Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

In a blink of an eye, Zhang Xiuhua went to work and then stayed in the capital for a day.

Youcai specially ran to the rental house to tell her a great news, "Zhenzhen is pregnant. It's been two months."

Zhang Xiuhua never thought that she would become a grandmother so soon. She was very nervous, but she looked surprised. "Oh, that's great! What a great event."

She thought that the Northeast was too cold, with thick ice and snow, and that the fetus was unstable after being two months pregnant. "You should spend the New Year with her in the capital this year. Don't bother."

Youcai scratched his head and smiled foolishly. That was what he was thinking, but before he could say it out loud, Aunt Zhang said it first. However, he still said, "Aunt Zhang, why don't we have the family celebrate the New Year in the capital? It's more lively when the family is together. In previous years, we celebrated it in the Northeast, which was a bit too boring. Why not have everyone come to the capital."

Zhang Xiuhua was a little hesitant. She had no problem with it, but what about the others? What about the fox at home? She couldn't always ask Aunt Wang to help raise it, right?

She was undecided. "This is a bit troublesome. I'll go back and discuss it with your father. There are a lot of things to do at home, and there are many foxes to raise."

Youcai nodded, "Okay! Then you guys think about it carefully. If you come over, I'll clean up the kang here and buy some New Year's goods. Many stores will be closed during the New Year here."

Zhang Xiuhua nodded and asked Hongxia again, "I heard from your aunt that she opened a computer training class in the capital. How is the business?"

"It's great. There are more than a dozen training classes, and the teachers take turns teaching. They are very busy." Youcai was very envious, "It seems that computers are really popular."

Computers at that time could not connect to the Internet. But people were very curious about it. Especially in the capital, where there were many working class people. Parents had jobs and were knowledgeable. They knew that it would be a popular career in the future, so they signed up their children.

"The training class she chose was inside the Children's Palace, where many young people would go to play." At that time, there were no Internet cafes and computers were quite expensive, so a training company could be set up with just a few computers.

After Zhang Xiuhua finished shopping, she stopped by the Children's Palace to take a look. Hongxia was busy giving classes to the children, teaching them how to operate the equipment, like a real teacher.

When they got home, Zhang Xiuhua told Youcai that he wanted the whole family to go to the capital to celebrate the New Year.

Li Jianguo used to go to the capital frequently, so he didn't think it was anything new. However, Zhuzhu and Jilin were very interested and wanted to go to the capital to watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square.

Although they had visited the capital before, they had only visited the attractions and did not watch the flag-raising ceremony. As students, they certainly wanted to see the guards raise the flag.

Seeing that they wanted to go, Li Jianguo agreed and said, "I'll ask my eldest brother and his wife to help look after the fox for a few days."

Zhang Xiuhua rejected his proposal, "Forget it. My eldest brother and his wife are so busy. They also have to take care of my mother-in-law. Besides, they will be too busy when the children come back. I'll ask Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang to help take care of the children for a few days."

The three children from my eldest brother's family only know how to eat when they come back, and they don't know how to help their parents with work at all.

Li Jianguo didn't insist either.

Zhang Xiuhua took a set of large fur cooking utensils as a gift and went to her neighbor's house, asking them to help feed the animals for a few days.

When Aunt Wang Er saw such heavy cooking utensils, she said with a sigh, "Only Damao would be willing to use such thick steel. You are too polite. I just helped to feed the foxes for a few days, but you gave me such an expensive one. I feel embarrassed."

"I am so shameless that I always trouble you without giving you any thank-you gift. This thing is not brand new. It's second-hand, please don't despise it!" Zhang Xiuhua insisted on giving it as the gift.

Aunt Wang waved her hands and said, "How could I dislike it? It's so hard for us to buy a pot. You can't even buy a pot ticket on the black market now." Aunt Wang pointed at her own pot and said, "Look, there's a hole at the bottom. I wanted to replace it before the New Year, but I couldn't find one in the county town, so I found a craftsman to patch the hole."

People at that time were very frugal and tried to save as much as possible. Actually, it was not their fault, but supplies were scarce in those days and there was really no way to get them. If something at home was broken, you could mend it and it would still be usable.

"This pot is so thick, it can be used for at least 20 years." Aunt Wang liked it more and more. She clapped Zhang Xiuhua's hands and envied her. "You are so lucky. Youcai married a daughter-in-law from the capital, and you were able to celebrate the New Year in the capital."

"Tiegang bought a house in the provincial capital, you can also go there to celebrate the New Year." Zhang Xiuhua said with a smile.

"I won't go even if Tiegang wants me to! You have to pay for even a sip of water there." Aunt Wang was afraid of spending money, and the place was really small. She couldn't get used to it.

Zhang Xiuhua also laughed, "Several children in my family wanted to go to Tiananmen Square to watch the flag-raising ceremony, and I couldn't persuade them, so I agreed."

"Children nowadays still enjoy a better life," said Aunt Wang. "When we were young, we didn't even go to the county town."

"Yes."

In a blink of an eye, it was the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. Li Jianguo and Zhang Xiuhua arranged all the household affairs, and the family took a train to the capital.

The train went directly to the capital, and they sat in hard seats all the way to the terminal. When they left the train station, they were so tired that they were about to fall apart.

Youcai came to pick them up, and seeing how tired they were, he hurried forward to help them with their luggage, "Are you hungry? I'll take you to the rental house first, and then we'll go to the restaurant for dinner."

