Hard Dish
After bidding farewell to Commander Luo, Gu Sheng returned home feeling completely satisfied. Seeing him, Zhan Aiping shook her head, saying, “Hey man, take it easy.”
“I’m afraid you’ll struggle to adapt in the future.”
Gu Sheng hugged her from behind. “Don’t worry, I’m adapting well. I’ll go wash vegetables and cook dinner for my wife now.”
Zhan Aiping gave him a quick kiss. “Go on then.”
That evening, everyone enjoyed the food cooked by Dad—crispy sweet and sour pork and glutinous rice balls. It was so popular that they ate an extra bowl of rice compared to usual. Zhan Aiping’s cooked rice wasn’t enough.
Zhan Aiping felt utterly exasperated. “Do all you Gu family people dislike my cooking?”
Such preferential treatment was too infuriating!
Little Tangyuan piped up, “Mom, my surname is Xiao.”
Her name was, after all, Xiao Tangyuan.
Guobaorou countered, “Silly girl, your surname is Gu.”
Gu Sheng grinned. “Honey, you also ate an extra bowl of rice.”
Crushed by superior cooking skills, Zhan Aiping felt deeply frustrated. Although her husband’s cooking was admittedly tastier, she couldn’t help but feel aggrieved.
She’d painstakingly practiced her culinary skills over two lifetimes, only to be outdone by Gu Sheng, who had only three years of cooking experience.
Defeated yet again by her lifelong rival.
And now, he had even been promoted to commander. Rank crushes all.
“You can’t call your sister silly,” Zhan Aiping said, dragging the two kids to wash the dishes. These little ones were currently enthusiastic about helping adults with chores. They wanted to be involved in everything, and both Gu Sheng and Zhan Aiping patiently taught them to sweep, mop, wash dishes, and clean handkerchiefs.
—As long as they received their parents’ exaggerated praise, no amount of housework felt tiring.
Gu Sheng kissed his daughter on the cheek and praised, “You cleaned very well. Tomorrow, Daddy will make you fried rice.”
Little Tangyuan sat obediently on her small stool, looking up. “Daddy, I’m very good. I want fried rice.”
Gu Sheng nodded. “Don’t scribble on the table. Mom prepared paper and pens for you. Don’t draw on the bedsheets either.”
Little Tangyuan nodded obediently.
—Although her bedsheets were already an unsightly mess.
Washing her daughter’s bedsheets had been a massive headache for Zhan Aiping. The little rascal, who slept alone now, had taken to drawing everywhere with her pens. The bedsheets were covered in colourful scribbles—an eye-sore inducing kaleidoscope.
To celebrate their kids sleeping independently, she and Gu Sheng had prepared brand-new bedsheets.
Seeing those sheets stained with colour, Zhan Aiping felt her heart shatter. They were new bedsheets, after all.
What broke her heart even more was realizing that her daughter, Xiao Tangyuan, loved drawing but lacked skill. Despite looking like Gu Sheng, she hadn’t inherited his artistic talent.
Could her daughter actually be “Zhan Aiping in disguise”?
Second Sister-in-law had sent Xiao Tangyuan several picture books, but the little rascal had cut them all up. Since then, Zhan Aiping had forbidden her to use scissors alone. When Gu Sheng was recovering, he’d humor his little daughter by helping her cut up picture books, and they ruined the entire collection.
The room they had prepared for Xiao Tangyuan… was now covered in bizarre doodles.
Even walking in made Zhan Aiping feel like she’d have nightmares. Her daughter, on the other hand, showed no fear whatsoever and happily lost herself in the chaos.
Zhan Aiping said, “Stop drawing everywhere. Mom will prepare some old newspapers—or rather, Mom bought white paper. Draw on the white paper, okay?”
Many people used old newspapers for various purposes, such as pasting walls or wrapping pickled vegetables. However, given the current sensitive times, newspapers often featured prominent figures, so it wasn’t appropriate to draw on them.
Little Tangyuan nodded obediently. “Mom and Dad, I won’t scribble randomly. I want coloured pens.”
But she was too young to remember things well, and her hands were unstoppable, so what could they do?
Zhan Aiping replied, “We’ll buy more when you finish what you have.”
Her older brother, Guobaorou chimed in with a suggestion: “If Little Sister misbehaves, Mom should cook for her as punishment.”
Little Tangyuan covered her face. “I don’t want that!”
Zhan Aiping was speechless. “?!”
Were these really her biological children?
“Gu Sheng, take care of your two kids!”
“I will, I will.” Gu Sheng gave her a reassuring look before turning to the kids with a smile. “You two wish! Misbehave, and you’ll get carrot and potato stir-fry from the canteen instead of Mom’s cooking.”
Guobaorou and Xiao Tangyuan huddled together, both showing expressions of horror. “No, no!”
After shooing the kids off to bathe and sleep, Zhan Aiping returned to their room, loosening her hair and letting the dark locks cascade over her shoulders. Gu Sheng had recently built her a new vanity table, and the round mirror reflected her beautiful face.
Since her younger brother’s comment about her lacking femininity, Zhan Aiping had paid extra attention to her appearance lately. She made her own skincare cream, shaped her eyebrows, and applied lip balm to make herself look radiant.
Back when they first got married, she’d taken good care of herself, but over time, she’d gotten lazier.
Now, she was putting in effort again, and she had to admit—keeping the house clean and making herself look nice really did lift her mood.
—Except for the two little troublemakers.
“Kids really become unbearable around three or four. Your son is still okay for now, but your daughter is a bigger problem,” Zhan Aiping said seriously as soon as Gu Sheng entered.
“Her scribbling is bad enough, but she also wakes up early to practice her voice—” Zhan Aiping massaged her temples, thinking of her little troublemaker.
