, intending to eat in the living room. Just as he sat down, the curtain of the master bedroom lifted. Gu Xiaoxia poked half her body out, leaning against the door, looking around with slightly dazed eyes before they landed on him.

Li Long felt a bit awkward holding the bowl, so he reached out and asked:

"Just made some noodles, do you want some?"

"... Yes." Gu Xiaoxia nodded, not making any move. Li Long stepped forward and handed the bowl over. After Gu Xiaoxia held it steady, he said:

"Come, sit at the table and eat. The bowl is still a bit hot."

"Okay." Gu Xiaoxia was startled by the heat, and her eyes became clear. "Did I just fall asleep?"

"Yeah. You must be exhausted; there really were a lot of things today."

"Hehe..." Gu Xiaoxia suddenly laughed. She brought the bowl to the table, and just as she was about to eat, she put down her chopsticks and asked:

"What about you? Should I give you half?"

"No need, there's more in the kitchen, I'll go scoop some now." Li Long smiled and went to the kitchen.

Gu Xiaoxia watched Li Long's back and smiled.

When Li Long brought over a bowl of noodles, he found Gu Xiaoxia hadn't started eating yet. In his other hand, he held half a bowl of salted chives, which he placed on the table and said:

"Mix it in, it tastes better."

"Okay."

The two of them started eating together. After finishing, Gu Xiaoxia collected the bowls and chopsticks to clean up. When she returned, Li Long had already poured two half-cups of warm water.

"Drink some water to wash away the taste."

"Mm." Gu Xiaoxia took the cup and sat on the right side of the sofa, next to Li Long. She suddenly blushed.

Li Long didn't notice, slowly drinking his water.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Gu Xiaoxia felt the atmosphere was a bit strange and couldn't help asking while holding her cup.

Li Long had asked her to take leave, so she had taken three days off, starting from tomorrow. She had no idea what they would do during these three days.

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow is the thank-you banquet." Li Long explained to her, "Look, so many things in the courtyard were borrowed. We had so many people helping us greet guests, serve dishes, and write down gifts today; tomorrow we need to thank them. The tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes borrowed for this courtyard all need to be returned..."

"Oh..." Gu Xiaoxia had heard the term "thank-you banquet" before but didn't know exactly what it entailed. Now she understood.

"The day after tomorrow is the return visit; we'll go to your dad's place together." Li Long continued, "You should know about this..."

"Isn't it a three-day return visit?" Gu Xiaoxia was a bit confused. "Isn't the day after tomorrow only the second day?"

"Haha, you really haven't looked into this, have you?" Li Long smiled and said, "For weddings and funerals, the days are counted starting from the day of the event. Today is the first day of marriage, tomorrow is the second, and the day after tomorrow is the third day—the third-day return visit."

"So that's how it's counted..." Gu Xiaoxia suddenly realized. "I heard about the three-day return visit and thought the day of the wedding didn't count."

"Alright, enough talk. It's getting late, we should rest." Li Long stood up, put down his cup, reached out to pull Gu Xiaoxia up, took the cup from her hand to place it on the table, and led her into the bedroom.

Gu Xiaoxia struggled slightly, then let Li Long lead her to the bedside.

"Look, the clothes are wrinkled; they need to be washed and ironed tomorrow." Li Long helped Gu Xiaoxia undo the buttons of her red wedding dress, saying as he did so, "You only wear these clothes today; let's hang them up later as a keepsake."

"Why can't I wear them later?" Gu Xiaoxia was shy, but hearing Li Long say this, she felt it was a pity. How could such nice clothes only be worn once?

"Would you feel strange wearing bright red clothes out on a normal day? It wouldn't be very appropriate in the office either, right? These are wedding clothes, the color is bright. It's fine to wear them today; the day calls for celebration, but it would be a bit weird to wear them out normally."

The explanation was perfectly normal, but when Li Long started to take off Gu Xiaoxia's undershirt, she immediately struggled. This was a subconscious reaction, and then, under Li Long's somewhat strange gaze, she whispered, "I... I'll do it myself."

This day was a magical day for every young couple. Gu Xiaoxia didn't mean to resist; she just felt a bit ashamed to let Li Long take off her clothes.

