Raising Babies in the 70s - Chapter 101

In the afternoon, the island was very quiet, and few people came out for a stroll. Walking on the road, the long sea breeze blew the hair on people’s heads. The coconut leaves on the top of the head had turned yellow, like beautiful banana leaves. The shadows of the two fell on the ground, sticking to the ground together.

Qin Rou looked at the shadow on the ground and thought that it was not the shadow of two, but of four people.

Qin Rou looked at the man beside her with a smile and said, “Do you feel like when it’s just before the rain, with a commotion among the little animals, two hard-working little ants would come home with the unexpected snacks?” After getting pregnant, her mind was really full of all kinds of childish thoughts.

Lu Yan smiled. It was really hard for him as a tall tall man to huddle under the leaves to share shade with her. Lu Yan picked up the woman beside him and let her sit on his arm.

Qin Rou exclaimed. She was no stranger to that posture, and hugged Lu Yan’s neck with a smile, “Don’t mess around, Comrade Ant, be careful or you will drop your wife.”

“Put me down.”

Qin Rou was now pregnant. Although she was a little plumper than before, she still had thin arms and legs. Lu Yan hugged her easily, but he did not dare to let her fall. Lu Yan put her down, and using the coconut leaves, he secretly kissed his wife on the cheek.

“It’s really sticky,” Qin Rou glanced at him with anger. Being outside like this, even if the two of them were married, it would be a hooligan act. But there were no outsiders anyway. Who would see them under the coconut leaves? 

Qin Rou pulled his arm, obviously to kiss him, so Chief Lu decisively bent down and bowed his head to let her kiss him.

“Let’s go home for the New Year.” 

The husband and wife returned to the family’s courtyard with coconut leaves on their heads. As soon as they entered the door, they received a strange look from the guards patrolling, but Qin Rou thought to herself that she was a person who had been a kindergarten teacher, and didn’t care much.

The guards were sacred and inviolable.

Qin Rou said New Year’s greetings to them, and went home quickly with Chief Lu, so as not to be ashamed outside.

Who knew that when they arrived at the door of their house, they found that Zhang Chengbei, who was celebrating the Chinese New Year next door, was still tidying up his yard, and he was really persistent.

Qin Rou and Lu Yan: “…”

Zhang Chengbei who met the couple carrying the leaves: “…”

This couple was really… living a colorful life.

“The leaves from your coconut tree?”

Qin Rou: “…”

Lu Yan calmly said, “I climbed the tree to pick it.”

Qin Rou: “???!!!”

Zhang Chengbei: “..Next time, help me pick one too.”

After returning to their yard, Qin Rou and his wife hurried to wash their hair and take a bath. At the new year, they had to wash their whole body carefully and put on new clothes for the New Year.

Qin Rou’s long hair was not easy to dry after washing. The couple sat under the thatched umbrella in the yard, Qin Rou had a dry towel around her shoulders, and Lu Yan took another dry towel to help her wipe her hair.

Lu Yan liked this job very much, and Qin Rou allowed him. Her long black hair was not cut short, and her soft and thin hair fell on her shoulders.

The black hair was scattered, which made the originally small face more fair and delicate, like the freshly picked lychee on the island.

Qin Rou half-squinted her eyes and looked at her yard. There were other things in the yard. She made several handmade iron flower pots out of old coconut shells, and planted hanging orchids and unknown mountain wildflowers.

The old coconut shells were really useful. Qin Rou had saved a lot. Now that the childrens of their sisters were there, she with the parents and children made handicrafts, piggy bank, and several lamps carved from coconut shells.

Coconut shells could also be made into jack-o-lanterns, hollowed-out dots, stars… Coconuts could be carved into many shapes.

There were no red lanterns for the Chinese New Year that night, so Qin Rou planned to use a few coconut lanterns burning coconut oil in the yard, saving money and making it beautiful.

The flowers and vegetables planted in the yard grew back and forth, and the ones that were harvested were filled with new ones in time. Qin Rou planted tree roses and hydrangeas in the corners. After a while, the hydrangeas would bloom.

Qin Rou yawned and got a little sleepy. She found a harmonica, Lu Yan wiped her hair, and she played the harmonica to teach the children in her womb.

From time to time, she would say a few words to the father of the childrens to deepen the parent-child relationship.

“Sleepy?”

“Sleep when your hair gets dry. I’ll wake you when after I make the dumplings.”