Feng Qingxue received a reply from her parents along with some copies of ancient manuscripts, and by then, it was already September.
It was on the first of this month that the autonomous region was officially established. There were a series of adjustments in the local government, as well as something about Tibetan soldiers.
So, Lu Jiang had been too busy to return home for several days.
Feng Qingxue wished she could smack herself on the head a dozen times, as she seemed to have inadvertently mentioned the term "autonomous region" a few times. She didn’t know if it would raise any suspicions among those who heard it, hoping they hadn’t noticed.
Upon reflecting, she remembered bringing it up in front of Lou Shaonong and Lin Yufen once, and she couldn’t recall who else she might have mentioned it to before that.
Disaster comes from careless talk! Disaster truly comes from the mouth.
Feng Qingxue slapped her own mouth while Fubao, standing unsteadily at the Kang table using her hands for support, looked at her curiously, "Mommy?"
"Yes!" Feng Qingxue quickly responded.
Fubao was indeed both smart and agile. At ten months, she had started to say "daddy"; now at eleven months, she could also say "mommy".
Moreover, she could stroll along a few steps by herself, holding onto the Kang table or its ledge, unlike her brother Lu Xibao, who had started walking and talking late and also got his milk teeth late.
The only thing that Feng Qingxue was not satisfied with was that Fubao’s appetite never matched Xibao’s. She didn’t like to eat much except for egg custard or fruit puree, and relied solely on powdered milk, which lacked sufficient nutrition. Her chubby cheeks were visibly slimming down, so much that her originally bulging cheeks and double chin were not so noticeable, yet she looked uncommonly beautiful.
Feng Qingxue held her in her arms, touching the little girl’s face, "Fubao, if you ate a little more, you’d be perfect."
Fubao’s soft, chubby cheeks rubbed against her mother’s palm as she cheerfully called out, "Mommy!"
Her pronunciation was clear and exact—delightfully crisp and tender.
Feng Qingxue’s heart burst into bloom in an instant, and her smile unfolded like a flower too. Du Xiaotao, leading Xibao inside, was stunned.
"Xue, you look so beautiful!" Du Xiaotao couldn’t help but say.
Before Feng Qingxue could respond, Fubao pointed at Xibao, "Mommy!"
"I’m your brother, oh!" said a sweaty Xibao as he climbed up onto the Kang. His recently shaved head was presented before Fubao, his body covered in bits of grass and dirt much like a little calico cat, yet he didn’t seem to mind the mess, "Sister, I brought you something tasty!"
His chubby hand extended, holding a piece of Pagoda Sugar.
"Sister can’t eat candy, you eat it yourself," Feng Qingxue said, but before she finished, Fubao had already snatched the Pagoda Sugar from his hand.
This caused Fubao to lose her grip on the Kang table, and with a plop, she sat down on the Kang.
"Ah?" Fubao looked stunned and then burst into tears, appearing very wronged.
Quite temperamental, one way Fubao differed from Xibao was in her tendency to cry easily and often, weeping a hundred times a day.
Xibao, opening his arms to embrace her, struggled for a while without being able to lift her and ended up just pulling her up, "Don’t cry, sister. Brother will play with you, say ’brother’, I’m your brother."
Enviously, Du Xiaotao said, "The bond between the siblings is really strong."
She and Niu Yibao had been married for a while now. Jin Zhuzhu got married at the same time as them and was now sporting a large belly, while she had no news of her own to share.
Although Niu Yibao wasn’t in a hurry, she felt very anxious inside.
Feng Qingxue, discerning her mood, pulled her over with a smile and said, "This isn’t something to rush, just relax."
"Yeah!" said Niu Yibao, repeating the same thing.
Just as the sisters were about to change the subject, Huang Xiuzhi burst in, her arrival urgent and abrupt.
This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om