"Then should we turn on the light?" The room was a bit dark, or rather, because the two of them were already used to the darkness, it was actually almost dark outside now.

"No!" Gu Xiaoxia shouted. She was worried Li Long would turn on the light, which would make her even shyer.

She preferred everything to happen in the dark.

"Fine." Li Long smiled and started taking off his own clothes, feeling a bit impatient.

Inevitably.

Gu Xiaoxia slowly took off her undershirt, then her other clothes. Once they were both in the quilt, Li Long said comfortably:

"Nothing beats lying down, that's really true... the quilt is the most comfortable."

It was a bit cool in the quilt, but for two young people with burning hearts, that didn't matter.

!.

Gu Xiaoxia agreed deeply. Just as she nodded, Li Long's hand reached over.

Although they usually got along like an old married couple, once they were truly in the same quilt, she was still a bit nervous—no, she should say, extremely nervous.

"Don't be nervous, we're a family now, aren't we?" Li Long gently held Gu Xiaoxia's hand, sighing, "I really didn't expect... or rather, more than a year ago, I really didn't expect to be able to marry you and bring you home..."

"I didn't expect you to change into someone nobody recognized either. It's like the you before last year's New Year and the you after are completely different people." Gu Xiaoxia habitually picked up the topic. "I didn't understand you before; it was all heard from... Wu Shufen. Later I realized that some things become very outrageous after being passed from person to person."

Now, mentioning that name again, Li Long already felt it was a bit unfamiliar. He smiled and said:

"Actually, I also think it's quite magical. In fact, the old me was indeed a bit of a mess and didn't understand things very well."

As he spoke, he tentatively reached out and slowly pulled Gu Xiaoxia into his arms. Gu Xiaoxia's body trembled, slightly resistant, but in the end, she obediently nestled against Li Long's chest.

"Today, Section Chief Li said that if you want, you can directly become a formal worker at the supply and marketing cooperative. Is that true?" Gu Xiaoxia tried hard to think of other questions to distract herself, because she felt Li Long's hand slowly becoming restless.

"Mm, half a year ago that was the case. At that time, I participated in a few things in Shicheng under the name of the supply and marketing cooperative, which gave the cooperative some face. Back then, becoming a formal worker would have been no problem. Now, it's hard to say. After all, the matter has passed, and the situation now is different from then."

Li Long was still very clear-headed. Li Xiangqian was icing on the cake, helping him build a reputation in front of the people in the team, but he knew very well what the reality was. If such things weren't settled at the time, it would be quite difficult afterward.

"Besides, if I enter the supply and marketing cooperative, I'll just be collecting that fixed salary every month. If we want our lives to get better and better, and to lay a good foundation for our children in the future, we need money. I just thought I couldn't be tied down. It's more convenient to earn money outside, and I earn more."

As Li Long spoke, he leaned into Gu Xiaoxia's ear and whispered:

"So I'm working hard to earn money, and you have to work hard too—work hard to give birth to twins. The current family planning policy is so strict, we can only have one. Let's work together and have twins, then we'll have both a son and a daughter..."

"How do we work hard for that?" Gu Xiaoxia was still a bit confused and asked directly, then immediately realized what he meant and turned bright red.

"Let's work hard now. It's so late, let's not talk about anything else. Let's study together how to have twins..." Li Long's hands became even more restless, and he asked in passing, "Have you heard your dad mention if there are twins in your family?"

Having twins requires genetic traits; Li Long remembered that quite clearly.

"... I think so?" Gu Xiaoxia's speech was no longer coherent. "Wait... I'll ask my dad the day after tomorrow..."

Her voice became strange.

Not suitable for children.

And then it was the next day.

Gu Xiaoxia finally understood why Li Long insisted on her taking leave. If she didn't take leave, she wouldn't be able to go to work anyway.

Fortunately, the two of them lived alone in a large courtyard, so there weren't that many rules; they just needed to be up before the people helping out arrived.

Li Long was still quite energetic. Although he had broken a record, to be honest, he still had energy to spare.

He hummed a song quite proudly while making breakfast and called Gu Xiaoxia to get up and eat. Gu Xiaoxia got up and dressed, feeling that she had changed both physically and mentally. Her mood was a bit complicated, but seeing Li Long bring the food to the table, she was still quite moved.