Gu Sheng laughed, “This just proves she’s your biological daughter—she’s exactly like you.”
“I ran into Commander Luo next door today. Fortunately, he didn’t come to complain to me.” Perhaps Luo hadn’t remembered the incident.
Zhan Aiping: “…”
“I think your son has problems too,” Zhan Aiping continued, observing how her son Guobaorou always acted like a little adult—self-proclaimed clever, full of ideas, and very opinionated. Who knew where he came up with those ideas?
She had a feeling that, one day, he would stir up some huge trouble for his parents.
“Look at your son and daughter! Picky eaters, spoiled, and dramatic!” Speaking of this, Zhan Aiping found it strange. Sitting in Gu Sheng’s arms, she mused, “Clearly, neither of us are picky eaters, so how did our son and daughter end up being so hard to please?”
“They even complain about my cooking.”
Zhan Aiping’s cooking skills were decent—just average-good—but her son and daughter still acted dissatisfied.
They even joked that whoever misbehaved should eat her cooking! What rebellious kids!
Gu Sheng kissed her forehead. “They’re just saying that. Don’t they still eat your food?”
“They eat fine at day-care too. Don’t stress about it.”
Zhan Aiping declared, “In the future, if anyone makes me mad, our whole family will eat cafeteria food—just plain carrot stir-fry.”
“Alright, alright.” Gu Sheng chuckled. “We’ll eat the carrots. I’ll make separate dishes for you—I can’t bear to see my wife wronged.”
“That’s more like it.” Zhan Aiping lay back on the bed, thinking that she’d happily wait for the day when the whole family sat together eating plain food while she enjoyed the best meals.
Gu Sheng climbed into bed and hugged her. “Forget about the kids when we’re in the room. It’s just us now.”
Hugging his soft, fragrant wife, Gu Sheng felt completely relaxed. Nothing could ruin his good mood.
“Wife, this life is truly wonderful. Finally, we’ve sent those two little troublemakers to bed.”
Zhan Aiping wrapped her arms around his neck. “If you think life is too easy now, I can give you two more kids.”
“No way.” Gu Sheng shook his head. “Isn’t two already enough?”
Zhan Aiping smiled at him. “Didn’t you say I was destined to be a mother of three when we first got married?”
“I thought you had ambitions to be a father of three too. I didn’t expect you to be so easily satisfied.”
Gu Sheng hesitated. “Wait… Are you serious?”
Zhan Aiping lay back, gently touching Gu Sheng’s handsome face. She remembered how, in his previous life, he had no children. She wanted to give him one or two more—enough to fill their home with grandchildren in their old age.
“Yes, let’s have one more.”
Gu Sheng took a deep breath. “Let’s wait until these two grow up a bit. They’re smart and don’t cause much trouble, but they still keep us on our toes.”
Zhan Aiping smiled. “Then let’s have a Little Zongzi.”
“Boy or girl, Little Zongzi would sound nice either way.”
Gu Sheng: “?!!! You’re already thinking of names for a kid who doesn’t exist yet?”
“Guobaorou, Little Tangyuan, and now Little Zongzi…” Gu Sheng tasted the names carefully. “Our kids’ nicknames all sound wrapped up and sturdy.”
“Exactly! I just wonder if we’ll have a sweet zongzi or a savoury one.”
Gu Sheng replied, “I only eat sweet zongzi, not savoury ones.”
Zhan Aiping countered, “I love savoury zongzi with chestnuts and barbecued pork.”
Gu Sheng: “…”
“Stop talking about food at night—it’s making me hungry.”
Zhan Aiping thought about it and agreed. “I wonder how those people shouting about pork knuckles and big plate chicken get through their days. Don’t they get hungry just saying it?”
These days, oil and meat were scarce. Pork knuckles and big plate chicken were far too tempting.
The sauerkraut fish and sweet-and-sour fish at Shen Liqing’s house were okay since fish was still readily available, but without the right seasonings or enough oil, fish could be very fishy and hard to eat.
Gu Sheng said, “Your family isn’t starving. Why worry about others?”
“They all have ‘hard dishes.’”
Zhan Aiping sighed. She wanted fatty meat too. At this time, pork was even more expensive than beef. If you didn’t handle beef carefully, it turned dry and chewy—a nightmare to eat. But pork was different. Braised pork was tender and delicious.
“Maybe you should name a couple of ‘hard dishes’ too,” Gu Sheng teased.
Zhan Aiping shook her head. “Forget it. I’d only make myself hungrier.”
“You!” Gu Sheng smiled. “Last time, Old Wang’s comrade came over and asked about the kids from our residential area. ‘It’s all meat and fish,’ he said, thinking we were naming dishes from a restaurant. That’s the influence of you, Zhan Daping.”
Zhan Aiping protested, “How is that my fault? I didn’t force anyone to change their kids’ names.”
After Gu Sheng was promoted to Commander, many people came to congratulate them. Zhan Aiping’s old friend, Xie Wan, who grew up in the same courtyard, also wanted to visit for dinner.
“Pingping, congratulations! You’re now the commander’s wife!”
Xie Wan was getting married. When Zhan Aiping got married three years ago, Xie Wan had been so shocked she swore they would divorce within three years. But now, the couple was living happily with two kids.
Xie Wan came with her fiancé, and surprisingly, Qin Lu came along as well, bringing her daughter to visit too.
**Nomad: I’m currently a bit busy, so I’ll need to adjust the release schedule for RTAMEIN70s. Instead of releasing chapters every 2 days, I’ll be switching to once a week for now. I’m not sure how long this will last—perhaps just a week or until after Christmas. Unfortunately, I don’t get time off during the Christmas holidays, and work is even busier than usual, leaving me with less time to translate. I really appreciate your patience and understanding during this period.
Happy holidays to everyone celebrating! 🎄**
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