Zhuzhu sat in the taxi listlessly, "Taking the train is too tiring. It would be better if I could buy a hard sleeper."

Jilin laughed at her, "You already have a hard sleeper, but you still want a soft sleeper. People are never satisfied."

Zhuzhu glared at him.

When we got to the rental house, Zhenzhen was there too. Her belly had grown a lot bigger. She was now four months pregnant, and she would give birth in six months. She called people and said with a smile, "Everything is ready. We are just waiting for you to come."

Zhuzhu even bought a rattle from home as a gift for her unborn baby.

Zhenzhen smiled and said, "When it is born, I will tell it that this is a gift from my aunt."

Zhuzhu grinned with joy.

Youcai was a little curious, "Why didn't Baolin come with us?"

"She went to Canada to attend the Winter Olympics. She can't spend the New Year with us this year," Zhang Xiuhua explained.

Youcai asked about the game time.

Zhang Xiuhua smiled and said, "February 02, Calgary, Canada. The competition will last until February 13."

Youcai was shocked, "It started the day before yesterday? Which channel can I watch it on?"

Li Jianguo shook his head. "There is no live broadcast. We have to wait for the TV station to edit and broadcast it. We don't know the specific date."

Zhang Xiuhua knew that there was no TV broadcast at this time. She couldn't remember which year it would be broadcast, but it wasn't broadcast yet. She could only wait quietly.

It's a pity that there are talents, "It would be great if it was held in China, and our whole family could watch the Baolin competition during the New Year, how interesting it would be."

Li Jianguo heard him speak in an unkind way, "Your wife is pregnant, and the competition site is so chaotic, how can you take him with you!"

Youcai scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, "I meant next time!"

Zhenzhen also knew that he didn't use his brain when he spoke, so she tried to smooth things over, "He just hasn't seen Baolin for a long time and he missed her a little. He didn't mean anything else."

Seeing that the two children were living well, Li Jianguo didn't say anything else.

Zhang Xiuhua asked Youcai, "Where's Yaoyao? Her school should be on vacation, right?"

The university winter vacation is twenty-seven or twenty-eight days long, so we should have started the vacation earlier.

Youcai smiled and said, "She just finished her exam yesterday. Medical students have a really hard life. After the exam, she still has to memorize, for fear of forgetting the previous knowledge points. Today she went to Sister Hongxia's tutoring class to work part-time to earn some pocket money. She can only rest tomorrow afternoon."

Li Jianguo had only heard about it from his wife, but had never been there. Hearing this, he became interested, "Is Hongxia's tutoring business doing well?"

"Yes. That's great!" Youcai explained, "Not many people know how to use computers nowadays. She hires college students to work part-time."

At that time, college students were assigned jobs by the government. Few were as bold as Hongxia, who directly quit her job and started her own business.

Zhuzhu wanted to go and take a look, but Youcai refused directly, "Her place is too small. If there are so many of us, we will delay their classes. Besides, the tutoring class is not opened by her alone, but in partnership with her classmates. They pay the money and she does the work."

Zhang Xiuhua was afraid that she would feel bored, so she smiled and said, "I'll take you to eat Peking duck later."

Zhuzhu was just curious about computers. She had never touched one before. How could it be as delicious as Peking duck? Upon hearing this, she immediately gave up going to the tutoring class.

Youcai asked his father when Ergou would come over.

Li Jianguo shook his head and said, "He can't come. His assistant resigned. The garment factory can't handle it alone. He has to run back and forth and recruit workers."

After hearing this, Youcai sighed repeatedly, "I'm not jealous of him making money. I have to be busy even during the Chinese New Year."

Zhang Xiuhua twitched her lips. "Isn't your hotel busy? It should be the busiest during the Chinese New Year, right?"

Zhenzhen nodded, "Yes! The New Year is also very busy. Our hotel has launched a New Year's Eve dinner package. Many people have already ordered it. Our whole family will go to the hotel to eat, and then everyone can try the capital's New Year's Eve dinner."

When Li Jianguo heard that he was very busy, he urged him to go back quickly, "You are a chef, how can you not be here?! Zhenzhen is pregnant now, and your in-laws are not in good health, you have to take care of them more."

Youcai didn't expect that he would be disliked by his own father after just a short time here. He scratched his head and said, "Okay! I'll go!"

Youcai left first, but Zhenzhen didn't leave. "Mom and Dad, if you need anything, just tell me."

Zhang Xiuhua pulled her to sit down, "We can buy what we need ourselves. You are pregnant, so you have to pay attention to safety. This restaurant will be temporarily handed over to the people below, so you should take care of yourself first."

Zhenzhen nodded, "I know. The lobby manager of our hotel will take over my job."

"That's good." Zhang Xiuhua asked her if she had hired a nanny and a confinement nanny.

"I've already found a nanny. My dad is in poor health and needs someone to take care of him." Zhenzhen scratched her head. "I have to choose a confinement nanny carefully. I don't trust someone from outside of town."

She didn't discriminate against outsiders, but she was frightened by a report in the newspaper. A nanny from outside the city kidnapped a child and has not been found yet. If the child is from the local area, and his family is in the capital, he can go to the door directly. There is no need to worry about the child being stolen.

Zhang Xiuhua thought about it and it made sense. "Then choose more! Make sure to choose someone with good character. Some nannies will bully children."

"I'll choose carefully." Zhenzhen touched her belly.

Zhang Xiuhua saw that it was getting late, so the family went to eat Peking duck.