"I'll do these chores in the future." Gu Xiaoxia said while going to wash up, "You're a grown man who needs to earn money outside; I'll handle the things inside the house. Although I might not do them well, I will learn. We'll live our lives together."

Li Long smiled. There was none of the "it's all your fault" affectation seen in the TV dramas of later generations; what she had was an identification with the family and a sense of responsibility. This was the charm of women in this era. This was true feminism, right?

After the two finished eating, Gu Xiaoxia went to clean up. Li Long started bringing some of the materials from the kitchen outside. They had gotten up late, and it was already eleven or twelve o'clock after eating. Before long, Li Jianguo, Liang Yuemei, and the others arrived, and then those who were helping out came as well.

Li Long didn't need to worry about the thank-you banquet; he just needed to follow the arrangements Li Jianguo had made.

Gu Xiaoxia was also trying hard to integrate into this family, doing what she should do as a mistress of the house. Although she made a few small blunders, no one laughed at her.

In the words of Sister-in-law Lu, she was a state cadre, a public servant who ate commodity grain, yet she worked alongside them without saying a word of complaint—that was already good enough.

Look at that other person; she wasn't even a public servant yet, just married to someone who ate commodity grain, and she already had her eyes up in the sky!

There was no helping it; rural gossip mostly came from comparisons. Everyone's eyes were still sharp, and people were afraid of comparisons—once compared, the gap was clear.

They were busy with the thank-you banquet all day. Tao Daqiang drove the tractor and returned all the borrowed tables, chairs, and benches. Originally, Li Long wanted to drive it himself, but Tao Daqiang didn't let him, saying that as a groom, he shouldn't be doing this; there would be opportunities later.

Once the things were sent away, the helpers all had towels, soap, cigarettes, and such that Li Jianguo had stuffed into their hands, and everyone was very satisfied. Li Long and Gu Xiaoxia carried the remaining processed semi-finished products into Li Jianguo's room, and some were for Chen Li Rong to take back.

Because they were all processed—some fried, some boiled—they could be kept for a few more days in the current weather. They didn't send any to his father-in-law Gu Bo Yuan's place, because there should be plenty of leftovers there too.

That afternoon, the courtyard became much quieter. Tao Daqiang and the others even dismantled the stove, and the courtyard was all cleaned up. Only a faint lingering scent and the couplets and red "double happiness" characters indicated that a wedding had just been held here.

The two of them tidied up the room early, and as soon as it was dark, they went into the bedroom together to study how to have twins.

Having tasted the fruit, Li Long felt that Gu Xiaoxia was making rapid progress in this regard.

On the third day, the return visit, both of them got up quite early. Li Long packed regular gifts like wine, canned goods, and cigarettes and hung them on the front of his bicycle. He let Gu Xiaoxia sit on the back and rode toward Gu Bo Yuan's house.

Gu Xiaoxia had a bicycle too, but Li Long didn't let her ride it, worried she would be uncomfortable.

The reason they went so early was also because he wanted to ask Gu Bo Yuan early on if there were twins in the Gu family's genetic history.

He had never thought about this before, but once married and thinking about children, Li Long became a bit urgent.

The Gu family courtyard had also been cleaned up. The positions of the two original stoves now only had a small patch of earth with a different color. Seeing Li Long and his daughter arrive together, Gu Bo Yuan, who was wearing a suit in the courtyard, had a smile on his face but still complained:

"Why come so early?"

"I was afraid you'd scold me if I came late." Li Long smiled, propped up the bike, carried the things into the house, and said:

"Gu Shu, I have a major matter to ask you."

Although Li Long had changed his form of address when picking up the bride, he was still used to calling him Gu Shu, and Gu Bo Yuan actually felt this was normal. After all, Li Qing Xia's age was what it was; Gu Bo Yuan himself would feel uncomfortable being peers with someone of such a different age.

"Go ahead and ask." Gu Bo Yuan could see that his daughter's complexion was good and Li Long was also in high spirits. Although he had long known this was a perfect marriage, he still had to see it with his own eyes to count.

"Does the Gu family have the gene for having twins?"

As soon as Li Long's question was asked, Gu Bo Yuan's expression changed.

Li Long could see it—there was a story behind this! (End of chapter)